The Exciting World of Phytonutrients 
and
What we ate for
Sunday Evening Dinner

Roasted Kabocha Squash

Sauteed Broccoli

Baked Potatoes with Toppings

My plate full of baked potato with topping, broccoli, and roasted kabocha squash.

I've been taking an online course on health, nutrition, and lifestyle.  This last week's topic was "Super Foods" and the lectures which caught my attention were on phytonutrients.  

Phytonutrients are constituents found in whole plant foods  which have antioxidant properties and play a role in reduction of disease.  Scientists have found and named over 2,000 phytonutrients to date and more are being discovered all the time.  

Some examples of Super Foods are:

Blueberries (and other berries)

Beans

Kale and broccoli and all cruciferous vegetables

Walnuts (seeds like chia and other nuts)

Oranges and Citrus Fruit

Pumpkin (and other winter squash and yams)

Oats

Salmon

Yogurt

Quinoa

This is not a complete list and different sources list different foods as "super".  The thing about the plant based foods on these lists is that they have amazing phytonutrients in them.  For instance, orange foods like carrots, yams, winter squash and pumpkin, tomatoes and watermelon all have carotenoids and/or lycopene.  The potential benefits of these particular phytonutrients are cancer prevention, boosting immunity, and antioxidant coverage.  

These Super Foods have a function above and beyond nutrition because they have disease fighting aspects.  I think this is super cool!

Some of us are already eating a diet high in these types of food and reaping the benefits of many many phytonutrients in the food we choose and eat. I like to think of these thousands of phytonutrients as a little army of beneficial naturally occurring chemicals happily invading my body and making me a stronger vehicle for health and well being! If you don't eat a lot of these foods on a regular basis then you might consider just adding one "super food" per meal or snack so that you can begin to reap the benefits of all they contain.

Tonight's dinner was colorful and full of plant foods with lots of phytonutrients!  We had baked potatoes, sautéed broccoli, and roasted kabocha squash.

Here's the kabocha squash cut into moon shapes and coated with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. They are in a big mixing bowl I bought this week at a yard sale - reminds me of the bowls my Grandma used in her kitchen.

 The kabocha laid out on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper.

Roasted and ready to eat.  Yum!

Roasted Kabocha Squash

1 kabocha squash sliced into moon shape slices

Olive oil

Sea salt

Ground Pepper

1.  Carefully slice the kabocha squash in half and then carve slices off, about 1/2 inch thick. This is a squash whose skin you can eat and it is delicious! Toss in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, some sea salt, and ground pepper to taste.

2.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (this will make clean up so easy!).  Lay the moon shaped slices on the sheet and roast in the oven at 400 degrees.  Check after 15 minutes and see how the squash is doing.  It will get soft and the edges may begin to brown a bit.  It will take 20 or more minutes to roast completely.

Here are the potatoes baking!  Wash the potatoes, poke with a fork or blade of a knife.  If you are watching your fat intake and salt content then just put these bad boys into the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour.  If you are less worried about fat or salt in your diet at this point then rub the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Yep, this is the way to go if you can afford the extra calories and a bit of salt.

Potatoes get a bad rap in the carbohydrate world.  Yes, it's true, a yam may have more overall benefits, but a potato is a good food.  It really is.  It's a healthy choice depending on how you cook it and what you put on it. Did you know that the average American eats 29 pounds of french fries?  Let's keep it all in perspective, folks!

This is the "cashew cheddar cheese" spread we used on our bakers.  We also had some Tofutti sour cream, chopped olives, and soy baco bits.

The "cashew cheddar cheese" recipe is from a new cookbook called "The Ayurvedic Vegan Kitchen" by Talya Lutzker.  I am going to post the recipe but I really want you to go buy this book and support my friend Talya!  Talya is a yoga and foodie friend who lives here in Santa Cruz.  You can order her book at Amazon.  Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_20?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+ayurvedic+vegan+kitchen&sprefix=The+Ayurvedic+vegan+%2Cstripbooks%2C959

Cashew Cheddar Cheese

Recipe by Talya Lutzker

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup water

1 cup raw cashews

1 tablespoon raw tahini

2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast Flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

juice of 1 lemon

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or ground pepper

1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the work bowl or blender jar.  

2.  Serve as a dip, spread, or topping.

Note:  If you are sensitive to bell pepper or vegetables in the nightshade family, substitute 1/2 small jicama for the red bell pepper.

I reduced the amount of cumin in our "cheese", as well.  1/2 teaspoon seems to suit us better.  This is the kind of recipe you can play with to better suit your tastes and needs.

We cut the baked potato open and dump a bunch of dollops of this cashew yumminess on top.  We've also used this cashew cheddar cheese as topping on enchiladas, vegetables, and plain quinoa.  It's really amazing.  I am so happy Talya made this delicious spread and shared it with the world in her cookbook.

Our friends, Deb and Bryce, served us broccoli we could not stop eating!  We have learned their secret and have been cooking our broccoli like this all fall and winter.  

Sauteed and Steamed Broccoli

A big bunch of broccoli, washed, heads cut off stems

1 - 2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons water

small amount of sea salt

small amount of ground pepper

1.  Wash the broccoli and then cut the heads off the stems.  (you can save the stems to juice or add to smoothies)

2.  Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of high heat oil.

3.  Add the broccoli and cover.  Cook for 2 minutes on medium high heat.

4.  Lift the cover and add the 2 tablespoons of water with the salt and pepper mixed in.  Pour over the broccoli and cover tightly.  Cook for 2 minutes.  This will stem the seared broccoli.

5.  Eat it all up.  Yum.  Yum.

Here's our dinner plate.  A big baked potato covered with the cashew cheddar cheese (it's under the olives and soy baco bits), a big pile of broccoli, and a big pile of roasted kabocha squash.  Where are the phytonutrients?  The orange squash, the green cruciferous broccoli, the potato and skin, the red bell pepper in the sauce, and the cashews in the sauce.  

Enjoy!!!