I just got this really interesting book called
'The Power of Ancient Foods' and along with recipes, it tours the regions of the world and discusses the various foods of ancient civilizations and how the nutrients and healing properties in these foods kept ancient peoples free from diseases and conditions which affect us today. It's not new that beans, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables are the keys to a healthy life but unfortunately the majority of the world today relies on cheap convenience foods and chemical laden "frankenstein" foods that don't offer any nutritional benefits.
So anyway, I just got through reading about the ancient foods of South America, Central America, Mexico and Southwestern United States. Some of the foods discussed: peppers, chiles, corn, beans, quinoa, amaranth, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, cocoa, pumpkins and squashes. What a delicious variety of foods! I was inspired by one of the recipes for "Posole and Winter Squash Stew with Red Chile". What luck that I happened to have a can of hominy in my pantry. I had some beautiful zucchini so I decided to use those instead of the butternut squash. I also added peppers, jalapenos, pinto beans and collard greens. The stew is flavored with onions, cumin, oregano, garlic and New Mexico chili powder. I'll be having this for dinner tonight after work with a side of hot whole wheat flour tortillas. I tasted a bit and it's fantastic, a bit spicy and full of powerful foods!
Recipe
2 TB olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
1 TB jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 TB New Mexico chili powder
1 28oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed (You can cut this in half if you want!)
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
pinch of sugar
3 cups water
1 14oz. can pinto beans
2 leaves of collard greens, chopped
chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime
Saute oil, onion, garlic, red bell pepper, jalapeno and zucchini in a soup pot over medium heat until it starts to brown. Lower heat and add the cumin, oregano, chili powder and some salt and pepper. Stir around a bit and then add the tomato sauce, hominy, collards, sugar, beans and 3 cups of water. Simmer until veggies are tender about 20 minutes. Add more water if stew is too thick. Taste for salt. Garnish with cilantro and lime juice.
Healthy wraps for lunch today made with collard greens and zucchini slices as wrappers and two different nut spreads and an assortment of fresh veggies. The spread on the left is the black pepper cashew cheeze (cashews, lemon juice, miso, water, black pepper) from Ani Phyo's raw book. I added yellow miso for some saltiness. The one on the right is the Sun-dried tomato pâté from "You Won't Believe It's Vegan". I didn't have enough sun-dried tomatoes so it's not as red in color but it's got good stuff in it: almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, olive oil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and black olives.
