Brussels Sprouts Hors D’oeuvres

by Dr Jo

4 cups small Brussels sprouts, trimmed and washed (or cauliflower or broccoli florets)

1 cup water

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil, and thyme

½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ cup olive oil

 

With a paring knife, score the base of each Brussels sprout with an “X” before steaming.

This facilitates cooking and allows the marinade to penetrate the cooked sprouts. Steam until crisp-tender. Run sprouts quickly under cool water to halt the cooking process, drain, and set aside in a bowl.

Bring remaining ingredients (except olive oil) to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. When mixture cools slightly, add olive oil. Pour marinade over sprouts and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving to take off the chill. Arrange on a platter and serve with toothpicks.

From Dr. Jo’s Natural Healing Cookbook

Marinated Cauliflower Salad

by Dr Jo

Green leafy and red lettuce

Celery, diced

Marinated cauliflower, separate to small flowerets size

Black olives

Sunflower seeds

 

For each individual salad tear lettuce pieces into individual serving bowls. Add the rest if the ingredients. Toss with the leftover marinade from Whole Cauliflower Salad.

Head of Cauliflower Salad or Appetizer

1 medium cauliflower

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon sea salt

a pinch of white pepper

radishes and fresh parsley sprigs to garnish

 

Remove leaves and rinse cauliflower well in cool water. With a paring knife, cutout the core. Place the head of cauliflower in a steamer basket, cover, and steam-cook until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Place under cold running water to stop the cooking process, drain, and set aside to cool.

In a deep bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Place cooled cauliflower in the bowl with the dressing and turn it several times until it is well saturated with the mixture. Cover the bowl and let it sit for several hours at room temperature (or overnight in the refrigerator). Turn several times. Serve the head of cauliflower at room temperature drizzled with remaining dressing and garnished with radishes and sprigs of parsley.

From Dr. Jo’s Natural Healing Cookbook

Lemon-Garlic Marinated Shrimp

by Dr Jo

From EatingWell:  December 2006

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/4 pounds cooked shrimp

Preparation

  1. Place garlic and oil in a small skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Toss with shrimp in a large bowl. Chill until ready to serve.

Dr. Jo’s Healthy Holiday Hummus

by Dr Jo

4 cups cooked garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup reserved cooking water

3 tablespoons oil (I like grape seed oil)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or to taste)

4 tablespoons chopped onion (or ¼ teaspoon onion powder)

1 large garlic clove, chopped (or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano, or even better about 2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil, or even better about 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil

½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)

 

To cook garbanzo beans, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil, then remove from stove. Add 1 ½ cups dry garbanzo beans to the water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Stir and let the beans soak overnight (or about 12 hours. If they soak longer they may start to sprout and that makes them too firm.)

 

Drain soaking liquid from beans, rinse and drain. Add enough water in a pan to cover the beans, but first bring the water to a boil, then add the beans and simmer for about 1 hour or until nice and tender.

 

Blend all ingredients (except reserved water) in a food processor or blender, adding enough reserved cooking water from the beans (a few tablespoons at a time) to make a smooth paste. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

 

Place the garbanzo bean dip in a small pretty glass dish that will sit in the middle of a round crystal serving plate. Surround the dip with a variety of colorful vegetables – green, red, yellow, orange. This combo will make a beautiful center piece for your serving table.

 

Happy Holidays to you,

Dr. Jo

 

 

Healthy Recipes: Some Innovative Appetizers

by Dr Jo

Try these tasty, healthy recipes that provide those much needed omega 3 fats in a beautiful delicious way. Whether you’re following a heart disease diet, diabetes diet, Candida diet or just want to eat in a healthy way, you will enjoy these great appetizers.

I created these appetizers as part of the food demonstration that I did for doctors and nurses at a recent medical conference.

Dr. Jo

Dr. Jo’s Super Salmon Appetizers

1 can salmon (from Alaska – least polluted and not farmed – I found these at Costco), discard the liquid
2 Tablespoons olive or grape seed oil
1 ½ Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon dried dill or herbs of your choice

Mix all of above together. Then spoon a dollop on a cucumber round, slice of jicama, or stuff celery. Top with a cherry tomato, sprinkles of sesame seeds, shreds of carrots or anything else you can imagine.

Raw Yam Appetizers

Slice a raw orange yam into thin slices
Spread almond butter on each slice
Sprinkle with mixture of cinnamon and stevia extract (1 Tablespoon cinnamon with 1/8 teaspoon of stevia)
Top with sesame seeds, walnut, raw macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds.
Do the same thing with slices of jicama.

Stuffed Mini-peppers (sweet bell type – they come in packages of yellow, orange and red)
Cut the top off each mini-pepper at the stem.
Scoop out any seeds left inside.
Then get creative. I stuffed them with the Dr. Jo’s Super Salmon appetizer mixture. Then plugged the hole with a sweet 100 cherry tomato or stuck the pointy end of a yellow pear tomato into the salmon mixture. You may be surprised at how yummy these are
I stuffed another set with almond butter and then put a small tomato or other vegetable in the hole. These are very colorful and fun.

Everyone enjoyed the new taste treats. Most had not tried raw yam and did not even know of jicama.

Marinated Black Beans was another favorite served on jicama, cucumbers or suffed into mini-peppers or celery. You can find that recipe in Dr. Jo’s Natural Healing Cookbook.