In food, Health, Portland

Once again, Portland Pedal Power delivery riders are hitting the streets with information about upcoming classes at The Wellspring School for Healing Arts. Check out their website to sign up for classes and keep reading to find out how to put Portland’s harvest of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and marionberries to use!

Wellspring SchoolAt the height of summer, the most pleasant dilemma a Portlander can find herself or himself in is: What to do with all those delicious berries?

Enter The Wellspring School for Healing Arts, a small, boutique-style wholistic health school in Northeast Portland. Their Wholistic Nutrition students were recently served a phenomenal berry-centric dessert that would be a shame not to share with the wider local community: A raw, gluten-free mixed berry crisp. Download the PDF here or click to read more to check out the recipe and make your grocery list!

Once you’ve tasted how easy and delicious whole foods can really be, you may very well develop a healthy appetite for more knowledge of that kind. This fall, The Wellspring School is offering two opportunities for you to get your fill: a hands-on, community-minded professional certification program in Wholistic Nutrition, and a seven-week introductory course open to anyone interested in the topic.

Starting September 21, the professional certification program is designed to fit busy lives and allows students to continue working while completing their education. Its curriculum is grounded in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern Western theories. Enrollment is open now until September 1, and you can find details as well as application materials on The Wellspring School’s website.

Not ready for the full program? Introduction to Wholistic Nutrition may be just the course for you. From September 10th until October 22, you’ll meet every Tuesday night to explore foods from Eastern and Western perspectives, learn how to create a truly balanced diet to suit your individual needs, join enthusiastic and honest discussions about nutrition, and try yummy snacks and samples. This is one of The Wellspring Schools’ all-time most popular class, so head over to their website and secure your spot.

And now for the recipe:

Raw Gluten-Free Mixed Berry Crisp

For the crust: 3 c pecans, 1/2 c macadamia nuts, 1 1/2 c pitted dates, 1 tsp raw vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp ginger powder, pinch of salt.

For the filling: 3 c berries, 1 c macadamia nuts, 1/2 c pitted dates, 2 tb ground chia seeds, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tb water, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

For the topping: 1/2 c oats, 1/2 c chopped pecans, 1 tb honey, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, pinch of salt.

Let’s do this:
Finely chop nuts in a food processor. Add spices and dates and process until mixture balls up or binds tightly to sides. Press mixture into pan. Soak chia seeds in lemon juice and water for 30 minutes. Blend all filling ingredients in food processor, except berries. Fold berries into dry mix. Spread filling into one 10″ pie pan, sprinkle with topping.

Enjoy!