Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Raw Vegan “Tuna” Salad; Snapping Out of a Funk

I was thinking about ways to begin this post, and the expression “it’s just one of those days” sprung to mind. It’s Monday, and in spite of what was a rather quiet weekend for me, I feel tired. I’m sure that living in a sauna (and by that I mean New York City in mid-July) isn’t helping. I’m over spending my Sundays as a refugee at Barnes & Noble to avoid running up my ConEd bill as I work, but I know the heat’s not likely to break for another two months. I missed seeing my friends early this summer, yet now that my schedule is (finally) easing up, I feel harried trying to make time for everything I couldn’t do in June. (If there is anything sillier or more self-indulgent than being stressed over making time for summer activities with good friends, please let me know.) On top of these things, today wasn’t my most delightful day at the office.

In the midst of my self-pity, fortunately, I read Sophia’s latest post. It too began with irritation, but it ended with the conclusion that her problems are, in the grand scheme of things, easily surpassed, along with a remembrance of her blessings. I’d do well to remember the same. A funk is no fun, but it’s only a funk. And in my experience, there are numerous things we can do to slip out of our funks, just as easily as we slipped in. For me, those things will include, but not be limited to:

1) Finishing the latest Tana French novel. I don’t get to read for pleasure often. When I do, I seek out either the heavily cerebral, or the intensely entertaining. Tana French’s novels qualify more as the latter, but she’s no slouch; the writing is tight and brilliantly plotted, and it’s a joy to read.
2) Cooking the yellow beets I found at the farmer’s market yesterday when I get home. I love yellow beets! Good taste, without scarlet colored palms.
3) Thanking my lucky starts for my air conditioning. My ConEd bill might be high, but my apartment is cool.
4) Reminding myself that having friends to see and things to do is what makes my life so blessed. I may fantasize about escaping to a log cabin in Maine when the weather gets like this, but I’d be very lonely. And I’d miss Lincoln Center a lot.
5) Planning my Labor Day trip to San Francisco! Hooray for Chloe, who slyly persuaded me to meet her and her husband there! (OK, she wasn’t very sly. She didn’t have to be. She basically told me she was going, and I caved.)

These are all very good things. In fact, just thinking about them has made the funk lift a bit. A few hours from now, I expect it to be long gone.

Something else than makes me feel less funky? Coming up with tasty raw vegan renditions of popular non-vegan dishes. For example, tuna salad.

I cannot believe it’s taken me so long to share a tuna salad recipe with you! What’s wrong with me? It’s a perenially popular dish, and one that clients of mine frequently beg me to recreate. I’m not the first raw foods lover to come up with a replica–there are tons of them out there, and they all resemble each other–but I do think I’ve perfected my home version, which is made with sunflower seeds. It’s tasty, tart, and reminiscent of the original, but not fishy enough to send my fellow vegans away in a fit of squeamishness. It’s great for lunching or snacking, and like all nut pates, it goes nicely in collard wraps as well as salads. Enjoy!

Raw, Vegan Tuna Salad (serves 4-6)

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked at least 2 hours)
2 pickles, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 tbsp pickle juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
7 g dulse, shredded (or 2 tsps dulse flakes/granules)
1 tsp mellow white miso

Place sunflower seeds in a food processor fitted with the S blade and pulse till they’re well combined but not totally smooth. Add remaining ingredients and pulse again, till everything is broken down and uniform. Serve!

I like to eat my mock tuna salad in collard or romaine wraps, but I especially enjoy it as a dip:

It’s also lovely served up next to a salad. Note that the carrots are optional: in this photo I’d made the dish without them because I didn’t have any on hand, and it was still divine:

This is a perfect treat for non-vegan friends who are joining you for lunch. It recalls a known dish, but it also shows what a little vegan creativity can do! For the many of you who I know will ask, it should keep for about 2-3 days. But I recommend using your kitchen intuition about it.

Before I go, I was also recently asked to review my new salad spinner, the Zyliss Easy Spin. My verdict? It’s OK. I think my old spinner, which had a knob you pressed up and down on, rather than a cord you pulled, was actually much more powerful. But this was cheap(er than others), and it’s getting the job done:

As long as my kale is dry, I’m pleased.

Thanks for bearing with my slightly cranky monologue,. Your turn to vent: how did your Mondays go, and what little things tend to snap you out of a funk quickly?

xo

Angelica Inspired Spread

Happy Easter!

I can’t believe it’s Sunday already; this weekend has flown by. The good news is that it’s been full of nice activities, including, but not limited to:

• A visit from my bestie, who’s in the midst of planning her June wedding (!!)
• Catching up on the approximately 19379347 submissions I’ve got to read for work
• A bloggie meet up on Friday
• Church this morning, and Easter festivities with said bestie this afternoon (if gossiping and movie watching count as Easter festivity — does it?)
• A tiny bit of cooking this afternoon

Good times! Let’s rewind to Friday, when I got to hang out with a blogger you all know and love: Ms. Kath. Kath and I have been friends for some time; her no-BS, supportive-yet-tough-love emails helped me get through quitting nearly two (!!!) years ago, and we’ve since hung out in New Orleans, at the Healthy Living Summit, and in NYC. Kath was in town this weekend spontaneously to work with some of the folks at Open Sky. Little did she know that Open Sky happens to be one floor above me in my office building! What an unbelievably small world! It was fun having a visiting friend so close all day; we felt like de facto coworkers.

And lucky me, Kath brought me a mid-afternoon snack on Friday, just as my stomach was rumbling for a little something: Great Harvest bread and Naturally Nutty Cinnamon Vanilla Sunbutter.

Um, holy yum! This was scrumptious! The bread was soft and hearty without feeling stiff or heavy. I loved the little pumpkin seeds atop it. And as for the Sunbutter, well, it was love at first bite. I love anything with cinnamon OR vanilla, and I love the combo even more. Two thumbs waaaay up!

Later that evening, Kath and I took a little walk through the Flatiron district (thanks to Kath for being our photojournalist for the evening — mama has mad camera skills!):

And then grabbed dinner at one of my absolute fave NYC spots: Angelica Kitchen.

Alas, there was a bit of a wait. Knowing that Angelica is BYOB, though, we thought it would be fun to hop over to nearby Liquiteria for some juice with which to make mocktails.

We settled on Liquiteria’s famous grasshopper, a pineapple, mint, wheatgrass concoction that’s always a winner:

Me with the booty:

We picked up some fizz, and returned to Angelica to claim a table. We were ravenous!

To say I worship at the Angelica altar is really no exaggeration. With its emphasis on wholesome, organic cuisine, it’s cozy setting, it’s friendly wait staff, it’s extensive menu (which features raw AND cooked options — just the way I like it!), not to mention it’s famous vegan cornbread, Angelica is high on my list of favorite NYC dining spots — even, dare I say it, a contender for #1 ranking! My fave dishes include the thai me up (a raw carrot and daikon dish), the curried cashew spread, the roast vegetable salad, the hearty combo bowls (wherein you can pair a grain, veggies, sea veggies, and beans in any combination you like), and the pantry plates (wherein you can likewise pair up cold appetizers, spreads, and salads). Angelica’s millet, cooked in carrot juice, is notoriously incredible, so I usually opt for a combo bowl with millet as the base. In celebration of spring weather, though, I was more in the mood for a cool plate of raw and cooked foods.

Before I get to the chow, though, let me show you our mocktails! One part grasshopper, one part fizz, these were stellar:

Can you tell I’m a happy camper?

Kath and I began with Angelica’s signature walnut and lentil pate, served with veggies:

…which was sweet, tangy, and salty (in a good way) all at once.

I then moved onto a pantry plate with hummus, simple salad, roast caulifower, and baked tempeh. I don’t tend to eat tempeh too often, but it is my favorite soy dish, and I love the way Angelica prepares it, with a simple marinade. The goods:

Yum!

Later that evening, Kath and I met up with Maggie, Shane, and my homie, Mel, for cocktails and mineral water at Flatiron Lounge. And as we split a cab uptown, I introduced Kath to the incomparable joys of Bonobos coconut chai. She swooned, I swooned. The end.

Fast forward two days later, and I was still dreaming of Angelica’s wonderful cuisine–especially that walnut and lentil pate. Now, I’ve flipped through the Angelica cookbook before, and noticed that the pate is all cooked: the lentils are cooked, and the walnuts roasted. I’m cool with that, but I did think it would be fun to raw-ify the recipe a bit, using raw walnuts instead of roasted ones (added health benefit: roasting nuts can bring out rancidity, so while it’s 100% cool to enjoy them this way once in a while, you may want to opt to eat them raw when you can).

I also happen to know that the original pate calls for quite a bit of sauteed onion and garlic. Kudos to Angelica; neither Kath nor I were offended by the taste, and neither of us are garlic fans — let alone onion fans!! To bring that bit of onion to my own version, I simply used a touch of onion powder; keep in mind that you certainly could add some fresh onion to it if you like.

Could you make this all raw by using sprouted lentils? You sure could. I have a serious problem with sprouted legumes–the starchy, hard texture just kills me–but for those of you who dig them, go for it.

Here’s the recipe:

Gena’s Walnut and Lentil Pate (yields 1 3/4 cups)

1 cup raw walnuts
1 1/2 cups cooked lentils
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp tamari or nama shoyu
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp tarragon, dried
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 tsp parsley, dried
1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder (or a bit of fresh onion, chopped, if you like)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Place walnuts in a food processor and process till they’re ground finely. Add all remaining ingredients except for oil and process till smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times, and you may also need to add a little water to thin it. After the mix is well combined, add the olive oil in a thin stream with the motor running, reserving just a drizzle to top the spread with.

Serve this with crudites, pita chips, or in raw collard wraps for a healthy and exceptionally protein-packed treat!

My version:

Angelica’s version:

So I didn’t have a fancy tofu dill sauce to top it with, and it’s not quite as pretty, but I think it turned out alright. And it sure tasted delicious!

A few of you have asked me lately if I always note when a dish is miscombined. I don’t — I think the effect of that is to lessen a good meal, and you all know by now that I think combining should be a selective process — but I will start tagging well combined dishes. This pate isn’t well combined by more complex standards, but from a simplified standpoint, it’s fine: beans are part protein, and nuts are also proteins.

This is by far one of my favorite dips so far, and I hope you all get a chance to enjoy it soon. I love using restaurant food for kitchen inspiration, and when the restaurant in question specializes, as Angelica does, in precisely the kind of food I love to make, inspiration comes easily.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and will be back soon.

xo

How Far is Far Enough? Knowing What Diet is Sufficiently Healthy For You

Hey all!

Glad that you liked my curry dish as much as I did. I got a particularly thought-provoking reader question last night, which I wanted to share with you all:

Hi Gena,

I just recently found your blog, but I’ve really been enjoying looking through your recipes and tips. I made your green juice this weekend and it was great!

I had a quick question though–as someone who’s experimenting with the idea of going vegan (going raw sounds too extreme for me right now–baby steps), I’m interested in the possible health benefits. I know that many people mention that going vegan helps with their energy, digestion, even more specific things like bags under their eyes, but do those benefits usually only happen when the person has a unique allergy to milk, dairy products in general, or meat?

I’m not sure if I’m posing this question very clearly, but basically I’m wondering if being a highly raw vegan helps you be healthier because you have specific intolerances/allergies to specific foods, or if you believe that all people have these intolerances, and we just may not realize them until we start eating better and see the benefits.

Thanks so much for your time! I appreciate it.

This is a terrific question! If I understand it correctly, what you’re asking is this: we all hear about the benefits of a vegan diet. But how mandatory is veganism to experiencing good health? In other words, even if we know that being vegan might make us feel wonderful, is it possible to feel wonderful without veganism?

My answer? Yes, it is. It is possible to eat well and feel great without adopting a vegan lifestyle–though I also believe that veganism can help you to take basic well being even further. Let me ’splain:

There are various levels of feeling good, right? With few exceptions, people who eat nothing but processed foods that are heavy in meat and dairy, who do drugs, who never sleep and never exercise, who drink to excess, and who have no emotional stability in their lives are going to feel pretty terrible. Sure, we all hear about Grandpa so-and-so, who ate bacon and smoked Benson and Hedges and drank vats of bourbon and lived to be one hundred. But guess what? Grandpa Jim Beam is the exception, not the rule: for the most part, people who live hard live shorter lives, and experience impaired health while they do.

Each time you improve upon one of the habits listed above — from lack of exercise to smoking to processed food — you’ll see your health improve exponentially. We know this. So the question becomes, where do we stop? How far do we have to take clean habits in order to feel “our best”?

It’s tough to say. “Our best”  is subjectively defined. What’s my definition? A life that’s nourishing and fun, yet healthy and conscious; a life without the constant presence of fatigue and chronic health complaints; a life that’s active and eco-friendly: that’s where I’d begin. So in my world, answering the question of “what will make me feel my best?” means figuring out how a person can meet those criteria.

It’s my belief that eating a diet that’s close to nature — i.e., comprised of foods that haven’t been altered and manipulated beyond recognition — is the first step towards optimal well being. I also think that we need to be mindful of eating a combination of raw and cooked foods. Most people ignore raw foods in their diet, and eat far less than they should. So we should all be mindful of upping our consumption. Finally, I believe that minimizing the use of animal products will help all people to feel their best. This doesn’t have to mean elimination: some people can eat grass fed, organic meat on occasion, while others may choose to eat dairy and eggs on occasion and still feel well. I encourage anyone who’s eating animal products to seek out the ones that have been as humanely produced as possible. Do I feel that animal products contribute to my feeling my best? No, and of course there are ethical dimensions of my lifestyle that are unrelated to health per se. But I understand that, for those who don’t feel compelled toward veganism, a middle ground exists where animal products (consumed in small amounts and with discernment) can co-exist with good health.

So the short answer to your question, is this: no, going 100% vegan is not the only way to feel your very best. It’s one really, really great way. Eating a clean, whole foods diet with some raw foods is the essential goal.

That said, it’s important for me to say this: most people, even those who are healthy, could probably feel a whole lot better than they do. Before I eliminated dairy from my diet, for example, I had accepted chronic IBS and seasonal allergies as a “norm.” Didn’t most people I know get upset stomachs frequently, and don’t most people have allergies every spring? Before I went vegan, I accepted that fatigue every morning was the way of the world. Isn’t everyone sleepy till coffee time? I assumed that it was normal to feel sluggish in the late afternoon, to have morning breath, and to break out now and then.

It didn’t have to me my norm. Becoming vegan–even transitioning toward being vegan–made all of the conditions above disappear. Poof. Sure, I did lots of other great things to facilitate this process aside from veganism. I quit smoking, for example, and reduced my consumption of packaged food, so it wasn’t purely veganism that made the difference. But I do know that it made a huge difference, and not because I had any food allergies or intolerances. And it reminded me that we’re all socially conditioned to accept a lot of conditions–fatigue, acne, insomnia, allergies–as part of normative human experience, when in fact they’re not. There are some people who will be predisposed to allergies or acne no matter what, and it isn’t their fault: some conditions are inherited. But many of us–I’d say most of us–could avoid at least a few of these conditions simply by making better food choices.

So if you’re not sure of “how far” to go, I’d say this: begin with a few upgrades, and see how you feel. You may feel 100%, and decide that you’ve found a place that you’re comfortable with. You may also suspect that you can feel even better, in which case I’d challenge you to continue exploring what does and doesn’t affect your health.

On the flip side, it’s important not to imagine yourself as constantly ascending a ladder toward dietary “perfection” or “cleanliness.” Understand that there’s a point at which you can still have some freedom and inclusion, and yet feel great. Me? I drink coffee more than I’d like to admit,  don’t consciously avoid gluten, eat tempeh and edamame on occasion, and vary my consumption of raw foods. There are some who would remind me that, if I were to never touch coffee, and eat 95-100% raw all the time, and eliminate all common vegan allergens (gluten, wheat, soy, nightshades, corn), I’d achieve even more optimal health. OK, this might be true (though I’m fairly certain I don’t suffer from any allergies). But I feel really, really, really wonderful living as I do, and it’s also the way of living that allows me the kind of social and gastronomic freedoms I want.

In the end, finding “optimal health” means finding a place wherein you don’t willfully choose to ignore symptoms of ill health (like constant fatigue or headaches or insomnia), but you also realize that we don’t have to be Jesus in order to feel healthy. It’s tough to negotiate this middle ground, sure, but I believe it’s possible. And each of us knows what our own middle ground is. I wish you so much luck in finding yours!

In other news, I owe you a recipe! A few weeks ago, in sharing my work lunches, I mentioned a yummy pumpkin seed pate I’d made. Here, at long last, is the recipe.

Coconut-Pumpkin Pate (makes about 1 1/2 – 2 cups)

1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds, soaked
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
Dash pepper
1 large stalk celery, grated
1 large carrot, grated

Blend all ingredients but the veggies in a food processor till quite smooth. Add the celery and carrot, and pulse till the mixture is broken down and well incorporated. Scoop into romaine leaves, serve on salad, use as a dip, and enjoy!

Because of the coconut oil, this pate will get pretty hard in the fridge. Just defrost it for a few before you eat it.

This is definitely one of my favorite new pates. Let me know if you guys try and like it!

On that note, back to work. Happy Tuesday.

xo

Garden Pate.

Hey all!

Terrific responses to my post on labels. I’m glad we were able to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I’m here to share a quick, tasty recipe that I whipped up over the weekend. It was inspired by a Nomi Shannon recipe. For those of you who don’t know her work, Nomi Shannon is a raw foods chef, cookbook writer, and educator (she was the winner of last year’s Best of Raw winner in the vegan educator category). Her recipes are simple, clean, easy, and healthy, and they can be found in her excellent cookbook, The Raw Gourmet.

This is a new addition to my cookbook collection, and I couldn’t be enjoying it more! Ms. Shannon, like me, creates recipes don’t require a great deal of planning, soaking, sprouting, or dehydrating. She emphasizes eating a majority of vegetable foods (rather than nuts or desserts), and she creates the tastiest of meals with super-simple flavors and ingredients. I’ve already made such winners as Cabbage Roll-Ups, Tip Top Turnip Salad, Orange Tahini Dressing, Indonesian Yum-Yum Dressing, and Spinach Mousse. This weekend, I decided to put my own spin of her Vegetable Pate (Garden Pate, in my own language). Describing this pate, Shannon says, “Pates are often comprised of a high percentage of nuts. They can be difficult to digest and high in fat, so many people avoid them. This savory and attractive pate contains only one cup of sunflower seeds. It’s density comes from ground flax seeds and dehydrated vegetables which absorb moisture and add flavor.”

Amen! Many nut pate recipes are excessively heavy or dense, and while there is a time and a place for rich food, it’s always nice to have some alternatives. Shannon’s recipe calls for olives and an entire head of cauliflower, neither of which I had on hand. I also chose to omit the scallions and onion (of course!), and to use slightly less vegetable add-ins than the original recipe called for, but I added a cup of green juice pulp (kale, cucumber, celery). My ultimate creation, then, was fairly different from Shannon’s own, but it preserved her original idea and flavorings. Here’s the simple and tasty recipe:

Garden Pate (yields 2 cups, at least)

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked at least 2 hrs and drained
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
2-3 tbsp Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 1/2 tbsp flax oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup vegetable juice pulp
1 small red pepper, cut into small cubes and dehydrated for 2-3 hrs (raw is fine, too)
1/2 zucchini, shredded and dehydrated for 2-3 hrs (raw is fine, too)
1 carrot, shredded and dehydrated for 2-3 hrs (raw is fine, too)
4 tbsp chopped parsley

Blend the sunflower seeds, flax, Bragg’s, flax oil, cumin, curry, and coriander in your food processor, adding watter in a drizzle until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy.

Add the vegetables, parsley, and pulp and give it all a few good pulpses, till the veggies are incorporated but not blended. Stop, transfer the mix to a bowl, and then mix in the parsley with your hands.

The result? Fresh, tasty, herb-y goodness:

This makes a terrific salad topper, wrap-stuffer, or, as pictured here, dip for crudites.

Hope you all give this one a try, and check out more of Nomi Shannon’s work (there are some free recipes up on her website!).

In the meantime, don’t forget that the free teleclass for those who are still considering joining the Choosing Raw + Spark! Wellness January 2010 Cleanse is tomorrow night at 8 p.m. EST! Whether you’ve already signed up and have questions about the cleanse, or you’re considering signing up but want to clear up some questions first, please join us!

To call in, dial +1 (712) 432-0111. When prompted, enter your “Participant Access Code” 403732, followed by the # key. And you’re in. I look forward to hearing from you all!

xo

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