Homemade Brown Rice Sushi

I made some delicious brown rice sushi this weekend. It's pretty simple to make, very healthy, and low-calorie. Start with some regular short-grain brown rice and once it's cooked, add seasoned rice vinegar to taste. You don't need to buy special brown sushi rice. You'll also need some sheets of nori seaweed and a bamboo sushi roller. You can get this kind of stuff cheaply at a Japanese market like Mitsuwa. The rest of it is up to you. I made some California rolls and some vegetable rolls. Sea weed like nori is highly nutritious with a lot of calcium, iron, potassium, vitamin A, protein, and trace minerals (all things that are good for the pre-natal ladies ; )

North Meets South Soup

I just made my first real healthy recipe of the new year (besides those beet greens I made earlier today which were really a throw-together.) It came out great so I am sharing it with you here. I call it "North Meets South" soup because it uses "great northern beans" which seem to be from the north and "collard greens" which we know are from the south. This tastes like a Tuscan soup and I adapted it from the Escarole and Bean Soup recipe here. As an Italian, I love escarole but they didn't have any at the store today but they did have some beautiful organic collard greens. Collard greens are really a super food, especially if you are pregnant, because they are loaded with vitamins K, A, and C as well as calcium and folate. And the beans are great too, also with a lot of folate, fiber, calcium, and protein. It's about 200 calories per serving and super easy to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 5 cloves minced or crushed garlic
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 (15 oz) cans great northern beans, rinsed. You can substitute navy bean or another white bean. I used Eden beans because they are organic and BPA free.
  
• 1 quart (4 cups) chicken broth. You could also use veggie broth to make this vegan. I use Better than Bouillon because I love the taste and it's convenient.
• 2 cups collard greens, washed, then cut into quarters lengthwise (keeping the stem in). Then, cut that into 1/2 " strips and measure out.
  

Instructions

1. Use a few tablespoons of the broth to cook the onions and garlic together over medium heat in the bottom of a soup pot until they are transparent but not brown.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the greens are tender.
3. That's it! Serve with fresh ground pepper and grated Parmesan or Romano cheese if desired.