Rachael Ray

I’m a big fan of natural, homemade hair products, because I need to use a generous amount of conditioner and gel in my wild, unpredictable curls. I blended up this gel recently on a day when my hair was misbehaving, and I really like the way it helps to smooth my hair. There are a few reasons that I’m motivated to make my hair care products at home, and not least of those is cost. A decent quality conditioner is expensive, and if you go through a large amount in a month like I do, it starts to add up. Another reason is environmental pollution. All of those plastic bottles of product end up somewhere, and more than likely when they [...]...

It’s April already, so it’s technically spring, but in much of the country, we still only have winter vegetables in season. That’s why today’s recipe focuses on the beloved sweet potato, a root vegetable and a cold weather favorite. This quick-cooking tuber has plenty of flavor on its own, but when paired with sweet and fruity coconut oil, its richness is almost too good to be believed. If you’re new to coconut oil, you’re in for a treat. Virgin coconut oil has a texture similar to butter, and a naturally subtle coconut flavor that perfectly complements sweet and tropical foods. It’s now widely available in health food stores, and is widely considered a heart healthy cooking oil. When you mix coconut and [...]...

Every time you slather mustard on your hotdog or hamburger, you just may be helping to prevent Alzheimer’s or arthritis. The reason is that the humble spice turmeric, routinely added to mustard to give the condiment it signature yellow color, has been shown to have powerful curative properties. Turmeric is a rhizome, like ginger, and in its native India, where people cook with it daily, the rate of Alzheimer’s in people in their 70’s is among the lowest in the world. Studies are now being conducted on turmeric’s prevention of Alzheimer’s, as well as its effectiveness as a treatment for people who already suffer from symptoms of the disease. In addition to being a possible preventative of Alzheimer’s, turmeric is being studied [...]...

Remember bean sprouts? You know, those, yummy, crunchy, mysterious things that you’ll sometimes find in salads and sandwiches? If you’ve ever tried buying them at the store, you may have found that they’re very expensive, and they never seem all that fresh. Well as it turns out, it’s much easier and cheaper to grow your own sprouts at home! Let’s start by defining what sprouts are. When you buy dried beans and grains, they are actually alive, but just sleeping, in a way. When you put them in water, they come back to life, shooting out a fresh, green sprout. Some grains and beans are known for being easily sprout-able, including wheat berries, chickpeas, and lentils - which are what I [...]...

The other day, I made a happy discovery. I found the secret for transforming humdrum white beans into a rich, deeply flavored ingredient. What happened was, one night when I needed a quick dinner, I spied a can of white beans in the cupboard. I’ve always found white beans kind of flavorless, but the pickings were slim, so I opened the can and gave the beans a good rinse. I heated a skillet over medium-high heat, added a glug of olive oil, and in went the beans. I walked away and got distracted, and when I came back five minutes later, the beans had developed a golden crust on the bottom. I thought [...]...

Go to any Persian restaurant, or to the home of an Iranian family for dinner, and you will be served a plate at the beginning of the meal that is alive with color and the aroma of herbs. This platter of “edible herbs,” or in Persian, the sabzi khordan plate, is made up of fresh herbs, bread, cheese, and a few other doodads, and it’s a no-fail party food that couldn’t be easier to prepare. The edible herb platter will be on the table throughout the meal, or, it can be a meal in itself. All of the fresh elements on the plate look beautiful together, but this isn’t fancy food, and in fact everything on it should be eaten with [...]...

Have you ever wished that when you went out to dinner, or visited a new town, you knew where to find a restaurant that served healthy food? Well that’s the information that the Clean Plates website provides, and now they’ve published The Clean Plates Cookbook, full of healthy recipes — many of which are contributed by their favorite restaurant chefs. Above: Kale Salad recipe, by chef Hadley Schmitt of New York’s Northern Spy Food Co. restaurant, from The Clean Plates Cookbook Most healthy cookbooks have an outlook on eating that relies on one exclusive theory, such as veganism, raw food, the Paleo diet, etc. But the author of The Clean Plates Cookbook, Jared Koch, is a nutritionist, and he has a different [...]...

I discovered mung beans while researching my upcoming Persian cookbook. These grass-colored beans with a white speck at the center are a staple in Iran, India, and China, but here in The United States, most people have never tasted them. Mung beans make a great addition to your pantry, and here’s the main reason: they cook much faster than most other beans! Boil whole mung beans in water and they’re ready to eat in about 45 minutes. Split mung beans, which have the outer skin removed and are yellow, take only 20-30 minutes to cook. That means that you can throw a handful of grains like quinoa, rice, or rolled oats in with the beans, take your time chopping up vegetables [...]...

Did you ever take a trip and congratulate yourself on getting cheap airfare and a low hotel rate, and then notice once you arrived that you were blowing your budget on eating out in restaurants? That happened to me on a recent trip. I found that I was spending between $15-$20 on every meal, and one night when I went to a “nice” place I spent almost $40 - and that was without even a glass of wine to make the price go down easier! Part of the problem was that I was trying to eat healthy food, and let me tell you, leafy greens don’t come cheap! One day while walking, I passed a market, and I had a revelation: I [...]...