Here’s another warm weather meal for those days when you want a lighter meal.
Use your favorite salad greens – or the ones you’re getting from the farmer’s market right now. For added personality, use some arugula and some parsley for part of the salad greens.
We’ve used many different grains in this recipe – whatever we have on hand, leftover from a previous meal. Wheatberries are nice and chewy and a nice match with the chickpeas, but if you have brown rice or quinoa or something else in your fridge or freezer, use it up here. (If you cook a double recipe of grains every time you make them, you can freeze the extra for later use. Just cool and put the leftovers in a freezer weight zipper bag. Freeze it flat for easy storage.)
If you have other salad veggies in your fridge, go ahead and add them. We especially like leftover cooked (and cooled) green beans and cucumbers in this salad – but whatever you love will work.
You may want to double the dressing and pass the extra at the table, especially with added veggies.
12 cups salad greens
4 cups cooked wheatberries (cooled)
2 pounds cherry tomatoes (mixed varieties if possible)
3 cups cooked chickpeas
4-5 scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 large bunch cilantro (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Make the dressing in a food processor or blender. With the machine on, drop in a whole clove of garlic and mince it. Turn off the processor, scrape down the sides, add the cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse to combine.
Cut the tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl with the chickpeas. Pour the dressing over the top and toss gently to coat.
Divide the salad greens among six plates. Divide the cooked and cooled wheatberries among six plates, making a flattened circle in the center of each plate. Top with the chickpea and cherry tomato salad. Garnish with a cilantro sprig.
Marilu.com is the place to learn more about health and memory. Marilu’s health program is targeted to healthy living, not just diet and exercise. Knowing how to dig up your memories – good and bad – and how to learn from the feelings they bring improves your total health.
You can take a class from Marilu on memory & health!
Separate classes on Memory, Dance, and Motivation at Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Health Getaway at The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2011. REGISTER NOW
Online classes at Marilu.com regularly feature Marilu on the topics of health and memory. Sign up for the mailing list right over there to the right >>>
Also look for Marilu’s book on memory (working title: An Unforgettable Life – YOURS!), coming later this year from Simon & Schuster. We’ll give you the preorder details as soon as they’re available.
Be sure to watch 60 Minutes tonight on your local CBS station, to see Marilu as one of the few people with highly superior autobiographical memory.
There’s an update to the story since it was first aired.
Are you interested in more information about memory?Take this class at Kripalu – Marilu will help you shape a healthy future by exploring your memories. Call 866-200-5203 to register for the July 1-4 class now!
What better way to honor your dad than by devoting the entire day to improving his health?
Start the day by sharing a fun, healthy activity, like going for a walk, swim, or bike ride. Play tennis or golf. Play basketball. Get out the yard games, like croquet, badminton, horseshoes, and bocce ball. Involve the whole family!
Then make a healthy, great-tasting meal to honor your dad. Check Healthy Holidays for delicious recipes like Barbeque Chicken with Homemade Sauce, Asian Grilled Salmon, Orzo with Roasted Vegetables, Four-Bean Salad, Sweet Potato Chips, Baked Garlic Fries, and Double-Trouble Chocolate Bundt Cake.
Celebrate the dads around you, too – your husband, your brother, your uncle, your son. Share the stories and memories about the dads in your family (c’mon, you have your own version of $&(# My Dad Says… and Does – don’t let it be lost to history).
This is a TEDMED video of Dr. Mark Hyman, who practices functional medicine, which he calls “the opposite of dysfunctional medicine.” It’s a personalized systems approach to getting well.
We can hear Marilu’s words “everything is connected to everything” as he speaks. This is the way medicine should be practiced – it’s integrated, it’s very personalized, and it’s focused on total wellness. Take the time to watch this one.
What we believe about ourselves is what we become. So why not tell yourself some amazing things about how fit and strong you are? About your commitment to exercise and wellness? About how awesome your body is?
Some of the experts suggest that you say your affirmations while looking at yourself in a mirror. That’s pretty powerful. But we like to use them as the rhythm to our exercise. You can walk or run or pedal or stroke (that’s swimming, people) to your own affirmations. You can lift and release weights to your words – in fact, those words will slow down your weight lifting, giving you a bigger benefit on the release/negative side of the lift.
Try some of these and see how they fit you. Or make up your own affirmations. Just be sure you describe the person you want to be.
I am a perfect example of health and fitness.
I am strong and my body is powerful.
My body is lean and fit.
I have excellent posture and form becaue.
My fitness routine is enjoyable, energetic and easy!
My daily fitness routine gives me excellent results.
During my work-out routine, I feel healthier and healthier by the minute.
I enjoy exercising and my fitness routine gives me excellent results.
My physical fitness clearly shows that I have a fitness regimen.
I take care of myself by working out daily and eating right.
My body is firm, healthy and metabolically fast.
I have a fast metabolism, a healthy spirit and friendly personality.
Set your DVRs! The 60 Minutes story on superior autobiographical memory will play again on Sunday, June 19, with Marilu.
Marilu continues to work with UC-Irvine experts on memory – she was tested there again earlier this week – and she’s working on a book about memory as well.
If you’re looking for an old favorite with a new twist, this is it. This Mexican slaw is great with tacos or burritos, and makes a great picnic contribution, too.
We love the convenience of broccoli slaw – most of the prep is done! And the nutrient content is a little higher with broccoli than it is with cabbage.
Get started a little early with this one – it needs to rest at least 30 minutes before serving, for the flavors to blend.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ Mexican Slaw Blue * Serves 14-16
1/3 cup lime juice
4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sucanat®
4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of cayenne
pinch of paprika
1 large jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 12-ounce bag broccoli slaw
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 large cucumber, halved, seeded and diced (peeled if waxy)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, Sucanat® olive oil, cayenne, and paprika. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the jicama, broccoli slaw, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, cucumber, and cilantro. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
So… now we know to watch out for too much fat (most of which comes from animal products) and dairy. Kind of surprising, right?
If eating vegan sounds difficult, why not try it in small doses? More of a “vegan-ish” approach than a fully vegan approach. Start with eating one vegan meal a day, and when that gets easy, go for two vegan meals a day, or 10 vegan meals a week, or vegan family dinners, or ordering vegan food in a restaurant, or bringing vegan food to a picnic or potluck dinner. Challenge yourself a little bit.
Our online class in July is the very popular Viva la Vegan class – where you don’t have to be vegan, but you can get great recipes and reasons to try it out. Learn ways to make a vegan lifestyle (or even a vegan-ish lifestyle) work for you. Sign up now and don’t miss out!
Something about summertime gives us happy feet. As in, dancing feet, not penguin feet.
Get moving outside today.
If that means walking to the bus or subway station with purpose and good posture, then do that. In fact, try walking to the next stop for a little extra exercise.
If that means taking laps around your office parking lot at noon, then do that. Pack your sneakers and a pair of good socks.
If that means putting your kids in a wagon or on their bikes or in a stroller and walking around the neighborhood, then do that.
If that means rollerblading or skateboarding or bicycling in your neighborhood (with or without kids), then do that.
If that means gardening and weeding and yardwork, then do that.
If that means basketball or jump rope or tag (with or without kids), then do that.
If that means a long walk with your dog after dinner, then do that.
If that means dancing under the stars with your sweetie, then do that.
Start the day by sharing a fun, healthy activity, like going for a walk, swim, or bike ride. Play tennis or golf. Play basketball. Get out the yard games, like croquet, badminton, horseshoes, and bocce ball. Involve the whole family!