Raw Thai Collard Wraps for Vibrancy and Health

I feel good, I knew that I would, I feel good, I knew that would now. So good! So good, because I got you!" This song describes exactly how I feel today...GOOD!

What a morning this Saturday turns out to be. I wake up refreshed, energetic, and alive. The weekend is here with two days where my biochemistry textbook remains closed, and out of service. This last week my head felt full of cotton, and my body heavy with inactivity. I can see it my classmates’ eyes, as well as in my professor, everyone is feeling tiresome and overworked. Week 7 down, and week 8 left to go. Bring it on!

With such an information overload during the week, and a test every Friday, the weekends have a whole new meaning to me. They are beautiful. Nothing can be over or under planned. A simple weekend, is just as great as one filled with parties, adventures, and friends. This weekend greets me with a quiet peace, and sunrays rays peak through my window. I breathe in and I breathe out, at ease and excited to start this beautiful day.

Since today I crave the sense of purity, I am inspired to share a meal with ingredients that shine in their purest forms. Raw food is cleansing and cooling. If one is overworked, overheated, anxious, nervous, or stressed, eating raw foods can bring a sense of clarity. Especially on warm sunny days when all you crave anyways is something fresh and bursting with color. The high dose of unaltered vitamins, minerals, and oils available in raw foods, is a great way to cleanse and boost your body and soul.

Raw collard wraps, are a great way to make an easy, beautiful meal. Since I love the combinations of Thai spices and ingredients, I decided to venture down the path of East Asian cooking.

I don’t believe that collard greens are traditional Asian vegetables, but here we have heard of them often in southern cooking, smothered in butter and cream. Collard leaves are wonderful. Not only are they a versatile vegetable, where one can use them creatively in many ways, but also they are overlooked superstars. Perhaps you have heard that cabbage and broccoli are great against cancer due to high amounts of sulfur compounds. Well, so is the collard leaf. It has four main compounds that are part of the glucosinolate family, which are easily converted to isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates help support the body in detox and immune system functions, as well as working against inflammation. Collard greens are most highly noted with their ability to support the body in the prevention of bladder, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

However, what is the most exciting news for me is the ability of collard greens, as well as other cruciferous vegetables, to bring a healthy ratio of progesterone and estrogen in the human body. Cruciferous vegetables have a compound called diindolylmethane, or DIM. This phytochemical is able to modify the metabolism of estrogen, by blocking estrogen receptors. This enables the body to naturally balance its progesterone and estrogen levels. High estrogen levels are associated with breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers, as well as infertility. DIM not only inhibits “bad” estrogen from estrogen receptors, but it also promotes the production of beneficial estrogen.

So, I would say, eat cruciferous vegetables often! In today’s world, we are constantly surrounded by pesticides and consume high fat diets. These both promote elevated  “bad” estrogen exposure. Men and women alike can support healthy aging, by eating a whole foods diet, and adding collards, cabbage, and broccoli, more often as mainstay vegetables.

These wraps are great as appetizers or can be the main course of a meal. My simple papaya and lime salad would be a great addition to these delicious wraps. 

Raw Thai Collard Wraps

Makes 4 Wraps

Ingredients:

For the wraps:

4 collard leaves

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage

1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced

1/2 ripe mango, thinly sliced

1 avocado

8 basil leaves

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lime

2 Tbsp organic seasoned rice vinegar

2 Tbsp sesame oil, organic cold pressed

2 Tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp tamari

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 thai chili pepper (or any spicy chili pepper)

Directions: 

1.  First start by preparing the dressing. This allows the flavors to infuse while you prepare everything else. You can make this dressing ahead of time for more flavor. 

2.  In order to properly crush the garlic cloves, press down firmly with the side of a large knife. This crushes them. I place the side of the knife on top of the garlic and with the palm of my right hand I push my weight on top of the clove. This allows the juices to flow out without the chunks of garlic.

3.  Finely chop the 1/2 chili pepper and put in a glass jar with the crushed garlic cloves. 

4.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Allow the dressing to infuse at least a half an hour prior to serving. 

5.  Then prepare the collard leaves. Chop off the stem, and carefully with a sharp paring knife shave down the thick stem of the collard. Try to cut it down as flat as possible without cutting into the leaves. 

2.  Once your "wraps" are ready, place the cucumber down first in the middle, then top with the shredded carrot and cabbage. Spoon two teaspoons of the dressing on top.

7.  Then follow with slices of mango, avocado, and finally basil. Sprinkle with a bit of chopped peanuts.

8. To properly fold the collard wraps, begin by folding the bottom edge (where the stem used to be), up and over the veggies. Then fold in both sides. Follow by rolling the wrap up. Some may want to unroll, if the filling is not heavy enough. If need be, pierce them shut with a toothpick. Usually, I do not have this problem. 

9.  As a garnish, add any left over chopped peanuts to the remaining dressing. Serve the wraps with additional dressing on the side. 

Optional: If you want them to be more hearty, add quinoa or amaranth. These two grains are complete  vegetarian protein sources, containing lysine, which most grains lack.

Reference:

Zeligs, M. Safer Estrogen with Phytonutrition

World’s Healthiest Foods: Collard Greens

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Addicted to Blackberries: A frozen dessert

It's too hot to cook. The temperatures are soaring, and all I want to do is to hide in the shade and hang my feet in cold water. I feel like I am swelling up like a red balloon. My body just is not used to 95 degrees and plus humidity.

My mind screams ice cream, yet I know there is none to find in my freezer. I never buy it. As a child, getting ice cream on a waffle cone was something I looked forward to every summer; one scoop chocolate chip mint, one scoop espresso explosion. Ahh, yes, the memories. However, as an adult I rarely treat myself to ice cream. I lazily ponder driving to the nearest Food Co-op but I can’t imagine getting into my hot car. It has no A/C, plus the driver’s side window does not roll down. Within minutes I would be sitting in my own sweat. NO THANK YOU. I decide, that if I truly want to sub-come to my ice cream craving, I needed to make it myself. Pure, fresh, and healthy of course.

Motivated, I get up, grab a big bowl, and head to my favorite neighborhood blackberry bushes that have been treating me so kindly thus far. By the time I feel overwhelmed by the heat the bowl is ¾ full. That should be enough for some homemade frozen blackberry dessert!

Luckily my house stays relatively cool, and I get to work. Coconut milk for the creamy taste, Greek yogurt for the creamy texture, honey for sweetener, lime for a fresh zing, and of course the blackberries. Yum! Sadly, I don’t have an ice cream maker, nor do I have the fancy Popsicle trays, but I do have a ton of mason jars. I fill a few ¾ full, and place them into the freezer. Every half hour or so, I use a long spoon and stir the mixture, so the frozen sides mix with the liquid center. Soon I have my own freshly made frozen blackberry “ice cream".

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, blackberries are sweet treats filled with all kinds of nutritional goodness. If you want to know more about the wonders of the blackberry, read my post here, and perhaps even find a recipe for a healthy sugar free blackberry jam. 

May the abundance inspire you!

Frozen Blackberry Dessert

Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients:

4 cups freshly picked blackberries (rinsed well)

1 can organic coconut milk

1 ½ cups Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)

2/3 cups honey

zest of 1 lime

juice of ½ lime

Directions:

1.  Place blackberries into a food processor and blend. If you don’t like the texture of the seeds, sieve the blackberry puree thru a fine mesh sieve, and pour back into the food processor. I like to leave the seeds because they are full of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.

2.  Pour in coconut milk and honey and process until you have a smooth mixture.

3. Add the non-fat Greek yogurt and the lime zest and juice. Pulse to mix.

4. If you have an ice cream maker, follow the instructions with your machine. If you have a popsicle tray, fill and freeze for about 1 hour, and then add the popsicle stick and continue to freeze. However, if you are like me, fill small wide-mouthed mason jars with the mixture. Every half hour, scrap the sides and mix well. You can even place the mixture into a long and deep baking dish, whisking every half hour or so to freeze the mixture evenly.

5. If you used the mason jar method, prior to serving I allow the “ice cream” to thaw slightly on the counter (about 10 minutes) to be able to scoop the ice cream out easier.

Optional: Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt and top with fresh fruit of choice.

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Treat of High Summer: Blackberry and Red Wine Jam

The hottest temperatures of the summer have finally hit Seattle. High 80's without a cloud in the sky greeted us North-westerners over the weekend. It was hot. To many across the nation, this may seem cool, but we here are not used to these highs. Many scramble through the house trying to find last years sunscreen and sun hats to prepare for the intense sunshine. Shade and water are treated like gold. However, with this intense heat and sunshine, comes also the beginning of the blackberry season. 

I love blackberries. Maybe it is because they bring me back to my childhood memories, picking buckets upon buckets along the Skagit River, to make a years supply of blackberry jam. My father always recruited my brother, my mom, and I to help him pick. The more, the better. The following days would be spent making jam, wafting the aroma of blackberries and lemon throughout the house. We made so much that the surplus became gifts for family friends throughout the holidays. It was a time when us four were all together, happy and healthy.  Even our dog, could not get enough blackberries.

Now in my mid twenties I am reliving this memory. Earlier this week I went to pick my own bowl full at the abundant neighborhood blackberry bushes down the street. Within a quarter hour, I had picked plenty for a little batch of jam, and extra for snacking. The hot rays of the sun had transformed the little firm green berries into plump, sweet, and juicy bits of dark purple goodness. They were delicious. 

Inspired by a glass of good red wine, I got into production mode. How could I make a delicious, unique and healthy jam with these perfectly ripened blackberries? Well, instead of sugar I decided to use dates. They not only sweeten, but also carry along fiber and important vitamins and minerals for the body. A bit of red wine, and some lemon juice to brighten the flavors also made it into the pot. And then I stopped. The flavors complimented each other perfectly.

Everyone always says that berries are good for you, but how? Blackberries contain a whole host of beneficial compounds, including antioxidants. Although the blueberry is the superstar of  antioxidants, the blackberry is not far behind. 1 cup of blackberries has an antioxidant capacity of 7700, compared to 9000 in blueberries. Blackberries still remain in the top 10 highest antioxidant foods. Why are antioxidants so good? They help prevent and repair oxidative stress in the body, which can be a precursor to cancer and other degenerative diseases. In addition, blackberries are great sources of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and manganese, and also are a source of omega-3. Omega-3 helps to reduce inflammation, vitamin K is used to help clot blood when there is an open wound, manganese helps the body utilize key nutrients such as biotin and choline, while vitamin C acts as an additional antioxidant. Just 1 cup offers so much! And to top it off, in the summer month, blackberries are EVERYWHERE FOR FREE. Just make sure to pick berries aways from high traffic zones, and to rinse them thoroughly prior to use. You can even freeze them for later.

Making jam is great way to preserve these delicious berries and have access to them year round. Also, often store bought jams are made with lots of sugar, especially refined sugars. Therefore, by utilizing the sweet dates, you can enjoy this breakfast staple without a sugar overdose. I hope you like this lightly sweet jam that tastes of high summer.

Blackberry and Red Wine Jam

Makes 4 small mason jars or 2 pint sized mason jars

Ingredients:

6 cups rinsed blackberries

12 medjool dates, pitted and soaked for at least 30 minutes

1/2 cup red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon) 

juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

1. Put blackberries and red wine into a large saucepan and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a steady simmer.

2. With a large wooden spoon crush the blackberries and stir often. Allow the berries to break down completely and the liquid to reduce.

3. Meanwhile, place dates into a food processor, and discard the soaking water. Process until a smooth paste is formed.

4. Add the date paste and lemon juice to the blackberry and wine mixture and stir well. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes while stirring often. Do not let it burn on the bottom! 

5. Meanwhile bring a large pot with mason jars and a little water to a boil. Place a lid on top to keep steam in. This will sterilize your jars. 

6. Pour the hot jam liquid into sterilized jars and top with clean lids. Place on counter top until the lids "pop" inward. They can now be stored safely for later use.

Side Note: The dates not only sweeten the jam but also help create a spreadable consistency like pectin.

References:
Worlds Healthiest Foods: Vitamin C, Manganese
Nutrition Data: Blackberries

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