Greetings, all! I’m glad you liked the looks of my apple cinnamon raising graw-nola. As I mentioned in that post, lower fat recipes aren’t really my “thing,” but there’s more of a demand for them lately, and comments like this are very encouraging: “I am diabetic and have found that if I eat low fat (such as Engine 2 or Fuhrman), I have normal blood sugars. You are so popular that perhaps if you spread the word, it might help more diabetics achieve normal blood sugar.”

Not so sure about the popularity, friend, but I’m so delighted that I gave a recipe that suits your health needs!

Today, I’m actually focusing up on a veggie dish, after many days of edible giving. Of course, you can give vegetables to anyone on your Christmas list, too: I, for example, would be glad to receive any and all vegetable gifts you guys can think of! But this curried cauliflower and cranberry dish is so very tasty that you may not want to share much of it.

The inspiration for this dish is a curried cauliflower and raisin salad I had at Whole Foods recently, served cold and garnished with (ack) red onions. After peeling those onions off, I found the salad itself very tasty (obviously, it channels Aloo Gobi a little bit, too). I’ve wanted to re-create the dish for a while, but it occurred to me this week that it would be fun to give it a holiday themed twist: cranberries in place of raisins. And fresh cranberries in place of dried fruit. It all came together beautifully, and the dish was very easy to make. This is a great holiday side dish, and I may very well make it again for Christmas Day!

Curried Cauliflower and Cranberries (vegan, gluten free, soy free)

Serves 2-4, depending on appetite

4 cups cauliflower, cut into florets
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp coconut oil (you can reduce to 1 if you wish)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1) Set oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with tinfoil.

2) On top of the foil, mix the cauliflower, cranberries, garlic, oil, curry, agave, and salt and pepper to taste.

3) Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cauliflower is golden and cranberries are popping and turning dark.

Serve this dish warm, with any protein and/or grain of choice. Leftovers are also fabulous mixed into big salads; I should know! I enjoyed them that way today for lunch.

So now I’m on the train up to Hudson, where I’ll soon be reunited with Chloe and her family. I’m so thrilled to be traveling to my proverbial happy place, and hopefully Chloe and I will come up with some fun recipes to collaborate on. We haven’t really done any joint blogging since Chloe became a food blogger, and it’s probably time for that to change!

Meanwhile, the fellow behind me is giving his poor neighbor a long lecture on what it means to be a luddite. As I attempt to tune that out, I’m catching up on the latest issue of Oprah Mag, with Dr. Oz on the cover:

…AND feeling pretty honored that I’m featured in a short piece on raw foods, called “The Raw Deal!” Dr. Joel Fuhrman—a former post-bacc student—is also interviewed, and I could not be prouder to be in such esteemed company.

You can’t tell from the truncated photo, but I was asked to share three of my favorite raw food ideas—one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Can you guys guess which three I would have chosen?? I bet you can. And if you can’t, check out the issue, now on newsstands everywhere!

I’ll write soon, from upstate NY…

xo

Nothing quite like pumpkin to get people excited. Thanks for the pumpkin pie pudding love!

As you all know, I got more adventurous with superfoods this summer. I made a superfood salad:

A batch of crackers infused with a super seed blend:

and a super breakfast bowl with quinoa flakes:

Most of these dishes were truly thanks to my friends at Navitas Naturals, who graciously shared some of their products with me so that I could experiment a little in the kitchen. One of these products was their mesquite powder, which has quickly become one of my favorite go-to ingredients. Mesquite has a subtle flavor: it’s sweet, smoky, and a little spicy, all at once. Depending on the moment, it might remind me either of vanilla beans or a sizzling pot of barbeque sauce. Its flavor, much like the flavors of lucuma and maca (also superfoods from the Americas) is hard to place, hard to describe, and a little amorphous. Which makes it an ideal ingredient to play with: it will never overpower a dish the way certain spices do. Instead, it will enhance the flavors that I’m focused on in all sorts of fun and unexpected way.

Mesquite also boasts some nifty health properties:

• Excellent form of fiber – almost a quarter of daily needs in just two tablespoons
• Contains lysine (an amino acid), as well as notable quantities of digestible protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc.
• Mild alternative to other sweeteners

Thus far, I’ve used mesquite primarily in my smoothie recipes and a few sweets (mesquite cashew date balls, by the way, are amazing). Last week, I decided to give mesquite an unexpected application, in savory raw falafel. I wasn’t sure whether this was brilliant or bonkers, but the results made me really happy. It’s really hard for any raw falafel recipe to stand up to my carrot falafel, which I adore, but these come close. And, just like my carrot falafel, they make sneaky use of vegetables: cauliflower is mixed in with sunflower seeds to add nutrient density and help even out some of the fat content.

Smoky Cauliflower and Mesquite Falafel with Fresh Parsley Dressing (raw, vegan, gluten free)

Makes 10 Falafel

1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, chopped
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cup mesquite
Dash cayenne pepper

1) Grind sunflower seeds in a food processor fitted with the S blade.

2) When seeds are ground into a coarse meal, add chopped cauliflower, tahini, cumin, coriander, paprika, and mesquite. Pulse to combine, then run the motor. You should have a VERY thick paste. Add water in a thin stream until the mixture is still quite thick (thick enough to be shaped into firm balls) but not pasty. I used about 4 scant tbsp (1/4 cup).

3) Roll mixture into 2 inch balls and flatter onto a Teflex lined dehydrator tray with palms. Dehydrating for 12-14 hours, until exterior is very dry but interior is still slightly moist, flipping once through. Serve drizzled with my fresh parsley dressing or a tahini dressing of choice.

*Oven option: Bake falafel for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.*

Parsley Dressing:

1 small avocado
1/2 bunch parsley, washed
Juice of 2-3 lemons (2 large, or 3 tiny ones)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt
Black pepper

1) Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender till smooth. Serve.

I love the subtly smokiness of these falafel. And I think that the mesquite adds a nice creaminess to the texture, too!

Aren’t they authentic looking?! Not bad for a raw dish.

Hope you guys give these guys a shot. And it goes without saying that the parsley dressing is also great on salad, as a dip, or drizzled over a plate of steamed veggies. Let me know what you think!

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone who has tried (and loved) the zucchini pasta with creamy garlic sauce and the gingery rice with butternut squash and onions. I’ve already gotten some lovely feedback on those recipes, and it makes me so, so happy to know that my readers like them. Here’s to fall produce!

Back tomorrow! And don’t forget that the 30 Day Vegan Challenge is on.

xo

Happy Labor Day, folks!

I’m on my way back to DC, after a whirlwind weekend spent at the ultimate NYC wedding celebration. The culmination? A ceremony and dinner last night at Blue Hill Stone Barns, a fine dining hotspot that surely many of my foodie readers have heard about. I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the ceremony and my recap through photos—not to mention details of my all vegan wedding dinner—but today, I’m here to share a recipe that tickled my palate in the weeks before I left for NYC and Portland. August feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

When people ask me if there are any vegetables that can’t be eaten raw, I always give the standard advice: beware of raw potatoes (though raw yams can work well in certain recipes), winter squash, and some people claim that raw green beans and snap peas can be mildly toxic (I eat the latter raw, not the former). Additionally, many people find that raw legumes, even sprouted, can be a digestive nightmare; I personally find cooked beans much easier to digest than sprouted ones. Finally, I caution everyone to listen to their bodies and use intuition: if there’s a certain vegetable that just seems to wreak havoc on you when you eat it raw, cut yourself a break, and try gently steaming it for a while.

Raw broccoli used to be just that food for me. I digest it with no trouble when it’s steamed, but eating it raw was rather unpredictable. Something has changed, and suddenly I find myself loving—and digesting well—raw broccoli in all sorts of recipes and applications. I’ve even been choosing it instead of cucumbers and carrots for dipping and snacking. I love when our relationship with a food shifts over time.

For those of you who are still feeling so-so about the prospect of raw broc—and believe me, I get it—I have a few ideas about how you can make the stuff far more palatable. The first idea I’ll share is this fabulous raw broccoli and cauliflower slaw with Asian “peanut” dressing and raisins. Chopping the crucifers very finely will help you to digest them better (as will chewing your food well—ahem!) and render them a little more tasty. The dressing, which is one of my all time favorites (and, judging by reader response, a favorite of yours, too) takes care of the rest, uniting this into a sweet, salty, gingery, and downright fantastic salad for any time of year.

Raw Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Creamy Asian Dressing (raw, vegan, GF)

Serves 4

3 heaping cups broccoli florets
3 heaping cups cauliflower florets
1 small or 1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup raisins

1 batch of my creamy Asian dressing (for this recipe, I’d add extra lime juice for more zesty taste!)

1) Place the broccoli and cauliflower in a food processor and roughly process. Alternately, chop into small pieces with a big knife.

2) Transfer to a bowl and add chopped bell pepper and raisins.

3) Dress to taste with creamy Asian dressing, and serve! I like this finished with a squeeze of lime.

Quick point of interest before I go: many of you have asked me about goitrogens in raw broccoli and other crucifers. It’s totally true that cruciferous veggies contain goiter producers, or goitrogens, that can interfere with the synthesis of thyroid hormones and block iodine absorption. On the other hand, keeping broccoli raw protects its vitamin C content and leaves available sulforaphane, a cancer fighting compound that is made inaccessible to our bodies through the cooking process. For this reason, I’d suggest that anyone with thyroid issues try steaming all broccoli and other crucifers lightly before consumption (talk to your health care provider if you have more questions, of course), and that everyone else consume broccoli regularly in both raw and cooked form, so as to always enjoy the full spectrum of its health offerings!

OK: I have errands and studying and a dinner date to get to. Tomorrow: wedding weekend adventures!

xo

Yesterday, I spent 5 hours on the same 23 electrochemistry problems for my online homework. One of the problems took me more than an hour and a half, and by the time I gave up on it—having entered no less than 24 incorrect answers—I was literally weeping in sheer frustration.

Ah, student life.

As it turns out, the problem that felled me was in fact faulty in the online homework system, which is why no combination amount of fiddling with signs, sig figs, orders of operation, or logic could possibly help me get it right. But it was traumatizing nonetheless, and not very different from many of my afternoons as a post-bacc student.

To make myself feel better, I committed to putting my books down, taking a head-clearing walk, and then making a good meal. Because, even though I can’t always fix or understand the mistakes I make when I’m doing chem, calc, or stats, I can always roll with the punches as I cook. If I add too much salt or fat, I cut the recipe with more volume. If I under-season, I adjust. If my texture’s too loose, I can add starch or flax to thicken; if it’s pasty, I can add some creamy coconut milk or some broth or water. If flatbread falls apart, I call it crackers. There are few kitchen emergencies I can’t deal with creatively: I wish it worked that way when it comes to redox reactions.

This dish may be suffering from a case of cultural schizophrenia: it’s inspiration is the Indian dish aloo gobi, which is one of my favorites: a mix of cauliflower, potato, green peas, curry, and (usually) some tomato. Since I had quite a few wax potatoes handy, as well as some chana dal and green beans, I decided to make a spin on aloo gobi by using chopped green beans in place of peas, adding the dal, and topping it all off with a rich spice mix. Since I also had exactly two whole wheat wraps in the fridge, I decided to wrap the gobi up, burrito style. So this is sort of an Indian/Mexican marriage. I suppose much international cuisine is really fusion food at heart!

These wraps sound like they take a while, but they’re actually quite easy to make, and absolutely delicious. Topped off with some mango chutney, they’re a perfectly satisfying, sweet savory combo.

Aloo Gobi Wraps (vegan, soy free)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

3 large red potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsps curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups water
1/2 cup chana dal (baby split chickpeas)
1 small head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup chopped green beans
1 1/2 tsps cumin
1/8 tsp ground clove
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp spicy curry paste (optional, but great if you have it)
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/4 cup light coconut milk

2-4 large whole wheat wraps
Vegan mango chutney

1) Heat oil in a medium sized pot till hot. Add potatoes and onions, and sautee till onions are transluscent (about 10 min).

2) Add the salt, curry, garlic, and water, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the dal. Lower water to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until most liquid has absorbed and the dal are cooked tender.

3) Add the chopped cauliflower and beans, along with the cumin, clove, tomato paste, and curry paste. Cover pot and cook down until the cauliflower is very tender (you may need to add a bit of water periodically to keep things tender: I added about 1/3 cup). It should take about 10 minutes.

4) When cauliflower is cooked and the mixture is nice and thick, add 1/4 cup coconut milk. Cook, lid off, till it thickens up again (about 5-10 min).

5) Scoop mixture into whole wheat wraps, and top with a nice dollop of chutney (if desired). Wrap, slice, and serve with a big green salad!

This dish was everything I needed it to be: it was fragrant. It was hearty and filling. It was fun to make, fun to eat, and it brought me back to the kitchen, which is the place I feel most confident, even when I’m not so confident about other things, like my agility with oxidation states. And after that meal, I felt ready to attack the unknown again. If you like fragrant and filling food, give these wraps a try: they’re delicious, and nutrient dense to boot.

Where do you feel most confident? Does cooking help you to reconnect with a sense of self? What dishes bring you back to earth when you’re melting down?

Great conversation, by the way, yesterday, with regard to ED histories and having trouble eating food that isn’t to your liking. Check out the comments if you haven’t already!

xo

Hey y’all!

I arrived safe and sound in Crescent City, and in spite of a brutal wake up call and and a bumpy journey, it feels so, so good to be here. New Orleans is a city I love, and on top of that, it’s the city that Chloe calls home, so my trips here are always highly anticipated. This time around, I’ll also be seeing a few good friends, exploring a new restaurant, and spending a little bit of time in the kitchen, too.

My first stop the Big Easy was Whole Foods Metairie, where I found a wall of delicious pressed juices:

Amazing! I picked up a green lemonade, which was just as spicy and lemony as I like it. Along with that, I picked up two large bags of fresh veggies (and yes, I will probably finish those in four days), some oat bran, some frozen fruit for smoothies, some nooch, some beans, and some almond milk. In my bag are stored some of my lemon kissed cashew hemp bars, some Vega bars, some of the Justin’s almond butter packs, some chia seeds, and some Vega protein. These, along with whatever fresh veggies I can get, are travel staples for this semi-raw vegan.

A few hours of work and a long nap later, I woke up to Chloe’s arrival home. With the exception of a rushed weekend upstate in September, we haven’t spent any time together since our trip to San Francisco at the end of this past summer:

Words don’t begin to express how badly I miss having her nearby, so every trip to NOLA feels like a little homecoming for me. One hour of snuggling and catching up quickly turned into two.

As you may have noticed from the link above, Chloe has started her own food blog: Gourmet and Gourmand. Exciting! One of the nicest things about my friendship with Chloe is not only our closeness, or our history, but also the fact that we share a huge, lifelong obsession with all things culinary. We talk about food, share food, taste food together, and the rhythms of our lives often revolve around shopping, prepping, and cooking for ourselves and our loved ones. We wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve got very different tastes and views about food—you’ll be able to see that as you explore Chloe’s blog, and I warn my vegan friends that it features non-vegan foods—but we are united in our passion for it. In fact, Chloe’s now working for a catering company, and I hope I’ll have a chance to see her in action this week.

For Chloe and I to actually cook together is a rare treat these days, so I was excited to make a simple dinner at her house. I knew what the centerpiece would be: raw “mashed potatoes,” made with cauliflower. Many of you have seen and loved my cooked version of cauliflower mash, but I thought I’d remind you all that my favorite version is actually the raw one. I made this over a year ago, on my last visit to NOLA, because Chloe’s husband, Knud, loves all things cauliflower. He’s a bit of a meat and potatoes guy, so Chloe and I were both pretty nervous that he wouldn’t like the dish. Much to our surprise, he loved it. He loved it more than we did! And he’s been talking about it ever since. For that reason, it was at the top of my to do list upon arrival.

Mashed cauliflower in the raw works a lot like cashew cheese with cauliflower mixed in. It’s light, creamy, and absolutely delicious, and it’s a wonderful way to get even mainstream eaters to appreciate raw crucifers. It’s rich in protein, Vitamins C, K, Folate, and cancer-fighting antioxidants, and it’s 100% raw vegan. And if that’s not enough, it’s also fast and easy to make. Here’s how:

Raw Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower (vegan, raw, gluten free, can be soy free)

Serves 4

1 heaping cup cashews
Sea salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 lb (about 2/3 head) raw cauliflower, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp soy, chickpea or buckwheat miso (optional)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

1) Place cashews, salt, and pepper in a food processor and grind till powdery:

2) Place cauliflower, lemon, miso, and nooch in the bowl and blend, adding some water in a thin stream if you need to in order to facilitate blending.

Stop frequently to scrape the bowl, and add 1 tbsp olive oil for a creamy texture, also by drizzling it in slowly (this isn’t at all necessary, but will give it creaminess).

3) When mixture is very smooth and a good consistency, stop blending. It should be rich tasting but light and fluffy, just like this:

It should taste heavenly:

And the person who made it should wear a proud happy smile, both before and after eating:

Don’t you love how I clean up for you guys? Kidding. That was me after a very long and very sweaty run.

This dish was enjoyed over a cozy, quiet meal, and once again, Knud was impressed. Hooray for raw cauliflower! And if you prefer the cooked stuff, you can still give my roasted cauliflower and parsnip soup a try:

And now, couch time with my Chloe beckons. Night!

xo

Hey guys! Glad you liked M’s smoothie, and thanks for the nice remarks about my photos. When they do happen to look good, it’s a happy accident; I’m a food photography novice. Maybe one day I’ll fix that.

News

Before I get down to today’s recipe, I wanted to share the tremendously exciting news that I’m one of seven women featured in Kathy’s incredible Veggie Girl Power Series.

Each year, Kathy interviews seven notable vegan or vegetarian women about their lives, their work, and their roads to plant-based lifestyles. I was a rapt reader of last year’s series, which included interviews with some of my culinary idols, including Sarma Melngailis, Chloe Jo Berman, and my girl Kristen of Kristen’s Raw. So it came as a shock—albeit it a welcome one!—that Kathy wanted me to be one of this year’s Veggie Power Girls. To be in the company of Susan from Fat Free Vegan, Chef Chloe Coscarelli, and my friend Ani Phyo is such an honor!

In the interview, Kathy describes me as “anything but ‘quiet’” and as someone who “who speaks her mind without hesitation.” Kathy, dear, I think this is your very gentle way of saying that I’m loud and opinionated. And I love it

I’m the first featured Veggie Power Girl this year, and my interview is up today. In it, I answer such burning questions as:

• What’s the first thing you eat each day?
• Who are some of the people who have inspired you?
• How do you respond to attacks or negative criticism?

To read my answers, please check out the interview here, and don’t forget to check back for the other interviews in the series!

Food

You may have noticed that mashed cauliflower is a somewhat trendy recipe these days. It’s meant to be a substitute for mashed potatoes, and it’s ostensibly more healthy because it’s lower cal, lower in carbs, and so on. Of course, there’s no denying that cauliflower is less caloric than white potatoes, but any recipe that sells itself as “low-carb” tends to set off alarm bells with me—I spend a lot of time reassuring people that carbs aren’t the enemy! It’s also hard to marvel at the novelty of cauliflower mash because we raw food lovers have been using cauliflower as a potato replacement for ages now. Remember my famous raw “steak and potatoes”? In that recipe, cauliflower and cashews blend together to mimic mashed potatoes (except they end up tasting way better).

I’ve always been curious about cooked mashed cauliflower: how is it different from the raw version? Better? Worse? When I saw that M had an extra head of cauliflower at home this past weekend, I decided I’d give the cooked recipe a whirl. I have to say, it turned out nicely; so nicely that I made it again for dinner at home tonight, tweaking it to perfection. I still like my raw mashed potatoes more than any other variation, this one included. But it’s a tight race: this recipe is comforting, homey, and very delicious. And yes: if for some crazy reason you’re terrified of carbs, this is probably a recipe for you.

Really, though, I’d prefer it if you made nice with carbs. They’re your friends. I promise.

Mashed Cauliflower (serves 2-3)

Water
Salt

1 small or medium head of cauliflower, washed, trimmed, and chopped roughly
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp almond or rice milk (soy creamer if you want this super decadent)
2 tbsp Earth Balance
Dash black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil (enough to cook all of the cauliflower) with a dash of salt. When the water boils, you can either boil or steam the cauliflower till it’s tender.

Drain it, and transfer it to a food processor.

2) Pulse until the cauliflower is broken down in the processor.

Add the garlic, salt, earth balance, and, with the motor now running, add your two tablespoons of almond milk.

If the mix isn’t blending, try scraping the bowl and starting again a few times. If it’s still not blending, add a touch more almond milk. In the end, you want it to be this light and smooth:

3) Add a dash of pepper and the thyme, and pulse till incorporated.

Serve hot!

It’s a great side dish, or even a good snack, but tonight I wanted mine to take center stage. I served it with some raw, marinated portobellos (check out this post for my favorite raw mushroom marinade) and some raw kale salad. It was delicious and comforting:

This past Saturday night, I had served the mash with Susan’s infamous and appropriately seasonal green bean casserole. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I substituted vegan-friendly wine for the sherry. More significantly, I didn’t used the French fried onions. Instead, I caramelized a nice big batch of them. Note to onion haters like me: caramelizing is the best way to make onions user-friendly! They get so sweet and mellow. To do it, simply chop about four onions and begin sautéing them on high heat with about 1-2 tbsp of coconut oil:

After about ten minutes, when they’re soft and starting to turn translucent and brown, add about a half teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of brown sugar. Keep sautéing over medium heat for about thirty minutes, watching closely as they get more and more brown:

When these were totally caramel colored and turning mushy, I substituted them for the can of fried onions in Susan’s recipe, and baked according to directions. The casserole, along with my mashed cauliflower and some of M’s pressure cooker wild rice, made for a really special dinner:

I hope this post has been full of all sorts of inspiration: inspiration in the form of Veggie Girl Power, and inspiration in the kitchen. With plenty of cauliflower still left in farmers’ markets (mine, anyway), this is a great time to get mashing!

Till tomorrow,

xo

One of the very first vegan dinners I prepared for myself without the help of a cookbook–and one of the meals I’ve enjoyed most consistently since–was stuffed cabbage. I’d cook bulgur wheat with currants, celery, carrots, cinnamon, and cumin, and I’d stuff it into steamed cabbage leaves. It was always a wonderful meal, and it still is! It’s a standby whenever I have guests over. Lately, I’ve been contemplating how to raw-ify it, or create a sister dish that shares the Middle Eastern spices and general effect, but demands no cooking time. And from that, my Middle Eastern chard rolls were born.

This is one of my favorite raw dinners to date. In place of the bulgur, I use cauliflowers and pine nuts to make a raw “rice,” and it alone is worthy of a blog post! It’s a delicious dish to serve stuffed into wraps, on top of salads, or simply to eat on its own. In this dish, I stuffed the rice into Swiss chard leaves and topped them with my raw marinara sauce. It’s a hearty, comforting, and delicious raw meal–a perfect antidote to the winter doldrums.

Swiss Chard Leaves Stuffed with Middle Eastern Rice (yields 8-12 wraps)

For the “Rice”

4 cups cauliflower
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp agave, or a sprinkling of stevia
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins or currants

Process all ingredients but the raisings in a food processor fitted with an S blade, till it’s finely diced and resembles rice, like so:

Transfer rice to a bowl, add the raisins, and mix well:

For the Wraps:

8-12 Swiss chard leaves, lightly steamed if desired.

For the Marinara:

1 very large red or yellow bell pepper, deseeded
¾ cup cherry or roma tomatoes
¼ cup sundried tomatoes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
Generous sprinkle dried thyme
Generous sprinkle dried oregano
¼ cup basil
Stevia to taste

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender till thick and smooth.

To assemble the wraps, cut each chard leaf in half and remove the thickest part of the stem. Place 2-3 tbsp rice mixture about one inch from the bottom of the leaf, like so:

Roll the wrap up, and place it on a serving platter with the seam side down. After you’ve plated your wraps, dress them with a few tablespoons of the raw marinara sauce. Dig in!

I served these delicious wraps with some steamed broccoli and beets and a bit of leftover salad from lunchtime:

It was a perfect meal.

The next day, I scooped about a half cup of the “rice” over my lunchtime salad:

It was, again, perfect.

This is the kind of meal I love: creative, but not time intensive; filling, but not dense; savory, but a little bit sweet. It’s a little more innovative than my usual rotation of salads, soups, and grains, but it’s easy to prepare and doesn’t demand extra fancy kitchen equipment. I hope you all give the recipe a try soon, and that you enjoy it as much as I did.

And of course, I hope that your weeks are off to a good start. It’s raining and gloomy here in NYC, but at least it’s not as frigid as it has been recently. Happy Tuesday!

xo

Boo!

Happy post-Halloween. I just finished folding up my slutty schoolgirl costume and putting it away for next year. Score!

Yeeeah. Kidding, people. It’s been a while since this girl “dressed up” for October 31st. I did stop by a party last night, but I was dressed up in the very creative guise of a book editor and nutritionist living in New York City. Translation: jeans, flats, and a top. End of story.

In any case, I did take advantage of the weekend to whip up some tasty food. Remember how I promised you an abundance of soups in the week to come? True to my word, I decided to whip up one of my very favorites: raw cauliflower soup.

The last time I shared a raw cauliflower recipe, a bunch of you expressed some trepidation about eating this cruciferous gem in the raw. I assure you, friends, that there’s no reason to be afraid. With its super mild taste and pleasantly crunchy texture, raw cauliflower is a highly palatable treat! The trick is, of course, to prepare it in pleasing ways. Nothing could be more pleasing than this rich and creamy soup, which elevates cauliflower and autumn spices to a new level of perfection. It’s very reminiscent of regular cream of cauliflower soup, but uses healthy pine nuts in place of dairy.

Raw Cream of Cauliflower Soup (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

½ head (4 heaping cups) chopped cauliflower
½ cup pine nuts
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large dates, soaked and pitted
1 tbsp mellow white miso
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup water
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp celery seed
1/8 cup chopped onion or ¼ tsp onion powder (optional)
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp pepper (to taste)

Procedure:

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor till well combined. Sprinkle with a touch of nutmeg, and enjoy!

Yesterday, I had a kitchen tutorial with one of my local clients. The topic? How to open a young coconut. After a pleasant hour of coconut hacking and food chatter with my client—and faced with the prospect of a few long hours of work—I returned my apartment inspired to whip up a tasty, sweet, coconut-based treat. Fortunately, I had some leftover butternut squash cubes in the fridge that were begging to be used up, and in no time at all, my spooky pumpkin smoothie—a sweet treat in honor of Halloween—was born.

I call this a pumpkin smoothie because I think pumpkin would make it perfect. But any winter squash will do (the butternut was great), and so would yams.

For those of you who have regular blenders, I recommend steaming the pumpkin lightly before you blend. Or, if you’ve got some organic canned pumpkin or squash on hand, feel free to substitute 1/3 cup of it for the cubes!

Gena’s Spooky Pumpkin Smoothie (serves 2)

Ingredients:

Meat of one young coconut
1 cup coconut water
1/3 cup pumpkin, cut into small cubes (raw will work in a VitaMix; steamed in a normal blender; use canned if you’ve got it!)
4 large dates, pitted and soaked for ten minutes or so (you can use stevia, too)
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash (each) nutmeg and cloves

Procedure:

Blend all ingredients on high till the mix is super thick and smooth. You may need to add a touch more water to the mix. It should be on the sweet side, but if it’s not, feel free to add a touch of agave. Far more satisfying than mini-Butterfinger bars, or whatever the kids are eating these days!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the extra hour of sleep. I’d like to take a moment to give all of the amazing folks in the NYC marathon a big shout out – especially the brave and unbeatable Melissa, who’s running right now! Additional props to Katherine, who completed a marathon of her own last week.

And finally?

LET’S GO YANKEES!!!!! (Sorry, Phillie readers )

xo