Bone Health

By Jan Ridgely

Nourishing recipes to boost your calcium and mineral intake without dairy products.

Arame Sauté

This recipe is from Christina Pirello (www.christinacooks.com). Sea veggies are packed with minerals such as, calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. They also make the blood strong and your hair lustrous. Serves 4-6.

½ cup arame-rinsed well and set aside to soften. Do not soak. It will soften in a few minutes. Spring or filtered water 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil 2-3 shallots-diced 2 cups button mushrooms-brushed free of dirt and thinly sliced 1 cup carrots-fine matchsticks Several broccoli stalks-tiny florets and stems diced Soy sauce Small handful sunflower seeds-lightly toasted or lightly toasted sesame seeds (1 tablespoon has 104 mg of calcium!)

Place arame in a small saucepan with water to half cover. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Season lightly with soy sauce and continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed. Heat oil in a skillet and sauté shallots until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté until limp. Add carrots and sauté until well-coated with oil. Finally, add broccoli, stir quickly, season lightly with soy sauce and cover. Allow to cook over low heat until broccoli is bright green and crispy tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in arame and toss in sunflower seeds. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm.

Synergistic Salad

This salad takes its name from the magical ability of the ingredients to lower cholesterol when included in a diet rich in grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit. The combination of carrots, ginger, apple, garlic and parsley is far more powerful together than eating these foods separately. This recipe came from my Cooking with Whole Foods class at Bastyr University and was created by Mary Bowman. This is an excellent way to get your omega-3 oils from the flax and olive oils, so essential to every aspect of your health. Serves 4-6.

4 medium sized organic carrots, matchstick sliced or grated 1 apple cut into think slivers or grated 2 inch piece of gingerroot, peeled and thinly slivered 1 or 2 cloves of garlic 1/3 cup parsley, finely minced 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons oil - one flaxseed and one extra virgin olive Pinch cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon sea salt

Combine all of the salad ingredients. Combine all of the dressing ingredients. Toss with the salad and serve.

Miso-Broiled Tofu

This recipe is taken from Annemarie Colbin's wonderful book Food and Our Bones. I highly recommend reading it. She's the author of numerous cookbooks and the founder of the Natural Gourmet Cooking School in New York. Serves 4.

• 12 ounces firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon organic mellow barley miso
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard
• 1 ½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water

Slice the tofu into 8 ½-inch slabs, and lay them flat in a shallow baking pan. Mix the miso, lemon juice, mustard, oil and water until they form a thickish paste. Brush or smear over both sides of the tofu slices. Allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Broil about 5 minutes on each side, turning over once, or until nicely browned.

Southern-Style Cornbread

This recipe replaces the lard and eggs used in my grandmother's recipe! It is adapted from Leslie McEachern's recipe, which she serves at Angelica Kitchen, her exclusive organic restaurant, located in New York. Her cookbook is called The Angelica Home Kitchen. I found the recipe and info on the restaurant and cookbook in my most favourite publication of all time, A Real Life. It is full of inspiration, hope and resources to live with intention. Barbara McNally is the writer, 802-893-7040. Serves 6-8.

• 1 cup cornmeal (difficult to find in Switzerland, try using Semoule de Mais Fine which I found at Le Topinambour health food store, you don't want polenta, it's too coarse, nor flour which is too fine!)
• ½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• ½ cup unbleached white flour
• 2teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup soy milk
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C). Oil an 8 to 10-inch round ovenproof glass or cast iron skillet. Whisk together the cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached white flour and baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the soymilk, olive oil, maple syrup and sea salt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon; do not over mix. Pour into the oiled baking dish and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool. Slice into wedges and serve.

Winter Fruit Compote with Cashew Cream

This recipe, taken from Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family, is true winter comfort food! The variations on the fruit are endless. I know I haven't found dried cherries here in Lausanne, but in Seattle, they are abundant. We'll use raisins today instead. Serves 4.

Compote:

• ¼ cup dried apricots
• ¼ cup dried cherries (or raisins)
• ¼ cup pitted prunes
• 1 apple, sliced
• 1 pear, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup apple juice

Cashew Cream:

• 1 cup raw, unsalted cashews (raw almonds work too)
• ¼ cup water
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place apricots, cherries (or raisins), prunes, apple, pear, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and juice in a medium-size pan; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered for 20-30minutes, until all the fruit is soft. Remove cinnamon stick. Grind nuts in a food processor or spice grinder until smooth. Put ground nuts, water, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a blender and blend until smooth. It should have the consistency of thick pancake batter. Put fruit compote in individual serving bowls and top with Cream.