Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Roast Veggie and Goat “Cheese” Wrap, and Two Announcements

Wow. Thank you all so much for the amazing response to my post on coping with unwanted body commentary. One of my main goals for Choosing Raw in 2010 is to have many more conversations about body image, self-perception, self-acceptance, and life with and after disordered eating. I was amazed by the quality of discourse in the comments section after my post (I always am), and I thank you for it.  I hope you’ll keep doing that as I ruminate on these topics, starting provocative conversations with each other and with me.

I thought I’d take a little interlude from body and self-acceptance talk to talk about something far less deep: yesterday’s lunch. Remember my raw, vegan spin on roast beet and goat cheese salad?

I made it, you may recall, because I had a beautiful hunk of fermented macadamia cheese handy, and because roast beet and goat cheese salad was my very favorite goat cheese dish in my pre-vegan days. My second favorite dish was roast vegetable and goat cheese sandwich creations (the finest one of these, I thought, was served at Craftbar here in the city). Yesterday, as I packed my work lunch, I realized that I had an abundance of three things: 1) leftover fermented mac cheese, 2) leftover roast beets, and 3) a big ‘ole tub of my raw, marinated veggies, which I’d also dehydrated for a few hours to soften (making them akin to a raw version of “roast” veggies). Lucky me, I also had some collard greens, so it seemed like a no brainer that my lunch would have to be a high raw, all vegan spin on a roast vegetable and goat cheese wrap.

When lunchtime rolled around at work, I simply layered my marinated veggies, my roast beets, and my “cheese”:

And wrapped it all up. In the end, it looked like this:

Avec salade, it fed body and soul better than any wrap I remember. Hooray for innovative work lunches! I sometimes say that I’m not a fan of leftovers, but every time I do something like this with them, I change my tune.

Before I sign off, I have two big announcements:

1) Tickets for the 2010 Healthy Living Summit go on sale tomorrow at 9 p.m.! For a recap of last year’s summit, you can read my review here; this year, I’ll be in attendance not as a guest, but as a speaker! Caitlin and I will be hosting a panel on body image and self-acceptance that we call “Stop Staring Over Your Shoulder: How to Avoid the Self Comparison Trap.” Our goal will be to analyze the negative effects of comparing yourself to others (specifically, comparing your body and lifestyle habits to others peoples’). I’ll be talking about the proliferation of healthy eating “trends,” the dangers of eating in a way that’s out of step with your needs, and the rise of orthorexia (a term I still have mixed feelings about). Caitlin will talk about the anxiety created in the media by photoshopping and unrealistic portrayals of the female body, and competitive fitness routines. We hope it’ll be a provocative and inspiring conversation, and we’ll want lots of participation. Which means I’d love to have to have some of my CR readers in the audience! If you’re interested in traveling to the Summit, information on registration will go up on the website tomorrow, so please check in.

2) Since we’re all enjoying these conversations about body image, I wanted to give you a head’s up that I’ll have a guest post up sometime tomorrow and/or Thursday on Kate’s blog, Eat the Damn Cake. The blog, which has been up and running for a few months, is full of daring conversations about body image, food, feminism, and beauty. The post I’m contributing is one of the more intimate ones I’ve ever written on my own relationship with my body, so I’ll be giving you all an invitation to check it out when it goes up. Hope you’ll take a peek!

On that note, I’m off to work and then sleep. But I wanted to let you know that I got through this morning’s workout with my customary friendly exchange with Gina (no hard feelings), and little thought given to my hulky, muscled, strapping lower body

I also had my first physical therapy appointment, which left me momentarily sore, but my pain is a little better tonight. Fingers crossed for some real recovery!

xo

Raw, Vegan Spin on Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Hola!

GREAT response to my chia seed giveaway! Keep them coming. For those of you who didn’t check in yesterday, I’m giving away a giant bag of chia seeds. Come and get’ em!

Yesterday’s sun and cheery disposition persisted well into today, which was busy, but touched by beautiful weather. Yay! Double yay for the fact that I got to spend a little time in my kitchen—not as much as I would have liked, but just enough to keep me sane.

I often here the same thing from clients, friends, and acquaintances who are thinking about veganism: “I’d love to, but I don’t think I could ever give up cheese.” Cheese, it seems, inspires some  pretty fierce devotion—a fact that’s hard for me to understand, since I never much liked the stuff. Even pizza—most beloved of beloved foods—was never a fave.

I did, though, have one fondness when it came to fromage, and that was for goat cheese. Odd, maybe, given that I’m sensitive to the more fragrant, soft varieties of cow’s cheese, but there you are. I liked to toss it in salads or with roast veggies, and while I can’t say I miss it, I can say that the challenge of finding a vegan simulacrum has been on my mind. Simultaneously, I’ve been meaning to try a fermented spin on nut “cheese”; I adore my nut cheeses, which I’ve written about here and here. And I’ve been curious to see how they would taste fermented.

So this weekend, I was on a dual mission: 1) make fermented vegan cheese, and 2) make it taste like the goat cheese of my memories. Let’s also throw in 3), which was to replicate the goat cheese dish I used to most enjoy: roast beets, spinach, and goat cheese salad with candied walnuts. A few hours later, mission was accomplished!

Fermenting: it sounds so intimidating. In fact, it’s an easy process: making kraut, kimchee, coconut yogurt, and fermented nut cheese is as simple as watching and waiting. You mix your ingredients (sometimes with the addition of probiotic powder), and leave them in a warm place for at least 6-12 hours (in the case of something like sauerkraut, you’ll have to leave them for at least three days). When the fermenting process is done, you’re left with a tangy food that’s loaded with healthy bacteria and is optimal for smooth digestion.

To make a fermented nut cheese—either the one I’m about to share, or any variety—you begin with one cup of raw nuts or seeds. Soak them in filtered water for at least six hours (this will do for seeds, cashews, and pine nuts) and up to twelve (better for almonds, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and pecans). If you’re soaking the nuts for more than six hours, stop once to drain, rinse, and replenish the nuts with fresh water.

The next step is simple: when the nuts have finished soaking, you place them into a food processor with 2 teaspoons unpasteurized miso and a few tablespoons of water. You can also add ½ teaspoon of probiotic powder; not necessary, but great for your belly. (You can simply break apart a few probiotic capsules, if you like, to get the powder.) Process the mix till it’s crumbly but still holds its shape: I aimed for my texture to resemble ricotta cheese.

Wash a mason jar with hot water and soap, and dry it thoroughly. Place the fermented nut cheese in the jar, making sure there’s enough room for the mix to expand a bit, which it will as it ferments. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a nutmilk bag, and secure it, with a rubber band. Place the mix in a warm place—85-95 degrees is optimal—and leave it be for six hours or more. Twelve hours is an optimal fermentation time, but if you let it go much longer than that it may turn a bit sour.

For my raw, vegan “goat’s cheese,” I used a cup of macadamias, and I soaked them about thirteen hours (overnight and then some). I blended them with my miso, processed till smooth, and placed in a glass jar covered with a nut milk bag. The temperature in my apartment is wacky these days—it’s freezing one day here in NYC, stifling the next, so my heat is on and off—so in order to assure that the cheese would ferment properly, I placed the whole jar in my dehydrator overnight and set it at 90 degrees.

It emerged looking something like this:

The top of any fermented nut or seed cheese will be either a little yellow or a little gray. That’s OK – it’s a part of the fermentation process. If you’d like, you can scrape off this thin covering. Then, give it a taste; it ought to be tangy, soft, and a little salty. Yum!

The next part is fun: you season the nut cheese however you’d like. It’s easiest to do this by pulsing the mix in your food processor again, but it’s fine to do by hand, too. I recommend that you add some sea salt and lemon to any fermented cheese; even with the miso, it’ll most likely need it. In addition to giving it flavor, the salt and lemon combination will make it taste far more like actual cheese. I added ¼ tsp sea salt and a good dose of lemon to my mac cheese, but take note: you could add dill, oregano, sundried tomatoes, black pepper, or any combination of herbs and spices you’d like to make the cheese taste better and more authentic.

By the time I was done, I had a cup of tangy, salty “cheese” that was, honest to god, a dead ringer for goat’s cheese as I remember it. I was flabbergasted. And it looked pretty similar, too! Check it out:

Thrilled with my efforts, I brainstormed about my salad. I had roast beets on hand (I usually do) and salad greens. I also tend to keep a tub of traditional French vinaigrette in the fridge, which is what I wanted to dress this salad with; the recipe is below, but any lemony vinaigrette will do. The only remaining components were the candied walnuts I’d planned on. Keep in mind that, if you’re in a rush, you can definitely skip these, and use raw walnuts instead! They’ll simply add a nice touch to the salad.

It’s very easy to make a raw spin on candied nuts: you coat them with agave/raw honey, a touch of oil, salt, and cinnamon. Typically, you should dehydrate the coated nuts for at least 12-24 hours, but it’s also possible to take a little shortcut, as I did. With not a lot of time on my hands (a few hours), I did a quick spin on candied walnuts: I mixed a teaspoon of agave nectar with ½ tsp coconut oil and a dash of cinnamon. Into this I mixed 1 oz of walnuts, and stirred to coat. I popped them into the dehydrator for 6 hours, and they emerged still sticky, but delicious.

With these in hand, I was ready to make:

Vegan Roast Beet, Goat Cheese, and Spinach Salad with Candied Walnuts (serves 1)

For the salad:

3 cups baby spinach (or a spinach + mesclun mix)
1 medium or large roasted beet, chopped
3 tbsp raw, fermented vegan “goat cheese”
1 oz (or so) candied OR raw walnut pieces

For the dressing:

1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced shallot (I don’t add this, but it’s very traditional)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black pepper
1/4 cup Good olive oil

Whisk all ingredients till smooth and emulsified.

Assembling the salad is a cinch: simply toss the salad ingredients together, and whisk in enough vinaigrette to coat lightly. The resulting salad is as close to a beet and goat cheese salad as any vegan dish could be; I’d even wager that an amateur cheese fan might be fooled.

Or maybe not. Most cheese fans I know (hi bun!) tend to have discerning palates. So if you are a cheese lover, and you have to have the real deal, here are my tips

•    Try goat’s cheese, which has little or no lactose, if you’re prone to bloating or touchy digestion
•     If you like the taste of hard cheese, you might try raw cheddar style goat cheese, which is increasingly available in health stores
•    If you’re going to eat regular, bovine cheeses, opt for a local, organic variety if you can.

But really, you should give this mac cheese a try. It’s a very pleasant surprise!

With that, the work week begins. Nighty!
xo

Eating Seasonally, Eating Locally

Hey guys!

Happy Superbowl Sunday. I’m sure that many of you have plans for entertaining, which means that you’re cooking up game grub right now. Me? I’m not a football follower, and I’m a deadline this weekend, which means that I’ll probably have my nose in the books as the game is on. (Yes, I know. I never cease to amaze you all with my out-of-control social life. You don’t need to tell me.)

Deadlines or no, I did want to share a very excellent comment I got from reader Katie the other day. In response to my zucchini wraps, Katie wrote:

Gena – you’re always reminding us about the ethical dimension of veganism, and the value of a simple vegetable-based diet, so I have to ask: how do you feel about many raw foodists’ lack of interest in eating locally and seasonally? Buying coconuts, bananas, or cashews – or zucchini in a New York winter – raises some enivronmental and political issues; carbon footprint aside, these crops aren’t exactly associated with fair labor practices and sustainability. Not meant to criticize or implicate; just wondering if this is something you think about or what your take was.

First of all, I want to thank Katie for phrasing the question in such a respectful way. More importantly, I want to thank her for raising an important issue, which many of you have probably wondered about. Here’s my response to Katie, which I also left below her comment on the post:

Hi Katie,

Great question!

The answer is complex. Yes, I do think that it’s very commendable and indeed optimal to eat locally and seasonally. While you’ll definitely see errant zucchini or avocado on my blog in the winter, I do try to lessen my consumption of those things, and focus on fennel, cabbage, other crucifers, potatoes, beets, squash, and grains in the winter. I’m not typically eating my guac as often as usual, for instance! And since I don’t like fruit, I’ll rarely eat it in winter at all.

I do of course sometimes buy out of season: this zucchini is a good example, and so would be the cherry tomatoes I ate the other day. Avocado is a repeat offender. Again, I try to limit these instances, as I recognize that they’re not ideal. At the same time, I don’t commit to eating 100% locally, because I’m not persuaded that I’d be able to get the kind of dietary variety I believe in that way. If I were to eliminate avocados, the occasional coconut, and all non-seasonal vegetables from my diet, it would be far more narrow than I am comfortable with. I can definitely focus on whole grains and dried legumes and seasonal produce in winter, then, but I can’t focus on them with absolute exclusivity.

This isn’t a perfect ethical position, naturally, but studying food has led me to believe that there’s really no perfect ethical position to be had. There are strange loopholes and quandaries no matter what lifestyle you ultimately try to stick to: veganism, locavorism, omnivorism, all raw. The best one can do is try to adopt a position that feels most ethically sound and most right, which is how I feel about veganism (and just to make my own imperfections clear here, I’m only just now beginning to adopt veganism as a lifestyle as well as a diet, an evolution you can read more about here). That doesn’t mean eating locally is irrelevant to me; it’s not. But if I sometimes need to deviate from it in order to maintain a healthy vegan lifestyle, I probably will, with an intention on doing my best the rest of the time.

Hope this makes sense!

Gena

I should add that veganism (with an emphasis on raw foods) feels like the best ethical choice to me not only because of what I eat or don’t eat (i.e., because I avoid animal products), but also because of how it makes me eat: more consciously, more locally, more gratefully, and with more compassion for mother earth. Again, it’s not a dietary choice without flaws, but it is, for me, the one that feels the best.

How do you all feel about this? What are the values and ethics that inform the way you eat?

Since we’re on the topic, I’d like to share a soup recipe that could have been inspired by this debate. It’s mostly local (local beets, parsley, and carrots), fairly seasonal, and, since it can be served hot or cold, perfect for a New York winter. I’ve dabbled in beet soup before, but I must confess that I think this one bests my last attempt. It’s thick, sweet, comforting, and perfect for shooing away the February doldrums. If you make it with homemade almond milk and fresh juice, it can also be, if not 100% local, 100% homemade and unprocessed. I hope you all try it, and love it!

Hot or Cold Beet Carrot Soup (serves 3-4)

3 heaping cups beets, chopped
3 medium sized carrots, also chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup red onion (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery seed
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 dates, pitted
2 1/2 cups almond milk
1 cup fresh carrot juice

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender, starting on low speed and gradually increasing (the beets will be tough on the machine, but they’ll break down fast). Check seasonings, and add more salt or pepper to taste. If the mix is too thick for your taste, add more almond milk (I’ve made this with anywhere from 2-4 cups of almond milk, and the texture varies).

If you’re not using a high speed blender, try either grating all the beets and carrots before you start, or simply steaming them till fork tender. It’ll work fine that way!

You can serve this soup cold, or you can warm it up to taste, either by using your blender or by stirring it over a gentle heat. Garnish the soup with shredded veggies of choice, herbs, or whole grain bread/crackers. Enjoy!

The soup, if left on the thick side, also makes a wonderful dip, dressing, or sauce (and it’s such a pretty color, too!).

Today, as a mid-morning snack, I used it in a not so local, seasonal fashion. I topped two puffed rice cakes with a few spoonfuls of the sauce, and some sliced avocado. If I could revise the meal according to “perfect world” ideals, I’d probably go for homemade raw bread or sprouted bread, and I’d select a local veggie in lieu of the avocado, which was in danger of over-ripening on top of my fridge. But I was in a time pinch, and this is what resulted.

Is there a perfect way to eat? I don’t think so — certainly, doctors and nutritionists and food coaches and naturopaths can argue over what’s nutritionally ideal, while the rest of us can debate what’s ethically ideal. In the end, I suspect we all have to find ways of existing within the food chain and the global economy without feeling as though we’re compromising our ideals too much. It’s not always an easy or perfect process, but it’s certainly an enlightening one, and I think it makes us all better people to do our very best!

xo

Simplicity.

Ah, simplicity.

It seems that everywhere we look, we’re being encouraged to simplify our lives: to streamline our to-do lists, to downsize our list of obligations, to clean out our closets. I can think of at least four yoga classes in the last two months that have begun with the injunction to simplify, simplify, simplify.

We all want lives that are simple and streamlined: lives in which all of our priorities have magically been distilled from needless anxieties or obligations. But of course, it’s easier said than done. These days, for example, there’s nothing I’d like more than a simple and streamlined existence. But I can’t have one–and I can think of a whole lot of women who have far more obligations than I do!

The one area of my life in which I can have simplicity, though, is in what I eat. Now as always, nothing makes me happier than food that is prepared as simply and as minimally as possible. And it seems that, the busier and more hectic life is, the more I crave simple, nourishing foods.

The following recipe is a perfect example of culinary simplicity. Vegetables, lemon, sea salt: does it get any better–or more simple than this?

Stuffed Napa Cabbage Leaves (serves 2)

4 Napa Cabbage leaves
1 large avocado, cubed
2 large steamed/baked beets, cubed
1 carrot, grated
1 cup pea shoots, chopped
1 tbsp flax/hemp oil
2 tbsp agave
1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients except for the cabbage together in a bowl. Scoop into 4 cabbage leaves, and savor.

I shared this recipe with the amazing women who participated in the Choosing Raw + Spark Wellness January cleanse (which is almost finished, and had amazing results!), and they all loved it.

We can’t always simplify our lives. But if we can’t make life less complicated, we can certainly un-complicate what’s on our plates. Today, tomorrow, and always, let’s all return to the basics: vegetables, juices, fruits, legumes, grains. Enjoy them with as little fuss, as little stress, and as little work as you can. Bon appetit, everyone!

xo

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