Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Foolproof Tofu Burgers and Phone Meltdowns

So I had a breakdown on the phone with Time Warner Cable last night.

Perhaps “breakdown” is a strong word. I burst into tears and uttered the words, “please, sir, you can’t do this to me,” when I was told that no technician would be available to fix my modem until next Wednesday. Does that count?

In retrospect, this little episode should have been a welcome, and perhaps a cautionary, signal of how dependent my life has become on the whims of technology. But it didn’t feel welcome. It felt like a breakdown.

Before you decide to stage a “Gena, you’ve gotten a little too attached to blogging” intervention, let me ‘splain: it isn’t just blogging. I take a lot of work home, each and every night, and a lot of it needs to happen online. My counseling practice is, at this point, almost exclusively via email, and there are other parts of my work life that depend heavily on internet access. So, not having a working modem means a lot more than having to update my blog from the office. It means falling way behind on a lot of things I need to do in order to make a living.

And it wasn’t just that. It had been a long week: my work schedule switched around again to the insane rhythm I was keeping up at the start of this past summer. I had fifty dollars stolen from my wallet. I got dumped (over email). And it’s that time of the month.

In short, not the optimal moment for my internet to go out.

Fortunately, my heroic mother was on the line when I got off with Time Warner, and she assured me that all would be well. (And it will be: thanks to my hysteria, I have an appointment with a technician on Thursday.) She also recommended I go to sleep immediately, which was the best advice I’ve heard in ages. I tidied up my little apartment, closed all of my books and manuscript pages, and went to bed at 9:57 pm. I woke up this morning, and for once I sipped my coffee without the distraction of emails and blog reading. Instead, I gazed out my window onto Columbus Avenue, and remembered that there was a time in my life (not so long ago, really) when my early morning ritual didn’t involve frenetic internet activity. It involved a quiet appreciation of the sounds of New York City waking up.

It was really nice.

I’ll never be a person who likes to “escape.” I like being plugged into the action at every moment. Even when I travel, one of my favorite moments in the day is the moment when I have some time to write emails and check in at the office. I can’t help it; it’s just how I am. There’s pressure aplenty in our busy age to unplug and go offline and empty our minds. This is fine, but it isn’t me: I like being “on.” Still, this morning reminded me that I am capable of appreciating quiet, if not constitutionally suited to enjoy it for very long. So in a way, I’m grateful to my internet for momentarily abandoning me.

Though if my modem’s not fixed by Thursday night, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

On to the food. Recently, I saw that Brigid had made my tofu scramble, and that she really liked it (thank you, Brigid!). This reminded me of a reader request I’d recently gotten for “tofu burgers that won’t crumble and fall apart on the grill.” According to this reader, such things are a rarity. I’d never made tofu burgers before, but it sounded like an excellent challenge to me—especially since I’ve been on a burger kick lately (still haven’t tried my chickpea and sweet potato burgers? Do it!).

My goal was to find a way to bind the burgers together without making them too dense. My solution was to use a bit of whole grains (oats) and a bit of nut/seed butter (tahini). It worked better than I could have imagined. And the taste? Thanks to carrots, nutritional yeast, and a bit of nama shoyu, these were delectable. And not even a little crumbly. Here’s how it’s all done:

Gena’s Tofu Burgers (yields 4)

12 oz tofu, extra firm and pressed if possible
2/3 cup oatmeal
2 tbsp tahini
2 small carrots, grated
2 small stalks celery, chopped
¼ cup nooch
1 tbsp + 1 tsp nama shoyu, tamari, or soy sauce

1) Mix all ingredients in a food processor. You’ll want to begin by pulsing, and then let the motor go till it’s all well mixed and fairly uniform.

2) Shape into patties.

3) Heat a skillet or grill pan (or, if you don’t live in an apartment with the kitchen the size of a shoebox, heat up your grill), and grill the burgers until each side is crispy and golden brown.

4) Serve, if you’d like, with salad and avocado strips—because what isn’t made better with avocado?

These burgers were a shining example of how wonderful it is that I have readers who write in with requests for food. I’d never have thought to make them–usually, if I want a burger, I’ll make my sunshine burgers, raw or cooked—but now that I have, I imagine they’ll make a regular appearance in the CR kitchen. Thanks to all of you for continually challenging me to go outside of my routines!

And now, It’s back to work I go. I ask you all to cross your fingers and hope that I’m the proud owner of a new modem very, very soon. I already did away with my pride on the phone with Time Warner last night; I’d hate to think how pitiable I’ll get if there’s a “next time.”

xo

Raw Picnic Dinner

Last night, my favorite movie of all time was playing outdoors, in Central Park:

Needless to say, I had to be there.

My friend Nelly and I planned a hot date—including a picnic dinner—to see the movie together. When we arrived at Sheep’s Meadow, I was delighted to run into Hadley, who was there with a group of friends.

Nelly and I found a little patch of spare grass, and, as we waited for the movie to begin, we got down to the real business of the hour: dinner!!! We attacked our picnic bags with gusto. Nelly, who’s a passionate athlete and runner, had been playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament all day. And me? I was just really hungry

Nel and I shared a little chuckle over the fact that we’d had at least some of the same picnic ideas: hummus and raw veggies were in both of our picnic bags. Nelly’s a vegetarian, so I can usually count upon our enjoying some of the same things, but we also share a lot of the same tastes. Nelly had with her a container of whole wheat pita, some Sabra hummus, veggies, and a delicious homemade cocktail made with ginger beer, cucumber, and fresh peaches. On my menu was (obviously) a giant kale salad, marinated earlier in the day:

I’d also discovered this brand at my local health food store earlier in the week:

It’s Chocolatree, which is the prepared food made by the staff at Chocolatree Cafe in Arizona. I picked up the pizza crackers (made with buckwheat and sunflower seeds) and the onion flatbread (made with sunflower seeds and chia seeds). Interesting fact: I have learned, thanks to Lori and Michelle, that while I do not like raw onions (or cooked onions, for that matter), I really like raw onion flatbread. Go figure.

My verdict? Two thumbs up! I really liked both breads. The pizza flatbread is heartier, and more “bread” like; it reminds me of Lydia’s breads and crackers, which I truly adore. The onion bread is nice and thin, and I imagine it would make a great raw “wrap.” While I’m still a loyal devotee of the Twins’ flatbreads and crackers, the Chocolatree brand is a nice second choice. I love that my local store takes care to stock these lesser known raw food brands!

I made two little open faced raw sandwiches. One was onion flatbread, roast red pepper hummus, tomato, avocado, and cucumber:

And the other was pizza flatbread with a simple topping of tomato and avocado:

Both were delicious! Between these, kale salad, and raw veggies+hummus, I was a very, very happy camper. And a very full one.

Of course, what made me really happy was the joy of seeing my favorite movie on a big screen. And what could be more appropriate than watching Woody Allen’s love poem to New York City in the middle of Central Park, surrounded by skyline?

I got a little misty when we got to this scene:

Forget Love is a Many Splendored Thing. Forget Casablanca. Forget Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Dr. Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, and even An Affair to Remember. Those movies are all terrific, but in my world, there is no more romantic movie still than this one from Manhattan:

My understanding of romance will always and forever be intertwined with my love affair with Manhattan. Part of why I—well, why most New Yorkers—love Woody Allen’s work so fiercely is that he understands that feeling. His movies chronicle the vicissitudes of human love, but the infatuation with New York is always a constant. In other words, he gets it.

Dinner last night was so extraordinarily good that, today, still basking in the haze of cinematic joy, I repeated it. Using only the pizza crackers this time (I’m saving the onion flatbread for later this week), I made one flatbread with avocado and tomato:

And another with cucumber and my dilly sunflower seed cheese.

How’d I made the “cheese?” This is just a simple sunflower seed pate, made all the more delicious with the addition of dill. Observe:

Dilly Sunflower Cheese (yields 1 1/2 cups, or 6-8 servings)

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked at least one hour
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4-1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup water
8-10 small sprigs fresh dill, coarsely chopped

1) Place soaked seeds, salt, and lemon into the bowl of a food processor and let it run till they’re broken down. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

2) With the motor running, drizzle 1/2 cup water into the food processor, so that the sunflower seed cheese becomes light and creamy. If it starts to get at all watery, stop adding water! I usually use anywhere from 1/4-2/3 cup water; it totally depends on how much water the seeds have absorbed, so use your judgment.

3) Add the dill to the processor and pulse a few times to distribute it into the cheese. What you’ll have left looks like this:

…and it tastes tart, salty, and fresh!

Along with some salad and raw veg action, it was a perfect midday meal:

Sometimes I find that raw flatbreads and crackers leave me totally empty only a few moments after mealtime; I’m really impressed with how nicely the Chocolatree products fill me up. A good reason to make these a semi-regular “splurge.”

And now, I’m procrastinating with Mad Men diligently working in preparation for the week ahead. I hope you all had great weekends. New Yorkers, were any of you with me in the park last night? And here’s a question: what cinematic moment or image ranks as most romantic in your book? I know that questions like these are a little reductive and silly but they—like naming the scene in a book or film that you find most sad, or most poignant—tend to say fun things about peoples’ personalities!

xo

Crushing

I have a confession to make: I have a girl crush on Laura Beck.

If you don’t know who Laura is, I suggest you get to know her NOW. She’s one of the masterminds behind Vegansaurus.com, San Fran’s totally awesome vegan lifestyle guide (New Yorkers, I think we need to get us one of these), the writer of her own random, opinionated, and shittaciously funny blog, and the webmistress over at VegWeb.com, which is just the largest vegan recipe database in the world. She’s also one of the coolest vegans I know: whip smart, hilarious, and passionate. Few vegans are more blunt, outspoken, or vocal about why veganism rocks, but Laura—like all cool vegans—also knows how to be compassionate, encouraging, and to lead by example (rather than with vitriol).

In short, she is my hero.

I’m not only saying this because Laura happens to have featured me in the latest VegWeb newsletter. Yes, I just gave you the link, but don’t be lazy: as this issue proves, the VegWeb newsletter is awesome, and you should all go sign up to receive it (at the top of the VegWeb homepage) now. After all, it’s free!

Laura and I have spoken at length about raw foodism: the myths, the stereotypes, and the realities. I’ve shared with her my rather unorthodox approach to eating raw (which you guys already know about: semi-raw, flexible, etc.), and she’s shared with me her theories about why many vegans are alienated or put off by raw foods. This theory is pretty simple, and pretty hilarious. To quote Laura in the newsletter:

“Raw food gets a bad rap. Sometimes you get slack for eating vegan, but what’s weirder than that? Eating raw. Some vegans even like to point the finger at raw foodists when people accuse them of being odd. Like, look over there! Those people are the real freaks!”

Ha! I’ll confess, this attitude isn’t one I’m too familiar with. Typically, the people who write to me are vegans who are intent on becoming raw—perhaps even too intent, too quickly! I often find myself explaining to people that, while raw foods offer us myriad benefits, “going raw” isn’t the logical extension of veganism, or some sort of special challenge for the hardcore among us. Still, I see Laura’s point: I think raw foodies are natural targets for certain unsupportive vegans who enjoy the idea of there being someone out there whose food choices are even less conventional than their own. But, as Laura points out,

“ . . . the stigma attached to raw foods is slowly being erased, bit by bit, by the fact that some of the most innovative food coming out of the kitchen isn’t even cooked! Adventerous and talented raw-food chefs like Sarma Melngailis, Ani Phyo, and Mathew Kenney are changing the way people think about raw food. Bloggers are helping forge the way, too. My personal favorite is Choosing Raw, a blog maintained by the delightful Gena Hamshaw, who also happens to be VegNews’ raw-food columnist! Not only is she a total foodie genius, she’s smart and sane, to boot.”

OK I didn’t really have to include that last bit to prove my point about how raw food is going more mainstream. But it’s not every day that I get such sweet, if undeserved, flattery. Thankfully, I get to thank Laura with a big vegan dinner in San Fran when I visit (two weeks!!). If not, I’ll just continue to tell her about my girl crush on her until she gets creeped out by me.

Laura asked me to pick a recipe from the VegWeb raw food library to feature in the newsletter. Can you guys take a guess as to what I picked?

Duh! Raw green soup. Blended salad, con avocado: simple, easy, fresh. Vintage Gena.

While we’re on the topic of girl crushes, I was super excited to see that Ms. Katie gave my tofu scramble a spin on her blog this week. It looks as though her batch came out nicely! I was also really touched to see that my former client and friend Elese commented to say that she’s been inspired by the pleasure I take in eating (Elese and I have eaten out together in Chicago). When you eat “healthy food”—and especially when you write about it—the assumption is usually that you have a joyless, functional relationship with what you eat. I have to bat down this misconception a lot; to this day, I don’t think my ex-boyfriend believes that I really enjoy eating kale (are the 184572 photos of kale salad on my blog not sufficient proof?!?). So I’m always happy when a friend notices the fact that I like food. A lot.

To tie up our themes nicely, my lunch today involved both a girl crush and a raw soup. I used gray, damp weather as an excuse to make my girl Kristen’s incredible Harvest Soup, which is hands down one of my favorite raw soups ever. With simple salad, avocado, and pureed, steamed butternut squash (yes, I was feeling autumnal), it was exactly what I craved:

Comfort food for a rainy day.

And now, the usual Sunday night catch up ensues. Before I go, tell me: do you have any blogger girl crushes? Or guy crushes? (Yes, Evan, Matt, and Ian, I am trying to embarrass you.) I would love to hear your personal blogging heroes are, and why.

xo

Weekend Lunch: Fuji Apple and Spinach Soup; Summer Berry Salad

The winner of the Hippocrates video giveaway can wait no longer. Jenny, it’s you. Email me your address (gena@choosingraw.com) to get your gift!

Fair warning: I may not do another giveaway for a while. I’m traumatized by my own negligence.

A few days ago, a friend and I had a comically animated (OK, most of the animation was coming from me) conversation about Fuji apples. They are, we concluded, the best apples in the world. There are other great varieties (Macoun, Jonagold, Granny Smith) as well as some not so great ones (the offensively mealy Red Delicious), but Fujis have the perfect combination of sweetness and crispness.

It’s been a while since I made a raw soup. Over the weekend, I happened to spot my first Fujis of the season at my Sunday farmer’s market. They weren’t quite as giant and perfect as I know they will be in a few months, but they were there, and I was elated. Since I hadn’t made a raw soup in quite some time, I decided to put them to good use in a new soup concoction: Fuji apple and spinach soup. Sounds a little weird, I know, but it was refreshing and totally delicious. I think this one will be a mainstay between now and the end of summer! Here’s the recipe:

Fuji Apple and Spinach Soup (serves 3)

1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 large avocado
2 stalks celery
1 cup raw spinach
1 1/2 cups coconut water (I used fresh, but packaged is fine)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp nama shoyu or tamari
2 tsps flax oil

Blend all ingredients but the oil on high till well mixed. Add flax oil in a thin drizzle to emulsify the soup. Serve immediately, garnished with mint sprigs if you like.

I wanted something equally summery to go with my soup, so I decided to make a berry dressing, which a couple of readers have requested. I’ve never really liked raspberry or strawberry salad dressings, which is why it’s taken me some time to comply, but it was hard to say no with a fridge full of strawberries that were destined to get mushy if I didn’t use them soon. I decided to throw together a spinach, berry, and avocado salad and top it all off with a creamy strawberry dressing. I loved the results!

Strawberry Blush Vinaigrette (yields 1 1/2 cups)

2 cups strawberries, tops removed
1/4 cup orange or apple juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender till the dressing is smooth. Serve over any salad, but in particular over the summer berry salad, below.

Summer Berry Salad (serves 1, but can be easily doubled)

1 cup baby spinach
1 cup baby arugula
1/4 cup each strawberries (sliced), raspberries, and blackberries
1/4 avocado, chopped

Toss all ingredients with a few tablespoons of the blush vinaigrette and serve.

Together, the soup and salad were a perfectly light and refreshing lunch!

I rounded the meal out with some leftover black beans I had (leftover from making Susan’s black bean and corn salad!) mashed onto some sprouted toast.

There you have it, guys. Sunday lunch. I love using ingredients that are summery (berries) and autumnal (apples) all at once!

I’m trying to think of a terrific question to end with, and I can only think of this: what’s your favorite apple? It’s hardly the stuff of philosophical debates, but we’re all foodies here. If the topic of Fujis can put me on the edge of my seat, it’s probably worth asking.

xo

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