BY ABBY FOX

When Joy Feldman got sick with an autoimmune disease 16 years ago, left undiagnosed by doctors, she realized she would have to take health into her own hands.

An East Greenwich resident and nutritional consultant working in Wickford, Feldman said she learned how to cook whole foods with her family’s help, and got her health back, thanks to “real, simple cooking, before all the processed food came in,” she said, things like vegetable stir fries, and meatloaf, and sweet potato pancakes. “My kids are my taste-testers,” she joked.
In a previous incarnation, Feldman was a lawyer working long hours, a vegetarian who was “also drinking a lot of sodas and eating white flour and not getting enough rest; I was driving hard.” When she got his disease and a doctor in Arizona got her on a healthier regime, ordering her to change her diet, she was happy to comply. “I would have done anything in my power to get my health back,” she said.
“People don’t have to stress about eating well, eating lots of vegetables and protein,” she said. “People are so confused today about what the right foods are; it’s a complicated subject. And they’re dissatisfied with the lack of good advice they’re receiving; they aren’t getting answers from the medical community. I’m trying to impart to people to keep it simple.”
The culmination of those years of questions gone unanswered, and self-taught cooking sessions with her daughter “always by my side,” is a new book, “Joyful Cooking in the Pursuit of Good Health,” that has more than a hundred “nutrient rich” recipes and offers nutritional information about “nutritional balancing and hair tissue mineral analysis,” along with separate food advice for children and expectant mothers.
If the sample recipes you read here are appealing, Feldman said, check them all out when the becomes available in early May, or earlier; see www.joyfeldman.com for more information; her Facebook group, JHF Consulting; or buy the book online with amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. A book signing is planned in North Kingstown in May.
Feldman works as a nutritional consultant at the Wickford Chiropractic Wellness Center, 610 Ten Rod Road in North Kingstown, at 855-8800. She is also working on a master’s degree in holistic nutrition, through online coursework at Clayton College of Natural Health.
“I couldn’t have done this without my family,” Feldman said, including her son, daughter, and her husband, an orthopedic surgeon who shares her passion for health. “What I learned was empowering. It was enlightening,” she said.  “I think it’s important for people to feel empowered and have knowledge about health.”

Sample recipes from, “Joyful Cooking: In the Pursuit of Good Health,” by Joy Feldman


A fish recipe

Easy Roll – Ups
Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese

2-4 slices smoked salmon
2-4 slices of goat cheese
A few slices of red onion
Alfalfa sprouts

Serves1-2
Lay out the smoke salmon. Place the goat cheese, onion and sprouts on top of the smoked salmon. Roll up the salmon with the ingredients inside. This is a nice snack or lunch. Add some freshly steamed vegetables to enjoy this easy meal.

A meat recipe
Lamb and minced onions

¼ pound of ground lamb
½ small onion, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Serves 1
Fire up your grill or turn on your oven to broil. In a small pan, add in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Then add onions. Sauté for about 5 minutes. When the onions are soft, add them to the ground lamb. Shape meat into a patty. Place on a hot grill for 5-6 minutes per side for medium rare. You can also place your patties in the oven on broil for the same time.  Make it easy! Enjoy

Note: Lamb is an excellent source of protein. Always purchase grass fed meats.

A vegetable recipe

Sweet and Sour Swiss Chard Extravaganza

3 cups of swiss chard
1 cup of minced onions
¼ cup of walnuts
2 tablespoons of butter

Serves 4
In a large skillet, sauté the onions until they brown. Then add in the walnuts and raisins. Cook for 5 more minutes. Then add in the swiss chard. Cook all the ingredients together for an additional 5-7 minutes. This is delicious served over brown rice.

Fun Fact: Many people are not sure how to prepare this leafy green vegetable, but it is worth the effort to learn. Get started with this delicious recipe. This vegetable provides 10,000IU’s of Vitamin A.  Wow!

A crock pot recipe

Smashing Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips

4 cups of sweet potatoes, diced
3 cups of medium parsnips, peeled and cubed
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
½ teaspoon of sea salt
½ cup of apples, chopped

Serves 6
Gently oil in the inside of the Crockpot. Place all the ingredients inside the Crockpot. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on the low heat setting.

Kids’ food  recipe

Corny Tortilla French Toast- Oui, Oui

2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
2 corn tortillas
8 blueberries
Butter
Cinnamon

Serves 1-2
Use a bowl to whisk the eggs together. Transfer to shallow dish. Place the tortilla into egg mixture and let it soak up the egg batter. In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter until it sizzles. Place the tortilla in the skillet adding any remainder of the batter to the corn tortilla. Flip the tortilla on each side until it is browned. Add in the blueberries. Roll up the tortillas and serve this hot. Sprinkle with cinnamon. This looks just like a crepe. Enjoy!

Variation: Try this dish with a side of chicken sausage. You could also mix in the assorted berries.

Vegetables recipe

Steamin’ Demon Veggies

1 cup of broccoli, chopped
1 cup of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup of zucchini, sliced
1 cup of carrots, sliced
¼ cup of almond butter

Serves 4
Place vegetables in steamer basket for 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from basket and place them into a new bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the almond butter with a few tablespoons of water to thin down this sauce. Pour the almond butter over the vegetables.

The children will just love this healthy dish.