Natural Cook Studio of Bend

“Kohlrabi” is a German word adopted without change into our language, Kohl meaning cabbage and Rabi meaning turnip. This “cabbage” improves energy circulation which eases stagnancy: it reduces damp conditions and so is effective for edema, candida, and viral conditions.  It helps stabilize blood sugar imbalances and is used for hypoglycemia and diabetes.  Kohlrabi is [...]

School is back in session and I give Kale an A+. Kale is the Grandmother of the whole cabbage family. One would expect such an old timer to be hardy, and indeed kale is. Her nutritional profile is exceptional and lengthy with over 80 different nutrients. The leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy [...]

Second only to salt as an Asian condiment, as a medicinal, ginger is even more remarkable.  Ginger is actually a rhizome, a large underground stem. It grows in the shape of a palm with fingers, called a hand of ginger.  Ginger has a peppery, pungent taste that warms and stimulates digestion, and boosts circulation, respiration, [...]

(also called Chickpeas)
With the growing concerns over rising obesity rates in the United States has come a growing concern over the excessive intake of carbohydrates. All carbohydrates are not created equal.  What is often lost in the trend towards reducing the intake of carbohydrates is that it is not merely the quantity, but the quality [...]

In 490 B.C. in a fennel field some 26 miles from Athens, the Greek defeated the Persians.  An Athenian runner bearing the welcome news raced back to town.  Since then, the length of a marathon race has remained the same as from the fennel fields back to town, or 26 miles and 385 yards.  The [...]

If you want to be “cool as a cucumber” add them to your menus during the warm summer months. The inner temperature of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the outside air. No wonder these are such a summertime favorite! I was given my first cucumber from a girls friends garden [...]

It’s the start of cherry season!  Cherries are one of the few remaining fruits that are truly seasonal.  They are too fragile to import; only domestic cherries are available and are at their peak in June and July.  Cherries originated from the orchards of Mesopotamia in pre-biblical times, and they were highly valued by ancient [...]

Carrots, which originated thousands of years ago, were not always orange. Instead, they grew in hues of white, purple, red, yellow, black and green. Another difference was that people once found the green, feathery leaves of the carrot to be more useful than its edible root. These leaves were used as a decorative addition to [...]

Ever wonder why Oktoberfest isn’t held in October? Oktoberfest in held in September because it’s modeled after the original Oktoberfest in Munich,Germany, the third full weekend in September.  Munich chose September to coincide with the marriage of Prince Ludwig I and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.  Funny how something like this catches on, but today it [...]

The name “basil” is derived from the old Greek word basilikohn, which means “royal,” reflecting that ancient culture’s attitudes towards an herb that they held to be very noble and sacred. There are more than 60 varieties of basil, all of which differ somewhat in appearance and taste.  The taste of sweet basil is pungent [...]