Hummus with raw veggies

We are hummus addicts in our house! I used to make hummus from scratch (and mine was pretty awesome) but the garlic hummus by Sabra is like crack to us! And only that kind! We've bought some of the others and don't even like them. The garlic one is just delish!

Whenever I'm hungry I usually grab a piece of wheat pita and some hummus, but I had some leftover broccoli chopped up from what I didn't use in my salad yesterday, so I dipped that in the hummus. Yum! I decided to make a little plate with some tomato, squash, zucchini, bell pepper and more broccoli! It was such a great little lunch! I really wish I had some carrots (which I always love with hummus) but at least I found out that just about any veggie goes well with it! I think my favorite was the bell pepper, followed by the broccoli. I threw the tomatoes in there because when I make hummus I like to put it in a large bowl with some olive oil in the center and line it with slices of tomato. Put some hummus and tomato on top of a piece of pita - AHHH!

I think I may be in love with hummus! : )

Open Faced AvoBeauty Sandwich

Make this! You will thank me for it!

Another recipe from The Beauty Detox Solution. Served with salad with Oil Free Red Pepper and Cilantro Dressing.

1 slice gluten-free millet bread or another gluten-free bread
Stone-ground mustard
1/2 avocado, sliced
2-3 thin tomato slices
Cayenne pepper
Sea salt
Clover sprouts (or other sprouts)
Probiotic & Enzyme Salad (another recipe in the book, but I didn't use it)

Oil-Free Red Pepper and Cilantro Dressing

New favorite dressing EVER! It's so good that when I go to lunch with my friend tomorrow I am actually skipping the restaurant's dressing and bringing this with me! Yummmmmm!

Okay, I have to admit that I used a green bell pepper for the recipe. And I skipped the miso because Native Sun isn't open on Sundays and Publix didn't have it. Oh, and I definitely double up on the garlic. One clove? Are you kidding me?? LOL!

But here is the recipe as suggested in The Beauty Detox Solution:

1/2 red pepper, seeded and cored
3/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 small tomato
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbs filtered water
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp organic, unpasteurized miso paste
1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar


I am going to somehow have to force myself not to make this for every salad or else I am going to get sick of it! Just blend everything together. You can store for up to 2 days in the fridge.

Macadamia Nut and Sundried Tomato Mash

Another great recipe from The Beauty Detox Solution. I can't recommend this book enough!!

We ate this on top of some romaine leaves, but I actually think it would have been better just on top of our salad. If you love sundried tomatoes (which I DO) then you'll enjoy this!

1 cup raw mac. nuts (soak 2 hrs and then rinse well)
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbs finely chopped parsley
Black pepper

She suggests starting with the mac. nuts and lemon juice in the food processor, then adding the sundried tomatoes and sea salt. Then mix in the parsley. I did it this way, but I think you could easily just toss it all in together and it would come out fine.

Glowing Green Smoothie

This recipe comes from the book "The Beauty Detox Solution" by Kimberly Snyder. It's packed with great information and recipes, and since I need to lose just a little more weight for my goal dress to fit perfect I've decided to follow her program for the next few weeks!

We hit the farmer's market today to pick up most of what we needed, since most of the recipes are raw. I couldn't wait to begin, so as soon as we got home and put groceries away I decided to make this Glowing Green Smoothie that I've been so anxious to try! I have to say, it is FABULOUS! It's very refreshing and light, and I'm already thinking of how great one of these will be after an early morning run!

Since I don't have a Vita Mix, I decided to make this in my food processor because it's much more powerful than the blender we have. It worked out great, and I'm starting to wonder if I even need a Vita Mix at all! All I did was start off with my greens and slowly added in all the other ingredients, and only added a touch of water as needed until everything was pretty well blended. Toward the end I finished adding the water.

I also took the blended mix and put it into a pitcher with some ice so it would be nice and cool. It was so tasty that I had a 2nd glass, and even Matt enjoyed it! I'm definitely looking forward to having this for breakfast all week!



Ingredients:

1 head romaine lettuce
Bunch of spinach
3-4 stalks of celery
1 apple (cored)
1 pear (cored)
1 banana
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Optional: cilantro and parsley

Pan Fried Shirataki, Veggies, and Grilled Flatbread

This meal was a little bit of everything. I knew I wanted to make shirtaki, and my idea was to pan fry it. My thought was to make it like a potato pancake and cut it up into quarters, but I couldn't get it to stick together. So instead I tossed it around with some Bragg Liquid Aminos, and it was still really good!

I also needed some veggies, so at Matt's request I grilled some squash and zucchini and then also steamed some kale. Matt also wanted to try grilling the flatbread, so I put some foil on the grill, sprayed it with olive oil, and put two long pieces of dough on it. After grilling a few minutes, I flipped it over, added olive oil and garlic, soy cheese, and some red onion and continued to cook a few more minutes. Surprisingly, the grilled flatbread turned out much softer than when I made it in the oven.

Even though we just threw together a bunch of things for dinner Matt said it was one of his favorite meals! Somehow it all worked together!

Leggo My Mango

So, I am a bit sad. I've been eating a lot of mangoes lately and I had a reaction to them. My lips got really irritated and now they are dry. It finally occurred to me that it must be because of the mangoes because my lips and tongue tingle a little when I eat them. I love mangoes, so my heart started to break a little at this realization! I love the texture and the smooth sweetness of this tropical fruit!

Fortunately, it looks like I was just eating them improperly, so I thought it was worth sharing off the blog. I would just wash them and cut slices and bite the fruit off the skin, but apparently it's the skin that is causing my reaction. So I thought I would share this information just in case anyone else had the same problem. You can find out more information at http://www.allergy-details.com/allergy-c/mango-allergy/.

Lettuce Wraps (Cooked Version)

Ever since we made our first lettuce wraps, we were hooked! But so far we've only made them raw, and though I really love all the crisp, fresh veggies in a lemon/ginger/soy sauce, I really wanted to try making a cooked version!

I took a little coconut oil and heated it on medium high. I had already soaked some raw cashews, so I rinsed and dried them and chopped them up and tossed them in the wok. Then I added some chopped mushrooms and cooked for a minute or two. Then I added a small, finely diced carrot and cooked for another minute or two. Then I tossed in some bean sprouts and cooked for another minute. Then I put in about two teaspoons of hoisin sauce, 1/4 fresh squeezed lemon and about a teaspoon of soy sauce. Then I seasoned with salt and some Asian spice that I have (it's a blend of a bunch of spices). I also tossed in some minced garlic at some point. I wish I had added ginger (note for next time!).

I put everything on top of some living lettuce (which looks like Boston lettuce) and a little bed of alfalfa sprouts (Matt's suggestion). I topped each lettuce wrap with just a little flax seed. I think next time I would cut up some limes and let everyone squeeze some onto the wraps before eating them. But I was out of limes, so I couldn't try it. It was very different from the raw version, and I'm not sure which one I like better. I love them both!

Pan Fried Tomatoes with Herb Cheez

It's so nice to be back home where I can actually cook again! Yes!!!

At some point during my trip I decided that I wanted to try making some tomatoes breaded in panko, so I sliced up an heirloom tomato and sprayed them with olive oil and put them in a bowl of panko and shook them around to coat. Tossed in a pan with some coconut oil and browned them.

Then I made some soft herb cheez. This is another idea that popped into my head, so I had fun experimenting! I took a clove of garlic and a little sea salt and ground it up into a paste with my mortar and pestle. Then I added a slice of firm tofu, some chopped up cilantro and basil and ground all of it together. Then I added just a little pepper, because I was worried it wouldn't have any flavor. Boy, was I wrong! I mean, fresh garlic, cilantro, and basil - how could it not be full of flavor?

I took my fake cheese and put a little on top of each tomato and garnished with a sprig of cilantro (because my presentation was pretty lame). But what it lacked in appearance, it made up for in taste! Such a yummy little snack, and I'm kinda glad Matt wasn't here because I didn't want to share! LOL! But I could easily see doing this with some zucchini or even eggplant. Zucchini would probably be perfect, because it would hold up better than the tomato. I may try the cheez on top of raw tomato slices, too. But this is great as a snack or an appetizer!

Hotel Healthy

It's incredibly easy to control what we eat when we cook at home, because we just don't buy bad ingredients! But when we travel, it's another story. We go out to eat a lot, either because we don't have the option of cooking in our room, we're being social, or because we just want to experience the area we're visiting! And food is definitely a part of the experience!

Fortunately, on the West coast people are more health-conscious and earth-friendly, so we can usually find lots of options that fit within our diet. We've already found dozens of vegan restaurants for our fun weekend planned in Seattle and Vancouver this weekend!

But most of the week we've been making food in our room. Matt stocked up on hummus, apples, pears, spinach, tomatoes, bananas, oatmeal, raw honey, sprouts and pita before I got here. A lot of hotel rooms have refrigerators, so this is something we can do anywhere. I've been making my oatmeal for breakfast and Matt comes back to meet me for lunch. Today's lunch is a simple sandwich on flat whole wheat rolls with avocado, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes (sliced), and hummus. I stacked it in that order so that the avocado holds the spinach in place, the alfalfa sprouts act as a bed for the tomatoes, and the hummus holds the tomatoes on there. Yum! Served with a side of carrots, it's a yummy and light lunch!

Back to Nature

Matt and I have been buying this for a while now, and it's one of our favorite snacks! We haven't been eating any lately because it has a ton of sugar, but Publix has them on BOGO right now so I bought like 10 packages! I literally wiped the shelf clean of the cranberry pecan one! We've also tried the chocolate, but neither of us liked it as much. They have some other flavors (I think there's an apple one and some others) but we're hooked on this one! I'm flying out to Seattle right now, so I packed a bag to snack on. This stuff is so good, you'll feel like you're being BAD!

More Pita!

I'm on a pita kick lately! It's just an easy (and fun) way to make a sandwich! Today's pita was so tasty that I'm making it again tomorrow to bring with us on our 12-13 hour workday! I just tossed a bunch of yummy things into a bowl and mixed it up: spinach (chopped up), bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes (diced), julienne sun dried tomatoes (double sprouts, why not double tomatoes?), soy nuts, flax seeds, tahini and lemon juice. Oh, and green onions. If I had any mushrooms left, I would have added some of those bad boys in there, too! I only used about a tablespoon of tahini and about a teaspoon of lemon juice. It was enough to fill two pita halves. We each ate one of the halves with some honeydew on the side. It was a perfect little lunch! I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow! This may be my new favorite sandwich!

Pita Cheesesteak (Hold the steak!)

Since we're traveling next week, I needed to start using up the food that we have. So I decided to saute some mushrooms and onions and put them in a pita. I added some soy cheese and it reminded me of a Philly cheesesteak (without the steak, of course). I used lemon juice to saute the veggies (trying to use olive oil less and less, when possible). I also made some oven roasted potatoes seasoned with Adobo, rosemary, and salt and pepper. It was pretty good, though I would have liked to skip the soy cheese just because of the fat content, and for what it adds I'm not sure it's worth the extra calories. But Matt loved it, so it's a win! : )

Mediterranean Pita Pocket with Capri Salad #2

Last night I made a simple dinner with just half of a whole wheat pita and a salad. I heated the pita for about 15 seconds in the microwave to soften it up, cut it in half and opened each of the halves. If you don't, it will seal shut when it cools.

I filled each of the pita halves with some homemade hummus, romaine lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, tomatoes, and pepper and salt. That's it! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic, but I'm sure we're going to make some again to bring with us to this weekend's wedding. I'll try to snap a pic then!

I also made my new favorite obsession - my vegan Capri salad! I prefer the avocado over the mozzarella! It's so delicious and just soaks up the balsamic vinegar! This time I used cherry tomatoes (cut in half) and diced the avocado. This picture is actually of my late night snack, so I didn't have any basil left and had to use some basil paste. It worked fine. Seasoned with some salt and pepper, and I could eat this all day every day!

Oatmeal

This week I decided to buy some oatmeal in case I need a quick snack. I ate a lot of oatmeal when I first tried to go vegetarian over 10 years ago, and since I wasn't doing things right (I HATED most green vegetables back then) I ended up getting sick. Since then, I haven't eaten oatmeal much, but I'm glad to be bringing it back into my diet!

Last night I made oatmeal and topped it with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Today I made it with blueberries, banana and a little raw honey. I didn't add the honey to sweeten it. It may be a crazy idea, but I think raw honey helps with my allergies. And since they are REALLY bad today, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. So far I haven't sneezed and it has been about an hour. Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe I figured out a way to stop sneezing without taking allergy medication that will knock me out!! : )

Anyway, it's not an exciting recipe, but I want to remember that there are basic, easy recipes out there that I can make. And since this is my online cookbook of sorts, I'm filing it away with the rest of the recipes!

Caribbean Jerk Wrap with Carrot Raisin Slaw

I got the idea for the Caribbean Jerk Wrap from Native Sun. When we shop there we always get one, and they are sooooo good! Fortunately, they have to list all the ingredients on the label, so they pretty much tell you how to make them!

I made this one just a little different because I had a recipe for the Carrot Raisin Slaw from the book Eat To Live (great read). After making the slaw I realized that it was similar to the ingredients inside the wrap, so I just used that. I made a TON of slaw, so it made sense!

To make the wrap, I seasoned a piece of tempeh with jerk seasoning and baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. You can eat it raw, so I wasn't concerned with how long it cooked. I just left it there while I made the slaw. When I took it out, I decided to toss it in the food processor and added some more jerk seasoning, fresh juice from an orange, and some hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce was NOT in the recipe, but molasses and brown sugar was and I thought Hoisin was a better and easier option.

The Carrot Raisin slaw included shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, raisins, apple juice, mustard, lemon juice, and diced apples. The recipe also calls for a baked potato, but I didn't think it sounded good with the rest of the ingredients. Instead, I added some diced honey mango. We served it on the side and inside of the wrap.

So inside the wrap we had the jerk tempeh, the carrot raisin slaw, and some romaine lettuce. Matt said it was better than the one we got at the store. I'm not so sure. I'm pretty sure that Native Sun marinated the tempeh before baking, but I didn't plan ahead. I had some leftovers for lunch today. Definitely going to make this one again! And this was our first time making something with tempeh, which I am not a huge fan of! Yum!

Insalata Caprese

This is one of my favorite salads to make. It's pretty and sooooo tasty! But obviously we can't have mozzarella cheese right now, so I decided to make it with avocado. It has a close texture to fresh mozzarella and also tastes great with balsamic vinegar (I guess that makes this recipe bi-winning!).

You can make this salad a number of ways, but my favorite is to layer it with a slice of tomato, a piece of avocado, and a piece of basil. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar and grind some fresh salt and pepper over the top and enjoy! Make sure to get one piece of each element in every bite.

Ahhh... I'm not sure there is anything better than fresh basil! : D

Zucchini Wraps

I made some zucchini wraps yesterday for lunch. They took a lot of work, but they sure were cute and a nice and light snack. I got the idea from a recipe, but the recipe was just NASTY. The filling was mushrooms and onions with soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. I had some reservations at the thought of those flavors all together, and sadly it was even worse than I imagined! So... I decided to go with some things that I knew would taste good. I filled the zucchini with some alfalfa sprouts, two little strips of zucchini (because I had some left over), two leaves of baby spinach, and a little piece of mushroom. They were wrapped with a string of carrot.

In order to make these wraps, you need to use a mandolin slicer and cut long strips of the zucchini. Then julienne the carrot for the "ties." Then lay everything out on a plate (or paper towel) and lightly salt it. Set aside for a while, and then pat everything dry. The salt will make the zucchini and carrot flexible for rolling/tying.

The recipe also had a ginger dipping sauce, which included sun dried tomatoes. I started off with the sun dried tomatoes, and then I decided not to ruin them by following the rest of the recipe. Sun dried tomatoes and ginger... not so sure about that one and my instincts were right the first time. So I added some basil, garlic cloves, olive oil, water, and a little sea salt to come up with a nice puree. We spread it on top of the little wraps, and Matt loved it!



I decided to make more for dinner since we had a ton of the sun dried tomato puree left. Instead of the carrot (which was a pain to use) I tried using strips of green onion. They were easier to tie, but they liked to come undone. So carrot is definitely the better thing to use. You just need to be patient. This time I only put mushroom and spinach inside. It was just okay. I found another recipe in one of my new vegan cookbooks that looks promising, so I'll give it another shot. They really are cute! Now if they could just taste good enough to be worth the effort...

Baja Taco Wraps

After two night of Thai-inspired dishes that were on the sweet side, I was excited to have something savory. Baja Tacos totally hit the spot! They were infused with garlic and cilantro flavor for the "cheese," and smoky flavor for the "meat." I will absolutely be making these again!

Some notes... next time I would leave out the cilantro from the "cheese" part. I love cilantro, but I tasted the mixture before adding it and I think it was better. Maybe I would just garnish the tacos with cilantro next time. Also, I added in some mushrooms just for some added nutrition. It seems like ALL of our raw recipes this week are nothing but nuts! I also used a southwestern pepper spice that I picked up the other day in the "meat" part. Really, you can't mess these up!

I apologize about the presentation. It was an afterthought, and by then I had already plopped most of the stuff on there. So it's not pretty, but I promise it is yummy! : )



This recipe comes from the "We Like It Raw" site. It's a recipe by Ani Phyo, and she's pretty amazing! If you visit her site you can find more of her videos and recipes.

Taco "Meat"
1 cup almonds
1 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp sea salt

"Cheese" Spread
1 1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cashews
2 tblsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup water, as needed

Top with slices of avocado and tomato (or whatever you prefer).

Raw Pad Thai Salad and Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps

It only took me one day of eating raw to realize that I needed a BIGGER food processor! So I went out today and bought one, and as I was out and about I also discovered a great little store in Avondale called Green Man Gourmet. They have a great selection of spices!

As I was getting ready to make dinner, I decided to skip ahead to two Thai-inspired recipes that I had planned for later this week. First, I started by making the Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps that I found on Raw Guru. They weren't very spicy, so next time I may kick up the heat a notch or two. But, regardless, they were amazing! I've never been a fan of collards, but the raw collard leave was a perfect wrap. The soft mango slices inside the wrap mixed with the salty crunch of the raw cashews made things interesting. I was never sure what kind of bite I was going to get!

Next, Matt helped make the raw pad Thai salad that I found on About.com, which was very refreshing. I think next time I'd also like to add a little kick to this one. A little bit of the salad and one wrap and I was full! We have tons of stuff left over, so we'll be making more tomorrow night! Yummy!



Easy Raw Pad Thai Salad Recipe
2 zucchinis, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler
2 large handfuls of bean sprouts, approx 2 cups
3/4 cup chopped nuts (use almonds, peanuts or cashews)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
4 green onions, diced
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
juice from one lime
1 tablespoon raw, cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preparation:
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until well coated. Add a dash more salt if desired and enjoy!


Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps
1/2 cup chopped raw Cashews (dehydrated, if preferred)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chipped red chile, seeds included
1 1/2 tablespoons nama shoyu
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 head savoy cabbage, shredded
6 very large collard green leaves
1 large carrot, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 large ripe mango, cut lengthwise into strips, about 1/4-inch thick
2 cups bean sprouts
1 handful cilantro leaves
1 handful torn basil leaves
1/2 handful mint leaves (torn or cut if leaves are large)

The site also includes a Tahini dipping sauce, but honestly I don't think the wraps need a dipping sauce. They are packed with sweet, salty, and spicy flavor already!