I’m excited to have had the opportunity of interviewing Rebecca Katz for season 3 of The Anxiety Summit. She has a new book The Healthy Mind Cookbook and I can’t wait to share our great interview.
Until then I’m sharing why I love this book and a wonderful recipe from her book, the pomegranate olive mint salsa.
Let me share why I love this recipe book:
- It’s all about food for the brain and how to have a healthy mind and great mood!
- I really appreciate the Culinary Pharmacy where the science behind the ingredients is shared. If you’ve been following me for awhile you know I love the science!
- Rebecca’s focus is on yum! The recipes are delicious and the flavors just pop! I would have to say that one of my favorite sections is the Dollops chapter. Rebecca says “these dollops are snazzy surprises, acting as delicious high notes” and “many of the dollops contain healthy fats, which work to make brain-boosting vitamins and minerals more bioavailable” (the recipe below is from the Dollops chapter)
- The food photos are positively mouth-watering (my only complaint is that there is not a photograph that goes with each recipe)
- She has a section on Reducing Recipe Reading Anxiety, where she shares how to use these recipes as a blueprint and how not to get overwhelmed when there are ingredients you don’t recognize, can’t find or don’t really like. I’ll share below how I modified this salsa recipe to my liking and how it still turned out great.
Pomegranate Olive Mint Salsa
1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup finely chopped mint
½ cup Kalamata or green olives, chopped
½ cup finely chopped fennel
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of sea salt
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir gently to combine. For optimal flavor, cover and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. For taste, you may want to add another squeeze of lemon or a pinch of salt.
Makes: 2 ½ cups.
Prep time: 15 minutes.
Storage: store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
My comments and modifications to the recipe:
- When I read the ingredients I was surprised about the quantity of parley and mint but used this amount anyway and the end result is incredibly yum!
- We didn’t have all the ingredients so we left out the pomegranates and used raisins instead, we replaced walnuts with almonds and I’m not crazy about raw scallions so just left them out – and it was still amazing! This all ties back to the section on Reducing Recipe Reading Anxiety.
- We LOVE this recipe – it has become a standard in just a few short weeks. We have had it with both salmon and with lamb chops (it’s the best mint “sauce” for lamb)
- The salmon above was also one of the recipes in the book: Roasted Ginger Salmon, and was delightful. In this one we left out the cayenne pepper and doubled up on the ginger – I love ginger! I’ll share this recipe in a future blog post.
- And now we need to make it with the pomegranates!
So get shopping and chopping and enjoy a delicious salsa for your brain and taste buds! Let us know how yours turns out and what you serve it with.
Patricia Young says
Great post Trudy! you actually sold me on getting this book! 🙂 That recipe looks yummy! I’ll get it for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Patricia
http://www.InnerProsperityAcademy.com
Mary Ellen Miller says
Oh my goodness this looks delicious! Thank you for sharing this healthy recipe. I will have to try it out on my family.
Jessica says
This is a MUST SHARE with my mom! She will love these recipes (and I will love eating them)… Now I’m hungry!
Michele Christensen says
Love this recipe! It looks so yummy and nutritious. It has a wide variety of ingredients I don’t often use, so I appreciate the information on reducing recipe reading anxiety.
Trudy Scott says
It’s really worth trying! the combo is amazing!
Sue Painter says
We eat a lot of fish while we are in Florida, your recipe will be useful. Thanks!
Trudy Scott says
It’s yummy with salmon
Tandy Elisala says
This recipe looks amazing! I’m going to get a copy of this cookbook. I can’t wait for your next season of The Anxiety Summit!!
Mitch Tublin says
This recipe is one for us to prepare this week! It looks wonderful – thanks!
KarenLA says
The recipe does sound good, I’m just not sure why it is good for the brain.
Trudy Scott says
Karen
All the nutrients it contains – omega-3s, olive oil, antioxidants, minerals like iron and magnesium – and it’s real whole food!
Casper says
This festive salsa looks and sounds delish!
I appreciate the mention on recipe anxiety, as it suddenly occurred to me why I tend to “cringe in the kitchen”
And why pictures are a necessity for me so I can see how it’s supposed to look, more angst :0 lol
Recipe anxiety…who knew?