Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

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

Best. Soup. Ever.

As you may have noticed, I’m a big fan of raw soups. This is funny, given that traditional soups were never my favorite. Or, to be more precise, any broth based soup was never my favorite: I’ve always been partial to blended soups (root vegetable soups, for instance), which is probably why the smooth and creamy textures of most raw soups please me so much.

The recipe I’m about to share is, without a doubt, my favorite raw soup. Why? Because it’s fast, simple, and sweet enough to be rightly called dessert, yet it’s totally guilt free. This soup is also loaded with enzymes, nutrients (such as beta carotene), and natural carbohydrates; I actually recommend it to my more athletic clients and friends as a great pre-workout drink in lieu of a smoothie. Best of all, this soup incorporates one of my favorite flavors: pumpkin pie.

Yes yes, I know, this is probably the least seasonal post I’ll ever write. It’s 85 degrees here in New York, the sidewalks are littered with bare shoulders, and I slept with my AC last night. But who cares? Pumpkin pie doesn’t stop tasting good in summertime. And to be fair, this recipe doesn’t really use pumpkin: it simply borrows the flavors of the classic dish.

The original recipe for this dish appears in Natalia Rose’s  Raw Food Life Force Energy. Her recipe calls for raw sweet potatoes; I usually use raw butternut squash instead, and I substitute Stevia for the original dates. The soup typically comes together in 10 minutes or less, and it never disappoints. Without further ado:

Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl (adapted from Raw Food Life Force Energy)

Serves 1 generously, 2 as a small appetizer

Ingredients:

2 cups carrot juice (fresh if possible, bottled if not)
¾ cup chopped butternut squash
¼ avocado
½-3/4 packet of stevia
Generous sprinkle of cinnamon, a small sprinkle of nutmeg, and a dash of salt

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender till smooth and creamy (and a little warm, if you like to serve soup that way).

If you don’t have a high speed blender or Vitamix, you could substitute steamed squash for raw and use a regular blender.

Here’s the bowl I devoured on Friday:

And a shot of my meal:

It’s been a hot and industrious weekend. I hope you’ve all enjoyed some early summer weather! I have some exciting posts planned for this week, including a special round up of low-sugar desserts, my musings on restaurant dining, and my very first giveaway! So stay tuned.

Finally, and on a more somber note, I want to extend my sympathy to Jenna and her family, who are mourning the loss of Jenna’s brother, John. Jenna is in the hearts and minds of so many of us in the blogging community right now, and I hope our good wishes bring her some solace.

xo