February 2022 Health Hotline® Magazine Issue 55

February 2022 Health Hotline® Magazine Issue 55

Recipes

  • Winter Citrus Salad
  • Heart Beet Cookies

Articles

  • Beauty Bonanza Think Wisely
  • Letter From the Isely's - February
  • For the Love of Organics: Citrus
  • Magic Mushrooms (No, not that kind!)
  • Nutrition Bytes
  • Earth Watch: Do Mushrooms Hold the Power to Heal the Earth?
  • Trying to Maintain a Healthy Weight?
 

Winter Citrus Salad

Winter Citrus Salad Recipe
Want to add a bright note (and a hefty dose of vitamin C) to your winter table? Take advantage of seasonal citrus! This citrus salad is flexible based on what is available, so try a combination of any orange, grapefruit, or tangerine.
1 organic orange
1 organic grapefruit
1 organic tangerine
  1-2 organic avocados, sliced
1 organic shallot, minced (may substitute ½ small organic red onion)
1 small organic daikon radish, thinly sliced
1 organic lime, juiced
  salt to taste
  Optional: chopped organic cilantro, for garnish

1. Peel the citrus, removing as much as the pith as possible, and slice into wheels, removing any seeds. (To peel citrus: Slice off both ends and stand the fruit upright on the cutting board; using a sharp knife, cut the rind downward, following the natural curve of the fruit. Continue around until all peel and pith are removed.)

2. Arrange the citrus wheels and avocado slices on a serving platter and scatter the shallot and radish over the top. Drizzle with lime juice and season with salt. Garnish with cilantro if desired. If making ahead, refrigerate prepared salad without avocado; slice and add the avocado when ready to serve.

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Heart Beet Cookies

Heart Beet Cookie Recipe
What better way to show your Valentine your love than with these pretty pink cookies? They’re naturally colored with heart-healthy beets, but don’t have a “beet-y” flavor, and even better? They can be loaded with all sorts of your favorite goodies to really make them special. See the note at the end of the recipe for easy adaptations to make them dairy free and vegan!
1 cup cassava flour
1⁄2 cup Natural Grocers® Brand Bulk Almond Flour
1 teaspoon Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Baking Powder
  scant ¼ teaspoon Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Real Salt
1⁄4 cup frozen beets, thawed*
1⁄4 cup organic milk (dairy free works too)
2 tablespoons Natural Grocers Brand Organic Grade A Dark Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1 Natural Grocers Brand Organic Pasture-Raised Egg
6 tablespoons organic unsalted butter, room temperature
  ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Organic Coconut Sugar
Optional Natural Grocers Brand add-ins (up to ½ cup total)
  Bulk Organic Apple Juice Sweetened Cranberries, roughly chopped
  Bulk Organic Pecan Pieces
  Bulk Organic Walnut Halves and Pieces, chopped
  Bulk Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  Bulk Organic Pumpkin Seeds
  Organic Chocolate bar of choice, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

3. Using a blender or an immersion blender, blend the beets, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla until beets are mostly smooth. Add the egg and blend until the egg is incorporated.

4. Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture becomes a shade lighter and the sugar is well incorporated. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can do this in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

5. Add the flour and beet mixtures to the bowl with the butter-sugar mixture and mix until smooth and evenly mixed. Add your choice of add-ins and mix until they are evenly dispersed.

6. Drop the batter in tablespoon dollops onto the prepared baking sheet. (You will likely need to bake them in two batches, fitting about 12 on the baking sheet at a time.) Lightly wet your fingers and press the cookies down slightly, rewetting your fingers as needed to prevent sticking. Bake for 13 minutes. Let cookie sheet cool down completely before baking the second half of the cookies. Alternatively, use two baking sheets and rotate halfway through baking time.

7. Enjoy warm out of the oven or let the cookies cool on a cooling rack. If desired, dust the cookies with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar before serving.

*If frozen beets are unavailable, sub ¼ cup steamed or boiled sliced fresh beets. Note that cookies made with fresh beets will be a lighter pink than those made with frozen beets.

Make it dairy free, egg free, and vegan: Soak 1 tablespoon of ground flax in 2½ tablespoons water for 5 minutes to make a flax egg. Use this mixture to substitute for the egg. Substitute Natural Grocers Brand Organic Plant Based Buttery Sticks for the butter and your favorite plain plant-based milk for the milk. Increase the baking time to 15 minutes.

Note: Natural Grocers Brand Bulk ingredients are packaged in a plant that processes gluten.

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