A "Zest"-y Fall Recipe to Fight Inflammation

As we approach the change of seasons look to anti-inflammatory foods to reduce your aches and pains.  "Inflammation is a natural process where the body fights infection or injury. Inflammation can manifest as pain, swelling and redness.  Acute and chronic inflammation can be reduced with food.", says Joanna Chodorowska, owner of Nutrition in Motion. 

Foods known to fight inflammation include cabbage, spices like turmeric root and ginger, olive oil, nuts, dark leafy greens, some fruits like pineapple and fatty cold-water fish.  The good news is that all of these are quite common and are easy to incorporate into your meals every day.  Yet for many people eating enough greens and fish seems to be the greatest challenge.  "They don't taste good.", "I don't know how to cook them.", "My family won't eat anything green.", and "I don't like anything fishy.", are all frequent reasons why we don't eat enough of these staples. But the fact is that greens are the easiest to sneak into our meals and fish can be cooked up in minutes with little to no mess. 

Greens like cabbage, spinach and some kale varieties are mild in flavor, are great in salads and can be easily hidden in smoothies and meatloaf.  Others like collard greens and Swiss chard are tougher in texture and are best sauteed or braised.  Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna are great simply prepared with a little olive oil and seasonings then grilled, baked, pan-seared or broiled. 

This recipe is one of our client favorites, which we had Joanna tweak for us to give it an extra anti-inflammatory punch!

"Zest"-y Braised Greens

2 Tbsp olive oil + additional for fish
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1" turmeric root, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP honey or 1/2 TBSP pure maple syrup
2 lb any combination of dark leafy greens (e.g. Swiss Chard, Kale, Collards), rough chopped
1# fresh salmon or tuna fillets
Dried or fresh herbs to taste (bonus points for using anti-inflammatory rosemary)

Saute onion, garlic, turmeric, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and herbs in large pot over medium-high heat cooking until tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in broth, vinegar and honey or maple syrup.  Gradually add greens, stirring until wilted.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes.  While greens are cooking, brush salmon or tuna with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper and your favorite herbs.  Bake, grill or broil until fish flakes easily with a fork.  Serve over greens. 

Serves 4

Joanna Chodorowska is a holistic sports nutrition coach and owner of Nutrition in Motion.  Her mission is to help uncover the real reason your body is out of balance, in pain, tired, stressed or suffering from GI stress. Click here to learn more.

5 Ways to Save Time in the Kitchen

September can be a challenging time of year for a lot of people.  For parents, it means getting the family back into the routine and juggling work-life demands.  For others it can mean getting back onto life's hamster wheel following summer schedules and vacations.  Finding time to cook may seem impossible.  But it doesn't have to be so time consuming.  Here are my five top ways to save time in the kitchen.

1. Plan - Plan meals in advance including what you're going to make and when. Plan for leftovers for a second night by doubling recipes or cooking extra of the proteins and sides to use in other ways during the week.  
2. Choose Recipes Wisely - Stick to those with 5 ingredients or less and that can be prepared in 20-30 minutes tops. 
3. Prepare - Read the recipe all the way through and prep your ingredients before you start.  Taking time to create your "mise-en-place" will ensure that each ingredient is ready to go precisely when you need it and will avoid last minute trips to the store for that missing ingredient.
4. Clean as You Go - Avoid having to take more time to clean after your cooking by doing it as you go.  It takes a lot less time to rinse your dishes and put them in the dishwasher than it does to scrape and wash or clean up spills after they've been sitting to long.
5. Hire a Personal Chef - Your time is valuable.  Get back 10-15 hours a week that normally would be spent on the distraction of planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning by hiring a personal chef.  We'll focus on your dinner so that you can focus on your life.  Click here to learn more. 

Tomato Sauce Old World Style

This morning as I was thinking about the fresh, ripe tomatoes that are in abundance this month I came across this amazing and timely tomato sauce video that I had to share.  Watching it brought me right back to my childhood.  You see I'm not Italian but somehow I grew up surrounded with Italian friends, and as such was fortunate to be included in many culinary extravaganzas like canning summer vegetables and sauces, making fresh baked bread, pizza and stromboli (daily!) and preparing soppressata for hanging and drying in the smokehouse.  Then of course their was the Sunday dinners.  Whole families would gather for the day - nonnas and nonnos, moms, dads, siblings cousins, friends...The food was always fresh, seasonal, prepared from scratch and the wine was flowing.  Those were the days!

Before summer ends and the back to school craziness sets in why not make your own sauce?  Grab a glass of wine and watch this video to see how an old world Italian gentleman learned to make it from his parents and grandparents back in Italy.  Take advantage of the bountiful supply of garden ripened tomatoes.  Gather la famiglia, pick your tomatoes and get cooking!

Disclaimer:  I do not recommend the canning method in this video.  Instead check out Farm to Jars Marian Bolums' Canning 101. 

Buon appetito!