Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup

Okay, the key to making great soups is not to throw everything in the pot, but rather to saute garlic, onions, leeks, celery, Savoy cabbage and carrots in olive oil until translucent. Allow the flavours to come out! Once you have done this, you can add purified water and voila you have a great vegan stock.

Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup
Serves: 8 - 10

3 onions, roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 leeks, whites only roughly chopped
2 cups chopped Savoy cabbage
2 carrots, roughly chopped
8 cups water
5 cups red lentils
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper

In a large enamel or stainless steel pot, pour olive oil and turn heat to medium. Add onions, shallots, garlic, celery, leeks and cabbage. Stir and allow to cook over medium heat for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until translucent. Add water and lentils. Stir. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove lid. Stir and cook for a further 15 minutes. Season with cumin, corriander, turmeric, sea salt and pepper. At this point, you can use a hand-held mixer to puree a portion of the soup. Adjust seasoning before serving and remember, there is enough salt in vegetables without having to add too much.

Healthy tip: Lentils are a good source of minerals for nearly every organ in the body. Neutralize aicds produced in muscles.

Even if you are not a vegan or vegetarian, the richness of this soup easily replaces meat. A hearty rustic whole wheat bread would be a wonderful accompaniment to this outstanding soup, just to sop up any left in your bowl. Sprinking some great sprouts on top is another suggestion to give added crunch!

I made this soup today to eat for dinner and must say, it is outstanding in flavour.

Blue Hubbard Squash Soup

Squash is in season in southern Virginia and absolutely one of my favourite vegetables in the whole world. Like Bubba in "Forest Gump", this is one of those veggies, I could eat any way and be happy. Yesterday, wanting to make delicious soup using veggies I had at home, this is what I made. Some people may balk at the idea of peeling/cutting a whole squash, but it is rather relaxing and makes one focus while doing so. Blue hubbard squash is an heirloom variety and rather odd looking. It has a bluish tint, bumpy exterior and brilliant orange flesh, which is superb for making soups, bread, pies or mashed with dabs of butter, sea salt and pepper!

Blue Hubbard Squash Soup

1/8 cup unsalted organinc butter or 4 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium white onions, roughly diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups blue hubbard squash flesh cut into large chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes cut into large chunks
1 litre organic chicken stock or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup heavy cream (optional)

First, peel or remove skin from squash. Cut into large squares, removing seeds (but do keep the seeds to bake in the oven!). Wash and cut sweet potato into large chunks (skin on).

Wash and dry squash seeds. Place on baking sheet and cook at 300F/150C heat for appoximately 20-25 minutes until crunchy. Remove from oven and add sea salt, if desired. Cool and reserve for soup.

In the meantime, melt butter over medium high heat in large enamel or stainless steel pot. Add onions and garlic and sweat for 3 minutes. Add squash, sweet potato, stock, cinnamon and ginger. Stir. Place lid on pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until squash is tender (about 25 minutes). Adjust seasoning to taste with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Puree soup with hand-held mixer. Add cream and mix well.

Serve with roasted squash seeds for added benefits.

This soup is great served as lunch or dinner, accompanied with a completely raw salad of greens and assorted seasonal vegetables with a house dressing of your choice.


Healthy Tips:

Squash is highly alkaline and contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, beta carotene and vitamin C. Squash seeds expels roundworms and tapeworms.
Sweet potatoes contain the same minerals and vitamins as squash and help dissolve excess mucus; clear sinuses and sore throats.
Garlic is antibacterial and helps lower cholesterol.

It is noon time and I am going to eat the Cayce way and have a completely raw salad of mixed greens, grated cabbage and carrots, diced tomato and chopped celery accompanied by a cup of my blue hubbard squash soup!

One thing about making a large batch of soup that is wonderful - you can freeze leftovers to pull out of the freezer for days you are too busy to cook! That is what I will do today.

My first radio interview on CBS Psychiconair

http://www.psychiconair.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=4205545

Spirit running at the beach.

Italian Nights Dinner Recipe

Well, that was supposed to go along with my dog, Spirit's photo running on the beach, but I will try again!

Here is the recipe for the dinner I cooked this evening:

Roast Organic Chicken
1 small organic/free-range roasting chicken
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Thoroughly wash and pat dry chicken. Rub olive oil all over chicken. Place lemon wedges and fresh rosemary in the cavity of the chicken. Rub sea salt and cracked black pepper over chicken. Place chicken in roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat and bake until internal temperature is 165F. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Carve.

Italian Escarole and Cannelini Beans
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small head of escarole, washed and roughly chopped
1 8 oz. can cannelini beans, liquid reserved
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Put olive oil in saute pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sweat for one minute. Add escarole and cook for several minutes until just wilted. Add cannelini beans and stir. Add lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Mixed Salad
2 cups chopped mixed lettuce
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 tomato, cut into wedges

Lemon Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
cracked black pepper
Pour ingredients into a non-reactive bowl and whisk until emulsified. Pour over composed salad and toss just before eating.

The more I know about food and its source, the more I want to eat the Cayce way!

The more I research about food and where it originates from, the more I am determined to only eat locally-grown, in-season foods bought directly from farms around here. Ditto for dairy products. I traveled to the Virginia Beach Farm Market yesterday to buy dairy products from a creamery there. I asked many questions about how the cows are raised, if the chickens are allowed outside, etc. Indeed only farms that treat animals with respect and are allowed to roam freely and not treated with hormones, etc. are the ones they deal with.

I saw videos of the farm and was pleased to find out that yes, you can actually visit the farm. That means they are being treated humanely and are not afraid of "being caught" on mistreatment. So many factory farms are treated as though top secret dealings are going on there! So, when you buy your food, ask lots of questions!!!! More often than not, if you are dealing with good vendours, they will be more than thrilled and delighted to tell you how proud they are of the origins of the food they sell!!!!!

The more I read about Edgar Cayce's philosophy on food, the more I realise that he was "right on" in his readings! If we fail to support our local farms and farm markets, we will starve because don't think the price of gasoline is not going to go up to exhorbant rates, so shipped in food will not be an option for the majority of society. Also, if possible, as Cayce suggested, start growing your own food to feed yourselves and those in need! I feel so fortunate to have a great back yard to have my own veggie garden.

And, speaking of which.......my Italian flat-leaf parsley is growing like mad right now! Hooray! I love cooking with it!

Tonight's dinner will be yummy! Oven roasted organic and free-range chicken (it is small, as real chickens should be!) basted with olive oil, sea salt, fresh rosemary from the garden and stuffed with lemons; Italian escarole and cannelini beans made with fresh garlic/lemon juice and olive oil with steamed organic carrots and a nice field of greens salad with lemon vinaigrette! Okay, so now I am really hungry after writing all of this down and the odours coming from the kitchen are making me ravenous!

It is so easy to cook healthy dinners! We just returned from our hair dresser's Curtis and April
- Amici Style at the beach! They are both totally into great food and I gave them a copy of my cookbook, as they will also be selling my book there! They are thrilled because they are trying to get back into eating healthy food and no packages! They will try each recipe in the book! I took them a container of the black bean humus found in my book and they all loved it! I was giving them a pep talk on how easy it is to cook, but to remember to buy from the source and only buy "real" food - i.e. vegetables, fish or whatever poultry, etc. they want and lots of fruit. They cannot wait to get back into a healthy regime, so that made my day to talk with them!

So, enjoy your meals and sit down together as a family or with friends - relax while you converse and chew your food!!!!!

Bon ap!

While relaxing in the Outer Banks, N.C. yesterday, I had the time to thoroughly read the newspaper for once! I came across an article which was highly disturbing regarding prepackaged cookie dough and e-coli. A Las Vegas woman is mute, her kidney and liver have shut down as well as many other life threatening symptoms, after eating several spoonfuls of Nestle's cookie dough. She is one of 80 people in 30 states to be sickened by the very deadly bacteria, E.coli 0157.H7.

I have never bought cookie dough, as I make my own with all organic ingredients, but this is just another example of how the food industry is unable to protect consumers. It is also another reason why people should be extremely careful when they buy food, especially processed foods. They should be avoided at all costs.

Food borne illnesses affect millions of Americans each year. It is enough to make one want to grown their own vegetables and fruits, and at the very least ensure you know where your food is coming from. Spend the extra cents and dollars to buy only the freshest, locally-grown and if possible, organic foods. You just might be saving your life!

I have become wary to eating out anymore, and when I do, am extremely careful of where I eat and what I eat. It is just not worth the risk of becoming ill. Of course, eating at home is my favourite option because I know the food I buy is fresh and I am extremely cautious in how I wash vegetables, fruits and meats. Also, the flavour I can achieve with fresh garden herbs is far superior than what I am normally served while dining out, with a couple of exceptions!

I did eat a local bistro last week, Croc's 19th Street Bistro. I know the owner and I asked where the chicken comes from. I did receive a very lovely Middle Eastern wrap with lots of fresh lettuce and free-range chicken and I could taste the goodness of it. However, with more frequency, I choose not to go out because I cannot trust what I am eating will not make me become ill. I think diners should take the time to ask where their food comes from when dining out! If more people adopted this prinipal, trust me restaurant owners will start adapting new standards!

Just be careful about what you eat and take the time to chew your food over and over. Cayce advised that this is a great way to alkaline your body! And, when your body is alkaline and not acid, your body will not become ill.

Local Farm Markets

This past Saturday, I had my first book signing at the Old Beach Farm Market in Virginia Beach, VA. What a lovely market it is! Only local food vendors and no nick knacks.

The people beside us have a seafood business - LG’s Happy Clam, which is run by Laura Gray Dodson, a middle schooler at Broadwater Academy on the Eastern Shore. Her charming mum, Keith is Laura Gray’s driver and helps her daughter sell clams at the market. Her father Chip Dodson and her older brother Zach dig clams from their beds in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Laura, Keith and Chip were out bright and early selling clams, tuna, crab, mahi and North Carolina shrimp. It was so encouraging to see a family doing something together and to watch the interaction between Laura and her customers.

So many young people have no idea where their food comes from, but this young lady looked the perfect example of vitality and great health - very slim and alert! I was also impressed when they bought my book and Laura was leafing through it and seemed very interested in the various recipes and the health information inside. When I brought out samples of black bean and feta cheese dips, she was totally into them and did not say something along the lines of I don't like that.....impressive! She actually eats like a human being and no junk food in their lives. I cooked the clams we bought for dinner and I must say they were OUTSTANDING! The flavor was absolutely delightful and not one clam failed to open! There is nothing quite like eating a clam harvested that same day!

There were a lot of people walking through the market, arriving on their bikes and carrying their own bags to fill with the market's goodies! Organic herbs, organic meat, fish, organic veggies and not, freshly baked breads and muffins; home made lemonade and ice tea. I did not get to visit all of the stands as I was manning my post to talk with people about my book, but I loved being a part of this wonderful endeavor that Laura Wood Habr and her husband, Kal, owner of Croc's 19th Street Bistro have undertaken. It is totally eco-friendly and was just recently rated 6 in America for a market of its size!!!

My book sold very well, considering I am an unknown author. I was very pleased with the interest shown. So many folks had no idea that Edgar Cayce gave many readings on diet and nutrition. People are drawn to the cover of the book, which I truly love as well.

I do wish every person would support their local farms and markets and go out in force to buy locally-grown produce and products they offer. Not only is it healthier but it is a tremendous way to save money. A recent study was undertaken in Virginia and states that if every household spent just $10. a week on local foods, $384.2 million dollars could be generated annually in southeast Virginia and $1.65 billion statewide.

It is a beautiful day in Virginia and time for me to take a drive to the farms and buy tonight's vegetables to go with the shrimp that will come out of the freezer later today bought from the Dodson family!

A Bit About Bobbie

I have had the opportunity to live in 6 countries on 3 continents, now I reside in America. I left the U.S. when I was 9 years old to move to Canada. While, I grew up between both countries, my influence was much stronger from my Canadian side of my family. When I was 21, I married and moved to Geneva, Switzerland where I resided until moving to Virginia Beach, VA. with my two daughters in 1987. Other places I have had the honor to live are Birmingham, England; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Chamonix, France. I speak French fluently and tend to mix my English and French quite often which results in people asking me where I am from or what planet!?

My mum and grandmother taught me the importance of eating healthy foods from a very young age, which I thank them to this day. We were well-traveled as my grandfather was in shipping, so, my palate was rather diverse from a very young age. I am blessed that every member of my family is a great cook and we all hold the same principles when it comes to food. We are not junk food eaters, nor do we eat hot dogs, but rather whatever is the freshest and in season. Organic is the norm in my family. My two daughters and families live in and outside of Geneva, and they primarily only eat organic food, as well, which is much easier to find there than where I live.

As explained in my book, I am a person who is dedicated to buying and eating the freshest, locally-grown and in-season foods possible. Certain food groups should only be eaten organic due to the enormous amounts of pesticides one would ingest by eating conventionally (which my book highlights). Eating organically is not only beneficial to one's health but certainly saves the planet and our waters by avoiding a saturation of chemicals. If you can find them locally, then all the better.

Travel has been a huge part of my life. Southeast Asia, Northern Africa, Europe and Hawaii are my favorite food destinations. Probably the countries that have had the most impact on the way I cook are Morocco, Tunisia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Lebanon, France and my most beloved Italy. I travel often to Switzerland to visit my daughters, Brooke and Bree and my two adorable grand daughters, Anais and Sienna. On my last trip just weeks ago, I drove to the Lake District of Northern Italy to Lago di Garda (the garden lake) with my best friend, Jane and my granddaughter Anais.

We stayed at the most beautiful location in Pratello, Italy where this location is a part of the Agricultural Tourism group of family-owned estates throughout Italy serving only locally-grown foods and wines, which are normally grown on the property. The Pratello family makes their own olive oil and wines, and they export these products world-wide.

There is something about Italy that seems to call to me and this is actually where I hope to move in the next several years, if possible. I love the people and their joyous natures - how they live, eat, dress and talk. Life is simple, yet elegant and healthy. People are not "busy" for the sake of being "busy", as I so often find in America. Family is very important and meals are the center of their universe. So, this is truly the country I feel the most at home in.

I do love the ocean, though and I am an avid swimmer and scuba diver. So, Virginia Beach is wonderful for me. Swimming out to the dolphins is a huge part of my life here, much to the chagrin of my family and friends, who worry about me. Also, we have wonderfully fresh fish and produce grown locally here. This is a superb region for farming. Two weeks ago, Jane and I drove to Knott's Island, N.C. to pick 24 pounds of white peaches at Martin's Farm. So, peaches have been on our menu a lot lately, as well as freshly picked blueberries from Pungo, VA. I created a peach and honey cornbread for my book, which is really more like a pudding. Also, peach salsa (which can easily replace the mango and black bean salsa in my book) is a wonderful accompaniment to grilled fish or chicken.

We have a vegetable garden with peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, vine spinach and every herb imaginable this year. Next year, we will change it a bit and drop the broccoli for cucumbers. This fall, we will plant kale and collard greens, which grow beautifully in this area. While growing our own garden is a delight, we also frequent the many farms peppered in this area, and especially any who grow organic. Not all farmers can be certified organic as such strict guidelines are imposed, but there are many who follow the organic principles.

One of the places one will most likely find me is in the kitchen cooking. My first cookbook was just published with recipes I have created or recreated since I was a young woman. The book is filled with my story (some of it!) and has been the most wonderful experience for me. I would love to work more with children in this country, as I feel saddened by what they are being fed. They do not seem to know where their food comes from and so many families do not sit down together to eat meals anymore. Rather, they eat out of boxes, cans and frozen containers which are normally heated in a microwave (I have never owned one in my life) and often alone. One of my crusades is to help people go back to the way they were in years gone by and to enjoy the ride. Enjoy life by enjoying each other with great conversations over dinner, brunch, lunch and/or breakfast.

Also, I bet most parents don’t realize that by having your kids help you in the kitchen, you are actually aiding their math and science skills when they measure and see how foods come together! Also, their culinary palettes and horizons are broadened by becoming accustomed to the foods they help create.