spring clean

april.  it's the month when we all want to shed the emotional and physical heaviness of winter.  nature is telling us to start anew and we are listening.

it's the month when i can easily get discouraged that despite an organic, plant-based diet, i'm still overweight.  (i get it universe, my body will never be lithe, but seriously why is it that the more i move toward body acceptance, the fatter i get?  ugh...)

it's the month when i realize that every year i really take that whole winter-rest-and-hibernate thing a bit too seriously and i need to jumpstart my activity level.  gorgeous mountain trails are calling my name.

it's the month to spring clean our homes; the physical structures we inhabit and the flesh and blood bodies that house our spirits.  it's time to release the grime and create clean space for new experiences. it's time to reset.

the components of a good (spirit house) cleaning:

• clean day salad (pictured above and recipe below).  honestly, it is so so good.
• green juice with a tablespoon of superfood (daily)
• rainbow quinoa
• lots of filtered water
• kombucha and yogi tea skin detox tea
• coconut oil-pull daily (in addition to incredible detox benefits, this also helps keep sinuses clear)
• nightly skin brush and salt bath
• gentle yoga
• walks outside
• deep breathing
• good deep sleep

clean day salad
(based on whole foods' detox salad)

two cups organic kale leaves (de-stem and roughly chop)
three or four organic carrots (rough chop)
one bunch organic parsley leaves (some stem is okay)
zest of one lemon (always use organic citrus if you are zesting)
juice of half lemon
one-half cup sunflower seeds (or chopped pepitas)
one-half cup organic raisins
one cup organic dried blueberries, cranberries or goji berries (or mix)
one tablespoon olive oil
one teaspoon kelp granules or dulse
chia seeds

pulse greens and carrots in food processor to the size of confetti, careful not to make a pesto of it.  mix all ingredients together except for the chia seeds.  sprinkle a half teaspoon of chia seed on each serving just prior to enjoying (if you mix the chia into the salad and let it sit, it will absorb the moisture in the salad and get a bit gel-ish).

i pulverize the remainder of the parsley leaves and stems and add a spoon to the pups' food daily.  they love it.

i feel sparkly and new just writing this post.  happy cleaning!

homemade kombucha with hannah

kombucha is a sparkly fermented tea.  you may have heard it called "mushroom" tea (it tastes nothing like mushroom).  i call it magic elixir.  it's an ancient probiotic brew that is detoxing and prevents all sorts of disease.  i just feel good when i drink it.  it took a really long time before i tried it but once i did, i loved it instantly.  i love it so much i am flirting with an addiction.  which is probably great for my health, but not so great for my budget given the cost of bottled kombucha in stores ($4-$5 per bottle).

my friend and yoga teacher sarah makes her own kombucha at home and sweetly offered to share a starter mushroom (scoby) with me and show me the steps to brewing my own batch.

meet hannah, sarah's daughter.  she is very talented in the kitchen.  she is already quite famous in our town for her healthy eating and mad culinary skills.  she is just a joy to be around.

we used 2-quart jars and the recipe from this beautiful book.

the recipe

(for each jar)

2 quarts filtered water

2/3 cup organic sugar 

4 organic black tea bags or equivalent loose tea leaves 

1 cup previously brewed kombucha

1 scoby (kombucha mushroom)

(you can find a thousand recipes online.  sarah says not to stress out about the precise recipe, she likes to experiment with different proportions and tastes.)

wash your hands and kitchen surfaces (cleanliness is pretty important in this process).

measure your tea into a clean, dry jar (or use teabags).

fill the jar about 3/4 full with boiling water.

add your sugar and stir well until the sugar dissolves.

(use a wooden spoon, not metal.)

repeat for each jar you are making.

allow the tea to steep.

seriously, how adorable are they?  a beautiful baby-wearing, kombucha-brewing yoga teacher and her amazing children.

kombucha...kombuda...kombuddha.  such a wise child.

let the brew cool to body temperature.  this is very important, you don't want to "cook" the scoby.  be patient.

remove the tea bags or strain the tea if you used loose tea.

add one cup of previously brewed kombucha (and cold water to fill the jar if necessary).

now for the scoby.

this is scoby (below):  symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.  she is a culture therefore she is alive.  treat her right.  express your love and gratitude openly and often.

(she's quite a versatile substance, watch this to see how scoby is being used to make fabric.)

place one scoby in each jar.

once they are full, cover your kombucha jars with cotton fabric.  secure tightly with a rubber band.  they should look like they are in the sunday school christmas play.

they are now ready to be stored to "brew".

store them in a quiet warm space out of direct sunlight for two to three weeks.  (sarah suggested experimenting storing the jars in a cooler with a heating pad set to low.)

after three weeks, a new scoby "pancake" will have grown in your tea.   taste your tea.  it should be a bit tangy with a bite.  if it's sugary, it's not ready.  back in the cupboard.

(if any mold has grown in your batch, discard the entire batch, scoby and all.  you will know if there is any funkiness present.)

when it's ready, remove the scoby and save.  at this point you can flavor it if you like with hibiscus flowers, ginger, chai spices, etc.

pour off and bottle most of the brew, always leaving a cup or two of brewed tea and scoby for your next batch.  you can use glass jars or recycled drink bottles.

if you added flavors, you may want to store your bottled brew for one more week or so.  this will allow the flavors to deepen and promote effervescence.

speaking of effervescence...hannah likes to wait out the brewing process by star-stirring, cabbage hugging and making her baby brother laugh.

this is sarah's mothership scoby.  she is quite impressive, yes?

these are ready for storing.  in three weeks, i'll have my first batch of kombucha.  i'm going to add some hibiscus and ginger.

thank you sarah and hannah!  you completely demystified this process for me and i had a great time spending the morning with you.

if you haven't tried kombucha, i know it can look a little weird.  i encourage you to try it to see if you like it.  whole foods or your local health food store should carry a line.  you can also find local brewers at farmers markets.  if you are near southwest virginia, local brewer buffalo mountain makes amazing kombucha.  regardless of the source, there are a lot of varieties.  i suggest synergy trilogy or buffalo mountain hibiscus to start.  they taste great and you will feel awesome.

a few internet kombucha resources:
getkombucha.com
culturesforhealth.com
kombuchakamp.com

the one where i almost become southern

friends, i made my own fried green tomatoes.

with green tomatoes from my.  very.  own.  garden.

aren't they just gorgeousness tomatofied?

i've been in love with the fried green tomato since i first tasted them in 2003.  plus i really liked the movie, especially the part where kathy bates rams those bitches' car.  i find it amusing that i've pretty much been more comfortable with the thought of ramming some bitch's car than frying up some maters.  you see, i'm not the best fryer in the world (very unsouthern) and green tomatoes seemed hard to come by. 

turns out it's more messy than complicated:  the whole "breading station" thing...yeah.

station one:  i mixed sea salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper with organic unbleached flour.

station two:  two eggs, wisked.

station three:  i annihilated ritz crackers in the food processor instead of using bread crumbs.  the ritz crackers were the last of the derecho disaster food stash (good riddance to that).  i believe a good southern girl would have used cornmeal.

i tried to be healthy by using coconut oil (rookie california move); to counter the ritz crackers, which are pretty much the most unhealthy thing on the planet.

um, i didn't see the thing about "medium heat" until i was processing the photos.  see what i mean about not being the best fryer?

 

but i guess it was okay, the stove didn't burst into flames or anything.  next time i'll use canola.

here's the deets:

• heat about 1/4 inch oil in a pan on medium high
• wash and slice firm green unripe tomatoes (not ripe green heirlooms)
• one at a time, dredge tomato slices in flour and shake off excess
• then dip in beaten eggs
• then dip in the ritz crumbs (or bread crumbs if you don't have a derecho disaster food stash or cornmeal if you are southern)
• carefully place in the oil
• repeat with next slice
• i cooked four at a time
• watch them carefully, they cook fast, usually one to two minutes per side
• drain and cool on a wire rack with paper towels beneath

et voilà:

they were perfect!  the thin cracker coating was super crispy (i take it all back ritz) and the tart green tomato bite tasted just like summer.

unsouthern move number two hundred and four:  no sauce.  i like them naked.

(although i did have them in a cafe once with a cucumber dill sauce that i enjoyed.) 

after a few bites, i thought they would be awesome in a sandwich.  here is where i blew any chance of being southern...i put them between sourdough toasts with some arugula, goat cheese and avocado and a splash of balsamic.

the california fried green tomato sandwich.  dude.

good♥food

yes friends, it is indeed more green food. 

i was inspired to make this hummus a few weeks ago when i combined leftover guacamole with leftover hummus while cleaning the fridge.  it was yummy, but i knew it could be even more green and fantastic.

herb and avocado hummus
two cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup tahini
one whole head of garlic, roasted
one or two ripe avocados
zest and juice from one lemon
two handfuls herbs (i used parsley, tarragon, basil and dill)
olive oil
salt and pepper

remove outer paper from garlic, keeping head intact.  drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil.  roast at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until soft.  when cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic from paper into food processer.  add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil.  process until smooth, adding olive oil as needed.  taste, then season with s&p if needed.

seriously the only thing that could make this better is more avocado.

and goat cheese and arugula and perfectly ripe tomatoes the color of the sun.

super fresh and jam packed with vitamins, protein and the good fat that makes your skin glow and your heart beat happy.

good♥food

if someone said i had to only eat one dish every day for the rest of my life, pesto on sourdough toast would be on the shortlist (along with avocado, black bean and sweet potato tacos,  tomato and garlic pizza and pistachio gelato).

i love that it's equally brilliant on toast, pizza, pasta, panini, crackers.  i love that you can mix it up with different ingredients.  in summer, i practically live on arugula pesto because my friend has a rocket field that produces tons of the greens. 

true story:  i make it so much that the inside of my food processer is tinted green.

i'm somewhat reluctant to tell you that i also eat it by the spoonful.

for this batch, i used a mix of spinach, arugula, basil and pistachios.  i replaced some of the parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast for extra b12, which can be scarce in a vegetarian diet.  i always throw in red pepper flakes because i like mine super spicy.

super pesto
one head garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (that's about 10 cloves)
four handfuls greens (spinach or arugula or a mix)
one handful basil leaves
one cup nuts, raw and unsalted (walnuts are my favorite, but the batch shown is made with pistachios because that's what i had on hand)
one-half cup parmesan cheese
four tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional; use extra parm if omitting)
olive oil
red pepper flakes (optional)
sea salt (don't add until the end because the parm is usually pretty salty)

add garlic, nuts, basil and pepper flakes to food processer with a bit of olive oil.  pulse a few times to grind.  add the cheese and nutritional yeast, pulsing and adding olive oil to keep the mixture moving.  add the greens in two batches, keep mixing, adding enough olive oil to keep the pesto from balling up.  add sea salt to taste.

this makes a huge batch (about four times what you see in the photos).  feel free to scale down if you are not a pesto freak like me.

brush teeth after eating to avoid mad garlic breath and a green-speckled smile.  :)

good♥food

(actually, it's dairy-free monday, but that doesn't read as well.)

on this little journey to plant-based eating (i've been vegetarian, nearly vegan for four weeks!), i've remained almost dairy-free.  i gave in to a couple cheese cravings until meg introduced me to a truly wonderful vegan cheese.  i've also missed the creamy feel of ice cream and kheer. 

the other day, a friend shared this post about chia seeds.  i've been sprinkling my salads with chia seeds for a few months and never thought about making a pudding with them.  i followed the basic instructions in the post and played around with some chai spices to try to get that indian rice pudding feel and taste. 

et voila:  chia chai indian pudding!

{1}  soak a chai tea bag in one cup of coconut milk for a few hours (i accidentally--or serendipitously--got the vanilla coconut milk and it worked perfectly).  remove the tea bag after a few hours.

{2}  crush three cardamom pods to release their goodness and put in the milk.  add three whole cloves.  stir in 1/8 teaspoon of rose water (this is optional, but it really gives it that true kheer taste). 

{3}  measure four tablespoons of chia seeds and stir in to the milk.

{4}  put in an airtight glass container and refrigerate overnight.

{5}  the next day, your chia seeds will have plumped up with all the milky chai-ness to resemble a rice pudding.

{6}  sweeten with honey or agave nectar.  chopped pistachios would be awesome too.

so here's the thing:  it's a bit gel-ish, not quite as tapioca-like as the article suggests.  but once i tasted it, i forgave it its weird texture and unfortunate grey color.  it's amazing!  i had a wee portion of the dish and i was full for hours.

good♥food

friends, i have been saved by kale chips. 

for months, i heard people preaching the goodness of kale chips and i remained a non-believer.  i mean really, kale and chips are like complete opposites on the yum spectrum, right? 

so wrong.  i am contrite.  and i am rarely contrite. 

i reluctantly purchased a head of kale for a juice and then just couldn't stomach the idea of kale juice.  the organic garden wasn't taking scraps for compost this week and i didn't want to throw it away, so i thought what the heck, i'll try the kale chips.

and the heavens opened and little green angels with awesome skin surrounded me as i took a bite.  and not once did they have an i-told-you-so vibe.  it was more of a we-are-so-happy-you-crossed-over-into-spectacularness vibe.

if you look around the internet, there are several ways to do them.  here's what i did:

• wash the kale, even if it's organic
• trim the leafy parts from the rib
• tear or cut into 2"-4" pieces
• toss with one tablespoon olive oil
• i also threw in some red pepper flakes and a few shakes of nutritional yeast
• arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet
• bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 300 degrees
• cool a bit and season with sea salt

they are delicate and crispy and don't taste anything like kale.  i am totally addicted. 

it's nice to be addicted to something besides coffee and shopping.

good♥food

about a year ago, i ran across the website for meatless monday.  i thought it was a totally doable gig, so i jumped on board.  pop over a have a look.  the basic idea is to eat meat free for just one day a week.  the benefits to your body and the planet for this small step are ginormous.

also, meat free is prettier:

over the last few months, my meat free days have expanded somewhat naturally.  really, i may not have noticed how little meat i was eating until i did my health history for my coach.  in addition to my work with meg, a few things happened in the last month that renewed my committment to eating cleaner and in a more humane way.  the first thing was that i watched the movie food, inc.  within the same week, i was driving down the highway and was passed by a semi carrying hundreds of cages of turkeys.  the truck was on my left and kind of road alongside me for a bit.  the cages were completely open to the air, feathers flying everywhere.  one of the turkeys had poked his head out the cage and his head was being whipped around by the wind and the high speed of the truck.  he was unable to pull his head back in.  i watched in horror as his head and neck banged against the cage and he died a horrific death.

i love all animals.  and i love my body.  it's time for me to start living like this is the truth. 

this was supposed to be a post about the chipotle sweet pototoes but i thought you would appreciate some story behind the dish.  here's the deets on this amazing meat free mexican meal:

chipotle sweet potatoes
two sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
one can black beans, rinsed
pico de gallo
one chili and one tbsp adobo from chipotle in adobo, finely diced
a bit of cheese of your choice
avocado
pepitas
cilantro

mix diced chipotle and adobo sauce with diced sweet potatoes and one tbsp olive oil.  roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until crisp.

mix roasted sweet potatoes with black beans and pico de gallo.  top with cheese, diced avocado, toasted pepitas and cilantro.

so easy.  so good.