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This post is in partnership with California Grown. I’m slow to transition out of winter produce, especially with sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes (which is probably obvious). This toast is a delightful savory breakfast that’s easily adaptable for a different time of year. California Sweet Potatoes February is always an interesting time in California. The almond orchards go full bloom and the weather often starts to feel like it’s spring midway through the month. The produce also slowly starts to change, but I’m usually cramming the last bit of winter produce into my recipes. Luckily, California produce has me covered through all the seasonal transitions. California grows one-third of the vegetables and two-thirds of the fruits and nuts grown in the United States. Drive around the state any time of year and you can see something growing or being harvested! Best of all, you can make this meal year-round because California sweet potatoes are available year-round and cured on th...

Roasted black beans are the best easy healthy snack! Crunchy and spiced with cumin and garlic, they’re plant based…and hard to stop eating. You know crispy roasted chickpeas? These crunchy salty bits have become popular as a healthy snack, and they’re now sold packaged at stores and airports alike. So why not try the same idea with black beans? Meet our new very favorite snack: roasted black beans! Make up a big batch and you will fall in love with this irresistible crunchy plant-based snack. Alex and I can’t stop eating them…and neither can our 3 year old Larson. The might not be the most photogentic snack (just what are those?), but they’re absolutely delicious. Crispy roasted black beans: an easy healthy snack! Why make crispy roasted black beans? So many reasons. Isn’t it hard to find easy and healthy snacks? Alex and I often opt for roasted salted nuts and dried fruit, but sometimes that gets a little boring. (Truth.) We are big salty snack people over here, so salty snacks that a...

Here’s the best simple guacamole with the perfect flavor! Creamy, savory and perfectly balanced, you’ll hear a chorus of “Wow’s” every time you serve it. Guacamole is like potato salad and coleslaw: everyone has their family favorite recipe. And this simple guacamole is ours. It’s a home run every time! When we serve it, a chorus of “Wow’s” fill the room. (Really. Not hyperbole!) What makes it so great? It’s classic and has the perfect balanced flavor: perfectly savory, creamy, and tangy. Serve it up with tortilla chips and your guests — and you — won’t be able to stop eating it. What’s in the best simple guacamole? Alex created this easy guacamole recipe and man is it good! One of our favorite Mexican restaurants in town closed (sadly), and they had the best guacamole on the planet. This one reminds me of theirs! It’s just the right balance of flavors. Here’s what you need for this simple guacamole: 3 ripe avocados: The avocados must give when you squeeze them. If they’re firm, don’t ...

Stimulated by Zhou et al 2020.[1] Image by Cristian Newman on Unsplash . I was drawn to look at this paper because the title suggested a possible link between calf muscles and plantar fasciitis (PF). I have resisted this idea for many years, and perhaps this paper would shed some light on my gut feeling about the relationship? Plantar Fasciitis (PF) In the noughties of the millennium we were all happy to rely on clinical impressions and perhaps some mechanistic ideas from basic sciences in our evaluation of the utility of needling for PF. Then the first paper to come to my attention was a more formal synthesis of expert opinion,[2] followed shortly by a relatively positive systematic review,[3] both published in Acupuncture in Medicine . The group who performed the expert consensus, went on to report on a sham controlled trial of dry needling in 2014.[4] It was a well conducted and reported trial (n=84), but it did leave me wondering whether or not the positive results could...

I was the type of kid who put chips on her sandwich (and by kid, I mean fully functioning adult). It’s a texture thing. I like the crunch paired with the softness of the sandwich. This delicata squash pasta is similar in that it’s not really pasta but a salad with pasta in it. The chewy texture from the pasta makes it feel a bit unexpected and delightful. The Vegetable I’m sneaking in one last delicata squash recipe before the end of the season, but really, this recipe would work well with a myriad of produce. Roasted sweet potatoes, asparagus, sweet corn, zucchini- it’s a multi-seasonal approach! You could also add in onions, garlic, or flavorings to the roasted vegetables. Try a bit of spice with help from harissa or use smoked paprika for a bit of flavor boost without the heat. Making it Vegan This pasta is not saucy. I’m going to repeat that because inevitably someone will say ‘one star, no sauce.’ It’s not saucy. As I mentioned in the opening, it’s less pasta, more salad. An...

This easy chili baked potato recipe works for weeknights or family dinners for a crowd! This trick lets you cook the potatoes in half the time. What’s for dinner? Yes, it’s a struggle for all of us! Alex and I have found it’s especially difficult when feeding a crowd. But here’s a solution that’s a perfect dinner for a crowd: chili baked potatoes! Bake up some potatoes, top them with chili and all the fixin’s, and it’s an easy dinner everyone can enjoy. Chili is a hearty match for fluffy potatoes, and really: who doesn’t love a baked potato bar with all those fun toppings? This recipe is gluten-free and vegan, so it fits a variety of diets around the table. Here’s how we make them: with our trick for baking the potatoes quickly! How to make chili baked potatoes Chili baked potatoes is a truly easy concept: make chili, bake potatoes, serve! It’s a great option for entertaining, like a big family dinner. Alex and I served this to a group of 12 people for a dinner party, and it went over ...

These easy mini frittatas are just what you need for a quick nutritious breakfast or lunch! Filled with pecans and veggies, make them ahead to grab and go. This post was created in partnership with the American Pecan Council. All opinions are our own.  Looking for nutritious breakfast or lunch ideas? Aren’t we all. Many readers have been asking us for quick nutritious recipes for busy mornings and office desk lunches. So Alex and I put our heads together and came up with a new trick: mini frittatas! Basically a muffin made of egg, they’re easy to meal prep and grab as you’re headed out the door. Refrigerate or freeze ’em, and you can eat off them all week. The best part: they’re so tasty! They’re filled with colorful veggies and crunchy pecans for added protein and nutrients. Why make mini frittatas? So many reasons. What’s so great about these pecan mini frittatas? Alex and I had never made them before, but they’re now part of our easy breakfast and lunch recipe staples! They...

Want to impress your guests with a party platter full of colorful vegan blinis. Here is how you do our blinis with two different toppings. from Green Kitchen Stories https://ift.tt/2SZIeyg Green Kitchen Stories February 22, 2020 at 12:58PM

This is a primer on how to cook artichokes – if you’re going to invest the time into cooking artichokes, you want them to be fantastic. Spring is the time I tend to cook them once or twice a week. And, although the process takes time and attention, I can’t help myself. When artichokes are good, there are few things I’d rather be eating.  Straight up, I think a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of cooking artichokes, or they think it’s not worth the effort. My friends confirm this. The topic has come up a few times lately, and the conversations are typically punctuated by a confession that they never cook artichokes at home. So(!) I thought I’d do a quick outline of how I handle these armored spring ambassadors. Eight times out of ten I use the cooking method I’m going to outlined in the recipe section below. It requires nothing more than good (baby) artichokes, olive oil or clarified butter, and sea salt. If you can pair those ingredients, with a bit of practice, ...

Here’s a monthly Mediterranean diet meal plan! It’s got lots of recipes and inspiration, planning ideas, and a meal planning calendar download. Need healthy food to cook this month? We’ve got answers. Here at A Couple Cooks, Alex and I have spent years honing our method for how to eat healthy meals every day , not just here and there. We made it our MO, wrote a cookbook called Pretty Simple Cooking , and have devoted our careers to helping connect people to healthy recipes. But how to do you do it…every day? Here’s our new 28 day Mediterranean diet meal plan, designed to do exactly that! The goal of this plan is to help you make a sustainable practice of cooking and eating healthy food at home. In the process, we hope you’ll become inspired and find a handful of recipes you’ll make again and again. (If you like: Subscribe to our newsletter  for new weekly recipes.) Is this Mediterranean diet meal plan right for you? This Mediterranean diet meal plan is right for you if you eat...

This post is sponsored by Bob's Red Mill . See below for more information. There’s nothing like a hearty grain bowl filled with vegetables, grains, and beans. It hits all the points and makes for such a delicious and filling dinner. This particular bowl has some of my favorites (roasted sweet potatoes! farro!) with a bit of kick from the berbere spice. Berbere and alternatives Berbere is a delightful spice blend that originated in Ethiopia. The main spices are x, x, and x, which results in a warm and spicy flavor. If you’re looking for something with a similar impact, but without the rice, I’d recommend trying this bowl with the ras el hanout blend. Bob’s Red Mill Farro Farro is one grain that tends to stay in whole-form in my cooking. The slightly warm and nutty wheat berry is perfect for salads, stews, and bakes. It keeps a slightly chewy texture but soaks up flavors of everything around it. You can also crack farro- I use this technique for whole-grain morning porridges o...

Stimulated by Chen et al 2020.[1] Image by MC on Unsplash . This paper was a last-minute decision as I looked through today’s searches on PubMed. I was ready to address the influence of a WFPB meal on PPG and try to draw in the data on acupuncture for ED, but I thought TEAS would be safer. TEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation I have avoided addressing TEAS for theoretical reasons drawn from basic science. TEAS is essentially TENS, although there are differences in terms of stimulation parameters. An intermediate term used was ALTENS or acupuncture-like TENS. Research on the best frequencies to use in EA (electroacupuncture) seemed to suggest low frequency had some advantages, but conventional TENS used high frequency, so ALTENS started with low frequency pulses of a high frequency. TEAS was developed by Jisheng Han, following on from his research on EA, and the devices still bear his name (as does the website on which they are to be found). So the HANS-200...

This arugula beet salad is the perfect easy side dish! It features vibrant beets, toasted walnuts, and a zingy citrus vinaigrette dressing. Here’s a green salad idea that’s flavorful and versatile: arugula beet salad! It features jewel-toned roasted beets with baby arugula, all covered in a zingy citrus vinaigrette. Add thin-sliced shallots and toasted walnuts, and it tastes sophisticated with minimal effort. Shhh: here’s our secret! Alex and I made this with those precooked beets you can find in many stores these days. Usually we roast our own…but it saved a massive amount of time. Either way: this salad needs to be part of your side dish repertoire! What’s in this arugula beet salad? This arugula beet salad recipe is an exercise in essentialism . What is absolutely essential to a beet salad, and what can we live without to keep it simple? Alex and I played around with a few variables for this salad, and came up with classic flavor combinations that taste incredible . Beets, citr...