I don’t know about you guys, but I love eating greens. However when it comes to kale, it’s a little bit difficult to just pop in my mouth and chew it without anything on it.
One Sunday, I was being lazy and enjoying my day at the beach when I got a call that there was no green left at Josh’s market.
So Denis and I ran to the market but it was true, no lettuce was left! There was only two buckets of kale left. So I packed almost all the kale left and bought it. When I got home, I made a nice kale salad but I remembered it was always hard for me to eat it without anything. So I came up with a nice dressing for it. The next day I had the same issue, so I whipped up another dressing!

I came up with actually 5 kale salad dressings that I thought I MUST shared with the world. Spicy Sun Dried Tomato Tahini, Avocado Tahini, Ginger Miso, Sunflower Dill, and Almond Butter Coconut. They all have pretty much the same ingredients and are made the same way.

Spicy Sun Dried Tomato Tahini

5-6 sun dried tomatoes (soak for 10 to 15 minutes)
1 TBS Raw Organic Tahini (you can also switch for raw almond butter instead)
1 Red Chillie Pepper or any spicy pepper to taste
1/2 Tsp organic or natural Mexican seasoning
Salt, garlic, and olive Oil to taste

Mix in personal blender until smooth adding water if needed. Pour over kale salad and add chopped cilantro.

Avocado Tahini

1/2 ripe organic avocado
1 Tbs of Raw Organic Tahani
the juice of 1/2 grapefruit
1 Handful of cilantro
Olive Oil and salt to taste

Put all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth.  Pour over Kale salad and sprinkle some black and white sesame seeds.

Ginger Miso

1 inch (cube) fresh ginger peeled
1 Tbs unpasteurized miso (I prefer brown or red)
1/2 carrot
1 Tbs raw tahini or raw almond butter
1 Date
Salt and Olive Oil to taste
(you can also add chillie peppers to make it spicy)

Put in blender and mix until smooth. If needed, add water to blend. Pour over kale and mix well.

Sunflower Dill

1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dill loosely fit or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
the juice of 1/2 grapefruit (or lemon)
1/2 Tbs raw organic tahini
Salt and cumin to taste

Mix in blender until smooth. Add more grapefruit juice if needed. Pour over kale salad and massage. Sprinkle sunflower seeds and any other seasonings.

Almond Butter Coconut

1/4 cup raw almond butter
2 teaspoon namashoyu
1 Date
1 Tbs fresh lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup raw coconut milk
1/2 chillie pepper or spicy pepper of choice
Garlic, Salt, Olive Oil, and Curry seasoning to taste

Mix in blender or personal blender. Add water for desired consistency and pour over kale salad. Mix red cabbage with kale for a “Pad Thai” feel. I use this recipe for my kelp noodles to make raw Pad Thai.

ENJOY!

I had typed this entire blog post and lost it with a click of a key! You’d have thought WordPress could have save it but now it didn’t. So my poor mouse took a hit… It was either the mouse or the laptop.

So here I am trying to make things better with the mouse, thank the gods, goddess, universe, God, and Ganesh, it survived! And now I’m starting from scratch.

I had some funny story about mediterrenean food, but who remembers! So here is the darn recipe for tabouli and raw chickpea hummus.

Tabouli

1 cup of quinoa to sprout

1 red pepper chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 medium onion chopped (green or red is good)

1 tomato chopped

1 Tbs. of raw tahini

1 handful curly parsley

Olive oil, unpasteurized sesame oil, salt, cilantro, lemon juice to taste

Sprout the quinoa for two days or as long as you prefer them. Rinse and drain then place in a mixing bowl. Add the vegetables, olive oil, salt, lemon juice, tahini, parsley, and cilantro. Mix well and serve with hummus and cut vegetables.

Raw Chickpea Hummus

 2 cups of sprouted chickpeas

2 Tbs. raw Tahini

2 cloves of garlic

1 handful of flat parsley

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 lemon’s juice

1/2 Tbs. Cumin powder

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper and one olive to garnish

Rinse the sprouted chickpeas and put in food processor. Add all the other ingredients and mix until smooth.

Put in a bowl, add some olive oil on top, sprinkle some cayenne pepper, and add an olive.

Oh! and now that I’m finally in a good mood, enjoy!

No animals or husbands were harmed during the retyping of this post… Well I’m sure Denis would say different!

Seaweed Salad

Denis and I moved from a small 3-bedroom house to a tiny beach apartment a few months back and during that stressful packing time, I made this recipe everyday.

I was making sure to empty my refrigerator so that I could clean it before returning the house, so we had very little fresh food left. I came up with this salad with different types of Seaweed to sort of keep the “ocean-sea” theme since we were moving to the beach. So I named it “Moving to the Beach Salad”!

Here is what you need:

Romaine lettuce

1 Tomatoe

Yellow/green beans

1 pack of Pacific Sea Vegetable Mix (wakame, funori, kiriboshi wakame, shiro kikurage, ito kanten, kizami hoshi kombu)*

Seaweed Dressing

1 Tbs. Namashoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce)

1/8 Raw sesame seed oil

1/8 Olive Oil

A few drops of Apple Cider vinegar (optional)

Pepper flakes

Real Salt to taste

*I’m able to buy a pack from Glaser market that is ready to prepare, but any seaweed salad mix will do.

Soak the seaweed salad for 10 minutes and drain water and add more water to soak for another 10 minutes. Or if you buy a particular brand of seaweed mix, simply follow the directions in the package. Some mixes require more or less time soaked in water.

In a separate bowl, mix the sesame oil, olive oil, namashoyu, pepper flakes, and apple cider vinegar if you are using it. We don’t use vinegar, but most seaweed salad dressings have vinegar and agave, but I believe apple cider vinegar replaces both. Depending on how big the package of seaweed is, you may have to increase the amounts of the oils and ingredients for the dressing.

After draining the seaweed water the second time, rinse the seaweed in a strainer or colander with more water. Shake the excess water off and add the salad to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well and let sit for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, shred the lettuce or cut thinly to use a bed for the seaweed. Cut the beans as thin as you like and add to the lettuce. Cut tomatoes to complement the meal and finally add the seaweed on top of the lettuce and beans. I also serve this with avocado slices.

We eat seaweed at least once a week; it’s a good source of minerals and vitamins. We are fortunate that we can buy the seaweed mix at our local farm, but there are websites that sells amazing seaweed salads for a reasonable price. I recommend the Sea Tangle Noodle Company which also offers kelp noodles.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and stay tuned for my kelp noodle recipes!

Raw Vegan "Eggs"

When someone doesn’t feel like making food or cooking, they order take out or go out to eat. And if budgets are tight, most of us have a recipe we make for those days when we just don’t feel creative about making food or are tired.

My dad’s recipe for those occasions was scramble eggs with rice, tomatoes, and onions. He would fry the chopped onions, tomatoes, and left over rice and throw a few whipped eggs and make a meal out of that. For many years before we became raw vegans, I would use my father’s recipe for when I felt tired and didn’t want order take out food.

I now have a raw vegan version of this recipe that is very quick to prepare and tastes amazing.

Here are the ingredients:

2 Handfuls of Almonds (hopefully sprouted)

¼ cup Flax Seed Powder

Turmeric

Cumin

Real Salt

2 Tomatoes

½ Medium Onion

Cilantro

½ small jalapeno pepper (optional)

Olive Oil

Avocado and Shredded Romaine lettuce

Put the almonds in the food processor with the flax seed powder, turmeric, cumin, and salt. Process to a powder and set aside in a bowl.

Almond Powder and Tomatoes in Food Processor

Using the same food processor (no need to wash it), put cut tomatoes, onions, oil, cilantro, and salt to taste. Pulse to make a semi-chunky salsa and avoid making it too liquidy. If you are using the jalapeno pepper, add them to the salsa to make it as spicy as you can handle. Add the salsa to the powdered almonds and mix without making to mushy.

Mixing Powder and Salsa

Serve over shredded lettuce, I use the lettuce to replace the rice in my father’s recipe. Slice the avocado and serve on the side. This serves two people, a tiny woman and a big Russian!

I recently added something else to this recipe; I’ve been using pumpkin seed oil and pour it over avocado. It’s delicious!

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Plate

Whenever I don’t feel like making a complicated dish for dinner or I have run out of greens, I make this hummus I learned at this year’s Raw Spirit Fest in D.C. I also add some cut veggies, usually left over veggies, to make a “Mediterranean” dinner or plate that comes out amazing with very little effort.

1 cup of Sunflower Seeds

2/3 cup of Hazelnuts

1/3 cup of Sesame Seeds

1 Tbs. Raw Tahini

2 cloves of Garlic

2 Tbs. Bariani Olive oil

The juice of ½ Lime or Lemon

Cumin and Salt to taste

½ cup water

½ cup sun dried black olives

Using the food processor, combine the seeds and nuts; add tahini, olive oil, salt, garlic, cumin, lemon or line juice and begin mixing. After most of the nuts are grind, begin adding some water until you reach the desired consistency. I personally like it very smooth and liquid, but you can decide how much water to add. Add the sun dried black olives and continue to mix in the food processor until smooth.

Cut other vegetables such as broccoli, celery, carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, etc, and serve as a meal. It takes a few minutes and everyone loves the hummus.

Miso Soup & Noodles

One of the hardest things to give up for me was Asian food such as Japanese, Thai, and Korean. So I’ve created several recipes to make up for my favorite dishes and flavors I miss. Hope you enjoy them too!

Miso Soup

Serves 2

Water

1 inch cube ginger

2 carrots

1 Tbs. brown miso paste (unpasteurized)

Garlic, olive oil, and salt to taste

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until mixed. Serve immediately and add cilantro to decorate.

Decorating tip: Add some avocado, sprouts, and pour some olive oil.

Cucumber Spicy Noodles

Serves 2

3 medium size peeled cucumbers

¼ red peppers sliced or julienned

½ romaine lettuce

½ jalapeño pepper or cayenne pepper (or powder)

2 Tbs. of Nama Shoyu or Braggs

Olive oil

A handful of cilantro

Sesame seeds (black if possible)

Using a spiral-slicer cut the cucumber to make noodles and put aside. In a bowl, mix the Nama Shoyu or Braggs (or both) with the olive oil, cayenne, and chopped cilantro. If using jalapeño peppers, mix in food processor. Cut the romaine lettuce and make a bed of lettuce in each plate. Put the noodles and cut red peppers on top of lettuce. Pour the dressing on each plate and sprinkle some sesame seeds and more olive oil.

Decorating Tip: you can also cut some fresh tomatoes and add to dish.

Cucumber Noodles

Computer bag, Hiking bag, and Lunch bag ready for our trip!

In the two years we’ve been vegan raw foodists we’ve travel quite often and have been able to eat what we are used to eating at home and not struggle finding food during the trip.

How do we do it? This is a very common question we get asked all the time. In the last trip we took, to DC for the RSF, I was in the plane and decided it was time to write about it. So here are my top ten tips to travel raw!

Plan Ahead

First, check the rules for traveling with foods, liquids, etc as they are constantly changing. If you travel internationally chances are it’s a bit more difficult to bring some vegetables and fruits with you are on the plane. Second, check to find the closest organic markets, local farmers markets, and raw food or vegan restaurants around the area you are staying. We love HappyCow.com because it helps us plan ahead where we will be dining once we arrive at the location. It also shows me all local markets and their contact information. Using this information, we map the places we want to go to and decide where to eat or shop for food.

Helpful tip: Write down the phone numbers and hours of operation of the places you want to visit.

Bring Your Own Food

We always carry Avocados, lettuce, and cucumbers with us for the plane ride. I also include enough fruits, nuts, and seeds for the ride.  So far, we haven’t had any issues at security. We have a lunch bag that qualifies as a carry-on where we put all our food for the plan ride. Yes! You do have to run it through the x-ray but it’s better than the “glow-in-the-dark” food at the airport.

Helpful tip: carry extra bags for compost such peels, seeds, etc.

Olive Oil

We loved our olive oil and can’t live without it. So we’ve emptied and old vanilla extract bottle that is about 2 oz and washed and filled it up with Bariani’s Olive Oil to carry with us in the plane ride. Using the foods we bring and the olive oil, we make ourselves a nice meal sometimes in the plane or at the airport while connecting.

Helpful tip: Go to any food court and ask for a plate or container to use for making your food.

Salt

This is a topic that is very delicate with most people who are healthy. Salt… we like it and we need it. We use Real Salt and carry it with us everywhere. We have it in the car, at work, in my purse, everywhere. So when we fly or travel, it’s always with us.

Helpful tip: Real Salt has a small container that can be refilled.

Traveling Lunch Bag

Water, Green Powder and pH Drops

Water is possibly the most important part of traveling. Since we can’t carry liquids anymore, the first thing we do after the security check is get water. If you are lucky, some airports carry water with a high pH that will help you keep hydrated during your trip. If you are driving, I suggest taking your own water with you in a cooler. We also use a green powder and pH drops to add to the water. This helps us stay hydrated and get all the vitamins our bodies need while traveling. We even carry lemons or limes to squeeze into the water to that it stay fresh… yes that’s more complicated, but we now carry our lemon squeezer!

Helpful tip: if you carry your lemon squeezer (like we do), take it out of the bag during security check and set it on top of your jacket so that they don’t go through your lunch bag.

Dessert

We always do desserts because if you pass the cinnamon bun stand at the airport, chances are you would be tempted to have one. If a fruit serves as dessert, bring apples and bananas as they are the easiest to carry. If you don’t consider a fruit dessert, then bring something sweet for the trip. We like to make nut and dried fruit bags for the trip. Sometimes we carry raw chocolate bars, not good if you are planning to sleep in the plane. Also, we recently discover raw cookies in a package by Go Raw and they are perfect for traveling.

Tea bags

We carry two to four tea bags to drink in the plane and ask for hot water to brew the tea. We like the Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat by Traditional Medicinals the best. Why we drink tea? Most time in planes people are sick and we don’t want to run the risk of getting sick, especially if you are not getting the food your body is used to eating while traveling.

Helpful tip: ask for two cups of hot water to brew one tea bag, they usually server the water in small cups.

Utensils and napkins

We used to ask for plastic utensils at the airport and then put them in a zip lock bag to re-use. We also shared one napkin as we like to conserve and travel as green as we possibly can. We now travel with a small kitchen towel, the size of a face cloth, and keep in the lunch bag during the trip. In our last trip to San Francisco, purchase traveling re usable utensils at Café Gratitude, but you can also buy them at Bamboo Utensil Set To-Go . Ok so you don’t need to buy anything, simply get utensils at the airport and re-use them throughout the trip.

Helpful tip: Carry your salt, utensils, and napkins in the same zip lock bag inside your lunch bag, that way when is time to make your food in the plane, everything is accessible.

Arriving late

So last year we flew on Christmas day and arrived in California at close to midnight and we had run out of the food we carried with us. All there was open in San Fran were Chinese restaurants, and we didn’t think they would carry a salad! So here’s what we did, we ran to a 24-hour drug store and looked for snacks. They actually carried some vegetables rolls and fruits as well as some nuts and seeds. We bought some bananas, water, and pecans and that was our meal. Basically, don’t get depressed, there is always something raw somewhere. Don’t give up!

If everything else fails, buy at the airport

So if you had a last minute trip and didn’t get a chance to pack your lunch bag, buy a salad at the airport. Yes, the “glow-in-the-dark” salads and fruits that have been transported there by so many hands and trucks. We’ve done it once or twice when traveling overseas and brought an avocado to complement the depressing lettuce they sell you at the airports, and we are not proud of it.

Helpful tip: carry your salt and oil and make a nice little meal.

When traveling overseas, the rules may be a little different. You may have to eat all your food before you get to the other country. I also heard a tip from Sergei Boutenko on how to travel to other countries, make a powder of dehydrated vegetables and pack it in your carry on. Ask for a cup of hot water and mix in the powder, with some salt and oil and you have a nice soup. Our local raw vegan farmers market actually sells the powder of a veggie mix that can be used for traveling. Nut bars and other raw treats help hold you until you land but will most likely dehydrate you.

As we continue to travel, we learn more tips on how to continue our lifestyle and enjoy traveling to new places. The best part of traveling raw is the faces of the people sitting next to you watching you eat!

We stayed at a B&B in Mt. Shasta that has a Vita Mix and Dehydrator so we made pizza!

Gallbladder Cocktail

About 16 months ago I started to have a pain on the left side of my body under my arm close to my armpit and my ribs. At the beginning I thought it was stress or maybe that I was sleeping on the left side of my body too often.

The pain got worse and had to massage that area constantly, but it wasn’t helping. I was shopping online for Christmas gifts at my favorite organic store, and came across an organic “Brassage.” A bra that helps gets rid of toxins and aids lymphatic flow. So I bought one hoping it would help, but my pain did not go away.

We visited my friend Dave in Mt Shasta, who happens to be a massage therapist and has a spa in Mount Shasta, for our winter vacation.  He asked me how I was doing and somehow I didn’t want to mention the pain because I didn’t want to worry him. So I finally spilled the beans and mentioned about my pain. He said that pain in the area of the body is related to giving too much to others and not taking care of me. I’ve heard this before in Oprah’s show when they bring in mothers who don’t have time for themselves. I was confused! “I take care of myself!” I thought. “I eat raw foods, quit my corporate job, enjoy life, what more than that can I give myself?”

After a nice massage by my dear friend in Mt. Shasta, I realized that I was in denial. I do give first to others and then whatever is left over I share with more people and never me. The pain went away for a few weeks but came back. So I gave up. I was taking care of me but was still in pain.

Another friend at home told me that it was the gallbladder. She also does massage therapy. At that point I thought, “How can I be the gallbladder?! I’m a raw Foodist! We don’t get sick!” The same weekend another friend told me that we hold anger in our gallbladder, and then she said “but you don’t look like an angry person.” To which Denis said “you just don’t know her.” We all laughed, but that got me thinking about being angry.

And that’s how I decided to do a gallbladder flush. I started that same day and did tons of research on ways to flush the gallbladder. So I had my plan! I did liquids only for four days, which means all the food I ate was liquid. On the fifth day I drank apple juice all day… and at night came the Olive Oil Cocktail & Grapefruit Martini!

As the week went by, I thought about what makes me angry. The list was longer than I expected! Many times I hold it in because I rather not cause an argument or conflict. I also found out that I get mad at myself quite often.

Everyone that heard that I was doing the flush was excited to hear my experience. I was hoping to just be able to drink the olive oil with no issues and was praying that the stones would not get stuck anywhere. So the night came and had my olive oil cocktail, I followed the rest of the instructions for the night, and went to bed. I woke up the next morning and nothing happened… I was a little pale, but no stones.

The pain went away, but came back the next time I had stress at work and was angry. Go figure! After all it seems that I’m an angry healthy person, but at least I know I am!

Fresh Apple Juice

Links:

Bed and Breakfast in Mount Shasta, CA.

Bariani Olive Oil – The best!