Roasted Sweet Potato with Rosemary & Orange

Roasting sweet potatoes really brings out their natural sweetness and almost caramelizes them and the addition of orange juice, mandarin slices and fresh rosemary works with the flavor of the sweet potatoes to create a subtle but very tasty dish. It’s great served warm or cold the next day. It’s really filling too, I’ll often have just this and a big salad.

In New Zealand, sweet potatoes are commonly called kumara, and they were brought here by the first settlers, the Maori for whom they were an important staple crop. They come in a variety of different colors, which all have slightly different flavors, but any kind can be used for this recipe.

This is a sweet potato (a.k.a. kumara)

First of all, because there seems to be some confusion between sweet potatoes, kumaras and yams I want to show you what I’m using. These are called kumara in New Zealand, which is the Maori word for sweet potato. And they are, in fact, sweet potatoes, but I’ve never heard them referred to as sweet potatoes here. So, to hopefully avoid any confusion, here’s what a sweet potato (kumara) looks like (there is some variation in color between different varieties, at least in New Zealand.

This is a really easy recipe to adjust for different volumes, depending on how much you want to make. It keeps really well in the fridge, and it’s delicious cold as well, so you might want to make more than you need for one meal. As a rule of thumb, you want to start with about twice as much as you need, because it will cook down to about half the amount.

Ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tablespoons organic tamari
1-2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
2 mandarins, peeled and separated into slices
1 orange or tangelo, juiced
handful of walnut pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 C. Add the olive oil to a shallow baking dish and make sure it’s evenly spread around to prevent the sweet potato from sticking.

Cut off the pointy ends of the sweet potatoes and peel. Chop into cubes and put into the baking dish. The bigger the pieces the longer it will take to cook, so I normally cut them into pieces 1cm (3/4 inch) square. I usually put the baking dish into the oven at this point, even if it’s not up to temperature, while I chop and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Strip the rosemary leaves from the stem and chop them as finely as you can. You want about 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped fresh rosemary. Sprinkle on top of the sweet potato.

Everything chopped and ready to go into the oven

Peel 2 cloves of garlic and press through a garlic press or mince and add to the sweet potato mix, along with the cinnamon, sea salt, honey are agave syrup and tamari. Toss everything together so the oil and spices evenly coat all the pieces of sweet potato. If you’re using honey and it’s quite thick it’s easier if you add it after the sweet potato has been in the oven for 15-20 minutes and started to heat up. The heat will liquify the honey and make it easier to mix in.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until sweet potato is soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and make sure everything gets cooked evenly. The cooking time may vary depending on how deep your mixture is and how large the pieces of sweet potato are.

When the sweet potato is soft,  add the orange or tangelo juice (use tangelo juice if you can, the flavor is really beautiful) and mix thoroughly. Put the dish back in and turn the grill on high to brown and caramelize the top. Cook another 10-15 minutes, being careful to watch and stir frequently enough that it doesn’t burn.

Remove from oven, toss in mandarin slices and walnut pieces and toss everything a bit to make sure they are evenly distributed. Serve and enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potato with Rosemary & Orange ready to eat as part of your main meal or as a cold sweet potato salad

If you like that sweet, sticky, caramelized flavor just put it under the grill to brown it after it’s finished roasting. This has such a beautiful, naturally sweet flavor it’s almost like a dessert.

If you like it more caramelized just put it under the grill after it's finished roasting

Carob Mint Superfood Smoothie

This carob superfood smoothie has become my latest addiction. They are so good I sometimes have them twice a day. And I don’t mean, have a glassful, I’m talking the whole blenderful! Kids would love this smoothie!

They are great cold, like a thick non-dairy milkshake, if you use frozen bananas and let the mint tea cool before making the smoothie. But they are equally nice if you use fresh (not frozen) bananas and make it while the mint tea is still warm (not too hot though). It’s winter here in New Zealand, and it’s just turned really cold. I always find it hard to stick to a predominantly raw food diet when the weather turns cold, and amazingly just having these warm smoothies in the morning, and warm tea at night is making it really easy.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cup mint tea
3 ripe bananas (fresh or frozen)
2 Tbsp carob powder (raw carob if possible)
1 Tbsp Maca powder
1 Tbsp Lucuma powder
1 Tbsp Mesquite powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder or extract
1 tsp honey (optional)
1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)

Instructions:

Carob Mint Superfood Shake

Make the mint tea by steeping a handful of mint leaves in 3 cups hot water until cool (or warm if you want a warm smoothie) and then straining the leaves out. Some of the water will evaporate leaving about 2-1/2 cups, but don’t worry if it’s more or less.

The honey, or whatever sweetener you prefer is optional. Carob is naturally sweet, as are the bananas, and the superfoods mesquite, lucuma and maca (to some extent), so it doesn’t necessarily need sweetening. Just go with what tastes good to you. The chia seeds will thicken it up. Chia are quite amazing, they are very sustaining and even using a small amount like this will I notice the difference. If I put chia seeds in this smoothie I can go for hours before I feel hungry.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend well.

Thick & Creamy Vegan Vanilla Shake

I wasn’t sure whether to call this a shake or a smoothie, because it reminded me so much of a vanilla milkshake so I opted for calling it both. This is one of the best smoothie (shake) recipes I’ve come up with so far. I was actually going to call this a breakfast smoothie until I decided to have it for dinner too because I enjoyed it so much.

This is one of those quick and easy smoothie recipes that is just so delicious and nutritious that there’s no excuse not to make it any time you need a quick meal or pick-me-up.

Vanilla, honey, maca and lucuma are all superfoods. Sesame seeds have more protein than any other seed or nut, are loaded with calcium, iron, and magnesium. Plus they contain lignans that can help burn fat. Flaxseed (also called linseed), is high in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and fiber. Oats are the king of the grains, they help lower blood cholesterol, are a good source of magnesium, zinc and vitamin E and are also very high in fiber. And the humble banana… contains potassium and vitamin B6, which the body needs to make serotonin the brain-chemical which makes you feel good. Bananas also have plenty of fiber, and it’s a particular type of fiber that aids bowel health, and has been found to lower the incidence of bowel cancer. Whew! And if you need any more convincing, just taste it.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
4 ripe bananas, peeled (fresh or frozen)
1 cup oats *
4 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp flaxseed (linseed)
2-3 tbsp honey or agave nectar (to taste)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 teas natural vanilla extract
dash of Himalayan sea salt
1 tbsp maca-root powder or lucuma powder (optional)

Instructions:

Grind the sesame seeds and flaxseed to a fine meal. A coffee grinder works beautifully for this, otherwise use a high-powered blender (make sure the inside of the blender jug is dry). Grind the oats to a fine meal in a coffee grinder or a high-powered blender.

Add all the ingredients to the blender. Blend well until, rich and creamy.

Makes 5 cups.

* Oats are almost always cooked, even when you find them as oat groats. It’s very rare to find truly raw oats, but if you want a 100% raw shake and can’t find raw oats you can substitute buckwheat groats instead. Just soak and sprout them for a day or two, but make sure to use them before the tails get longer than the buckwheat seeds. You can dehydrate the sprouted buckwheat and grind it, or just add the fresh sprouted buckwheat to the blender. The result is not as creamy in texture, but it’s still really nice and super healthy.

Honeybees at work making honey

Here in New Zealand we have a secret, it’s called Manuka honey and it can heal our bodies both externally and internally, but thats not all, some honey when tested in the lab has been found to contain a second unique healing factor which enhances the uniqueness of this wonderful natural healing nectar.

Manuka honey is a ‘mono-floral’ honey, meaning it’s made predominately from one flower, in this case it’s made from the delicate small flowers of the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium) or Tea tree as some call it . Native to the shores of New Zealand, its a pretty low growing tree which has an abundance of tiny white or pink flowers in summer, and it’s wood is highly prized for its aroma and is used in wood fired pizza ovens or in the smoking of many food items, but it’s the nectar we are interested in today.

Two Types of Manuka honey

According to New Zealand scientists, there are two types of Manuka honey; one is an ‘ordinary’ Manuka honey which contains a natural hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, this is not unique to Manuka honey, it’s found in most honeys.

The second type is the special ‘active’ Manuka honey which contains a natural non-hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, the scientists call this UMF, translated as the Unique Manuka Factor. The difference in the two honeys cannot be determined by taste, texture or color, to determine if the honey is active requires clinical testing and then the activeness’ is rated.

Different strengths of ‘Active’ UMF

There are different ‘degrees’ of UMF activity and this is rated on a numbered scale:
0-4 UMF is not detected and therefore just ‘honey’
4-10 UMF is present in a ‘maintenance’ level only, so good for when all healing os completed and just tops up the bodies levels
10-15 UMF is present in ‘healing’ amounts
15+ UMF is present in super healing amounts and can be used to fight active bacterial infections or correct health issues, like stomach ulcers etc.

What makes ‘Active’ Manuka honey special?

UMF, is a special property which inhibits the growth of certain ‘resistant’ bacteria’s, the most common being helicobacter pylori which is responsible for stomach ulcers, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes both bacteria’s cause nasty throat infections.

The UMF property in active manuka honey has been found to fight these otherwise resistant bacteria’s with excellent results, the reason being it is resistant to heat and is slower to be broken down by the internal working of our bodies, therefore able to put up a stronger fight.

Specific Uses for Active Manuka honey

A spoonful of active manuka honey daily is a good overall health tonic, but sometimes it can be used on specific problems and reduces the need for a ‘chemical’ ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotic.

Stomach Ulcers:
Research has shown that active manuka honey inhibits the growth and kills off the helicobacter pylori bacteria which are commonly responsible for stomach ulcers. The ‘normal’ honey with hydrogen peroxide properties was not effective in this case.

Wounds, burns and many skin irritation complaints:
Because of it’s increased anti bacterial qualities, active Manuka honey can be used directly on the surface of the skin to treat many skin conditions like acne or eczema which are often created by skin flora bacteria.

It is also extremely effective in the treatment of a variety of open wounds, like burns, boils. It’s used extensively in the Health profession for treating infected leg ulcers, often infected with resistant bacteria’s like staphylococcus aureus or pseudomonas aeruginosa which have not been controlled with ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotics.

I personally cannot think of a nicer way to heal my body, internally or externally than the natural aromatic active Manuka honey.

Suzi Franks, a former ER Nurse with over 15 years experience is now a healer of The Earth. I have now dedicated my life to tending my piece of paradise and returning the chemical torn landscape back to its former glory with lovingly applied organic principles and tender loving care. I am on a quest to help share my knowledge of organic vegetable growing, so you and others may feel the goodness of Mother Nature and eat her bountiful gifts.

Click here to read more articles by Suzi Franks

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Raw Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream

Blueberries are a superfruit. They are extremely high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which combat oxidative stress and inflammation that many experts believe are involved in all the major killer diseases as well as age-related conditions like arthritis and memory loss. In fact, blueberries are considered the ultimate memory food. Bananas contain potassium and fiber. Avocados are high in good heart-healthy fats, and lutein, an antioxidant that’s great for your eyes and skin.

All tremendously healthy foods to eat. Blend them together and you’ve got one of the most delicious and satisfying desserts ever. Well I think so anyway. I ate the whole lot of this myself for dinner. Isn’t it every child’s dream to eat dessert for dinner? As adults we can do whatever we want, but usually don’t because we know it’s not healthy for us. Well, go ahead, now you can live the dream and know you’re still eating healthy!

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1/2 avocado
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp honey
dash Himalayan sea salt
water

Instructions:

Add honey, lemon juice, flesh of the avocado and dash of salt to blender. Blend well until creamy, add a bit of water as needed to keep it blending. If you add the honey after the frozen fruit it will harden and be harder to blend in.

Add remaining ingredients and blend well until creamy. Add water, a little at a time, as needed to keep the mixture blending and get the consistency you like.

Serve and eat immediately. Serves 2, or 1 if you are like me!