Garden Fresh Pesto

Summer and Pesto go hand in hand. The rich green color, lovely aroma, and delicious flavor of pesto is irresistible. I think of pesto as the ideal food; it takes minutes to make with little prep.

Three of my favorite ways to eat pesto are:

1. Summer pasta salads with pesto and whole grain pastas, such as Kamut, quinoa or brown rice pasta, roasted or fresh crunchy veggies and some extra pine nuts sprinkled on top.

2. Spread pesto onto toasted sprouted whole grain bread and topped with tomato or red pepper slices. Yum!

3. Pesto dip! Dip sliced kohlrabi, carrots, jicama or peppers into the pesto and enjoy.

Nutritionally speaking the Sun dried Tomato Pesto recipe (below) has a full complement of amino acids with significant amounts of calcium, potassium, vitamin A and K. The phytonutrients found in pesto make it moderately anti-inflammatory. This complex food with 6 grams of protein per serving makes it and healthy fats is rich, so having small amounts, a tablespoon with your meal, will satisfy your hunger.

Pesto ingredients are easy to come by. Visit your nearest farmer's market for the freshest ingredients. Or better yet, grow some basil, greens and garlic and then make enough garden fresh pesto to freeze some for the winter.

Enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Pesto and summer seem to go hand in hand. Pesto takes minutes to make and tastes so delicious. This recipe is rich in amino acids, calcium and potassium. Add pesto to your quinoa or brown rice pastas, top with some garden fresh veggies such as roasted red peppers or broccoli and enjoy!

2 cups fresh basil

5-6 sliced sun dried tomatoes, drain the oil

½ cup fresh spinach or chard

¾ cup Parmesan cheese

6 Tablespoons Pine nuts

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic

Dash of sea salt, to taste

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator or freeze for 5-6 months.

Frankincense for Health

I just returned from Young Living Essential Oil's International Conference in Utah. Five thousand people attended coming from all over the world; Yemen, Japan, Madagascar, Kenya, Spain, Oman, France, Germany, Puerto Rico, and many more places.

The conference buzzed with the news of the frankincense research being conducted by Young Living labs, US University labs and foreign labs.

Omani frankincense (Boswellia Sacra) resins and the constituents of its essential oil play a key role in keeping the Omani population healthy.

Did you know that in Oman the cancer rate is 1-2 people report cancer every 2-3 years?

(Mark Schreuder, YLEO's Director of Research and Formulation) Those people diagnosed with cancer have generally traveled and lived outside Oman because of work.

Why are the statistics so low?

Dr H K Lin, PhD, at the University of Oklahoma, Health Science Department and author of over 59 published peer review research papers said in his preliminary research of five essential oils that might inhibit cancer cell growth, only frankincense was able to target and kill cancer cells while not affecting healthy cells. He is continuing his research but is very excited over the initial findings.

Frankincense has over 24 constituents that are being researched. Some are rare like incensol acetate. Some are unknown and need identification. Others are more familiar such as alpha pinene, limonene and boswellic acid. Boswellic acid is found primarily in the frankincense resins, but with proper distillation it is also found in the essential oil.

Boswellic acid has been researched and it was reported in the March 2005's medical journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics that Boswellic acid induces apoptosis, cell death, in myeloid leukemia cells. Other studies concur with frankincense's ability to causes cancer cell apoptosis. Dr. Lin and Mark Schreuder believe that all the constituents work in a synergistic way to keep healthy cells alive and create a condition where cancer cells die off.

There are more reasons for using frankincense. It may support the respiratory system, and may be used against anxiety and depression. It brings oxygen to the pineal and pituitary glands and supports the immune system. (Higley, Reference Guide for Essential Oils, 2006.)

Frankincense, if you haven't been using it, start now. The resins have been used as a gum or burned for over 8,000 years. The oils date back to Egypt. The Omani culture uses it to this day. Frankincense oil can be used topically, infused in an essential oil diffuser, or added few drops to smoothies, dressings, tea, or juice.

To your Health!!