by Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, CSSD, CCMS, LMHC, FAND @The Running Nutritionist®
Fullei Fresh Chef Ambassador
*Recipes below
Spring is in the air and hope is on the horizon. With COVID vaccines on the way, we can now think about life ahead, celebrating our family, friends and loved ones preparing for the spring holidays—Easter, Passover, and even Saint Patrick’s Day by sharing our gifts from the garden, including this month’s featured Fullei Fresh Clover Sprouts!
Fullei Fresh Clover Sprouts are one of my favorites because they make a statement; texturally wonderfully crunchy especially toasted, but also power packed with flavor and nutrition. Clover Sprouts are a great source of protein, fiber and antioxidants which are great for the immune system and for exercise training recovery.
Clover sprouts are also a rich source of isoflavones, a phytonutrient compound good for the heart, for cancer prevention, and even to help manage some of the symptoms of hormonally sensitive times in life like meno and menopause.
Personalize Your Plate
Most of you might not know there is another celebration besides the religious and cultural March holidays. It is called National Nutrition Month® (NNM.)
NNM is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND,) the largest group of nutrition professionals, Registered Dietitians (RD) and Diet Technicians Registered (DTR) in the country. With more than 75,000 members, you will find Dietitians practicing in clinical, sports, academic, culinary, media, and public health settings just to name a few. Wherever people eat, or do not eat due to a medical illness or mental health issue, dietitians are part of the wellness team to ensure adequate and optimal nutrition is served and consumed.
During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits. This year’s theme, Personalize Your Plate is all about fitting a variety of nutritious foods and beverages into a mindful dining setting, where you can enjoy your meals with the ones you love.
And I love sharing delicious recipes with you, especially when they include the most beautiful and nutritious radish on the planet, the Watermelon Radish prepared 3 ways, delicious Clover Sprouts 2 ways prepared in my favorite versatile dishes—soup and sauce. Enjoy!
For more information about National Nutrition Month, go to https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month.
Until we meet again in April, have a wonderful month!
Lisa
Clover Sprouted Pesto
Vegan and Gluten free, serve with fresh or grilled vegetables, rice, or potatoes.
Serves: 8-12
Ingredients:
½ cup Walnuts, raw, unsalted
4 cloves Garlic
1 ½ tsp sea salt*
½ cup + ¼ cup Olive oil
½ cup Fullei Fresh Clover sprouts
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
Directions:
Combine nuts, garlic, and sea salt in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
Add ½ cup oil and pulse until combined.
Add ¼ cup oil and clover sprouts and combine until fine but not pureed. Add juice of fresh lemon. Pulse 1 last time!
Use immediately or transfer to a mason jar, store in the refrigerator up to 4 days or freeze up to 1 month.
Watermelon Radish Trio Potage with Toasted Clover Sprouts
Vegan, Gluten Free
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
2 cups Watermelon Radishes*, 3 ways divided-raw, steamed, grilled.
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 medium potato, baked, skin removed, diced.
1 cup chopped sweet onion.
6 cloves roasted garlic.
2 cups Joi ™ almond milk, prepared (you can use prepared almond milk, brand your choice)
1/3 cup Tofutti® sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste.
½ cup Fullei Fresh Clover Sprouts, toasted.
Directions:
Peel and Steam 1 ½ cup watermelon radish. Cool and dice.
Grill ¾ of the steamed watermelon radish. Cool and dice.
Dice ½ cup raw watermelon radish.
Peel and bake the potato in an oven or microwave. Cool, Chop.
Roast garlic in the toaster oven until browned. Chop.
Chop sweet onion.
Prepare JOI almond milk according to the package or use premade almond milk.
Heat olive oil until a bead of water dances on the pan, hot enough to then sauté onion until just brown.
Add watermelon radish trio and continue to stir until just cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Add potato, roasted garlic, almond milk, salt, and pepper to taste. Continue to stir about 5 minutes until mixed.
Transfer mixture to blender in small batches, holding top to blender cup when blending just in case—you do not want a splash of hot liquid on your walls and face!
Toast Fullei Fresh Clover Sprouts. Mix ½ of the sprouts with sour cream.
Spoon the pureed mixture into bowls, placing a dollop of the sour cream Clover Sprout mixture on top of each serving.
Sprinkle the remainder of toasted sprouts on soup.
Garnish with a “slice” of watermelon radish.
Serve warm or cold.
You can also use the mixture as a warm sauce for vegetables or a cool dip for veggies.
*You can find watermelon radish at your local farm, CSA, farmer’s market or online at a farm fresh food box delivery service. You can order JOI almond or cashew milk online.
Meet Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, CSSD, CCMS, LMHC, FAND
@TheRunningNutritionist
Known internationally as The Running Nutritionist®, Lisa is an award-winning leader to industry, academia, the public & press for more than 3 decades. Lisa has built a global integrative culinary sports nutrition & performance private practice & corporate consulting business working with Olympian athletes, and prestigious luxury resorts such as Ritz Carlton, Sandals & Norwegian Cruise Lines. Lisa designs, writes, and speaks about delicious dishes, menus and diets and travels worldwide sharing the “gospel” of good food, fresh tastes, and plant-based cuisine. Her passion for food, fitness, emotional balance and for life is contagious.
A ’19 President’s Council National Excellence in Practice Award Recipient, Lisa is a Licensed Nutritionist/ Registered Dietitian, Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, Board Certified Professional Counselor, Certified Chef, Certified USAT&F & USA Triathlon Coach, Certified Reiki Practitioner, Certified Horticulturist & Fellow of The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. She served as the ’08 US Sailing Olympic Team Nutritionist for Beijing Olympics & Nutrition Expert for the Zumba Plate® program.
Her recipes are inspired by collaborations with some of the top chefs at Sandals Resorts, Ritz Carlton, Culinary Vegetable Institute/Chef’s Garden; restaurants, spas, wellness/fitness-focused programs as instructor at Johnson and Wales University & Miami Culinary Institute, & member of prestigious organizations such as Les Dames d ‘Escoffier, American Culinary Foundation, and the James Beard Foundation. She is Chef Alliance Director for Slow Food Miami.
The author of 8 books, Lisa has appeared on 20/20, Dateline, Good Morning America Health, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC and ESPN & has been featured in numerous publications including: USA Today, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Men’s Fitness, Outside & Runners World magazines. In her spare time, Lisa has competed in more than 35 marathons (PR 2:52:32), Ironman USA Lake Placid, and hundreds of running and multisport races and was a member of TeamUSA at the ’04 World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.