Nacho’ Normal Nachos
Check out the super easy, super tasty recipe for Nacho’ Normal Nachos below! ‘Cause sometimes, you just don’t feel like doing the “norm.” A base of crunchy plantain chips is the perfect spin on your traditional nachos. Thick enough to withstand a heap of toppings and more flavorful than your average corn chip! Also, don’t sleep on the special sauce. It’s the perfect savory, creamy addition to a zesty plate of nachos. Plus, these nachos are so quick, you’ll be ready to go when the next craving strikes! We love that Barnana Plantain Chips are made from upcycled plantains which help keep food out of the waste stream and gives you delicious, sustainable treats!
Recipe Provided by INFRA
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Avocados
Whether you’re hosting for the big game or just want to feed a crowd easily, this Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Avocados recipe will make you the MVP! With healthy fats and protein, you’ll be satisfied long after the last whistle. Can’t find ready to eat buffalo chicken salad? You can always take your favorite chicken salad recipe and substitute some buffalo sauce for some of the mayonnaise. For an even easier hack, just stir in buffalo sauce to a prepared chicken salad. It is sure to be saucy and delicious!
Recipe Provided by INFRA
Heart health is important to us all. So, too, is good food. Food and heart health make a natural couple. Here are some more happy couples: food duos that, together, provide heart-healthy dividends.
There are certain foods that, instead of taking a solo adventure to improve our heart health, instead, seem to perform better when set free to mingle. This is called food synergy: where the benefits of two or more foods eaten together can be greater than the sum of their parts. When working in unison, these foods amplify their nutritional benefits.
Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale are already nutritional heavy hitters, but if you really want to reap their rewards, make sure to fatten them up. Research shows that consuming foods such as kale, tomatoes, and carrots—good sources of carotenoid antioxidants including lycopene and beta carotene—with a dietary source of fat, such as avocado, can increase how much of these heart-friendly plant compounds we absorb.
While turmeric is increasingly being studied for its heart-benefitting, lipid-lowering, and anti-inflammatory powers and a big reason why golden milk is trending, we don’t absorb its main bioactive compound, curcumin, into the bloodstream very well. The good news is that a chemical found in black pepper called piperine can greatly bolster our ability to take up curcumin. So, whenever you add the golden spice to curries, soups, sauces, and scrambled eggs, don’t forget to also include a few twists of the pepper grinder.
Sure, a hunk of steak is a good source of iron, but you can also get the mineral from plant-based foods such as oats, beans, lentils, tofu, fortified cereals, and spinach. There’s a catch, though: only 2 to 20 percent of the iron found in plant foods, called non-heme iron, makes its way from your digestive tract into your blood. Mother Nature has provided an assist in the form of vitamin C (ascorbic acid)—present in edibles such as berries, bell pepper, tomatoes, broccoli, and citrus—which converts plant-based iron into a form that is more readily absorbed.
A recent study discovered that adults who consumed more green or black tea were, on average, more likely to have lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol and higher HDL (good) cholesterol than those who didn’t consume tea. It might be that the potent antioxidants, including catechins, in green tea can improve your cholesterol profile. And it turns out you can make green tea even more of an antioxidant powerhouse by adding a squirt of lemon. Citrus juice can increase the amount of antioxidants in green tea that are available for the body to absorb by up to five-fold.
On sale this week (7/22-7/28): Organic Tommy Atkins Mangoes 5 for $5!
Salsa is the perfect snack, side, topping, or even small meal that you can have all year round! The best part is that you can mix and match different fruits and veggies to make your salsa catered to your cravings. With the hot weather we’ve been having lately, we were craving something light and refreshing- so check out our recipe below for our mango avocado salsa!
Pair with our fresh North Atlantic salmon (available Thursdays-Sundays)!
Ingredients
1 Avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
1 Ripe Tommy Atkins Mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
4 Scallions, chopped
1/4 Cup Cilantro, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Coarse Salt
Method
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.
2. Serve with chips or top on fish and enjoy!
Before you enjoy your refreshing mango avocado salsa, make sure you take a picture of your masterpiece! Post it on social media and tag your favorite produce market, Basil Bandwagon Natural Market! #basilbandwagon #producerecipeoftheweek
February is Heart Health month! It’s a good idea to take care of your ticker, and there’s plenty of easy and tasty ways to do so.
That bowl of oatmeal you had for breakfast might be more powerful than you think. Oats contain beta-glucan, a potent soluble fiber with blood sugar regulating benefits. Oats are also high in Vitamin E, which has long been found to be a protective vitamin for the heart.
Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart, the more you eat them, well….. you know the rest. There is actually much science behind this popular rhyme. Lentils are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which helps keep your arteries clean, reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke. Lentils are also excellent sources of magnesium and folate – two big promoters of heart health. Magnesium in particular improves blood flow, oxygen and nutrient distribution within your body.
Cocoa beans – from which dark chocolate is created – are rich in a class of plant nutrients called flavonoids. Flavonoids help protect the body from environmental toxins and damage. Flavanols are the main type of flavonoids found in cocoa. Research has shown flavanols to promote healthy blood pressure, improve blood flow and manage healthy blood clotting function.
Garlic possesses a myriad of health benefits, but one of the most significant is its positive effects on heart health. It serves as a preventative agent against many different conditions: hypertension, diabetes, thrombosis, etc. For heart health, garlic consumption helps reverse plaque build up in arteries. Sure, you may need some gum afterwards, but loading up on this powerhouse is SMART!
Avocados are not only an excellent source of protein and fat, but a heart-healthy superfood. Cholesterol, trans fat and sodium free, avocados are one of the few whole foods that are an excellent source of monounsaturated fat. For this reason, they may help lower your blood cholesterol level when consumed in place of saturated fat.
Blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries are not just delicious snacks or toppings on your favorite cereal, oatmeal or yogurt. They are an excellent source of polyphenols, which are associated with improved heart health. Polyphenols protect cells and body chemicals against damage caused by free radicals.
These beautiful fruits contain juicy seeds that are as nutrient-dense as they are delicious. The juice is a rich source of polyphenols, which double as antioxidants, protecting our cells from damage and lowering inflammation in our bodies. The juice is also believed to protect LDL (bad) cholesterol from damaging our arterial walls.
These little guys are PACKED with heart-happy fats and nutrients. Sardine are full the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels.
These tiny seeds pack a ton of punch when it comes to heart health. A mere teaspoon of the seeds contains nearly 2 grams of heart-healthy Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Flax seeds are also one of the best sources of plant-based foods for lignan’s, which have strong antioxidant qualities, helping support heart health.