Fun with Figs

I recently went to a Naturopathic physician to have my diet evaluated. I kept a food diary and she reviewed it. She mentioned that she saw a pattern in the food I was eating and was concerned I had a stomach inflammation. This is not the first time I have heard this from a doctor or read about the possibility. My acupuncturist said the same thing. Both doctors are concerned the inflammation would have an effect on weight loss and getting the nutrients from the food I eat. So she has removed corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes from my diet for about the next six months. Thank goodness I can still have yams and sweet potatoes! This cuts in half the available recipes I can make from my inspiration book and is a little disappointing. But I have a LOT of other books I can cook from and share the results in this blog.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go through my books, plan meals for the week, and shop for the ingredients. It has been fun making the meals and so far they haven’t taken much time at all.

This recipe is my tomato and corn last hurrah! It was delicious and I made it before I was put on restriction. It’s from the Forks Over Knives cookbook and is called “The Quickest Black Bean Salad”. It has water chestnuts in it and normally I am a fan, but they didn’t work for me in this recipe. My husband liked them in it and so did my friend (I fed her some for lunch). It’s a pretty salad, super easy to make, not expensive at all, and great to bring to potlucks. The ingredients are black beans, tomatoes, corn, sweet onion, water chestnuts, cilantro (lots!), lime juice, and balsamic vinegar.

One of my greatest discoveries lately has been figs!!! I honestly thought I didn’t like them because I thought they were something you bought in a package like prunes. I had never noticed fresh ones or were even aware of them. But my husband bought some a couple months ago and I was shocked at how wonderful they are. In fact, I bought some again Sunday night when I heard them calling my name at New Seasons Market. Did you know that if you eat ½ cup of figs that you get the same calcium as ½ cup milk? And the figs will keep your body alkaline, so you will actually reap the benefit of the calcium. How to eat a fig? They look like this when you buy them.

When you want to eat them, just pinch them open and they look like this. I think they are beautiful!! Soft tentacles and all! Then eat them. You can eat the skin or you don’t have to. So sweet – not too sweet - and juicy. Try some!

I’ve been making a lot of recipes lately and have much more to share. What I fix these days is nothing like what I used to make. My palate has definitely changed for the better and I am having fun with food!