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I eat what I crave, and my cravings have been leaning towards lighter foods as temperatures are warming in Philadelphia. Another reason I love spring and summer (and sunny destinations).
One of my favorite vacation spots is Tulum, Mexico where I drink fruit smoothies and coconut water by day and eat fresh veggies and legumes by night. Eating light is so easy in warm climates, the body doesn't really feel hungry in the heat (mine prefers to stay hydrated) and the last thing I want is to feel heavier in humid climates.
Back in everyday life, raw has been an elusive concept for me because let's face it, tasty and healthy vegan isn't convenient in this town, let alone raw. With the addition of long days, I'm not really in the mood to cook at 9pm. I just want to eat dinner! Until I can afford a personal chef, I need to get with the program. I know eating less starchy meals would do me so much good- been feeling weighed down by many nights of restaurant food. Time for a cleanse.
I'm starting the transition today. I have no expectations of how raw I'll go or for how long. I'll let my body decide and listen accordingly. Here's my first green juice. There are many variations; this is my mash up of what's available in the fridge today. My masticater hasn't arrived yet, so everything is going in the blender. It was still very light and refreshing. As long as I didn't use any starchy fruits, the drink came out light.
The end product looked a tad putrid in color after I added the wild blueberries. So no image of the final juice. The green from the veggies was a spectacular deep and bright green. The chlorophyll was calling my name! There are so many green juice recipes. Some add vanilla and sweeteners, which I've omitted. Personally, I like to keep sweetness to a minimum and saved only for dessert. I don't want to train my taste buds to crave sweets any more than it already does. Feel free to do as you like.
Green Juice #1
Ingredients:
8 oz organic wild frozen blueberries
5 oz organic baby spinach3 oz organic lemon juice (used Meyer lemons today)2 oz organic cucumber (kept the skin, removed seeds)1 oz organic petite pak choi microgreens
2 cups of filtered water
Directions:
- I blended the spinach with enough water to cover the greens. Blend in small batches and until all leaves are pulverized. I only used about 2 cups of water.
- I added freshly squeezed lemon juice (seeds removed).
- Cut up some cucumber, removed seeds, kept the skin, and threw it in.
- Threw in the microgreens and pulsed.
- Added blueberries for extra antioxidants and minimal sweetness to off-set the bitterness of the greens.
- Results in about 30 oz of green juice. Enough for you and a lucky mate.
Have fun experimenting! If you have favorite combos I should try, please let me know!
Sweet T treated me to one of my favorite cities for my 32nd birthday: LA. I was able to try a few new veg-friendly places and here's the list:
Veggie Grill (El Segundo)- a quick and easy place to grab a light meal. I tried the "Carne Asada" without the bun. Portions are rather light for the price when I added on sweet potato fries, but I think this is normal for West Coast. If you want to eat a lean, light meal, you pay a premium. And many people are willing to pay. This place was packed on a Thursday afternoon.
Sprinkles Cupcakes (Beverly Hills)- had to try their new vegan version: red velvet. I can't say I'm a fan because it was rather oily as a cake and as a frosting, but the moistness was impressive. If you're not used to eating cane sugar, you might find this too sweet like I did. The "V" candy top is great touch, but it tasted rather pasty and bland. Always glad to see vegan options, thanks Sprinkles.
Seed (Venice)- organic, macro, and vegan? Sign me up. I regret not trying the burger which is what they're famed for, but they served the best sweet potato fries I've had yet. Crispy, just the right saltiness, and plentiful. Doesn't hurt that it's served in a Chinese takeout box, which I love. I had the "House Greens Salad" because it came highly recommended, but found it too light to be satisfying by itself. Eaten with the fries, it was a good meal. Seed also served water gratis that was infused with cucumber, mint, and lemons that was as refreshing as it sounds. Again, we thought the meal was rather pricey for the portion and casualness, but I think if we were used to living out here we wouldn't be sticker shocked!
(I was having so much fun I forgot to photograph meals for the next three restaurants.)
Real Food Daily (Santa Monica)- I know I was disappointed with RFD during my November trip, but I was wrong! I didn't know dinners here were so much better. The portion sizes were abundant and you could easily go home with leftovers for lunch. I loved the "Cold Noodle Salad" with perfectly chewy green soba and crunchy vegetables. Our friends had the "Gumbo" which was a huge stew with whole grains, tempeh, and a corn muffin in case that wasn't enough. I'm still not convinced of their desserts, but their meals are worth trying whether you're a veg eater or not.
Inaka (La Brea)- this was a great surprise (thanks Erik)! A macro Japanese restaurant that served up the heartiest hot pots. Definitely check it out. The decor is minimalist and the food is simple, and you won't leave feeling overly stuffed.
BCD Tofu House (Koreatown)- this was a desperate stop for dinner while stuck in traffic. I was happily surprised to find vegan tofu soon dobu filled with mushrooms and other veggies. I asked for very spicy and cried for the first time in my life from the spiciness. My mouth also went numb. Don't get cocky like me.
The Stand (Laguna Beach)- this was my favorite surprise, thanks to T. A vegan stand where the menu is so huge you get cross-eyed. If you're a soup lover, come here. They have about 10 varieties of vegan soups and let you taste test every one. I also love their soft serve fruit that is simply fruit pushed through a juicer. Think ripe bananas as soft serve ice cream.
Didn't have time to check out Gjelina (Abbot Kinney) and Interim (Santa Monica) which were also on my list... next time!
Here's a list of the restaurants we tried in Banff. The only place I'd highly recommend for vegans is Masala.
Bison Restaurant is local and mostly organic, but it was extremely expensive for mediocre flavors and small portions. I had two slices of tofu, a small pile of soba noodles and a savory tofu pudding... for $28. Yikes!
Elk & Oarsmen is bar food that serves inexpensive eats. I loved the sweet potato fries which were crisp, yet barely salted, and a refreshing salad.
Timbers the only vegan item available for dinner were the best fried zucchini I've ever had, although for omnivores you're in luck with reasonable prices and solid quality of menu items.
Balkan was a fabulously fun Thursday night with belly dancing and the charming manager as MC, however vegan food was super unthrilling (white hummus, white eggplant mush, white pita) and pricey ($17 for 3 small scoops of the above).
Miki has all you can eat sushi-tempura-teriyaki for $25. The fish isn't the highest grade as I was told, but the veg sushi was fresh with minimal rice. Just the way I like it.
Wildflour is the place to go for delicious sandwiches, soups, and freshly baked bread. The vegan desserts look like the kind of vegan stuff we had in the States 10 years ago (aka cardboardy and plain), but the sandwiches are fantastically fresh, satisfying, and made to order.Ahhh,
Masala,
was the only tried and true place I could eat hearty and well. Too dark to take photos, but each of their vegetable curries were distinct and plentiful. I had to stay away from the rice glistening with ghee, however the breads were a nice contrast to the spicy flavors.
We traveled to Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks in Alberta and British Columbia this past winter holiday, and let me tell you, it was not easy eating vegan in bear country. For some reason, I thought National Parks = outdoorsy people = healthy eats. I'm here to tell you that they are proud of their wild west roots, so don't go in expecting West Coast flava!
That said, if you're vegetarian, you'll have no problem. The word "vegan" just hasn't caught on yet.
Not being interested in the $50/per person buffet at the hotel, we thought... where do all the Jews eat today? Of course, Chinatown! We pigged out at Silver Dragon and literally paid for it. Dim sum cost $90 for two. Yowza! The buffet would have been a better deal.
There were only two veg items on the dim sum cart: fried sesame balls filled with lotus paste and steamed bamboo skin with random Asian veggies. Verdict: the sesame balls tasted like any other place I've tried and the random veggies wrapped in wrinkly skin was gooey and bland.
Unsatisfied, I added one of my most beloved Asian greens: snow pea leaves, which I inhaled and nearly forgot to photograph. The greens were sweet and fresh. I also ordered an egg roll type thing wrapped in tofu skin which was delicious and light. The skin was nicely pan fried and filled with sweet cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots. Lastly, the shocker was the dumplings the size of fists. Filled with the usual assortment of cabbage and mushroom, similar to the previously mentioned dish, the skin was of a surprising medium thickness for such large parcels. It was mediocre at the time, but made a satisfying road snack on the way to Banff.
I always jump at the chance for dim sum, but this place was over-priced and under-delivered. Nonetheless, I look forward to spending next Christmas at another dim sum table!
Akasha is our last stop before jumping on the red-eye to Philly. Erik recommended this place as high-grade organic cuisine. Indeed, what you're seeing were the best sweet potato fries I've ever tried. Perfectly crisp, sweet, and salted. I'm just a bit bummed I picked the wrong item on the menu. The Thai curry noodle tasted nothing like a curry and the tofu was a bit pungent. It was originally listed with salmon and I asked them to veganize it. My mistake. The noodles were very bland, and I learned since salmon is very strong and it's often served with something very light.
The others in our party loved their dinners: the organic turkey burger and market vegetable stack. I wish we weren't in such a mad dash to the airport because they also offered a few vegan desserts. Next time...
I miss you already L.A.!
We're looking for birthday sweets one late evening and returned to RFD in Santa Monica to see what else is available. It's slim pickings before closing time, but we found happiness with the Fauxstess Cupcake and Brownie Bowl.
The Fauxstess looked like the real thing. Pretty good imitation. My only reservations was that the cake was a bit dry and there wasn't much cream to be found. Again, maybe if we had one freshly prepared...
I loved the Brownie Bowl. I had no idea the scoops of ice cream would be so gigantic. We tried the carrot cake (recommended by waiter) which was weird and definitely didn't go with the brownie. It was sort of spicy and the consistency of the ice cream (made from rice and hemp milk) was grainy. The other ice cream flavor was mint chocolate chip which was excellent. It was refreshingly minty and creamy. We also ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream, but it was left out. Seeing how large the scoops were, we're glad they did.
The brownie was perfectly moist and fudgy and I would say made the Brownie Bowl the best vegan dessert we had in L.A.
My favorite Mexican food joint of all time is...<drum roll>...Taco Loco! Laguna Beach has plenty of vegetarian options, but hangs you dry when you're vegan. Taco Loco saves the day with their scrumptious blackened tofu and mushroom tacos, burgers, and salads. (They offer lots of fresh seafood as well.)
For $2.50, I ordered a blackened portabella soft taco with blue corn tortilla, a heaping mound of fresh guacamole and spicy sauce. I don't know how they make it, but it's cheap and good.
The salad you see is a half-order at $5.50. Over a bed of tortilla chips are layers of crispy romaine and blackened cubes of grilled tofu and mushroom. Again, topped with generous amounts of gauc and spicy sauce.
Fresh, light, healthy and fills my tummy. I could eat this stuff every day and never get bored.
