Green Smoothie

GREENS!!!!!!! I love leafy greens - ALL of them. Salads make me giddy and I crave green juices. Interestingly, I have really struck out when it comes to green smoothies. Quite honestly, I haven't liked most that I've tried. I have made numerous attempts, each time thinking "this is going to be the one that sticks." No such luck! Inevitably, I end up throwing most green smoothies down the hatch with my nose pinched between my thumb and index finger.

Then, one day after reading about the many health benefits of cilantro, I decided to try the Cilantro Pineapple Shake from Sarma's new book Living Raw Food. It's delicious! It is now my go-to green smoothie and I make it at least once per week. I love the limey taste of the cilantro. As a matter of fact, I have thought about adding some fresh squeezed lime juice...next time!

Here's my variation:

1/2 fresh pineapple (frozen is OK too)

1 large cucumber (or 2 small) peeled

1 bunch of cilantro - I only use the upper parts of the stems and leaves

2 tbsp agave

1/2 vanilla bean

1 pinch of sea salt

1 cup coconut water - you may not need as much because the pineapples and cukes have so much water.

Papaya Pineapple Smoothie

I've heard that people who drink a lot of alcoholic beverages often have morning-after rituals that involve drinking strange concoctions, such as milk and honey, coca-cola (more poison), or even sauerkraut juice. Well, I have one for the morning after I've succumbed to the temptation (or convenience) of food that is neither raw nor vegan. This weekend I thoroughly enjoyed a lobster roll and a slice of pizza. What I find after I've eaten foods like these is that they take a bit longer to digest, making me feel heavy and "irregular." In times like these I need to do penance for my digestive system and I offer it in the form of extra enzymes.

This Papaya Pineapple smoothie is inspired by the Papaya Enzyme smoothie from Raw Food, Real World. Papaya and pineapple are both loaded with enzymes that help break down whatever they come into contact with. You can even spread mashed up papaya on your face to eat away dead skin cells.

My smoothie starts with a half of a papaya, which I buy at Whole Foods already wrapped with a wedge of lime in it. I scoop out and discard the seeds, then scoop the papaya meat into the blender. Next, I add the remainder of the ingredients:

1 small bag of frozen pineapple

1/2 a vanilla bean

2 heaping tsp of coconut butter

1/2 lime juiced

1 tbsp agave

1 pinch of sea salt

1.5 cups coconut water

Give it a whir in the blender on a high speed.

I particularly enjoy seeing the flecks of black seeds from the vanilla pod.

Snack Food - Part Deux!

There's one raw food snack that has been a particular lifesaver for me on this journey - Blonde Macaroons from One Lucky Duck. These tasty treats are unbelievably satisfying to bite into and I have been known to carry them around with me everywhere I go. The ingredient list is quite simple: organic dried coconut, organic almonds, maple syrup, coconut oil, agave, vanilla, and salt. I'm sure they're fairly easy to make, though I haven't tried yet. When I do, i'll make a posting (of course!).

What I really like about One Lucky Duck's products is their freshness. Ani Phyo (one of my favorite raw food gurus) is notorious for pointing out that one sign of freshness in food is non-uniformity. In nature, every apple will taste slightly different, have a slightly different texture, and a slightly different appearance. In our world of industrialized food non-uniformity is often seen as inappropriate and unappetizing. It's something that definitely made me uneasy in the beginning of my raw journey, but I have now come to appreciate as a sign of freshness and vitality. One Lucky Duck's products are handmade using the freshest ingredients and this is evident even in their snack food. Sometimes the macaroons are slightly salty, sometimes more coconutty - the batch I noshed on today were extra maple-syrupy. It's easy to tell that these little mounds of heaven are fresh.

Pick yourself up a bag and every time you're tempted to head to the vending machine for some Entemann's, grab one of these instead.

Snack Food - Cheezy Kale Chips

For me, having raw snack foods within arms reach is central to being able to maintain a mostly raw diet.  I have accepted the fact that I like to nosh.  What happens is that I get cravings to bite into something at various points throughout the day - though I must admit that the cravings are far less frequent and intense than before I began eating mostly nutrient-rich raw foods.  Still, when my tummy starts growling I lose all focus on whatever it is I'm doing and I begin a food-seeking mission that I have to believe is somewhat primitive evolutionarily.  The problem is that healthful food is generally not within arms reach.  To obviate the temptation for junk food, I try to cary an arsenal of healthful raw snacks with me wherever I go.

On Sunday, while at Blooming Hill Farm, I bought a gigantic bag of kale so that I could make one of my favorite snack foods - Cheezy Kale Chips.  This recipe comes from my friend Chela Crane, who is an incredibly talented raw food home cook.  Making kale chips in the raw requires a dehydrator, which I don't have.  Luckily, the oven that came with my apartment has a "dehydrate" function with the lowest setting at 120 degrees.  For those of you who don't have a dehydrator (or a fancy oven like mine), you can set your oven at the lowest temperature it will go, crack the door, and monitor the heat with an oven thermometer.  Just make sure the thermometer goes below 150 degrees - some don't!

Recipe:

2-3 bunches of kale (depending on size)

2 cups raw cashews - soaked 2 hours

1 lemon - juiced

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1.5 tsp salt

1 small red bell pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Wash and dry Kale.  Cut along the rib of kale to remove the stem.  Cut or tear remainder of kale into "chip" sized pieces.  Place kale on a baking sheet lined with parchment (or a teflex sheet in your dehydrator).  Because the kale is so fluffy, you may need 2 or more sheets to keep kale in a single layer.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a blender.  You may need to use a bit of filtered tap water to thin out the cheese sauce.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Pour over kale chips and toss with hands to coat evenly.  Spread into a single layer and sprinkle with fine sea salt (optional)

Place in the dehydrator for 7 to 10 hours (I put them in before I went to work today and came home to a finished product).

I put some of the chips into a large gallon-sized ziploc bag for home and the rest into a small bag to take to work tomorrow. 

I'm completely prepared for a new day of healthy raw living.

Blooming Hill Farm

This weekend I went with three wonderful friends on a day-trip to Blooming Hill Farm, an hour drive north of NYC.  Blooming Hill supplies amazing organic produce to some of the top restaurants in the city and they have a CSA available for residents in their area.  What's better, for city dwellers like me, is that they have a market and cafe that's open on Saturdays and Sundays year-round (I can't wait to make a trip in the dead of winter).  It really makes for an ideal quick getaway. 

The market is stocked with an abundance of organic produce grown right on the farm.  They also sell farm fresh eggs, goat's milk yogurt, Balthazar's bread, and a limited selection of organic produce that doesn't grow in the Northeast (bananas, lemons, avocados, etc.).  The quality and prices are unbeatable.

Besides being able to buy amazing organic produce at Blooming Hill, owner/farmer Guy Jones runs a cafe that serves brunch/lunch on the weekends and specializes in farm-to-table cooking.  Guy's motto is "don't buy food from strangers", and he sources all ingredients used in his cafe right from his own farm or from other farmer friends of his.  Each day he creates a menu of four or five options utilizing whatever is fresh.  One option is always a homemade pizza that is made in an outdoor wood-fired oven behind the barn.  I had a (not raw, but very healthful) tostada that had a toasted flatbread base topped with black beans, scrambled eggs, shredded raw cabbage, cilantro-pesto drizzled on top, and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.  It was heavenly!  Sipping lemonade and herbal sun tea from mason jars outside on a picnic table while enjoying the bucolic vista, it was impossible not to relax and feel somewhat rejuvenated after a busy week in the city.

I was so enchanted by the multi-sensory experience of being on the farm, I didn't want to pull myself out of it to take pictures.  Luckily, my friend Mike Di Tota did the honors and he did a brilliant job.  

My Tostada:

Wood-Fired Pizza with eggplant, sage, and local organic goat's cheese:

Why does a raw lifestyle make so much sense?

Dr. Alejandro Junger, M.D. made a guest posting on Kris Carr's website that I encourage all to read.

Dr. Junger is the director of Integrative Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC.  He is also the author of Clean: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itself.

Also, be sure to check out the rest of Kris Carr's informative and inspirational blog, crazysexylife

Autumnal Coziness

Fall really hit yesterday in NYC.  As soon as I stepped outside and felt the autumn chill brush my cheeks, I began craving warm soup.  I thought about going down to the Greenmarket at Union Sq. to pick up some butternut squash and onions for a roasted squash soup (with heavy cream, of course).

Instead, I wondered if some of my favorite raw foodists might have something to offer that's just as delicious and comforting.  I poked around one of my favorite blogs by the talented and vivacious Kristen Suzanne and came across her Harvest Soup recipe.  This is JUST what I had in mind.  The preparation was incredibly simple and I had most of the ingredients on hand already.

The thing about autumn and winter is that when cold weather hits, I crave warm foods.  Many raw cook books suggest that soups be heated by leaving the blender running a bit longer when pureeing the ingredients.  The residual heat from the motor warms the liquid.  The problem is that I really like to control the texture of my soups and sometimes like the chunkiness.  To solve this problem I simply blended the soup to my desired consistency and then transfered it to a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer.  This way I was able to monitor the temperature and keep it under (approximately) 118 degrees.

The soup was delicious and oh so satisfying.  Kristen suggests adding 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.....and really, how could I turn that down?