Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Sea “Spaghetti” with Creamy Cashew Dill Sauce

Thank you to everyone who commented on Thursday night’s emotional eating post. It was one of my all time favorite conversations here on the blog, and I hope we’ll find ways to deepen and expand it soon.

Ages ago–like, months and months and months–the very gracious Joanna Steven over at Sirova foods offered to send me some of their sea spaghetti to review on the blog. Joanna, I am SO sorry that it’s taken me so long to deliver my review! Thanks for your patience.

As you can see from the information page, sea spaghetti is ridiculously nutrient rich. It may be the most nutrient dense sea veggie I’ve come into contact with (and this is saying a lot, given that most sea vegetables are exceptionally high in vitamins and minerals). A five gram serving contains 500% of your daily recommended vitamin C, half of your recommended potassium, almost 40% of your daily magnesium, and 30% of your daily calcium. It also gives you 70% of your daily recommended iodine–which, as I’ve noted before, isn’t a micronutrient that most people pay attention to in their diets.

The sea spaghetti, like all sea vegetables, is packaged in a dry form, and one rinses and soaks it for at least fifteen minutes before simmering it. If you wish to eat it raw (which I did), I recommend at least an hour of soak time. After soaking and draining, a double serving (twice the recommended serving size) had plumped up to this:

I was very excited to try the “noodles.” I’d considered numerous sauces and dressings (the Sirova website even offers some suggestions), but finally I settled on the idea of a creamy dill sauce. Dill is one of my favorite herbs–I love how it evokes spring, and it also reminds me of many of the Greek dishes I grew up with–and I’ve hoped to make a creamy pasta sauce with it for a while. My recipe was thus:

Cashew Dill Sauce (yields between 1 and 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup cashews, soaked one hour or more and drained
2 tbsp lemon
1/4 cup dill
1/3-1/2 cup cold water
1/2 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender till very smooth. NB: I recommend starting with 1/4 cup water, and adding more until you reach a consistency you like. 1/2 cup worked for me, but cashews absorb soaking water with some variability, and sometimes when I use soaked nuts and water both the result is a sauce that’s too thin.

I dressed the sea spaghetti with about 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce, and served it with a big salad of fresh romaine, veggies, EVOO and lemon. It looked and tasted fantastic:

The problem? I was done in two bites. Literally.

Herein lies the rub. The sea spaghetti, in spite of its name, is truly intended as a garnish. I’d already doubled the portion size, and it was still rather tiny. I could certainly have quadrupled the recommended serving, but if I’d done that the sodium count would have started to climb. Sea veggies lose sodium when you soak them, of course, but they’re naturally on the salty side. I’m far from a salt-phobe, but it is summer in NYC, and salty foods don’t sound fun when I’m already parched half the time from the heat. Additionally, I didn’t feel like dumping half or even the whole bag of a specialty ingredient–one I can’t just stock up on at the corner deli–into a single dinner. That didn’t feel very economical to me.

So I finished my little bowl of the very tasty sea spaghetti, returned to my kitchen, and made a bowl of spiralized zucchini and chickpeas. And I deployed some more of my cream sauce on top of that. The result was a dinner far more likely to satisfy this hungry eater:

Served along with my dinner salad and some crackers from Two Moms in the Raw:

It was perfect, and it provided the kind of volume and satiety I need in a meal.

If you’re exploring sea vegetables, then I do recommend the sea spaghetti. It’s terribly healthy, and it’s also tasty. I simply think that the name is misleading: what’s really a garnish is marketed indirectly as a pasta substitute. And while one could certainly use it as such, that would mean using an entire package (or nearly that) at each meal. If I’m going to order a specialty food online and pay for shipping, I tend to prefer it be something voluminous enough to last me quite a few meals. Otherwise, I’ll shop locally. There are a few raw granola brands I like, for instance, that don’t yield more than a few servings. But I buy them once in a while as a special treat, and I’m not dealing with the hassle or cost of shipping.

Bottom line? Look into sea spaghetti pronto if you’re seeking out a sea vegetable that’s mild-tasting, extremely nutrient-dense, and packaged with integrity. But you’d best not think of it as a pasta substitute so much as an add-on to salads, soups, stir fries, or the like.

Oh — and make my cashew dill sauce. It’s really good

Hope you’re staying cool this weekend!

xo

What’s in a Name?

Happy weekend!

Those were some absolutely stellar responses to my post on reconciling veganism with intuitive eating! For those of you who commented early on, go back and check out some of the conversations that emerged in the comments section: really rad stuff.

Yesterday, my sweet friend Angela tweeted me to ask how my name is pronounced — like “Gina” or like “Jenna?” She was making a how-to video on her vegan overnight oats (which you should all watch) and she’d pronounced my name like “Gina.” The back and forth sent off a flurry of tweets from surprised readers; apparantly, most of you have thought of me as a “Gina” all this time! Well, I hate to break it to you, dear readers, but my name is most definitely pronounced like “Jenna.” I know the spelling is misleading–the only other Gena I know who’s pronounced like “Jenna” is Gena Rowlands–but there it is!

For the record, it’s short for Eugenia. Unfortunately. (Thanks, Mom and Dad.)

However you’d like to think of me–as a Gena, a Gina, a Jenna, or even Eugenia–I hope you think of me when you see food like this:

That’s zucchini pasta served over mixed greens with bell pepper, half an avocado, red pepper marinara sauce, and leftover roast kabocha squash. In other words, heaven on a placemat.

I’d forgotten how much I love to mush avocado into my zucchini pasta and marinara sauce–it makes the bowl so much creamier and rich. Yum! I think that signature meals like this are probably easier to remember than my short, yet confusing name, no?

I hope you’re enjoying a great start to the long weekend, friends. This is my last respite before a very busy two months descend, so I’m trying to prepare for the road ahead and get a little R&R in, too. I’ll be back soon–in the meantime, happy Memorial Day weekend!

xo

Hemp-esan, and New Uses for Old Dressings

Hey guys,

GREAT feedback on yesterday’s post! It was so interesting to hear how you all negotiate the zone between eating consciously, but without dogma and fear. Thanks for chiming in!

It’s no great secret that parmigiano-reggiano — or Parmesan, as we like to call it here in the US of A — is one of the world’s most beloved cheeses. No surprise there: it’s salty and unmistakably flavorful, and a little goes a long way. So what do those of us who aren’t into the fromage do to replicate some of that effect? Well, we have a few options. There’s Parma, a product I love: vegan, raw, and out-of-control tasty, it’s sure to add flavor to your dishes. There’s Rawmesan, which I haven’t tried, but looks pretty good, too. There’s Galaxy’s vegan Parmesan, which isn’t raw, but if your body tolerates soy nicely, is a tasty alternative (and great for those who are used to a more traditional Parmesan texture). And for those of us who like to keep things really simple, there’s always a healthy sprinkle of nooch.

Last night, as I threw together some raw pasta leftovers, I noticed that I had only a few tablespoons of nooch left in my pantry. I also noted that I was down to a few tablespoons of hemp nuts. I’d wanted to experiment with a light, yet protein and nutrient rich topping for a while — especially since many of my clients are in search of a parmesan substitute. So I decided to experiment with a hemp based “cheese.” Into my food processor went 3 tbsp of hemp seeds and 3 tbsp of nooch. I pulsed for a few moments, and came up with this:

It was absolutely delicious! And a wonderful offering to my clients who are a little worried about protein intake with a mostly vegan diet: hemp seeds, as we know, are a rich source of complete protein, and nutritional yeast packs eight grams in a tablespoon and a half. I’ll definitely be recommending this topping to clients, and enjoying it’s nutty, salty, and earthy taste myself.

Last night was also a fun exercise in leftover usage. I have a small vat of carrotini dressing at home, and I’ve been wondering how I’ll make a dent before it goes off. Since I also had some spare zucchini, I decided that carrotini noodles would be the order of the day. The recipe? No recipe. Just one spiralized zuke, 1 cup of chopped mixed veggies, and about a quarter cup of carrotini dressing mixed in, like so:

Then, of course, came a small mountain of the hemp-esan:

Along with some steamed broc and cauliflower, it was a tasty and hasty meal:

Two thumbs up! I admit, I’m not a leftover fan: I love variety, and leftovers don’t give me much room for that. But when leftovers offer me new and unexpected ideas for using up a dish I’ve already made (like turning a salad dressing into a “pasta” sauce), well hey, that’s pretty cool.

What about you guys: leftover fans? Not so much? Would love to know! More importantly, let me know what you think of hemp-esan. I’m a fan

Happy hump day, all.

xo

“Chef Gena”

Hey guys!

Forgive the lack of posts this week! I’ve been totally swamped, but I’ve loved watching you all respond to Sarma’s amazing interview! Keep the comments (and entries) coming, OK?

Recently, my friend Zestycook did a post on foods we hated as a child but love now. I don’t think I ever tasted cilantro as a child—in a Greek home, oregano and dill are the seasonings of choice—but I can tell you that my first experience with cilantro, well into my teens, was not love at first bite. And I was not alone in my dislike: some brief poking around online reveals that many people seem to share a virulent aversion to the stuff (there is even an “I Hate Cilantro” online community).

Fortunately, times have changed. Nowadays, we all know that guacamole is just about my favorite food ever, that I gobble down avocado-cilantro soup with gusto, and that I love to chop it and throw it into salads. I’ve come to appreciate it’s sour-sweet quality—so much so that I even love to throw a whole bunch into the juicer at once, or into a smoothie by the fistful.

Tonight, I had about half a bunch of cilantro at home, some zucchini and a bit of eggplant that needed to get eaten, and a handful of leftover pine nuts. After a few moments of pondering, my favorite new condiment was born: cilantro pesto.

This stuff is good. Really good. Sure, I love traditional pesto. But it’s powerful in a way that this pesto is not. This one has a mellow, lemony flavor, and while it lends a lot of taste to pasta, it’s light enough to be added to salads, to serve as a garnish, or to drizzle over roast summer vegetables without overwhelming their flavor (the way basil pesto might). And as always, it’s a super simple recipe.

Cilantro Pesto (serves two generously)

Ingredients:

½ bunch (about 1 cup tightly packed) cilantro
¼ cup pine nuts
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup + 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped. Next, drizzle the olive oil in. Blend till the pesto is well incorporated, and add a bit more lemon zest if you like (this is powerful, but I find that it really brightens and enhances the flavor!).

I served this over a bed of spiralized zucchini and eggplant. The eggplant didn’t taste terrific, I’ll confess, which is why the zucchini was far more plentiful. (I like raw eggplant a lot, but only if I have ample time to marinate it in olive oil, lemon, and sea salt!) That said, I only had a tiny bit left, so it seemed like a shame not to use it. And the pesto definitely elevated it to a tasty place. This was served along a huge kale salad (not pictured; lazy blogger) and sliced heirloom tomatoes, which I spread with some of the pesto. In all, it was a delicious summery meal. You could definitely use this pesto as a sandwich spread, a regular pasta sauce, a light dip, or an addition to cold soups!

Naturally, this was also a very simple meal. And y’all know that I pride myself on the simplicity of my recipes. I think this is why it has always seemed so odd to think of myself as a “chef”; the very word implies more artistry and effort than I tend to muster.

Still, there is nothing I love more than to concoct versatile recipes for my clients. Today, my incredible friend Katie—who is not only a friend, but also a confidante and a revered collaborator—sent me a special surprise. Katie is lucky enough to be married to a talented (and foxy) chef in the Windy City. And it was her wisdom to suspect that I would love some chef-ly gear for my own kitchen. So behold, my first ever chef’s coat!

Soon, dear readers, I promise you all candid photos of me in the chef’s coat. For now, you’ll have to admire my new threads from afar.

Katie, you reminded me that the best days involve two of my favorite things: the joys of the kitchen, and the joys of friendship. Thanks.

So I’m in the midst of packing up some clothes, some snacks, some green juice, and my laptop. Why? Because I’m en route to the Healthy Living Summit in Boston! I’m very curious—and excited—to see what the weekend holds, and to represent the raw lifestyle on behalf of all you guys! I plan to blog from Boston, where I’ll be crashing with the lovely Ms. Katherine. But if things get crazy and I don’t have a chance to post tomorrow, expect a recap on Sunday when I return.

In the meantime, thank you all for bearing with me over the course of my busy weeks. And, as always, for reading.

xo

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