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Broccoli Caesar Salad

When I tell people what I do (if and when I elaborate past ‘Personal Chef’) I get some very mixed reactions. Sometimes it’s a conversation ender, many people tell me personal stories about cancer in their life, but for the most part, people tend to ask questions about the style of food I make. More than once I have been asked if I spend my days making broccoli salad.

In general the answer to that is no, each client has their own personalized eating plan that changes from one day to the next depending on the unpredictability of cancer treatment feelings. However, today the answer is yes, I am all about the broccoli salad.

Broccoli, the tree-like vegetable, all green and low glycemic, a proud member of the crushing cancer mafia family, Crucifer, is a bit of an anticancer stereotype, I get it. But if you really think about it, when was the last time you ate broccoli that wasn’t all wrapped up in Asian noodles? When was the last time you ate it in a ‘if there was no broccoli, this dish couldn’t happen’ kind of a way?

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Roasted Beet Salad with Spiced Chick Peas & Tahini Dressing

Beet salad, generally speaking, does not excite me. It needs textural and temperature contrast, (extreme) freshness and a brush of finesse to stand out from the crowd. Maybe the deli case versions and possibly the beets/chevre/mixed greens restaurant staples are in part responsible. Beets need attention and excitement to really shine.

I feel like maybe we have stopped thinking about beets and asking where they see themselves outside of where they have been typecast. Is it because they turn everything the colour of strawberry ice cream? Because it is a tricky colour for something that tastes so earthy to pull off. Maybe it’s because they are so intensely sweet….yet savory.

The thing is, they are totally worth a bit of a reinvention if it gets you re-interested in them, they are just so good for you. For starters, they are full of the intense pigment, betalain (also seen in pink chard stems and my favourite vacation flowers of the same colour, bougainvillea). They contain anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory powers, promote blood flow and blood purification, and help prevent anemia and constipation. All very good things if you have/had or are hoping to prevent cancer. For optimum health benefits, leave the skin on (you will hardly notice it).

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Smokey Split Pea Soup

Vegan Smokey Split Pea Soup

Quite a few years ago I took a contract job cooking for a self-proclaimed ‘meat, potatoes and sometimes ice cream guy’ who wanted to try a vegan, raw food diet. He admitted that he didn’t love most vegetables but was interested in improving his overall health (he didn’t have cancer). I love a challenge, but this was really challenging. I only had one frustrated (and colourful) juice pulp-throwing incident (thrown by me) before I started thinking with my meat brain. What would my Dad eat? I figured out ways to tickle that umami part of the brain, using different spices and veggies.

Vegan Smokey Split Pea Soup

Smoked paprika helped a lot. In general, smoked foods aren’t great for our health; they can contain toxins that come from the burning matter creating the smoke. We’re not talking about eating smoked meat here, or smoked fish, you will only be getting a small amount of the paprika, but the flavour will remind you (or your meat and potatoes buddy) of that chorizo-filled trip to Spain.

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New Years Black-eyed Peas and Greens

New Years Black-eyed Peas

To many people, eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day is considered good luck. Even if you don’t consider yourself overly superstitious, a cancer diagnosis in the family can leave you suddenly making wishes on every fallen eyelash and picking up pennies off the sidewalk. So if you are feeling as though an injection of luck would be a good way to kick off your New Year, I have a delicious way for you to do so. There will also be kale.

Black-eyed Peas

I love black-eyed peas. They are nice and small so they don’t take forever to cook and they become very creamy once cooked through. They are also high in protein, and offer kidney and adrenal support. This is great news for anybody but is specifically useful for people with cancer because fear is known to affect the kidneys and stress is often responsible for squashing your adrenals. Fear and stress are obviously common emotions for those with cancer in their lives, whether directly or indirectly, making this dish a pretty deliciously supportive and grounding way to start the New Year.

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