I made my lunch for tomorrow ahead of time because I already know I won’t have time to do it tomorrow morning since I have to jump into work early to get all my work done before labor day weekend. So I made an asian lunch inspired by you know who (TGOP) featuring an asian burrito, potstickers with a mushroom/pea filling and an avocado side salad. Hope this holds up well in the fridge overnight!
I started having more salads again this week. I was getting carb face big-time so I have to cut back the amount of bread and crackers I’m eating haha.
Exhibit A: Tofu salad (smashed up extra firm tofu with some mayo, SPIKE seasoning, dijon mustard) topping a layer of fresh greens and the tomatoes from our garden
Exhibit B: Avocado kelp salad with shredded zucchini (purchased at the salad bar of Whole Foods) and some fresh mixed greens and lightly sprinkled sesame seeds. YUM!
I made some rice-less sushi for lunch the other day and a side salad of avocado, diced tomato, sesame oil, rice vinegar and light soy sauce.
AGAIN. I had my awesome key lime pie shake for breakfast this morning. OK, it’s not really MY recipe but I’ve been making it from the Raw Food, Real World cookbook. OMG. Way too yummy. This time, though, I made enough for two servings and only used half an avocado instead of one whole one. The difference? None, taste wise but a good 180 calories 
I love a good save.
I’m baaaaack and haven’t posted in quite awhile (shame on me!!) Anyway, let’s jump right into things, shall we? This morning I made a “Key Lime Pie Shake” from a recipe in the Raw Food, Real World cookbook by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis and holy cow it was sooooooooooo good!!! I gave some to Chris who slurped away while saying, “This can’t be good for you, right?” because it tasted so darn delicious. WRONG! It is 100% good for you and here’s the recipe (modified for 1 person instead of 2). I mean seriously, what better way to start your day?? Enjoy!
- 1.5 apples, juiced
- juice of 1.5 limes
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 banana (the riper the better)
- handful of ice cubes (my addition – makes it smoother and MORE!)
- squeeze of agave
Whirl it up and sip til your socks come off. PS: check out the passionfruit from our backyard below! I will be making passionfruit smoothies FO SHO this weekend 
I love hummus. I love it so much but I never go near it because the chickpeas that it usually calls for makes my stomach not too happy. So to my delight, I found a great recipe in Ani Phyo’s cookbook for a non-bean hummus using one of my favorite ingredients: sun-dried tomatoes. WOO HOO! Below is the recipe but I only made half the batch and added and subtracted a few things. It came out so creamy and perfectly seasoned and DELICIOSO!! Chris and I shared it (he had it with tortilla chips and I had it with crisp raw veggies) and there were plenty of leftovers, which I will be happily toting to work tomorrow.
Ani Phyo’s Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
2 cups zucchini, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 TBL
1/4 cup plus 1 TBL extra virgin olive oil (*I used less olive oil because I didn’t feel it was necessary)
1/2 cup tahini
1 tsp sea salt
2 TBL parsley leaves, chopped (*I didn’t add any of this but threw in some olives instead)
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
Pinch of paprika
Whip it all up in the food processor and enjoy!
I was going for a pretty light day yesterday with my meals so I started off with a breakfast fresh fruit plate for Chris and I: sliced pluots from the farmers market, yellow raspberries and blueberries. Pluots are by far my favorite fruit right now and I really have to stock up on them while they’re in season. There are so many varieties to choose from. My favorite is the green one you see in the picture – it’s perfectly crisp and crunchy and tart with a hint of sweetness. We decided that blueberries on their own are a little too bland for our liking…much better in my blueberry clafoutis, which I plan on baking later this weekend
Lunch was light and healthy and friggin’ delicious!! I don’t know what it was but it was soooo good…and simple, too! A blend of fresh mixed greens from the farmers market topped with sliced cucumber, a handful of raisins and pine nuts and macadamia oil, lemon juice and sea salt. Oh my. Not sure if it was the mix of the raisins and the sea salt and the macadamia oil but something got my senses all perked up and I was savoring every bite. I am DEFINITELY making this again.
I apologize in advance for what may be a lack of posting today – our office launched a new project and we were up til 3am last night/this morning working on our computers. I slept for about 4 hours before waking again at 7am to conference with a web developer overseas. Needless to say, I am EXHAUSTED. Sleep is so important in healing the body…and I’m definitely behind on it. I can’t wait for the weekend so I can just relax and sleep in. Anyway, enough grumbling and onto the food!
Didn’t have breakfast since I was slammed with work this AM. Headed to Whole Foods for lunch and put together a mixed salad of raw and cooked veggies and picked up a LARA bar because they’re a nice alternative to an unhealthy dessert. I really like the way the orange of my shredded carrots match up nice with the orange from the LARA bar packaging
So I kind of indulged over the weekend and my stomach paid for it – BIG TIME! I have such a hard time with regular dairy but could not resist Ben & Jerry’s “peanut butter cup” ice cream when I dined at Chris’ parents’ house. OMG. Soooo delicious but it wreaked havoc on my stomach – oh well, it was worth it What do I do after I indulge and experience gastro distress? Green juice! Sans banana. Yesterday, I polished off a mason jar full of “Green Lemonade” from Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Detox Diet book but mine used spinach instead of kale. It was light, refreshing, and a perfect start to a new day.
Man, it’s been one heck of a nutrient rich day for me today – hurray. After gulping down my shake of spinach, romaine, carrot, beet and frozen banana, I proceeded to snack on some fresh juicy plump pluots from the farmers market. Onto lunch, which consisted of a GIANT bowl of spinach, raw corn, radish, thinly sliced fennel and grape tomato. All drizzled with a homemade thai almond dressing (almonds instead of peanuts because I have a hard time digesting them) and some crushed cashews on top. Looking forward to dinner, since my pops is coming up to Brentwood again. Thinking I’ll make him this same salad (since I have a TON of leftovers at home) and my favorite avocado veggie sushi rolls (with RICE because I still like my sushi with rice, no processed parsnip for me tonight).
I left my camera at work so I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the hearty salad I made for dinner tonight: sundried tomato, olives, fresh raw corn, avocado, spinach, baked yam and some sea salt and macadamia oil. Luckily, my precious MAC has Photo Booth built in so I thought, “Hey, why not? A picture is better than no picture, right?” So here you go.
Oddly enough, my Italian boyfriend holds his chopsticks in better form than I do! Yesterday, I experimented with more recipes courtesy of Amanda from The Grains of Paradise (check out her Q&A here). For lunch at work I made her Mock Thai Papaya Salad using shredded cabbage, bell pepper, tomato, cilantro (a MUST!) and mung beans instead. Bueno bueno!
Then, for dinner, it was the same mock papaya salad as a starter with a glass of white vino ($6.99 from Whole Foods and pretty darn good! Except I got my asthma problem right after so I’m really starting to worry that my shallow breathing can be triggered from alcohol. More on that later.)
And my main course was pot stickers (woo hoo!) made from the wrappers and stuffed with more shredded cabbage and sprouts. Not too shabby. My dipping sauce was just tamari and agave.
Yesterday, I tried a new “juice”, which wasn’t really a pure veggie juice per se but the base consisted of what I normally drink every morning (a juiced blend of carrot, beet, romaine/cucumber and a dark leafy green.) I love my morning juice but I always crave something a bit creamier and thicker like a smoothie. I wanted the creaminess of a smoothie without all the added fruit so I just took the juice base and blended it with a frozen banana. I know some “cleaner” raw foodists might argue that this destroys the whole concept of doing straight veggie juice but I think it’s all about what satisfies you and what’s healthy. And quite frankly, I don’t think adding a frozen banana is going to hurt.
This blend was made of: spinach, cucumber, carrot, beet and a frozen banana and OMG was it delicious! It came out looking like thick chocolate milk and tasted heavenly. No joke. I may have found the new favorite.
Lunch was an avocado sushi roll I made with sliced leftover cabbage I had from last week (the outer layers actually weren’t good but I didn’t want to waste the whole thing so I peeled away the bad leaves to reveal nice and healthy leaves!), sprouts and avocado that I had mashed up first with some rice vinegar to make it more spreadable. I served it with a dipping sauce of some agave syrup (didn’t have the maple syrup) and nama shoyu. Excellent.
I wanted to keep the asian theme rolling through to dinner so I got thai-inspired after talking about thai food earlier with my sis and made the following:
Mock pad thai with kelp noodles and an almond pad thai sauce. The kelp noodles are wonderfully crunchy and I threw in a couple of mung beans and sliced red bell pepper.
Cilantro coconut soup where I actually used a can of rich coconut milk and thought, “Eh. To heck with the fat content.” The soup was so satisfying I barely had half a cup anyway and was super happy.
For awhile there I was steering clear of any type of grain, just because I know it’s not beneficial to a yeasted system. And also because grains are so darn addicting! I can down a whole package of crackers if I really want to but restraint is very much in order when I’m near a box of Ak Mak crackers or toasted bread. However, I always like that added “crunch” to my salads that you just can’t get from dehydrated sweet potato – I think this is me still in transition and I’m totally cool with that. So, inspired by my e-pal Amanda, who runs The Grains of Paradise (by the way, I’m having a Q&A with her soon because for one thing, she’s gorgeous both inside and out and secondly, she lives in Hawaii! Me so jealous!) I’ve started adding some grains here and there to my salads. I was at Whole Foods yesterday and spotted these new crackers, Skinny Dippers, which I haven’t seen before. They are sooooo delicious and made of spelt grain, which is one of the better grains for you if you choose to go the grain route.
They are pretty filling so I just added two strips to my salad, which was composed of avocado, greens, sun-dried tomato, olives, sliced cucumber and a handful of dulse. Dressing was lemon juice and celtic sea salt, of course!
I think I’ve found my holy grail juice combo – the one that tastes perfectly sweet without the addition of stevia or agave. This is what I had at work all week and it was light yet filling and 100% tasty: 1 head of romaine or celery or giant cucumber + 1/2 beet + 3 carrots.
This morning, I had my second session with the personal trainer and we did a bunch of ab and arm work (my two weakest spots! Ack!) But it felt good after to get some blood pumpin’ in and for the record, my legs and butt are SO SORE from my previous workout where he had me do all these donkey kicks and squats and lunges. My plan is to do this twice a week, run for 20 minutes twice a week (which might not seem like a lot but I’m sure if I keep it up, I’ll see a difference) and then do yoga or pilates on the other day. Not a bad plan, just have to make sure my lazy ass does it!
So for breakfast this morning, I had a yummy smoothie concocted out of coconut water, blueberries, kiwi and frozen banana. I bottled it up in my new mason jar and took it to work, where I always drink my juices and smoothies out of a straw because it makes me feel like I really went to a juice bar or something lol. Weird, I know.
And then for lunch, I had a small avocado salad with a handful of dulse on top. There is fennel in there as well but man, chewing on things with hard textures is quite painful when you have canker sores like I do right now. Wahhh!
Now I’m off to make dinner for me and my dad, who is coming over in a bit to log in some quality “Father/Daughter” time Ciao!
Sorry, but I am still obsessed with Gena’s banana soft serve recipe from Choosing Raw. Soooo fantastic, I cannot stand it So I had it for dessert the other night but a funny thing happened. Usually when I freeze my bananas, I put it in a plastic tupperware or a ceramic dish and throw it in the freezer. Well this past week I just happened to store the bananas in a stainless steel bowl in the freezer and when it came time to processing the banana chunks for the soft serve, the consistency came out way more thick and creamy than it has before…and in barely 30 seconds! It used to take me a good 5 minutes to process the frozen banana chunks to get the “soft serve” consistency but not when I stored them in the stainless steel bowl. Which got me thinking, you know how restaurants store their ice creams and gelato in stainless steel containers in freezers? I wonder if that somehow affects it? I don’t know, I’m just wondering
I’m still trying to figure out why the heck my pictures have been coming out blurry on my Canon. Leave it to the daughter of a photographer to not be able to figure out the settings on her digital camera haha! Anyway, this picture does NOT do the dish justice. I re-created Pure Food & Wine’s famous raw lasagna dish at home and my only complaint is that I made the red sauce way too runny (hence the little pool at the bottom). I didn’t follow the recipe 100% as far as the assembly of the whole thing but let me tell you, the flavors were amazing and I’ll definitely make this again. It’s so easy, too.
I guess Pure Food & Wine/One Lucky Duck is famous for their “S&M Salad”, which combines fresh greens, hemp seeds, avocado, dulse and their famous Rosemary Quackers. I know this is nothing new and original but I just had to re-create it at home, especially since my pal brought me back the crackers from NYC. Well, I can see why this dish is such a hit at the restaurant and juice bar – the combo of everything was indeed delicious!
My coworker saw my lunch today and exclaimed, “Ohmigod you’re so funny! That looks like something from a restaurant!” to which I smiled and responded, “Yep. That’s exactly what I want.” OK OK so it’s not exactly restaurant style but it’s close, right? Presentation-wise maybe? Flavor-wise, it was simple but delicious – just another reason why I love raw food. You learn to appreciate the flavors of fresh and seasonal produce so much more that you can do without the oils and the dressings and the sauces. Don’t get me wrong, though, I love dressings and sauces but for me, a salad dressed with some lime juice and sea salt works just as well. So here is my lunch: a bed of mesclun greens with sliced bell pepper, avocado and a couple of Ak-Mak crackers because they are so tasty and provide the perfect “crunch” that I like with my salads. I know the crackers are not raw but frankly, who cares? It’s more important to enjoy your meal than to stick to rules and regulations. I brought this salad plate from home because even though I was at my desk for lunch (as I’m sure many of you are as well), I wanted to have a pleasurable dining experience. Call me dorky if you want
Lunch today consisted of green, green, green! A bed of fresh mesclun greens, green bell pepper and a whole sliced avocado mixed in. For my “dressing”, I used a couple squirts of macadamia nut oil (expensive but worth it if you’re looking at the cost per use), some lime juice and celtic sea salt. Healthy, nutritious, light and filling all at the same time. To this, I also added a baked sweet potato, dressed ever so lightly in some goats milk butter and sea salt (didn’t get that picture, sorry!)
Hi everyone! Chris and I just returned from a whirlwind weekend trip up to Los Olivos, CA (aka wine country) and I am EXHAUSTED. I had my fair share of wines both yesterday and today and combined with the heat and the long drive, I’m about ready to tuck into an epsom salt bath and then hit the sheets. But not without a little post, of course! My pictures from the trip will be featured this week but for now I just wanted to share what I made for dinner. After indulging in some delicious wines (no regrets) and an amazing meal last night at the very famous, very romantic and very cozy Ballard Inn (again, no regrets), I decided I needed something simple and, well, raw. What can I say, I LOVE raw food. It always makes me feel good. So tonight, I threw together some fresh lettuce greens, heirloom tomato, sprouts and homemade guacamole and drizzled a bit of macadamia nut oil and sea salt over it. As I stared at the salad, I was craving something else so I took a sampling of those same ingredients and rolled it up in a nori sheet, sliced it up, and voila! An interesting “sushi” roll with a side dipping sauce I made out of sesame oil, nama shoyu and rice vinegar. Yummy!
Chris asked me to put together a fruit bowl of our farmers market berries for his work lunch. My carnivore boyfriend asking moi to assemble fruits for him? WOW! My pleasure In the mix? Sliced strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapefruit.
Dinner tonight was nut-based and fantastic: a wonderful salad blend with julienned carrot, mung beans, fresh greens and raisins tossed in a creamy tahini dressing. More importantly, however, was dessert – the delicious chocolate macaroons I made from the Raw Food, Real World cookbook and my cashew/date “lara bar”, which I pressed and packed into a small ceramic tart dish then froze to taste bud perfection.
I finally gave in and forked over $$$ to purchase whole vanilla bean. I’ve never bought whole vanilla bean before, mainly because it’s so expensive but I guess my taste buds are worth it. Besides, I don’t get manicures and pedicures (maybe one pedicure in two months) and I don’t go to the salon to get my hair done (I have dark hair, lucky me, and I like my tresses LOOONG so no need to really cut it.) So the way I see it is with all that money I could be blowing elsewhere, I might as well spend it on things that mean alot to me…food! I cut up a tiny smidge of the bean and used it in an “ice cream” I whipped up in the K-Tec Blender: young coconut meat, coconut water, ice cubes, a little drizzle of agave and the vanilla bean. Wow. The consistency came out so smooth and soft and creamy and the little flecks of the vanilla bean made it such a pleasant dish to look at. We eat with our eyes first so it’s always important to make it look pretty!
The next time I am in Orange County, I’ll be sure to hit up Au Lac Restaurant, which serves nice raw fare. Here’s the menu, sampled from their website:
Raw Starter
Antipasto baby greens, “black pepperoni” sauerkraut, red onion, italian dressing
Chef’s Hand Roll nori, rice, sprouts, avocado, daikon, nattō, onion, mustard
Chimichurri dip with garlic bread
Cream Cheese flax, basil, avocado, mushroom, onion, red bell pepper
Da Bowl romaine, pistachio crumb, onion, olive, tomato, flax, sweet mustard
Deep House romaine, kalamata olive, dill, ranch
Herb Salad romaine, mixed herbs, tomato, onion, umeboshi plum dressing
Norrito Wrap nori, mixed greens, herbs, lime leaf dressing
Pistachio bread raisins, macadamia, spices
PopEye spinach, sweet and spicy pecan, red onion, fresh fruit, Kenchur dressing
Song watercress, tomato, onion, teriyaki
Sweet & Spicy Pecan
The Sea greens, wakame, dulse, arame, kelp, kimchi, ranch
Winter Roll thin zucchini, coconut meat,lime leaf sauce
———————-
Living Soup
Au lac raw nori, tomatoes ,onions, garlic , shallots, bean sprouts, lime juice, celery leaf, dill, cilantro, red bell peppers, pine nuts, macadamia, avocado soaked in miso
saffron broth
Humanese avocado, cilantro, coconut meat, onion, tamari, flax
Loranowa blended spirulina, coconut oil, bok choy, broccoli, carrot, onion
Hot and Sour sea veggies, red bell pepper, olive, coconut, curry spice, macadamia cream
Laksa turmeric, “fried onion,” dulse, “hard boiled egg,” kelp noodle, red chili
Sayur Asem tamarind, soaked macadamia, cashew, mixed veggies
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Living Rice
Risotto aquatic grass, mint, mushroom, carrot, avocado, marinara
Paella aquatic grass, bell pepper, onion, tomato, avocado, cilantro and mushroom
Asado Detira soft mushroom ribs with Chimichurri sauce, aquatic grass & garlic bread
Anh Fryed Rice grass seed, corn, peas, cilantro, dulse, red chili, tamari, “fried onion,” with ranch
Curried Rice broccoli, avocado, cauliflower, corn peas, “fried onion,” olive, mushroom
Green Pyramid basil pesto, aquatic grass, bell pepper, dulse, flax chip, basil tree
Mermaid black noodle seaweed, kimchi, flax chip, teriyaki, daikon, micro greens, “sausage”e truffles, with white risotto
——————
Still Hungry?
Angel Hair Marinara zucchini noodle, meatball, parmesan, basil, garlic, parsley, tomato
BBQ Chicken Pizza red onion, cilantro, “cheese”
Cali Roll dulse, nori, cucumber, coconut, avocado, chive, pine nut, tamari ginger
Chips and Salsa with avocado, Curried Guacamole with celery dip
De La Mamma broccoli, zucchini, coconut, onion
Fryed Chicks “deep fried” cauliflower, ginger, onion, sauce, “steamed rice”
Jinos Pizza roma, sundried tomato, marinara, basil, “melted mozzarella”
Mashed Potatoes cauliflower, coconut, broccoli, carrot, avocado, tamari teriyaki gravy
Pasta di Amore kelp noodle, “fried onions”, basil, “parmesan”, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic bread
Soft Taco iceberg, tomato, flax chip, mustard, coconut,pistachio, ranch, teriyaki
If you happen to live in the Redondo Beach area in California, I highly urge you to visit The Green Temple. Tucked away in the quaint Riviera Village neighborhood, the cafe/restaurant is nestled within a courtyard between a string of little boutiques. You would never even know there is a place to eat in there…something I love. I’ve been dining there for the past four years ever since an old veggie friend of mine introduced me to the place and now it’s a meeting area for me and my dad when I drive down to Redondo from Santa Monica to visit him Last night, we met for dinner and shared the week’s happenings as well as the following yummy food:
The Temple Green Salad: Organic hand torn green leaf lettuce, shredded beets and carrots, organic mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados and seasonal sprouts. Served with a slice of sprouted whole grain bread made in their kitchen.
The Avocado Sandwich (with extra guacamole): On their whole wheat bread with tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts, seasoned with spike and served with a side of garden mix vegetables topped with organic tofu sauce.
The atmosphere (mine came out blurred so these images are from their website. For more pictures, check them out here). As you can see, it’s all very zen and floral and calm with Balinese-inspired furniture, water fountains, and low hushed voices. How typical California, huh?
And finally…me and my dad!
This October our friends, Kevin and Meghann, will be getting married in Austin, TX and I am so excited for so many reasons.
1) I’m super happy for the couple
2) Chris and I will also get to visit another one of our friends who moved there from Los Angeles
3) I’ve never been to Austin and I’ve heard so many great things about it
4) VACATION!
But now I have another reason to be excited. There is a new raw restaurant out there – Borboleta Gourmet – which I just discovered while reading We Like It Raw. This is perfect because while all my friends will be headed to the famous Salt Lick Restaurant with their beer, I can find comfort in this vegan & raw-friendly place. Score! Here are some pics from Borboleta’s site as well as some info from their ABOUT page:
Borboleta focuses on healthy food that tastes just like the foods you love and crave, only better. Our food provides a way to eat nutritious meals yet feel satisfied. Our cuisine is sourced from the highest quality, 100% organic ingredients. We buy as much local produce as possible, so the food makes a smaller carbon footprint by traveling shorter distances, and tastes fresh, as if just picked from your garden. Borboleta’s gourmet living cuisine is:
Came fully prepared to work with an arsenal of healthy food
Breakfast: strawberry banana smoothie. You can see that there is still some in the mason jar sitting in the back. I made a huge batch and knew I’d guzzle it all up.
Corn avocado chilled soup at lunch. It had cumin in it, which was very good. Perfect consistency, too, since I like my soups thick and creamy.
And a sliced avocado on a bed of fresh greens from farmers market, tomato, dulse flakes, sea salt and pepper.
HAHA this blog post title is so fitting because I just served my first (and last) day of jury duty today in Compton, CA. Yes, COMPTON. And I have to say, driving through the neighborhoods really made me grateful for everything I have. I already am super thankful for my life, my family, my friends, and all my possessions, but sometimes it takes a little “reality check” of sorts to make you count your blessings one more time. On a brighter note, I was so ecstatic that I had gotten dismissed from jury duty that I came home and celebrated with one of the best smoothies I have ever made: mango-strawberry-coconut. I like to recycle the smoothie cups I get from the juice bar (for one or two more uses after the initial one) so I busted that out to make it feel like I had gotten this concoction from a real professional juice bar I’m telling you, I have only-child-playful-imagination-syndrome!
