Short On Inspiration While Dining In?

Short On Inspiration While Dining In? My Pinewood Kitchen Dishes Out Some Quarantine Cuisine Tips.

Nashville, TN, May 15, 2020 ̶ ̶ With COVID-19 keeping us at home more and shopping less, home chefs need to get creative while cooking tasty, healthy meals for their entire family. Chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert: she healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.

The mom/rancher/restaurateur can share tips for “quarantine cuisine” when you’re hankering for variety in your meals but you’re short on ingredients and inspiration. Perfect for social distancing, many of her recipes are made with items you probably already have in your pantry (for example, her Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup); she can teach home cooks how to repurpose items to reduce food waste (cilantro pickles, anyone?), and reveal the healthiest foods you need in your pandemic pantry.

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure offers more than 100 gluten-free, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, making it a truly “all-inclusive” eating plan for the entire family. From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe is gluten-free and gut-friendly.

•   Curb Your COVID Anxiety with healthy chocolate with Mee’s Chocolate Avocado Mousse & Five-Ingredient Fudge Cups
•   Soups for Social Distancing – Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup (nutritious, delicious, and they use what you likely have in your home already!)
•   Plenty of plant-based offerings
•   Reduce Waste: Learn how to make cilantro pickles from cucumbers, sweet potato chips from sweet potatoes, a falafel burger from canned chickpeas, and how to make your own healthier ketchup and mayonnaise if you run out
•   10 Gut-Friendly Foods for your Pandemic Pantry

Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County, which is also home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile.

Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook My Pinewood Kitchen, published on April 14, 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy
By Mee McCormick
HCI BOOKS
Released: April 2020/ $26.95
ISBN: 9780757323522
Available wherever books are sold

Blueberry Almond Salad
Makes 4 servings
Blueberries are truly one of the best things we can all eat a couple of times per week. We
make this salad at least once a week when blueberries are in season. Folks are always super
impressed, and I tell them this is the most delicious dressing you will ever make. I love
adding leftover quinoa to salads because it gives it something extra in terms of taste,
texture, and nutrition. You can also skip the goat cheese and chicken and toss in cooked
chickpeas and apple slices. YUM!

FOR THE DRESSING:
1⁄2 cup fresh blueberries 
1⁄4 cup rice vinegar 
1 teaspoon lemon zest 
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons local honey* (*If watching sugar, use an equivalent
amount of stevia)
3⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Sea salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

FOR THE SALAD:

6 cups mixed greens 11⁄2 cups fresh blueberries
1⁄4 cup finely sliced red onions
1⁄2 cup toasted almonds
2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped (optional)**
1⁄2 cup cooked quinoa (optional)1⁄4 cup goat cheese or almond cheese,
crumbled
Substitutions:
**If meat free, replace with sliced avocado.
1) Place the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and
puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2) In a medium bowl, toss together the greens, blueberries, onions,
almonds, chicken (if using), and quinoa (if using). Top with the cheese
and drizzle with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Farm Fresh Egg and Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

THIS IS A GREAT brunch recipe that looks beautiful on the plate. In Pinewood, we
make our own sausage with a touchof fennel. The reason for the fennel is it’s a
digestive aid and lends a complementary flavor to pork. I make my sausage ahead of time
and store it in the fridge until I’m ready to make breakfast or brunch. You can use any
type of sausage you’d like.
Makes 2 to 4 servings
4 medium red or yellow bell peppers, halved and seeded
6 large eggs
1⁄2 cup nondairy milk
1 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
1⁄4 cup chopped scallions, plus more for garnish
1 cup cooked and crumbled pork, turkey, or vegan sausage
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2) Line a baking sheet or dish with parchment paper and arrange the peppers
on top, cavity side up.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and black pepper.
Stir in the scallions and sausage.
4) Pour the mixture evenly into the bell pepper halves and bake for 45
minutes.