The holiday season beckons – bedecked and bejeweled with limitless temptation for overindulgence and overdoing – food, drink, social activities, work, and if you are someone like me who has a difficult time saying “enough!”, it also arrives with ample opportunity  for self-neglect. Running on foods that don’t necessarily feed the body, dehydration, not getting enough rest or sleep or even necessary down time alone all contribute to a feeling of low performance once the New Year begins.

Keeping the body nutritionally and mentally healthy during this time is key to maintaining good immunity and energy levels for peak performance. I walk a tricky tightrope between a busy catering and social season and if  a healthy balance of diet, exercise and rest  is not implemented, I’ll be wasted, down and useless in no time flat.

It’s often easy to forget to eat or to satisfy hunger with something quick, dirty and nutritionally lacking so it’s helpful to  keep powerful snack-type bites or smoothie/green drink makings available and simple.

This broccoli spread which tastes a bit of the Mediterranean and eats rich and luscious is something I came up with last week after scoring a generous quantity  of sweet and deep blue-green local broccoli from my friend , Kari, of Farm Share Ohio. Deliciously gratifying – yes, but let’s also take  look at the nutritional benefits packed into the ingredients which comprise this recipe:

Broccoli – What can’t this wonder vegetable do? Local, organic is best.

Tahini – A powerhouse food – really! Excellent source of EFA’s and calcium. My favorites are the light, sweet & buttery  brand  Al Kaneter and the rich, fire roasted Tohum

Miso – Loaded with beneficial probiotics and digestive enzymes. Make mine South River, please!

Sea salt – Maintains electrolytes, provides trace minerals. An easy one to locate is Celtic Sea Salt

Lemon juice – Helps alkinalize the body,an anti-bacterial,  source vitamins C & A. Buy organic.

Garlic – Powerful cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Turmeric – “One of nature’s most powerful healers” – enough said.

It’s all about balance. Eat some broccoli spread, stay hydrated, practice  yoga or other form of exercise, rest well. And then you can enjoy your buche de noel – or in my case, a Thin Lizzy. Happy holidays!!!

Broccoli Tahini Spread

Yield: approximately 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

Broccoli – 4 cups rough-chopped

Miso – 1 tablespoon ( I used South River chickpea miso)

Tahini – 4 tablespoons

Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon

Garlic – one fat clove, mashed with a pinch of sea salt

Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon

Sea salt, to taste.

Boil broccoli in well-salted,  abundant water. Turn into a large strainer and drain. While still warm , place in the bowl of a processor and pulse just to break it up. Add the miso, tahini, lemon juice, garlic paste, turmeric, and process until smooth. Taste and correct seasoning.

I used some of this as a sandwich filling slathered in pita with some marinated feta and leaves of fresh mint – wonderful.

What do some of the local area chefs, purveyor, farmers, foodies *wink wink* want for the holidays? Find out over at Cleveland Foodie!

If you can help: my young, beautiful friend Leah has been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She has mounting medical costs. Leah’s sister has set up a donation site, so if you are inspireded to help, please do. Many thanks. http://www.giveforward.org/leah/

The morning found me gleefully bursting out of bed at the crack of dawn instead of my usual reluctant sleepy crawl. And although I can certainly understand why you might think so, the source of all of this pre bird-chirping giddy elation is not because I just discovered that The B52′s have released their first new album in over sixteen years (however my a.m coffee is a just a titch on the fuerte side and you may find me bouncing around to Cindy and Fred singing about having their hearts broken at the Funplex any moment now). No, this is much, much bigger. I am leaving in a few hours to spend a few days in Charlotte with my cousins who happen to be some of my favorite people ever to have walked the planet.

It has been one and a half years since our last visit together, and that is one and a half years too long to be away from people you love so much. I long for their gentle and easy manner, the engaging and witty conversation and the way that everybody just abundantly loves and enjoys each other so darned much that I always find it difficult to leave.

My cousin’s tall, dark-haired, natural beauty of a wife Tamara, has the most soothing voice. A little bit Southern but not drawl; when she speaks I just want to curl up while allowing her voice to wrap and float around me like a softly petaled blanket of sweet magnolia. We keep in touch by phone and e-mail, and when I am not seeking her kindly advice on life’s little catastrophes, talk frequently turns to food and we exchange recipes. I was recently describing an Israeli salad that I crave so much that once made, I need to eat it every day until I finally tire of the repetition. Tamara then told me of a secret salad dressing that she makes that “I can eat until my mouth hurts”.

This dressing, or a version of, was popular in a couple of the vegetarian restaurants situated around the Raleigh-Durham area while Tamara was in college. My other cousin’s wife worked at one of these restaurants for about a week or so while she was attending school at Duke, just long enough to figure out what went into the dressing (my cousins and their crafty wives!), added her touches, and passed it along to Tamara. Tamara then worked her own alchemy on what now has become known as The Secret Sesame Salad Dressing.

Only a very few secrets are meant to be shared, and when you tell me one, it goes to the bank. I was fortunate enough to receive the secret dressing recipe, and I am telling you, it is everything Tamara promised and then some; while I was shooting the salad photo, all I kept thinking about was when I could finally get my fork into that salad and inhale it’s addictive magical lemony tahini dressing that perfectly coated and complemented the selection of crunchy fresh vegetables. It is in fact so amazing and wonderous that I must share the joy with you as I am a sharing-type person. So, in the spirit of keeping Tamara’s secret recipe safe and hopefully ensuring another invite back to Charlotte, I did some minor re-tailoring of the already twice-altered recipe to come up with my own now not-so-secret take for you too enjoy.

I have a huge smile on my face knowing that I’ll soon be in Charlotte with my cousins in the balm and sun, and maybe we’ll be eating Secret Sesame Salad Dressing until our mouths hurt together.

Secret Sesame Salad Dressing
Yield: 5 cups
This salad dressing begs to be combined with something crunchy. I created a sensational fattoush-inspired salad meal with what I had on hand: some sliced Spring onions, Kirby cucumber , celery stalks and their tender leaves, diced watermelon radish, a handful of Rancho Gordo garbanzo beans and leaves of fresh cilantro. I crumbled in some seasoned crisps I made from Ezekiel’s live sprouted grain tortillas: 350 oven. Brush tortilla(s) with thin glaze of olive oil, sprinkle with za’atar seasoning and crunchy sea salt and bake until crisp, 5-7 minutes.

1/2 large onion cut into chunks
1 small green pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
2 stalks of celery cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic cut into halves
1 tsp. black pepper
1 cup tahini
3/4 cup tamari
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in blender until smooth. While motor is running, slowly add in olive oil and blend again until smooth. Check for seasoning.

Tamara says, “This makes a lot, so it’s good for sharing”. It does, and I did.