Light Pesto Carrot Boats

This is a lovely light, yet filling dish inspired by the fresh basil I’ve got growing at the moment.  I live in an apartment, so I’ve got lots of plants growing indoors as well as on the balcony.  Don’t let not having access to land stop you from including fresh homegrown veggies and herbs in your diet!  Some of the edible plants that we have had success growing indoors are tomatoes, chili peppers, sunflower sprouts, aloe vera, purslane, basil and more!

Even if you’ve got  what you think is a black thumb, you can ALWAYS and  I mean always sprout a few things in jars.  Sprouts are a delicious addition to salads and soups, or you can just sprinkle them on anything to up the nutrition as well as the crunch factor to your meal.

Light Pesto Carrot Boats

Filling:

3 carrots

1 tomato

1 avocado

1/2 cup pesto (it seems everybody and their mama has a pesto recipe.  If you want a raw/vegan pesto recipe, lemme know!)

To serve:

1 head baby gem lettuce

2 tbsp. chopped red onions

2 tbsp. shelled hemp seeds

First, grate the carrot with a large box grater or in a food processor.  Then chop the tomato and avocado, and mix with the grated carrot in a large mixing bowl.  Add pesto and toss until everything is evenly mixed and the avocados are mashed and smooshed a bit.

Spoon the filling mixture into the lettuce leaves, then top each leaf with a sprinkle of chopped purple onion and hemp seeds.

Simple and delish!

Purple Summer Cooler

Here we are in late August, and although Autumn is slowly creeping closer, you wouldn’t be able to tell by the temperatures we are still having here in Madrid.  And luckily for me, the stores are still full of summertime fruit!  I am certainly taking advantage of the watermelons, Galia melons, peaches, nectarine, paraguayos and berries that are in season right now.

I think I have probably eaten my weight in watermelon this summer, and most of it has been in its natural state.  I tend to take half a watermelon, get a spoon, sit down at the table and chow down!  But I decided to branch out a little bit and make a drink, and this one came out deeelish! It is such a lovely deep purple color and so very hydrating.

This drink is a delightfully refreshing way to cool down on a hot late summers day and still get your greens in!

So, without further ado-

Purple Summer Cooler:

Makes 2 servings

Blend and strain the following:

3.5 cups watermelon

1 small head romaine lettuce

1 cup frozen mixed berries (I used blackberries, raspberries, cherries and mulberries)

Then, blend the mixture with 1 frozen banana.  Pour into tall glasses and enjoy!  Easy-Peasy :)

InSpiral Lounge review

I just got back a few days ago from 9 days in England, on the Isle of Wight where my in-laws live.  Before making the epically long and expensive journey to the IOW, I wanted to make a quick stop into London-to Camden where my favorite store, Braintree Hemp is located as well as InSpiral lounge which I had wanted to visit for a long time now.

After stocking up on some lovely hemp clothing, including two dresses, a skirt, a fabulous pair of black trousers and a purple backpack, we hit up InSpiral.

I was first a little shocked at the inside as it wasn’t what I was expecting.  I suppose I expected something a little more formal with table service, but everything is pre-made behind a case.  You line up to order and pay and then find a table.  It was really crowded when we first went in, but we lucked out and got a table almost immediately although it took a little more maneuvering to figure out where the line was to order.  I found the staff to be knowledgeable but slightly unfriendly, except for one woman who was super friendly and chatty.  I have the feeling she may have been a manager!

However, the most important part is the food!  We truly weren’t that hungry but I was determined to try out some dishes!!  I ordered the raw nachos, and with every meal you get three sides so I chose three raw salads.  One was the Raw Caesar, then there was a massaged kale dish and another beetroot and apple superfood salad.

I was super impressed with this dish!  The crackers or nacho chips were really crisp which is important in raw food dishes.  The part that blew me away was the nut meat.  I have experimented in the past with raw taco meat, and this version was INCREDIBLE and super spicy!  I could tell that it was made with sunflower seeds which is surprising because I haven’t had too much luck with sunflower meats in the past.

My hubby went for the Love Burger with the same sides as me.

I thought his burger was good, but truly nothing can compare to the raw burgers we got in Amsterdam at a market stall!

The salads were really good.  The kale salad was my favorite- it was simple, fresh and delicious but the other two salads really shined in the creative front.  I appreciated InSpiral’s liberal use of superfoods in the dishes as I think that those ingredients can really take a dish to the next level, and they were very inventive in this way.  The Caesar salad for example had cacao nibs, and the beetroot and apple salad had maca, as well as many other things that I can’t remember now!

I also wanted to pick up a few things to take away with me for the rest of our trip.  They sell raw chocolates, and had on offer a box of seven rejects for quite cheap.  Having made raw chocolate, I know that not every one can turn out beautifully and I was happy to take them off their hands :)

I also picked up two containers of Cheesy purple corn kale chips which were so so very delicious that I should have picked up 10 more, a bag of Loveberry granola which was meh but made me feel waay better about my own underwhelming experiences making raw granola, and a piece of raw key lime pie, which I had for breakfast the next day and was just amazing and tart and sweet and creamy and everything that key lime should be.

So there! All in all, I was very impressed with InSpiral Lounge and wish that were closer or that I lived nearer.  The food was tasty, cheap, filling and interesting, all vegan, and what we ordered was all raw.  You really can’t do much better than that!

Buddha loves cake

Buddha loves cake by DivineMissEm
Buddha loves cake, a photo by DivineMissEm on Flickr.

I am so proud of this cake! I have finally cracked the code on making raw cakes without loads of heavy nuts. It is raw, vegan, totally gluten-free and nut-free.

It’s a seriously dark chocolate base, super dense and creamy with a crunchy white chocolate and purple corn icing.

It’s summertime

Wow, the end of Spring and the beginning of Summer this year have been so crazy and full of  so much change, and growth, I think too.

We decided to move out of Madrid, out of the city, and into the suburbs.  We moved into a loft apartment that is three minutes walk from our jobs, and about the same to yoga class.  I have sort of turned into a clean-freak in this place, which is such a change from my previously chaotic and messy ways.  But we have ridiculously high ceilings! and a balcony! and comfy sofa! and an open plan kitchen!

One of the downsides of the new digs is that the kitchen is really, really basic and doesn’t have an oven or a proper stove.  Just two electric burners/hobs.  Nada màs.  But I have my dehydrator and blender/food processor so I have been eating lots and lots of raw food.  And it has been so freaking easy!

I want to post pictures of some of the creations I am most proud of, including a raw, nut-free chocolate cake that seriously tastes like a baked cake.  My friend J who came over to try it told me that it tasted like day old cooked cake, which I think is hilarious!  It was awesome, though.

We are also going to England soon, and I am actually excited about it.  We are going to go into London so we can go to InSpiral Lounge for some raw food goodies and then shopping at Braintree Hemp in Camden.  Although we don’t have too much money to spend, but whatever.  Then we are going to spend the rest of the time on the Isle of Wight, at his parents’ house.  I really want to spend lots of time at the beach this time and get whatever sun England in August is prepared to give us.   And eat lots and lots of wild greens the garden.  And take lots of pictures.

Food April 8

breakfast:

coffee with oat milk and drop of english toffee stevia

chia pudding with oat milk, lucuma, maca, cinnamon, strawberries, bee pollen and honey

lunch:

zucchini pasta with fennel, fresh peas, carrot, olives, sauerkraut and a cashew/red onion alfredo sauce

green smoothie with banana, spinach and dried figs

snack:

bite of raw choccie cake with purple corn chocolate frosting

Tinto de verano (red wine with sweet tonic water) I was out to have a drink for a friend’s birthday.

Chai Soy Latte from Starbucks

Dinner:

artichokes with lemon butter sauce

tortilla de verdura (garbanzo flour, tofu, nettles, carrots, zucchini)

bit more choccie cake

All in all, I’m happy with the food for this day.  The tinto de verano and chai latte were totally superfluous, but I’m trying to live in the world here and not be all crazy manic about my food.

Ideally, I would have liked a raw dinner, but it wasn’t meant to be.  Some emotional stuff came up and I seriously was not up to the task of working through it.  I needed some comfort, and that is what I got.

 

New Challenge

I’ve really made some changes in my life recently that I am happy about.

Two new classes fell into my lap and, I LOVE these students.  They are Kundalini Yoga teachers and so we talk about KY, do kriyas in English, drink chai tea or talk about our lives.  I am so grateful for the extra money and the companionship.  Also, being around these women gave me the extra push I needed to..

Finally join a Kundalini yoga class again.  I’m going Monday and Wednesday and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  My body has been neglected for so long that the past few weeks I was in so much pain the day after classes.  Each class a new muscle group would hurt.  With each week, I am getting a little stronger and I know that my body is loving all the extra care and attention it is getting.  Also, having a special place for meditation is nice.

I’ve been a bit more social.  I’ve reconnected with a friend that just kind of fell away a while back and am trying to get out of myself more.  It helps not having long stretches of morning with nothing to do, except  have temptation to stay on the Internet for hours at a time.

Anyway, with all of these changes, I have decided that it is a great time to return to raw foods.  My diet has been pretty good recently.  I’ve let go of the wheat for the most part, eating lots of wild greens, having green juices, etc., but there is always a bit more tweaking to do.  The sugar beast has come again and I really want to deal with that.  I had quit coffee for a few days but it just creeped back in.  One thing at a time.  Also,  now it is Spring and the weather is warm and my body is feeling a strong need for salads and lighter, more easily digestible things.  I want to listen to and honor that.

So, as a way to help myself and to share my way of being, I am going to post what I eat.  It may not be 100% raw, but i am striving for a high proportion.

Dandelion vinegar

Dandelion vinegar by DivineMissEm
Dandelion vinegar, a photo by DivineMissEm on Flickr.

Gracias Pachamana por la abundancia de primavera!

I love making herbal vinegars and the dandelion flowers are PERFECT right now.

It is such a lovely Spring food/medicinal as it gently and lovingly cleanses the liver as well as simply tasting delicious.

Another great thing about making dandelion vinegar is that when the vinegar is gone, you can eat the pickled flowers!

Gluten Free Pizza Crusts

Wheat and I really don’t get along.  I have never been formally diagnosed as celiac or even gluten intolerant, but I do know that when I eat something with wheat in it, I start itching.  My hands, arms, legs, and scalp itch and the skin around my eyes feels really puffy and sensitive.  Clearly something isn’t right with that!

Even so,  I have found it extremely hard to actually give up wheat once and for all.  I seem to do fine with oats and most other grains, and I can generally eat some glutinous grains like spelt or kamut.  The problem with those is that I feel fine eating them for a while, but then I reach a point where all of a sudden I don’t.  It’s like there is some kind of hidden threshold that I have to stay under or something.

I think my sensitivity to wheat and gluten is one of the reasons why raw food is so appealing to me.  99% of the time, it already is gluten free and I don’t have to think about it.

One gluten free recipe that I love is this one:  http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2009/12/thin-buckwheat-pizza-crust-gluten-free.html

I’ve made this pizza base recipe before and every time I make it I am generally happy with how it comes out.

Terrible picture,  as it was already nighttime when I made this :(

 

with sun-dried tomato and basil sauce, zucchini, onions, red pepper, crumbled smoked tofu and fresh basil

 

The only changes to the recipe that I made were to increase the amount of ingredients, substitute baking soda for baking powder, and leave out the sweetener completely.  It made enough for dinner tonight, which I served with my favorite raw red pepper soup and also enough to take tomorrow for lunch as I am starting my second week of Kundalini yoga class!

I have had a wonderful weekend and I am now looking forward to a wonderful week :)

New Chocolates

The other day, I had a massive raw chocolate making session and I came up with:

Mulberry Crunch Chocolates:

raw organic chocolate with white mulberries and buckwheaties, sweetened with local honey!

And then these Chicha Chocolates:

Raw, organic white chocolate with purple corn extract, pineapple and spices, sweetened with agave nectar.

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