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Microgreens Are Growing Healthy

Microgreens have been around longer than our modern culture. 

It was a way of food survival during the winter months of the oldest civilizations on our planet… a lot like how modern squirrels have preserved the foraging acorn traditions. 

Baby arugula microgreens are tasty for a salad.
Baby arugula microgreens are tasty additions to a salad 🥗

Which btw… is outdoor entertaining to watch Rocky the flying squirrel in his purposeful scurrying meal prep moves. 🐿️

How they actually feel about their work we’ll never know, but it has kept their species around.

…And to keep ours going, modern food planning is something we do. 

In human life, that’s how it can look with us daily running around in our busy lives… and for me, that’s how it sometimes looked behind-the-scenes as a food service professional in organized chaos prepping and planning weekly catered event challenges in hotel ballrooms and for restaurant parties celebrating Mediterranean food styles.

And even with all the variety of food available to our planet we can be bored with our food sourcing options. 🥬

Daily, we open the fridge and pantry cupboards thinking: “what’s for dinner?” or “what can I have for a little snack?”…sometimes coming up short for a good answer. 🤔

Microgreens can be part of the answer as a healthy and tasty choice.

Here are 5 points that make microgreens a smart choice:

Point #1: Microgreens are food like-able and tasty good.

…Because if they weren’t, why bother?

Children seem to love them as some of the pickiest green eaters on earth.

Many microgreens are smaller, cute kid-size bits and bites like baby arugula, so it’s easier to get a handful of the finger foods than the adult version. 

The young greens also add interest, taste, and texture to any plate.

…And why they’re not more commonly known today is unknown. Maybe like their shape-forms, they still have a wild-like reputation… 🌿

Like, I remember alfalfa sprout microgreens from a school age where I once saw the jungle wild-looking tangly-fine weeds in a friend’s lunch box that made me curious…

And now as an adult, thinking it’s a good idea. 🎉

You grow into new perspectives and healthy ways and today is a great way to spruce up 😋 and vertically beef up a light protein mustardy salad sandwich or the like (…einkorn finger sandwich idea below 🧡). Or to garnish a bowl of beets… 

Point # 2: Microgreens are less bitter.

Microgreens have the reputation of being less bitter that is good news for some people’s tongues who avoid the taste.

That reminds me of green tea…

If you don’t love bitter green tea tastes that can grow stronger if brewed too hot or you picked the wrong flavor for you, then you probably don’t lean toward preferring many bitter tasting superfood veggies and plant greens.

And that’s why certain veggies 🥦🥬 don’t end up on the plate (like green tea in cups)… or in a diet despite their healthy goodness.

…Green teas 🍵 come from the same Camellia Sinensis plant as common black, white, and oolong teas but differ in process where they’re not oxidized like common black teas. 

And what makes the difference for microgreens (and similar to green teas) is the process from the same plant.

Microgreens are harvested early, coming from the same plants as the adult version we see mostly on shelf space in grocery stores. 🌱

So they’re fresh and have different tastes worth trying, often more mild tasting and welcoming to all.

Point #3: Young greens are replenishable, sustainable, and abundant.

…Just like other foods from the soil, nature provides and delivers over and over again..

When we think “fresh” we immediately think of the produce aisle in a supermarket, farmers market, or our backyard garden that produces fastly perishable foods that the soil can replenish. 

If you’re a green thumb growing your own mini-market, you can have microgreens planted, harvested, and eatable within foreseeable weeks (and not months or seasons that is the time most produce take). 🧑‍🌾

That makes microgreens more productive… and where you can have more than what you know what to do with! A good problem to have. ✔️

That would be too easy for getting a meal on the table. 

And that ideal IS microgreens.

When you choose the micro-world of microgreens, you too help our community and local farmers. 

…Those are baby plant little steps that you can take for your health and to support the world. 🪴

Point #4 – Microgreens are often organic without pesticides. 

So much of our plant-based foods are exterior sprayed with pesticides to deter mostly bugs, and that offsets the healthy goodness of the healthiest skin parts of the food. 

We throw away the skin that could have been healthy edible parts. 

And today, reusable composting ways are not yet available for the common household. 

So then we end up creating more waste that adds more plastic bag waste that also attracts unwanted critter nuisances to our community. But what if composting machines were as common as house dishwashing machines? 💭

But that not being today’s standards, with organic microgreens we can eat those problems away as the end consumer. And our bodies are healthier for our choice.

Point #5 – Microgreens are low calories and high in nutrition.

There are few (if any) green plant-based foods 🌱 that aren’t low in calories compared to plant-based (as in factory) foods. 🏭

Fresh microgreens from nature come packed with vitamins and minerals, along with some eat-from-the-rainbow 🌈 polyphenols that make you excited to color your plate and palette with anti-inflammatory food ideas! 🎨

And, mighty microgreens can have 4x (and up to 40x!) more nutrients than their full-grown version.

🎯 Final Points:

Microgreens fit in our consumer micro cultures where we are becoming more customizable specific in food diet preferences that impact food growing ways, and where our farming culture impacts our world. 

Sustainable food and young microgreens are sprouting interest in our fast climate changing world searching for longevity answers where eating anti-inflammatory foods fit.

One way you can be part of the anti-inflammatory solution is by growing your own portable microgreen micro garden that can be indoors (good for those with outdoor allergies or without garden space).

Plus, so many viable options to bring in more microgreens from dream to  life… yasss!

…That’s something to be excited about today. If this resonates with you, could you PLEASE HELP share this message with others so they can join the MICROGREEN movement that’s healthy here to stay.🎉

Go micro GREEN 🌱

🎉🎉 Discover and support local microgreen farms for fresher produce and healthier living.

Oh, and heres’s an easy whole wheat or einkorn (ancient wheat) sandwich in a modern recipe you can use to make finger sandwiches that was an idea I grew up with in the catering party world… and you can use for lunch, brunch, or an afternoon party.

To gain smiles, simply add delicious microgreens like baby lettuce, cucumber, radishes, carrot, and tarragon.

And for dessert 🍥, some sweet herbs and spices are microgreens like anise that you can add to a creme anglaise for pancakes or sweet brunch waffles.

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Einkorn Sandwiches with Microgreens

I have fond memories of tea sandwiches from catering menus, and that are part of English afternoon tea events and traditions. Tea sandwiches are usually bite-size and made of spongey-soft bread where the crust is cut off. And flat crunchy bread like these add plate variety. They work well to celebrate the sandwich ingredients in the middle that can be light and/or all veggies.
Course Breakfast, brunch
Cuisine American, british
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • einkorn flour, salt, and water for the sandwich bread.
  • cottage cheese
  • cucumber
  • scallions
  • carrots
  • beets or radishes
  • lettuce
  • asparagus or favorite veggies
  • spices: dill, tarragon, black pepper

Instructions

  • Prepare the sandwich bread. You can make the bread in advance. Let dough proof: develop air pockets and double in size for for at least 2 hours. Then bake dough in oven in a small sheet pan about 1/4" thick until toasted. Tip: Einkorn wheat flour is not a high gluten (rise) flour, so it won't rise much and will lay more like a flat bread when baked. You need not knead long and can omit yeast. Let bread cool and slice the toast with a serated or bread knife.
    Alternatively if you use regular whole wheat flour, knead a few minutes longer and add about 1/4 tsp of instant yeast (easiest) for a bread that rises. You can cut horizontally into the vertical bread about 3-4 slices to get a similar flat bread effect. Optional: You can turn this into paninis by grilling or baking on a grill pan.
  • Prepare the raw veggies. Thinly slice into flat or close to flat pieces.
  • For the sandwich paste, mix cottage cheese, dill, tarragon, and black pepper. You can processor blend the cottage cheese if you would like a smoother paste.
  • Add paste to the bottom of the sandwich and then layer lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and others veggies. Add the sandwich bread top. For catering-style zhugh, you can add a toothpicked cucumber slice, or radish and beet and then plate. These easy, new old-fashioned touches show you put in extra detailed care.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes Cottage Cheese

Stuffed cherry tomatoes are a healthy dream snack.

When you add a filling with a great flavor pairing, that’s all you need for a moment of delicious joy.
stuffed cherry tomatoes cottage cheese asparagus

These are good low calorie bites that you can snack on daily. You can pop or stuff in your mouth, a cherry tomato without feeling stuffed.

They flavor burst squirt the tomato juice so effortlessly and why kids can love them so easily because they’re a form of eating entertainment.

And if that’s mouth-entertainment you avoid, when you stuff them, you remove the squirt effect because you remove the inside juices.

The juicy inner parts are also the most sour tasting that you can save for a tomato sauce.  An easy way to remove the center is to use a large round baker’s piping tip with open jaws or a star-shape one. ⭐️ Twist and scoop out the inside.

And then in its juicy place, add cooked quinoa (or cous cous would work and is even quicker).

Here with quinoa you get a nice bite that’s also a pseduo-grain that will help make it a filling protein snack.

Because quinoa is filled with the essential amino acids that are building blocks of protein.

And then add a small dollop cottage cheese topping (or your fave healthy creamy cheese) if you want to keep the healthy bite vibes.

You gotta love the micro healthy bites that help keep you tied over until dinner (instead of chocolate or salty bag snacks)!

And then finally to top it all off, add a green, fresh earthy bite that balances the acidic sweetness in tomatoes. 🍅

You can add asparagus or leafy herbs like mint or basil work well to give a 3rd dimensional taste. It’ll also give a color pop to the plate. 🌱

That’s what makes these stuffed cherry tomatoes, appetizer worthy: unique shapes, colors, and textures 🌿

There are a variety of tomatoes each season to deliver on their promised natural abilities. And maybe you experienced their abundance in your garden this year or discovered a new tomato in your store.

Another variety that’s similar in sweeter taste and juicy-ness is a plum tomato.

You can substitute cherry tomatoes with plum tomatoes if you want to do more stuffing as they’re larger. They look like new deviled eggs.

These below are filled with cous cous and gorgonzola creamy blue cheese protein.

You can make these snacks in minutes and I like that they look homemade and not like perfect little catering appetizers.

They’ll get gobbled up in seconds in a delicious and healthy way.

Tomatoes are full of Vitamin C, A, some B vitamins, fiber, and lycopene that’s anti-inflammatory (and even good for sunburns).

Well, when you put it that way! 😊… maybe you’ll give them a try too.

Between carrots and tomatoes, you can have your healthy, low-calorie orange snack anytime of day. 🧡

Btw, you can take any tomato seeds and grow a plant. I started one a week ago and it has a green sprout 🌱 about 2 inches tall. Maybe growing tomatoes are the easiest produce plant to grow…  as I’ve been told, have seen from others, and who knows?… maybe will see my own. 🤞

stuffed cherry tomatoes cottage cheese asparagus
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Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes Cottage

These are like mini build-a-snack bites that delight.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • jumbo jaw piping tip

Ingredients

  • cherry tomatoes
  • cottage cheese
  • asparagus or fresh green herb

Instructions

  • Cut cherry tomatoes in half with a serated knife so they cut cleanly without squirting juice. An easy trick to remove the seeds is to use an open jaw or star piping tip. Swirl around and put the seeds aside and save them for a sauce. Or grow a tomato plant.
  • Add cooked quinoa (or grain substitute).
  • Add a dollop of cottage cheese.
  • Add green veggie zhugh for flavor and color!

Pumpkin Mousse with Chocolate – No Baking

Pumpkin mousse is a healthy dessert that’s so easy to make in 5 minutes with no baking!

Is it delicious? …Of course! Especially when chocolate is added for a delightful pairing.

But make no mistake this is a luscious creamy dessert scoop THAT NEEDS NO added sugar. Recipe below. 🧡

You can use anti-inflammatory unprocessed cocoa and pumpkin from a can or 100% pumpkin that’s pureed in with A-B-C vitamins and fiber. 🎃

Pumpkin is one of those holiday ingredients that reminds us of fall when we see PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.

Plus, this chocolate pumpkin mousse dessert snack has almond and coconut flours that are gluten-free.

If you want, you can make your own almond flour easily with whole almonds that you add to your chopper tool or food processor.

Almonds are a food kind of healthy fat, so you can have synergistic nutrition absorption with the pumpkin-almond healthy duo (since pumpkin’s Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that btw, is good for eyes).

…And is a tasty duo with pumpkin-chocolate flavors, using cocoa for the recipe.

Or cacao that’s not a typo for cocoa. 😊

It’s the raw, unprocessed version of cocoa.

But if you can’t find 100% cacao that’s anti-inflammatory healthy, you can use any unsweetened cocoa that’ll be almost as good.

chocolate pumpkin mousse ingredients by Healthy Happy Life Secrets.

Besides pumpkin that’s the star ingredient for this mousse, another fall flavor incorporated is tart cranberry… thanks to another later American holiday where you can give more thanks to the feast on the table.

And cran-pumpkin together is a glorious pairing in both sweet and sour taste, and punchy fall vivid colors.

Dried cranberries (or Craisins) that are commonly used in salads, are low calorie and high in Vitamin C.

You could use juicy whole cranberries for flavor, but they would make this recipe too wet, and then we would have to add more dry ingredients or flours.

With mostly dry ingredients, you don’t need much flour.

You can adjust the coconut flour based on the creamy perfect mousse texture you want… even though you can’t go wrong here!

After you pull together and hand mix all your ingredients, take an ice cream scooper (or spoon) and test the texture thickness of your choc-pumpkin mousse that can be like soft ice cream scoops.

Your eyes can get big because you’ll want a bite. 👀

And when you get the textures to liking, you can let the glorious and healthy flavors melt in your mouth.

This site is all about happy and healthy living and eating ways and inspiration. If this is your first time here, I encourage you to find out more about me and this healthy recipe blog.

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Pumpkin Mousse with Chocolate

This is a creamy no-bake mousse that is full of anti-inflammatory healthy ingredients.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • ice cream scooper (optional)

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp 100% pumpkin from a can (or pureed pumpkin)
  • 1 tbsp 100% cacao, unsweetened (or any cocoa)
  • 1 tbsp dried cranberries, chopped small
  • 2 tsp almond flour
  • almonds, chopped (optional)
  • coconut flour (about 1 tsp for texture)

Instructions

  • Use a spoon to mix your ingredients together and enjoy!

 

White Fish Broth Soup In 15 Minutes

White fish broth is a tasty, light, and healthy meal in itself. You can make this delicious bowl of healthy white fish soup in minutes from frozen fish and spices that can please your taste buds.

white fish broth with seafood and saffron.

White fish filet is one of the easiest fish to source all around the world, and you can find priced and stocked reasonably in grocery stores.

Cod, haddock, flounder, and tilapia are a few of these common white fish choices available around the world. Even though wild fishes like salmon are healthiest (touted for Omega-3), it’s often more pricey and sometimes hard to find.

You can almost always catch a white fish healthy deal and meal to feed a table tonight that’s loaded with protein, vitamins, and minerals even if you don’t live by the coast.

Considering other dinner and meal alternatives, it’s good healthy value.

In choosing white fish, you may not notice fish taste differences in fish coming from packaged frozen fish sections that are usually mild tasting, compared to the fresh seafood counters that have a fresh and more distinct-to-type fishy taste.

Wherever you go, the most important healthy choice is choosing the “wild” factor.

Wild fish is the healthy choice over farm-raised fish.

Emphasizing wild fish, then you can use the organic skin for flavorful fish broth.

Fish broth has type 1 collagen, that’s especially good for skin and hair. And, who doesn’t want that? 

When I was younger, I was told to avoid the fish skin, but that’s because we ate wild card fish sources that weren’t wild fish. 🎣

But like most white fishes, the white flesh is still a good source of protein, Vitamin D, and Omega-3 healthy fats.

White fish is also a good lighter choice if you’re trying to lose weight.

And if you’re looking to make quick, easy meals… you can pull frozen fish out from the freezer and have a meal like white fish broth soup in minutes.

A zestful soup with so much flavor with tastefully paired spices and spice blends like tarragon, coriander, and my seafood favorite…

I grew up with memories driving to the Maryland beaches, where Old Bay spice is a nostalgic and distinct taste favorite… and for many others who experienced the layer of strong Old Bay celery salt, paprika, and cloves scent in the already salty ocean air. 🌊

A whiff of the spice reminds me of the middle and end of August before Labor Day when the season changes. That’s also back-to-school time. And it was for me too as an 80s teen growing up in the more simple, and happy-go-lucky years.

Carrying the carefree spirit into back-to-school college years, I returned for summers and even worked at Phillip’s Seafood in Ocean City, MD one summer.

Those were the innocent (as in I didn’t know what I didn’t know) days with an unexpected whole new world ahead. We didn’t spend time on smart phones or the internet that didn’t exist.

…We focused on the physical 3-D life in front and around us and played  physical arcade games and enjoying all-you-can-eat crabs as entertainment. 😊

And this 3-D person came home from work smelling like a seafood boil festival.

On the shore, they douse Old Bay on everything… and all seafood. 🍤 Like shrimp, scallops and corn…

Old Bay is also great in fishy broths like the white fish broth (recipe below).

Just adding the seafood magical blend, you’d think you were having a soup from a Maryland seafood restaurant.

And because I planned DC parties in Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine restaurants, I especially like the fishy spice combination with the Spanish spice saffron.

It’s often found in a Paella dish that is not a quick meal, but you can make a saffron white omelet in minutes.

As another idea, you can serve that up with your white fish broth soup.

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White Fish Soup in 15 Minutes From Frozen Fish

This is a delicious restaurant-quality fish soup that's flavorful, light, and healthy. And for wild fish broth, you can get collagen good for aging.
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • wild white fish, frozen
  • Old Bay
  • saffron threads
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • tarragon
  • shrimp, cooked and frozen (optional)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • oyster crackers and lemon wedge (garnish)
  • coriander (optional)

Instructions

  • Add a drizzle of oil to a pan and add frozen fish.
  • Cook fish using frozen package instructions.
  • Pour fish juice into bowl. Add fish and spices.
  • Add cooked shrimp and any other seafood desired.
  • Serve with oyster crackers.

Apple Smoothie Milkshake with Sweet Potato

Apple smoothie is a healthy fall-ish color drink you can smile about… and when paired with the balancing tastes of sweet potato and carrot, you’re also getting a trifecta of anti-inflammatory goodness with vitamins and beta-carotene that’s the orange rainbow compound good for eyes. 🌈

 

Plus these ingredients are easy to find year-round and is great for season transitions where hot and cold (life on ho-ld) meet. 😊 So that’s pretty much year-round for a year-round beverage option!

For a great breakfast smoothie, it’s as simple as cooking a sweet potato and 2 medium peeled carrots until soft.

Let them cool and then blend with milk and a chopped apple.

…Oh yeah, the apple is the star ingredient.

I chose a Red Delicious apple because it’s a bit more sweet than a green apple.

Red apples are the ones with quercetin that is buzz talk (or you may have heard of).

But green apples, like a famous tart Granny Smith is one of the most anti-inflammatory apples.

…So either red or green, you can’t go wrong when comparing apples to apples. 🍎🍏

And if you want to kick it up a notch, you can add a ‘lil cinnamon to give a better version taste like in cinnamon cereals, but without the added sugar.

…That’s huge!

And you can do the same tasty and anti-inflammatory goodness intentions with an apple smoothie milkshake (recipe below 🧃).

This drinkable shake is a breakfast meal (inside a drink) because it also has eggs.

apple milkshake with cinnamon and sweet potato.
An apple milkshake is all natural with real apples, eggs, sweet potato and cinnamon.

It’s a egg protein shake that’s bordering on ice cream for breakfast… that puts a smile on old faces especially when it’s hot enough outside. 😋

…Which btw, when you make homemade ice cream… it can be healthy with a few healthy ingredients.

So if you’re looking for a satisfying cool refreshing snack, this could be one to try that meets your hotter moods and sweet tooth.

…I remember as a child when I came home from the dentist after having cavities filled because I ate a lot of sugar… and I didn’t mind because I was always excited to have ice cream for dinner. 🍨

That was the sugar freak in me and still is today in a healthy living way.

And, maybe that’s what it’s like for you or someone in your household situation who wants to enjoy sweet, but lower the sugar intake.

I know I wouldn’t have liked a sophisticated (aka grown up) milkshake taste like apple-sweet potato.

But a vanilla milkshake… oh yes! or maybe even a Vanilla Cinnamon milkshake that’s closer to familiar common ice cream flavors that the little people like. 👧🏻

And then maybe grow up one day wanting to try other flavors they never liked before.

And if that’s what we’re up for, then adding a hint of natural peanut butter enhances the body’s absorption to an apple and sweet potato milkshake dessert snack-meal loaded with fat-soluble vitamins… plus another taste dimension!

Now that’s something to wake up for 🍎

And for a little detox kick, add a little ginger for a natural energy jolt⚡️to your souped up apple smoothie.

apple smoothie milkshake with sweet potato, cinnamon spice, and a nice ginger kick.

You can visit these links for more smoothie beverage recipe ideas and simple and delicious anti-inflammatory recipes.

apple milkshake with cinnamon and sweet potato.
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Apple Smoothie Milkshake with Cinnamon

Ingredients

  • 2 medium or large eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 medium apple
  • cinnamon to taste
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 small sweet potato, cooked soft
  • cardamom
  • ginger to taste (or zhugh on top)

Instructions

  • On low to medium stove heat in a pot, constantly stir eggs and milk until almost boiling (small bubbles). Then let cool in the refrigerator until cold.
  • Blend all the ingredients together. Then freeze.
  • Bring out to room temperature and enjoy! It's best to freeze the milkshake so it sets, and then add any leftover in the refrigerator if you do not finish.
  • If you want to build a (second) layer of the sweet potato, after you freeze the first layer, you can add the second layer. Easy peasy and you get to mix and enjoy all the flavors together when it has melted some.