Food is Your Best Medicine 
So many natural foods come packed with nutrients our bodies need to function optimally. Plant foods are some of nature’s most powerful and potent healing foods. Do you need encouragement to buy and eat a wider variety and larger volume of colorful fruits and vegetables at every meal? Most people do. Whether its from lack of planning, lack of shopping, washing, and prepping enough food ahead, lack of knowledge, or fresh ideas, most people are not eating enough fresh produce.
The super food of the week is cherries. Pick up a 3 pound bag for a single batch of the recipe below. Get two bags to make a double batch for the freezer, 3 bags if you want some for munching too.
Researchers have discovered compounds in this sweet and juicy fruit that can reduce the risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and premature aging, relieve the pain of arthritis, gout, and migraine headaches, reduce inflammation, ease symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, promote mental clarity, and improve sleep. You know what to have for a bed time snack.
So, eat a bowl of cherries and call me in the morning. Actually, you might want to eat a cup of cherries several times a week when they’re in season to reap the most benefits. I like to I add them to fruit salads, smoothies, fruit gels and kantens (healthy remakes of Jell-0 made from real fruit and juice with unflavored gelatin or agar agar, nothing artificial), dairy free Ice Dream, and sauces.
Life’s a bowl of cherry sauce 
This sweet and delicious cherry sauce goes with so many things. You can serve it over dairy free ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, or my homemade Ice Dream for dessert. I like to spoon it over sliced cantaloupe, honeydew, peaches or nectarines at breakfast time,
topped with a sprinkle of shredded unsweetened coconut or chopped, toasted nuts. It would probably taste great served over gluten-free pancakes, waffles, cornbread, millet bread, angel food or sponge cake. Try it over poached chicken breast or roasted turkey breast.
Basil Ice Dream with Cherry Sauce & Cocoa Nibs >>>>>>>>
Make your own fruit flavored yogurt
Most fruit flavored yogurts, even the ones marketed for children, get 50 to 80% of their calories from sugar and contain very little fruit. If you tolerate yogurt, stir my delicious Cherry Sauce (or the Peach Sauce from a previous post) into plain goat, cow, buffalo, or sheep milk yogurt to make naturally-flavored yogurt without all of the empty calories.
What you need to make this recipe
Besides a colander, a heavy pot with a tight fitting lid, measuring cups and spoons, a rubber or silicone spatula, wide mouth jars or glass storage bowls with lids, an apron (cherry juice stains), you’ll need a cherry pitter. This little device will make easy work of extracting the pits. You can buy a stainless steel one for $3 to $10 on my Amazon store, where I’ve listed the best picks.
Cherry Sauce
Hands-on: 20 minutes/ Cooking: 25 minutes/ Yield: 3 ½ cups; 16 servings
For the best flavor use fresh cherries from your state, region, or bioregion. In a pinch, use frozen sweet cherries (they’re naturally sweet with no added sugar) sold in the freezer section of supermarkets and natural foods stores.
Note: If you want to freeze cherry sauce, portion it into widemouth canning jars, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of space in the top of the jar. Let it cool on the counter for 30 to 60 minutes, then refrigerate. Once the jar feels cold you can freeze it. To defrost, transfer to the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
3 pounds fresh sweet cherries (about 8 cups pitted fresh or 9 heaping cups frozen):
Bing, Rainier, or Queen Anne variety
1/4 cup honey or agavé nectar; additional tablespoons as needed
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon unrefined, mineral-rich sea salt (Celtic, Lima, Eden, or Real Salt)
¼ to ½ teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or ½ to 1 teaspoon clear stevia extract liquid (start with less; add more only if needed)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or orange juice
3 tablespoons arrowroot powder dissolved in
1/4 cup cool or cold filtered water
1. If using fresh cherries, remove the stems. Rinse cherries and pat dry with paper towels. Working over a large bowl to catch the juices, cut each cherry in half with a paring knife; remove the pit with the tip of the knife and drop the cherries into the bowl. Or (better and safer), use a cherry pitter. Either way, use one hand to push out the pit, and place the other under each cherry, making sure you catch and discard one pit for every cherry.
If using frozen cherries, pour into a bowl and allow to thaw, and then measure to make sure you have the right amount.
2. Combine cherries, honey, and sea salt in a heavy 3- or 4-quart pot. Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Remove the lid and stir for 3 minutes until the syrup dissolves. Reduce heat to medium, uncover, and cook for 20 minutes or until the fruit breaks down and the mixture becomes slightly thick; stir frequently.
3. Remove from heat. Process the mixture in a blender, Vita-Mix, or food processor fitted with a metal blade until mostly smooth (leave some chunks). Return the mixture to the pot. Add the stevia, lemon or orange juice, and arrowroot dissolved in water. For a sweeter taste, add an additional 1/8 teaspoon stevia and/or 1 tablespoon honey. Blend, taste, and repeat if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring periodically. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Store in wide mouth glass jars or bowls with lids. When cool, cover and refrigerate. When cold to the touch, freeze what you don’t plan to use within 3 or 4 weeks, leaving at least 1 inch of space at the top of the jar.
5. Serve cold or at room temperature, or warm briefly in a small saucepan over low heat, or use the bowl-on-a-rack method (listed in The Ice Dream Cookbook).
1 serving (3 1/2 tablespoons): 91 calories, 1 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrate, 0.8 grams fat, 12 milligrams sodium
Source: The Ice Dream Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz
© COPYRIGHT 2008
For more info or to order click here
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