Not Your Ordinary Smoothies

Sorry to keep you folks waiting all summer. I was busy working, cooking, and starting my mornings with sun salutations outside in the summer sun! Another thing that gets my morning going? Smoothies! My smoothies go beyond your basic strawberry banana or chocolate banana (although I do love adding bananas to them!) These smoothies are a complete meal in themselves, and they have a secret ingredient....veggies!
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and lucky for me, it's the most important. It gets your metabolism going, helps maintain weight, and gives you energy to start your day. It is extremely rare for me to skip breakfast. I started working part-time at Starbucks 2 years ago, and I usually work the 5am shift. I still make sure to wake up a few minutes early to squeeze in breakfast. I don't drink coffee (and I work at Starbucks? doesn't make sense, I know), but I would start my morning with some herbal tea and steel-cut oats or whole wheat toast with almond butter and jam. I used to feel super bloated and tired after eating that (especially since it was before 5am).
I got into juicing last year, but my awesome Breville juicer (from Craigslist!) was too big to keep on my counter (and too loud and hard to clean for 4:30am!). I got myself an inexpensive, but powerful little Tribest personal blender, and my breakfast dilemma was solved. Yes, it's still noisy, but not as loud as my big juicer. My smoothies keep me feeling full for hours, and I feel wide awake even at 5am.
So what's my secret to super smoothies? First, start with your "base." I usually load a tablespoon or pinch of the following into the blender: nuts/seeds, nut butter, coconut flakes, coconut oil, cacao powder, cacao nibs, maca powder (energizing Incan superfood), spices (ginger, cinnamon, cayenne), etc. Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid: non-dairy milk, coconut water, filtered water. Throw in some chopped veggies for an extra nutritional boost. My favorite green smoothie additions are: cucumber (so refreshing!), celery, spinach, romaine lettuce, parsley, spearmint, kale, and avocado (adds a creamy touch). Then, blend the base until smooth. Next, add chopped fresh or frozen fruit. Don't overdo the fruit - it has lots of sugar. You want an alkalizing blend that will keep you full and prevent a sugar crash. Aim for more veggies than fruit in your smoothie. I love adding frozen fruit, which turns my smoothie into an icy treat. I use frozen bananas (just peel super ripe bananas and freeze in a ziplock bag), blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango, and pineapple. I use my morning smoothie as a way to utilize the fruit and veggie "scraps" in my crisper drawer, so the recipe always changes.

Some smoothie-making tips to get you started:
Experiment to get the right consistency and flavor

• Depending on your blender, you may have to play around with the liquid to solid ratio and blending time.
• Use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes  for a guilt-free ice cream style treat!
• Bananas are cheap and work great as a base for any smoothie. Peel and freeze overripe bananas in a large ziplock bag. 
• Slice large frozen fruits, like bananas, into bite-sized pieces if your blender is small.
• If you don’t have nondairy milk on hand, throw a small handful of nuts or seeds into the blender.
• While blending, pause every so often to stir if you don’t have a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec).

Make great-tasting smoothies with less sugar

• Use whole fruit in place of added sugar.
• If you prefer to add a sweetener, use dates, agave, raw honey, or brown rice syrup. 
• Gradually transition from fruit-based smoothies to fruit and vegetable blends. 
• A large handful of greens can be added to most smoothies without any noticeable aftertaste.

Here are two of my favorite smoothie recipes. These are a bit sweeter than typical "green" smoothies, so they are great as you make the transition to a healthier morning routine!

Great Greens
Sneak a full cup of greens into your breakfast! You will feel so energized after this!

• 1+ cup Greens (parsley tastes best in this recipe)
• 1/3 Frozen banana, sliced
• 1/2 cup Frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup Frozen mango chunks
• 1/4 cup Almonds or brazil nuts
• 1 tsp. Almond butter or coconut butter
• 1 tsp. Bee pollen
• 1 tsp. Maca powder
• 1 tbs. Ground flax, hemp seeds, or chia gel (for omega-3 power!)
• 1 tbs. Cacao nibs
• 1tbs. Coconut flakes
• 1/2 to 1 cup liquid of choice

Chocolate Covered Raspberry
Completely decadent and completely guilt-free! This makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert.

• 1 Frozen banana
• 1/2 cup Frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup Nondairy milk
• 1 tsp. Almond butter or coconut butter
• 1 tbs. Cocoa powder
• 1 tbs. Cacao nibs
• 1 tsp. Maca powder
• 1 tbs. Ground flax, hemp seeds, or chia gel
• Pinch of cinnamon, ginger, chili, and cayenne

Now go get blending!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Remember Chia Pets from when we were kids? Well it turns out that the same seeds that gave your pet a nice little 'fro are one of the most powerful foods in the world! Chia seeds are an ancient superfood that is making a recent comeback (and I predict that they will be hotter than flax seeds!) "Chia," which is Mayan for "strength," gave Mayan and Aztec messengers endurance for their super long runs. These black and white seeds, which look like little dinosaur eggs, form a thick gel when placed in liquid.

Here is just a preview of some of the incredible benefits of chia seeds:

• 2 times the protein of any other seed or grain (a complete protein providing all essential amino acids)
• 5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones
• 2 times the amount of potassium as bananas
• 3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries
• 3 times more iron than spinach
• Rich in omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids (even more than flax seeds!)
• Incredible source of soluble fiber

Unlike flax, chia seeds can be kept in dry storage for years without spoilage. They are mild in taste, inexpensive, and versatile. I could go on and on....!

For the past year or so, I had a big 3lb. bulk bag of Nutiva Organic Chia Seeds from Amazon.com in my pantry. I would occasionally toss a spoonful into oatmeal, but they seemed too small and crunchy to chew. I recently discovered "chia gel," which is super easy to prepare and versatile. Store it in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week and spoon into smoothies, oatmeal, cereal, salads, soups, beverages, etc. 

Chia Gel

Makes about 1 cup

1. Combine 1 cup water and 2-3 tbs. chia seeds in a bowl or jar. 
2. Stir with a fork to wet the chia seeds.
3. Continue to stir every few minutes to prevent clumping until seeds absorb all water (usually 5-15 minutes)
4. Add more seeds or water as necessary. 

My most recent obsession is chia pudding, which makes a quick and easy raw breakfast, snack, or dessert. It's basically chia gel with nondairy milk as the base instead of water. 

Chia Pudding

Serves 1-2

1. Combine 1 to 1.5 cups nondairy milk and 2-4 tbs. chia seeds in a bowl.
2. Stir every few minutes until chia seeds absorb liquid (see directions for gel above). 
3. Store in the refrigerator or serve right away with your favorite add-ins:

• Cacao/carob powder
• Nuts, seeds
• Fresh, frozen, or dried fruit
• Lucuma powder
• Vanilla/almond extract
• Spices 
• Sweeteners (maple syrup, agave, honey)

Some of my favorite combinations for chia pudding are: 

• Maple syrup + lucuma powder + pecans + dates + cinnamon + nutmeg + cloves
• Cacao powder + cacao nibs + walnuts + banana (or frozen raspberries)
• Vanilla powder + almonds + frozen blueberries

Vegan Adventures in Ecuador and More...

            Sorry to keep you all waiting for a new post for nearly TWO MONTHS! I spent the last two weeks of August in Ecuador. My sister is studying abroad there for 5 months, so my cousin and I went to visit her. We were only supposed to stay for one week, but thanks to Hurricane Irene, we got to stay an extra week! Ecuador was beautiful and amazing, and there is way to much to talk about here, but I'll give you a quick summary of our trip highlights: lots of hiking (including to the 4,800m refuge of one of the highest active volcanoes in the world), mountain biking down that same volcano, horseback riding, visiting two volcanic crater lakes (and riding a mule up one), shopping at indigenous markets, tubing, ziplining through the cloud forest, visiting butterfly/hummingbird/orchid gardens, touring the colonial and modern areas of the capitol city Quito, dancing to reggaeton and salsa in the clubs, and visiting a traditional shaman! 

               I was honestly worried about eating vegan in Ecuador, but with some flexibility and a basic knowledge of Spanish I was able to get by. Ecuadorians are not familiar with the term "vegan," and to them "vegetarian" just means no red meat. I was able to find several veg-friendly restaurants in the capitol city, but aside from those places I was able to make do by ordering rice, beans, and vegetables. Ecuador has the most amazing variety of tropical fruits. I couldn't even identify half of them and had no idea how to pick out the ripe ones. Ecuadorians serve fresh fruit juice with every meal. When they can't make them fresh, they use frozen fruit pulp. I tried guanabana, maracuya (passion fruit), mango, banana, naranjilla (small bitter orange), mora (blackberry), durazno (peach), tomate de arbol (tree tomato), uvilla (ground cherry), pitahaya (dragon fruit), taxo, and more. Ecuadorian eating patterns took a bit of getting used to, because they eat "desayuno" (breakfast) and a very large "almuerzo" (lunch), but they do not really eat dinner. Most families just eat leftovers from lunch or a small snack during the evening. This way of eating actually makes more sense, because large American dinners take too much time to digest before bed. 
           We flew back from Ecuador on Labor Day, so I didn't even get a chance to breath because I had classes the next day. I missed my first week of grad school due to our delay in Ecuador, so I have been playing catch-up the past few weeks in school. I am going to Hunter College full time now for the graduate program in nutrition, and it is a lot of work! I have 4 classes each week, but we were told in orientation to expect at least 36 hours per week of outside school work. That's a full time job! I am still working at Starbucks part-time as well. It's tough, especially as a nutrition student, to sacrifice healthy eating and exercise to get school work done. Unfortunately, I have been eating less raw foods since cooked foods are often more convenient and involve less planning. I find myself having to eat out more often as well, since I have less time to cook. However, I have found easy ways to make sure that I always pack a healthy meal to bring to school and work:

• Salads - add some beans, sprouts, nuts, seeds, or tofu to make a complete meal; buy pre-washed and chopped lettuce mix to save time
• Fresh fruit - as easy as it gets!
• Trail mix - make your own to save money
• Good old PB&J! - sprinkle on some flax, chia, or hemp seeds for a healthy boost and sneak in some bananas or raisins
• Hummus and veggies
• Make 1-2 large dishes for the week and separate into individual containers

Oh and be sure to carry it all in a cute reusable lunch box like mine! 

Some recent recipes worth noting:

• The Best Spinach Quiche Ever - this tofu-based version seriously rivals the best quiche made with cheese, eggs, and cream!
• Baklava - I found some organic, vegan phyllo dough in Whole Foods, and this recipe certainly put it to good use! It was surprisingly easy to make and tasted just like the authentic restaurant-style dessert. 
• Stuffed Bitter Melon (Karela) - the only recipe I've tried that can somewhat tame the bitterness of the super-nutritious "karela." This vegetable is used in Asia to treat diabetes and detoxify the liver. It is definitely an acquired taste, but its health benefits are so great that it is worth trying. 

Food As Art

My mom worked in the art field while I was growing up. So naturally I was always drawing, painting, or working on an arts and crafts project. Until recently, I never thought to turn food into art. One of Danny's coworkers is an art specialist, and she introduced him to "watermelon sculpture." We checked out some YouTube videos on the subject and became intrigued. One particular series of videos, by Chef Chang, seemed really easy to follow. We decided to start with an easy flower design. One thing we noticed was that Chef Chang used a special "bird beak knife" to carve intricate designs in the watermelon. I was able to find this set on Amazon, but you might already have a thin carving tool in your own kitchen. After some hesitation, we dove right into carving and surprised ourselves with the end result!                                                                                                                       

You don't need to create a fancy sculpture to create food art. By simply paying attention to detail as you plate your dishes, you can create a satisfying work of art. I have found this to be especially important in raw food. The color and design of raw food dishes provides an additional sensory experience that makes the meal even more enticing. You can play up the natural colors and shapes of raw fruit and vegetables to enhance the taste, smell, and texture of a dish. This is also a useful technique in getting kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Kids are drawn to anything visually appealing. You can use food design to make meals "fun" for kids (remember the old "ants on a log?"). 

Here are some of my recent creations that look just as great as they taste....

Strawberry Banana Parfaits for my mom's birthday

luscious chocolate avocado mousse, cashew vanilla cream, strawberries, and bananas layer to form a dessert that looks decadent, but is healthy and comes together in a snap

Raw Swiss Chard Salad

rainbow swiss chard, thinly sliced carrot (I usually shred them, but my garden carrots just looked so beautiful this way), onion, raisins, almonds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and maple syrup

Southwestern Purslane Salad

Purslane is a highly nutritious edible weed that adds a delicate quality to any salad. It makes a beautiful garnish to any dish as well. Here I added tomato, cucumber, onion, avocado, and a Southwestern style creamy chipotle cashew dressing

And some other pictures of my recent culinary adventures 

(though not as visually appealing as the pictures above)....

My first attempt at veganizing my past love, quiche, was a success! 

Tweaking this recipe, I created a rich filling that included kale, swiss chard, 

broccoli leaves, and leeks. I also used an organic spelt flour crust that I found in 

Fairway Market (it's probably carried in Whole Foods as well).

Vegan Diner Night!

TLT's (tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and hummus) sandwiches, cole slaw, 

pickles, and sauerkraut - way healthier than my typical high school lunch!

(Almost Raw) Thai Peanut Noodles

zucchini noodles, carrots, onions, cilantro, raw peanuts, peanut butter, lime juice, 

olive oil, maple syrup, mellow white miso, and tamari 

And from the garden...

garlic is finally ready!

and big fat carrots!

Homemade Vegan Yogurt!

Danny mentioned a few months ago that he wanted to start eating yogurt for its probiotic benefits. At nearly $2 a container, soy yogurt was not really in his daily budget. So for his birthday I bought him the Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker (I know, not your typical gift for a 24 year old guy). It's basically a covered tray that incubates the yogurt at about 100 degrees F for 8-12 hours. The basic process is as follows: bring 40 oz. of milk to a boil, remove from heat and cool to lukewarm, whisk in 6 oz. of plain yogurt with live active cultures, pour into glass containers and incubate in yogurt maker for 8 hours. After 8 hours the yogurt had a sight curdled appearance with liquid that had accumulated on the top of each jar and the yogurt tasted very sour. We refrigerated the yogurt overnight, hoping that it would firm up a bit more and taste better once it cooled. By the next morning the yogurt had not changed, but I was determined to salvage it. I found this article on "Greek-Style Soy Yogurt" on Fat Free Vegan and gave it a try. I fitted a strainer over a bowl and placed 2 large paper coffee filters in the strainer. The I poured my homemade yogurt into the filters and set it in the fridge for about 2 hours. The result: thick and creamy Greek-style soy yogurt that tasted just like the dairy version I used to love. I prepared it in my favorite way with honey, cinnamon, raisins, dates, walnuts, and hemp seeds. The only downside is that the original 42 oz. of yogurt is reduced to about 20 oz. because the liquid "soy whey" is lost after straining. This liquid is probably very nutritious, so I will have to think of a way to use it in my cooking or baking without lending a strong sour flavor. The homemade yogurt was definitely cheaper than store bought yogurt:

32 oz. container of organic vanilla soy milk from Costco: about $1 

6 oz. Whole Soy Plain organic yogurt: $1.69

TOTAL: $2.69 (still much cheaper than the 16 oz. tubs of Greek yogurt I used to buy at around $5 each)!

I can't wait to experiment with different flavors and milks (coconut yogurt...yum!)

Other recipes I tested this week that you MUST try:

• Chocolate Mousse Tart: Another amazing recipe from Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Made Easy for 1 or 2 People; completely raw, vegan, and gluten-free; a crust made of walnuts, pecans, coconut flakes, dates, and sea salt; a filling made with avocado, dates, cocoa powder, carob powder, and vanilla...sounds like heaven right? 

 fresh sugar snap peas from 

my garden complete the meal!

 

• Quinoa and Sprouted Bean Salad: On my recent trip to Costco I also picked up a huge bag of organic quinoa and TruRoots Organic Sprouted Bean Trio and made this recipe from the TruRoots Facebook group page (I have already made my own adjustments below):

                Simply Sensational TruRoots Sprouted Bean Trio Salad

                Makes 4 to 6 servings

• 1 1/2 cups sprouted beans, cooked according to package directions
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked 
• ½ cup diced avocado
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• 1 clove garlic minced 
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1-2 teaspoons soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon or less of chipotle chile powder, depending on heat
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

• Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts: One of Jennifer Cornbleet's recipes...who knew swiss chard could taste so good raw? The swiss chard is marinated in lemon juice, which softens it, giving it a cooked quality. I also added some chopped almonds for extra crunch. 
• Sprouted Wehani Rice: I sprouted Lundberg Wehani Rice in my Easy Sprout Sprouter, but cooked it over low heat for about 10 minutes because it was still a bit crunchy (sprouting definitely cuts down on the 1 hour cooking time!) I tossed in some maple syrup, olive, oil, cranberries, pepitas, and scallions. 
• Sauteed Beet Greens: Don't throw out the leafy tops of your beets! They are super nutritious and taste like spinach or swiss chard when cooked. You can toss them raw into salads, but my beet greens were mature and thus a little bitter. I tweaked this recipe by subbing maple syrup for the sugar and adding a drop of liquid smoke in place of the bacon (I cooked the greens in a tsp. of coconut oil rather than bacon grease). 

This is my first summer as a CSA member and I'm loving it! I get 2 huge bags of organic local vegetables each week for just about $20 a week. You could never walk out of Whole Foods with that much for $20 (and most of it wouldn't be local!) I've been eating so many more vegetables than I usually do, and the variety each week allows me to try new recipes. Last week I got a surprise from my CSA...a pint of strawberries! Apparently the weather has caused a "bad season" for the strawberry crop on Long Island, but these were seriously the best strawberries I've ever had! Aside from joining a CSA, I recently found these articles on ways to save money eating organic and vegan:

• Be a Bargainista
• How to Plan Your Meals & Save Money
• High Quality, Healthy Vegan Diet for $3.33 a Day

Curing fresh olives from my aunt's farm in Sicily

...a treat from my dad's recent trip to Italy

Virtual Vegan Cooking Classes With "Spork"

I have been cooking for a few years now (well I guess only 4...I taught myself during my junior year of college by watching the Food Network). Since then, I've come a long way! I've only been cooking vegan for nine months though, and lately I've been looking to expand my vegan culinary skills. I still have an irrational fear of preparing tofu and seitan, and I'm not quite comfortable with vegan desserts yet. A recent Google search for vegan culinary classes in the New York area only came up with Manhattan's expensive Natural Gourmet Institute and a few other private companies I'd never heard of. However, one particular link caught my eye. Spork Foods is the
brainchild of two L.A. sisters who offer 100% vegan cooking classes in the L.A. area as well as subscription-based online cooking classes! Their site was a winner of the famous VegNews Veggie Awards of 2010. As a member, you can watch one hour-long episode each month, access archived episodes, view recipes, and ask the sisters questions about vegan cooking. You can watch one complimentary full length episode as a non-member, so I checked out the free brunch episode. Within the first ten minutes I was hooked: the sisters are super fun and enthusiastic, the video is shot in high-definition, so you can literally smell and taste the food, and they provide helpful culinary tips and the history or healing benefits behind certain foods. After watching the free episode, I subscribed to the site, and I've already watched four episodes in the past 48 hours! The sisters just make everything look so easy (and their recipes really are!), and they are able to complete four courses in the hour long episode. Today I made their "Ginger, Agave, and Mustard Glazed Tempeh," which was so easy and delicious! I didn't have all of the ingredients for their "chocolate orange mousse," so I made a healthy variation that used silken tofu, banana, avocado, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and orange zest. I can't wait to try some more of their recipes. The only downside to the virtual cooking classes is that I can't sample their food myself!