Anti-inflammatory Recipes | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Archive for the ‘Anti-inflammatory Recipes’ Category

March 6th, 2024

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, How To & Tips, Running Food, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Easy Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

About a month ago, I posted this extremely easy-to-make Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing that’s so versatile, it goes great, of course, on salads, but also on pasta, rice, sandwiches, cooked vegetables – imagination is your only limit.

This post is about how to make that dressing fresh-er just by substituting garlic powder with fresh garlic.

I’m a big fan of fresh garlic for its rich, bold flavor – and its broad spectrum health benefits that include: improved immune system, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, cancer prevention, improved athletic performance – and more (for more details in short, easy-to-read form, click this Spice World link).

Two quick practical tips about fresh garlic. First, choose fresh garlic bulbs, like the one shown below, that are firm to a hand squeeze, heavier in weight (more water content) and show no signs of dark grey mold under the skin or green shoots growing out of the bulb.

Second, to make peeling the garlic skin easy, which is the least fun part about dealing with fresh garlic, first crunch the individual garlic cloves with a forceful press and satisfying garlic skin pop using the side of a wide-bladed chef’s knife, as shown here.

Once you chop the fresh garlic, as shown briefly below, the rest is all down hill. Just add mustard, ground black pepper, vinegar and yogurt.

Peeling the skin off a fresh garlic clove, then slicing and chopping that fresh garlic clove

You can see all the above – and more – by clicking this link for the complete Fresh 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing picture book recipe.

January 29th, 2024

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cycling Food, Empowerment, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, How To & Tips, Salad Dressings, Salads, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Pear and Avocado Salad Picture Book Directions

Last pos t showed how to make a fully flavorful, exceptionally easy to make, highly versatile Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing. I made that dressing most recently to start a “Gotta’ Eat Smartly” series of food demos with AARP at Eastway Recreation Center in Charlotte earlier this month. That series is designed to give senior citizens the hands-on kitchen skills and knowledge they need to empower themselves to make life-promoting/quality of life improving meals.

If you’re a regular to this site – or know me personally, you know flavor rules – always! Here’s an example. Sure, we could’ve used that Instant 5-Ingredient Salad dressing on a traditional lettuce and tomato salad, but where’s the flavor fun in that? So instead, I showed the group of a dozen very engaged women how to make a Pear and Avocado Salad – and then how to improvise on that very easy base recipe. First, here’s what you need to make the base recipe – and you’ll see that we replaced a store-bought salad dressing in the top picture with our Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing.

I mentioned “improvising” above, and by improvising I mean adding or substituting ingredients based on either/both your taste and/or ingredients you have on hand – and remember, recipes are just guides. So, for example, I asked the women if they thought it would be ok to substitute or even supplement the pears with apples. Sure! And then I suggested adding adding flavors as they liked based on personal taste.

That last sentence fired up a lively discussion. “Can I add chicken or any other meat?” Yes! “What about fresh herbs?” Sure!

“What about adding potato salad?” Absolutely! And that potato salad question led to a talk about mayonnaise in potato salad and which mayonnaise brand I like. My comment: I don’t like using processed foods, like store-bought mayonnaise, with long paragraphs of ingredients, some of which are NOT found in nature. So, I improvise and substitute mayonnaise with Greek yogurt, mustard and spices.

“If you do that, then what about making homemade mayonnaise?” one of the women asked. “A friend of mine makes it all the time and says it’s easy.” Great idea! I’ve never made it before, but I’ll learn and we’ll make it together next time we’re together.

Next time is coming up fast: Thursday, February 8th – and I’ve already started practicing.

I first picked a top-rated homemade mayonnaise recipe from Inspired Taste. I then improvised a bit, as they suggested, and will need to do more of that. You know the flavor deal. I’m not rolling out my version until that flavor kicks it full-on.

In the meantime, back to the Pear and Avocado Salad featured here. Please click this link and pass it on for the easy to follow picture book recipe shown below. And remember: that recipe is just a guide. Play with it. Improvise. And, most of all, have fun!

More soon!

January 24th, 2024

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, How To & Tips, Running Food, Salad Dressings, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing Picture Book Recipe

Last post mentioned work I’ve just started with AARP (American Association of Retired People) and Eastway Rec. Center in Charlotte, NC, to help senior citizens empower themselves in the kitchen to make life-promoting foods.

The first recipe we made together was the Instant 5-Ingredient Salad Dressing shown below, which is just as incredibly versatile as it is easy to make.

First, a quick back story. The first time I ever made this recipe was with a group of fellow veterans who were turning their lives around through Veterans Incorporated (Vets Inc.) in Shrewsbury, MA. One of the guys in the group, a fellow Navy veteran – and terrific character, chimed in when I listed the seven ingredients I intended to use: garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper, mustard, honey, vinegar and oil.

“Why do we need the added salt and sugar? A lot of guys here have diabetes and/or high blood pressure. We don’t need that _____(4-letter word for “stuff”)!”

I get blunt beautifully and had to agree about the added salt and sugar. But this was the first recipe I was rolling out with these guys and first time I’d ever met them. My inner thought: “Fine, I’ll cut the salt and honey – but, boy, this dressing’s gonna’ taste like crap.”

I quickly made the dressing and asked the guys to taste a spoon of it full-on before I tasted it myself. The stunner? They loved it – and so did I.

Not only does this dressing taste great (most important), but it’s also incredibly versatile. As shown in the few sample pictures below, it goes great on any kind of warm or cold salad, over cooked vegetables, meat, chicken, fish, pasta, rice – imagination is your only limit.

Here are the ingredients needed to make this salad dressing. You’ll actually see six ingredients below because I often use two different types of vinegars for added flavor, which you certainly don’t have to do.

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete step-by-step picture recipe that includes information about the sourness of different vinegars and why this recipe is considered low in both salt and sugar.

August 30th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Running, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 4: Fruit, Yogurt & More

Fruit, yogurt and more? Sure, always more! With full-on flavor – that’s half the fun of it. What you see above is what I put together to rocket-fuel up or an excellent hop on the bike with good buds this morning (below) – and with no need to refuel on the way.

You can get the base recipe I used, Summer Multi-Fruit Salad, by clicking either this link or any picture on this page.

To mix it up a bit, here’s what I used for ingredients and…

…how I put it all together – fruit first; then nut butter, cookie butter spread, jam; Greek yogurt & ground flaxseed with nutritional yeast…

…raisins & dried cranberries; and peach kefir. Killer and went great with the slice of cherry peach pancake and iced chocolate, coconut water coffee shown at the top of this page.

Enjoy!

July 11th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Drinks (no alcohol), Fitness Food, Food & Health, Fruit, Fruit Pancakes, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Pancakes, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast to Power Your Body in Motion

Rockets, power, motion! Please tell me you find that “let’s go!” motivating! When it comes to fuel to power endurance exercise/any physical activity to keep your body in motion, the key is making sure to take in fats, protein, some carbohydrates and fluids – and having them all with full-on flavor.

Here’s what I had recently for the hop on the bike shown above with terrific good friends.

The fats, from whole milk Greek yogurt, whole milk kefir, almond-peanut butter and freshly made whipped cream, combined with protein from egg and whole grain flour in the fruit pancake, Greek yogurt and kefir gave me slow-burning sustained energy. The carbohydrates: a little sugar in my iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water drink, cookie spread on my pancake slice and fruit, dried fruit and jam in my fruit and yogurt mix, gave me instant energy to start my ride. And front-loading fluids with 30-40 ounces of iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water got me going well hydrated so that I just needed to top off with water while I rode, and the potassium in coconut water helped both prevent cramps and improve energy metabolism.

Of course, everybody’s body and fuel requirements are different, and only YOU know YOU. That means it’s most important to pay attention to what YOU eat and drink and how that affects YOUR physical performance, no matter what kind of physical activity YOU do. Still, though the fine details differ person to person, the base components are the same: carbohydrates for quick burning energy, a good shot of fat and protein for long-burning, sustained energy and plenty of fluids to start off well hydrated.

The next few posts, starting with iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water (killer good!), will show how to make each of the 3 pieces shown above that I have regularly – and always with a little improvised variety for flavor fun, before hopping out on the bike.

More soon!

June 10th, 2022

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, Running Food, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Improvising: Top Gun Maverick and Fresh Spinach & Berry Salad S2E

If you’ve seen the new, fantastically fun Top Gun Maverick movie, you know the “Mav” is all about improvising on the fly and living to fight another day.

If you’re a regular here, you also know I consider improvisation the spice of life, and that spice of life is all about fun.

Here’s an example. Last post showed how to make this very simple but fully flavorful fresh spinach and berries salad – great summertime stuff!

Now, here are some ingredients you can use to take that same salad from simple to exciting (S2E) all very easily.

Sure, these ingredients look like a lot. But don’t let that bother you. They just represent a range of choices you can pick from or substitute with anything you like to make your salad all your own regarding flavor and dietary needs.

Click this link or the picture below for picture book directions and,…

…back to Top Gun – and fun. The “Mav” might have the bad guys – and the Navy – but he’s got nothing on us roadies. Ha!

May 30th, 2022

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Fitness/Health, Salads & Salad Dressings

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Fresh Spinach and Berry Salad Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to make the (almost) instant 5-ingredient salad dressing below, which is just as fully flavorful and richly versatile as it is simple to make.

Here’s just one of the many salads, that is just as equally full-on flavorful and easy to make as the dressing: Fresh Spinach and Berry Salad.

Regarding the spinach, there’s nothing better than the farm-fresh spinach I used to get from my good bud, Michael Berberian, and his family Berberian’s Farm Stand in Northborough, MA.

Fresh spinach from Berberian’s Farm, Northborough, MA

Now that I’m in North Carolina (which I love!), I usually get my fresh spinach in a bag at Aldi – I’m a big Aldi fan for both their quality and prices, especially in these days with grocery prices skyrocketing.

Here’s what you need to make this Fresh Spinach and Berry Salad:

Just click this link or any picture on this page for a complete picture book recipe.

April 22nd, 2022

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Running Food

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Easy Improvisation on Pineapple, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit

Before getting to the very easy, fully flavorful improvisation, I want to finish the story from the last post about how to speed up pineapple ripening that I’ll lay out in this equation.

My unripe pineapple in a paper bag for 2 days = ripe pineapple

All right! With that freshly ripened pineapple good to go, I could then put together and shoot Pineapple, Berries, Nut Butter, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit, which looks as shown below and is a quick and easy twist on the base Pineapple, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit recipe.

Here’s all you need to make Pineapple, Berries, Nut Butter, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit. And just as I mention in the picture book recipe, all the ingredients you see below work great together, but they’re only suggestions. Imagination is always your only limit to alternative or added ingredients you can use to make this richly flavorful dish all your own.

Click this link or any picture on this page for complete picture book directions.

August 23rd, 2021

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cycling Food, Dessert, Fitness Food

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Fully Flavorful Banana Ice Cream Picture Book Directions

This easy-to-make, fully flavorful banana ice cream is made with only the 3 ingredients shown below: bananas, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon – no cream or sugar at all. Best of all, with those 3 simple ingredients as a base, you can use your imagination to take flavor as far as you want to go. I’ll show you some examples over the next couple posts.

The only kicker: you’ll need a sturdy food processor, as shown below, to make this recipe. If you don’t have one, either click this link for mash and freeze banana ice cream, which doesn’t require a food processor, or borrow a food processor from a friend or relative and make enough banana ice cream to share with them.

Click this link or any picture on this page for easy-to-follow 3 ingredient banana ice cream picture book directions.

March 13th, 2021

Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Beans, Grains, Nutrition, One Bowl Meals

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Savory Steel Cut Oats with Beans, Avocado & Bell Pepper Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to put together a fully-flavorful, energy sustaining sweet one bowl meal with cooked steel cut oats, nut butter, fresh fruit and kefir. As I mentioned in earlier posts, steel cut oats are richly versatile and can be used to make savory dishes just as well as sweet tasting dishes.

And I know that sounds counterintuitive, “my breakfast oats mixed with savory ingredients – really?”, but it works great!

Here’s an example: Savory Steel Cut Oats with Beans, Avocado & Bell Pepper that combines the full flavor, chew, and potent fiber, complex carbohydrate and protein benefits of steel cut oats and beans with the zesty flavor of vitamin-rich fresh avocado, bell pepper, and cilantro shown below.

Click this link or any picture on this page for the easy-to-follow picture book recipe, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is for you to use either as is or as a visual guide to improvise with ingredients and flavors to make this savory steel cut oats meal all your own.