Oakland Author’s New Cookbook Promotes Healthy Eating

Book review by Kristina Sepetys

Food can be many things, but at its most basic, it can be nourishing and healing. In her new cookbook, Recipes for a Good Life (Regent Press, 2024), Oakland resident Joaninha focuses on the transformative power of food as medicine. Joaninha has a degree in home economics with a specialty in food and nutrition from California State University, Long Beach. A background in holistic and Ayurvedic practices together with a long career as a dietary consultant, food writer, and educator has equipped her to teach others how to achieve good health through diet. The cookbook offers practical advice and flavorful recipes to support a balanced and nourishing diet along with lifestyle advice, like starting your day with lemon water and incorporating fermented foods in meals to build a healthy microbiome.

Readers will find a strong emphasis on clean eating habits, avoiding prepared foods, and eliminating refined sugar. Recipes cover all meals of the day, as well as desserts, snacks, drinks, and condiments. All are straightforward and easily prepared, marked with symbols indicating whether they are gluten-free and/or vegetarian. The vast majority of these recipes are vegetarian (some include dairy and eggs) and gluten-free. The book includes no photos, but instruction is clear and easy to follow to produce finished dishes.

Dishes include combinations like Buckwheat-Beet Pancakes, a colorful offering made with nut milk, grated beets, and spices like cinnamon and coriander. The nutrient-dense Hemp Seed Energy Nuggets are power balls made with flaxseeds, tahini, honey, and a blend of spices. Warming soups include a Pureed Chickpea and Sun-Dried Tomato Soup. Joaninha promotes dressing, sauces, and condiments as easy ways to perk up simple dishes and there are some good ones here, like Oil-Free Lemon-Ginger Dressing and Date-Mint Chutney. Additional resources, like a glossary of herbs and spices and their benefits, help teach cooks to be more informed about their food.

In an effort to promote local small businesses, Joaninha chose not to sell the book through Amazon. Instead, it can be purchased online at The Ayurvedic Institute or at two local shops,  The Food Mill, in Oakland and  Payn’s Stationery in Berkeley. Meet the author at the Food Mill, 3033 MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland on Saturday, September 28, 2024, 1:30–4:30pm for a book signing and tasty nibbles.

 

Try these two recipes from Recipes for a Good Life by Joaninha. Shared with permission from the author and Regent Press.

Pistachio Pesto

The toasted pistachios with fresh basil turn this classic pasta sauce a luscious deep green. The nutritional yeast replaces Parmesan cheese to create buttery richness. Serve over your favorite whole-grain pasta, such as brown rice rotini, or steamed vegetables. The pesto is also good to spread on toast and on bread for sandwiches.

Makes ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces/180ml)

• ½ cup (2 ounces/60 g) shelled pistachios
• 1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup (½ ounces/15 g) minced fresh flat-leaf parsley or fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Dash each of salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup (4 fluid ounces/125 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

In a dry medium skillet, stir the pistachios over medium heat until fragrant and lightly toasted. Empty nuts into a blender and chop finely, but not to a powder. Add basil, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil to the pistachios and purée, stopping the blender to push the leaves down as needed until a smooth consistency is achieved. Blend in the nutritional yeast.

Note: To mix the pesto with the pasta easily, dilute the pesto sauce with a tablespoon or two of the cooking water from the pasta just before serving. This warms the sauce and helps it combine evenly with the pasta.

Variations: Walnuts or pine nuts may be substituted for the pistachios. Parmesan or pecorino cheese can be used for a non-vegan pesto in place of the nutritional yeast.

 

Oven Roasted Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs

This vegetarian and gluten-free recipe from Recipes for a Good Life by Joaninha is shared with permission from the author and Regent Press. These tomatoes make a colorful, sweet and tangy condiment that can add a unique taste to green salads. The moist caramelized Early Girl tomatoes make a tantalizing garnish on pasta served with Pistachio Pesto.

Makes 1 cup (8 ounces/250 g)

• 12 ounces (375 g) small Early Girl tomatoes or one basket cherry tomatoes
• Salt to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh marjoram (or ½ teaspoon dried)
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried)
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh basil (or ½ teaspoon dried)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C). Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up, fitting them tightly together in the bottom of a sided baking dish. The tomatoes should fill the bottom of the dish and fit together tightly without overlapping. Dust with salt. In a small bowl, mix the herbs together and sprinkle evenly over the tomatoes. Then drizzle with the olive oil.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to shrink. Check the tomatoes after 30 minutes and watch them closely near the end of cooking time to keep them from burning. Remove from the oven. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: The olive oil and herbs may be mixed the night before to infuse the flavors. Double the recipe to serve 4 as a side dish.