Editor’s Note:

GoGreenInside^® contributor Rae Hatherton has just released The Alive Recipe Collection: Sculpting Your Body with Food as a companion to Alive! An Energy Plan for Life, her Amazon best-selling book.

As Rae explains, the recipe collection is designed to provide a structured and food-combined eating plan that works to optimize the body’s functioning and chemistry. Aligned with the principles of the Alive plan, the recipes in the collection support a change in lifestyle, with an emphasis on eating natural, nourishing food for the whole family, as well as embracing organic, bio-dynamic and locally grown food. The recipes also offer an alternative for people with digestive difficulties, food sensitivities and sugar issues.

And we think they’re just plain yummy!

We’ve chosen three recipes from the collection that are easy to prepare, packed with nutrition – and perfect for warming body, heart and spirit as the temperature begins to drop.

Chicken Fajita Soup

Yield: 8 servings

2 tablespoons (30 mL) organic sunflower oil

1½ to 2 pounds (750 g to 1 kg) organic skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced

2 tablespoons (30 mL) finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon (15 mL) ground coriander

1 teaspoon (5 mL) Celtic sea salt

1 (16-ounce / 500 g) can organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes

4 cups (1 L) organic chicken stock* (see recipe below)

1 organic avocado, diced

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup (250 mL) shredded sharp white Cheddar or Manchego cheese

1 tablespoon (15 mL) finely chopped cilantro, or fresh parsley

Heat the sunflower oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for about 4 minutes until browned. Add the bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, thyme, coriander, and salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and stock and cook until heated through. Taste for seasoning.

Place the avocado in a small bowl, add the lime juice, and toss to coat well. Garnish the soup with the cheese, avocado, and cilantro or parsley and serve.

*For Organic Chicken Stock:

6 organic chicken wings

8 organic baby carrots, chopped

1 cup (250 mL) coarsely chopped organic celery

2 teaspoons (10 mL) Celtic sea salt

Filtered water

Put the chicken wings, carrots, celery, and salt in a stockpot. Add filtered water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm) and bring just to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes until the wings are well cooked. Remove the wings from the pot with a slotted spoon. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin from the wings, chop the meat, and return the meat and bones to the pot. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until the stock is reduced by half. Strain and refrigerate or freeze the stock until needed.

Toasted Pumpkin Seed–crusted Halibut

Yield: 4 servings

1 cup (250 mL) raw pumpkin seeds

½ cup (125 mL) raw sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon (5 mL) cumin seeds

1 tablespoon (15 mL) Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon (5 mL) cayenne

2 organic egg whites

2 pounds (1 kg) boneless halibut fillets

¼ cup (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Spread the pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and cumin seeds on a small baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool, but do not turn off the oven. Put the seeds in a food processor with the salt and cayenne and purée until fine, and then turn into a small, shallow bowl.

Beat the egg whites in another small, shallow bowl until frothy. Dip the fish fillets in the egg whites and then in the pumpkin seed mixture to form a crust.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and sear until brown on both sides. Transfer the fish to a baking dish and finish in oven for 10 minutes. Serve with your favorite vegetables.

 Note: This dish is also delicious when baked only, and not seared first.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Yield: 2 servings

1 large organic butternut squash, cut into ½-inch (1 cm) pieces

¼ pound (125 g) unsalted cultured butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) maple flavoring (no sugar or glycerin)

2 tablespoons (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil

Zest from 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Put the squash in a baking dish. Mix the butter with the cinnamon, maple flavoring, olive oil, and orange zest in a small bowl and toss it with the squash. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, stirring carefully once after about 25 minutes, until the squash is browned and tender. Serve immediately.

Rae Hatherton is the author of Alive! An Energy Plan for Life, and The Alive Recipe Collection: Sculpting Your Body With Food . A naturopath, certified massage therapist, teacher and body/mind energy coach, Rae works with food combining, circadian rhythms, breath, meditation, acupressure, teas, movement and coaching to help her clients transform their health, their hormones, their energy and their lives. She lives and works in Toronto and has an office in Louisville, Kentucky. To learn more about Rae’s work, visit http://tibetanenergymedicine.com.