Edamame Guacamole

I served this with pita chips and it was deelish! This was a great way to enjoy heaping chips full of guacamole with more than half the fat! Check out the nutrition stats below!!! Love it!! Just be careful how much lime juice you use. I used a whole lime and it came out a little too limey. If you want traditional guacamole add cilantro. I don’t enjoy cilantro so I didn’t add it.

IMG_2720

Edamame Guacamole
Serves 6

1/2 cup shelled edamame
1/2 cup broccoli stalks, peeled
1 avocado
1 scallion, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tomato, diced
salt to taste

cilantro – optional

Bring 4 cups of water to boil. Add edamame and broccoli to boiling water for 4 minutes till softened. Drain and puree in a food processor. With a fork or a whisk mash the puree with the avocado. Add in the avocado, scallion, red onion, garlic, jalapeno, lime, tomato and the optional cilantro. Salt to taste and enjoy 🙂

Per serving: 66 calories, 4 g fat, .5 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 10 sodium, 2.5 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 1 g sugar, 3 g fiber

The Edible Garden at The New York Botanical Garden

Edible Gardenp pic

June 27–September 13

The Edible Garden exhibit at The New York Botanical Garden is a summer-long celebration of growing great food. We were excited to learn how to grow, prepare, and eat garden-fresh produce.

I wanted to go to this all summer and our schedules finally opened up last weekend to enjoy this beautiful homage to local and home-grown foods. Although an incredibly humid day, we somehow managed to avoid the rain and even had sunshine 🙂 SO lucky! There are many different exhibits and presentations to see. I highly recommend this exhibit if you have a chance to go before it closes on September 13th.

Michael and I hadn’t been up to The Botanical Gardens in 3 years but it was just as gorgeous as we remembered it. Such a special place! The Conservatory is beautiful and educational. You walk through different climates to see so many species of plants, trees and flowers. On this humid day, it did not feel so strange to be in the Rain Forest climate! You also get to explore the desert climate and its array of plant species.

It was such a pleasure to walk through the Home Gardening Center featuring the Good Food Garden, the Seed Savers Heirloom Vegetable Garden and the Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden. I loved seeing all those gorgeous veggies and planning out our future garden! SO fun!! There were big surprises as to how some vegetables were grown. Check out my pictures below. I had never before seen how okra, eggplant and quinoa were grown. And it was so fun to walk around smelling the fabulous herbs! There were huge bushes of basil and gorgeous hot peppers! Of course we were so happy to see the beautiful kale and chard plants! It made me so excited to one day have our own garden.

This is also a great activity for families as there were several exhibits set up just for kids and exploring gardening. Can you imagine more fun with your little ones than learning how to garden in the Beginner’s Vegetable Garden!?! Fabulous!

pictures aug 09 026

Purple Hot Peppers! How lovely!

pictures aug 09 023

Beautiful Water Lillies

pictures aug 09 024

pictures aug 09 025

Basil, smells so good!!!
Basil, smells so good!!!

Gorgeous Hot Peppers

Gorgeous Hot Peppers

Heirloom Pumpkins

Heirloom Pumpkins

I had no idea that this is how Okra grows! So fabulous!

I had no idea that this is how Okra grows! So fabulous!

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Eggplant! No idea this grew like this either!

Eggplant! No idea this grew like this either!

The Cacao Plant!! Love it!!!!!

The Cacao Plant!! Love it!!!!!

limes

limes

Pineapples :)

Pineapples 🙂

Quinoa! So awesome! This is another one I had no idea about how is grew, love it!

Quinoa! So awesome! This is another one I had no idea about how it grew, love it!

Is this the worlds biggest avocado?

Is this the worlds biggest avocado?

gorgeous tomatoes!

gorgeous tomatoes!

Bush Basil and Parsley

Bush Basil and Parsley

Black Pearl Peppers

Black Pearl Peppers

Beets

Beets

Purple Leaf Basil

Purple Leaf Basil

Ahhh our Beloved Kale!!!! So gorgeous!!

Ahhh our Beloved Kale!!!! So gorgeous!!

Green Cabbage

Green Cabbage

Chard! Love it of course!

Chard! Love it of course!

How pretty are these red cabbage "flowers"!!

How pretty are these red cabbage "flowers"!!

Summer Squash and their gorgeous blossoms

Summer Squash and their gorgeous blossoms

IMG_2201

pictures aug 09 021

pictures aug 09 022

Fig Fennel Pasta

I love love love figs! They are so sweet and quite possibly the best fruit ever! This dish has so many elements and so many flavors yet works so perfectly with the figs. This was very filling as there was so many ingredients involved. I loved the whole dish as it was so delightful! I always appreciate zucchini pasta but this was one of the best preparations I have seen so far. The summer brings us so many gorgeous vegetables and this dish really takes advantage of them. Enjoy the figs while they are still in season!

pictures aug 09 013

Fig Fennel Pasta
Recipe adapted from Living Light
Serves 4-6

4 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon sea salt

Dressing:
1 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 fresh figs, destemmed
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon ground fennel seed

Salad Ingredients:
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
8 fresh black or green figs, sliced
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into long thin strands
1 tablespoon scallions, very finely sliced
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, minced
2 teaspoon parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  1. Use a spiralizer to slice the zucchini into long noodles. Add one tablespoon salt to the zucchini noodles and toss thoroughly. Allow it to stand at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes while preparing the dressing and vegetables.
  2. Put ingredients for dressing together in a blender and puree.
  3. Put the dressing and the remaining ingredients, except salted zucchini, in a large bowl and toss thoroughly.
  4. Gently squeeze the excess liquid from the zucchini, rinse and drain well. Pat zucchini noodles dry, and add them to the vegetables. Toss everything together gently and salt to taste. Serve chilled.

Lemon Pepper Chicken and Sauteed Spinach with Garlic and Oil

Most of the time I like to own my kitchen. But sometimes we cook together and not only do I appreciate it but it really is a ton of fun! Michael and I were making dinner, raw corn tortilla chips (new recipe to come soon) and kale chips and we managed to do this all so quickly because we were working together. (btw Michael’s kale chips were the most deelish I had ever had! He is the kale master!)

This chicken dish is my go-to dish when I am tired or am super busy but still want to put a healthy dinner together for my husband. The chicken is super quick and so was the spinach. I love that this dish is so fast yet looks and tastes (Michael says 🙂 ) like a good home cooked meal.

chicken

Lemon Pepper Chicken

  • 2-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • Juice from 1-2 lemons
  • Lemon Pepper, enough to coat chicken breasts
  • Salt to taste
  1. Set the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick oil
  3. Cover the chicken breasts with lemon juice and coat with lemon pepper and a sprinkling of salt
  4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until there is no pink when you cut into a breast
  5. Serve

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic and Oil

  • 1 bag of 10 ounce organic spinach
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Salt to taste
  1. Coat a pan with olive oil
  2. Simmer garlic for 1 -2 minutes
  3. Add Spinach and sautee until wilted
  4. Salt to taste
  5. Enjoy

Raw Food Dinner Party part 2

We were already a little full from the delicious Cornbread Bruschetta with White Truffle “Sour Cream” and Spiced Tomatoes appetizer but of course I was excited to serve such a fun entree! Spinach and Wild Mushroom Quiche is such a great dish, but be advised it requires a lot of advance prep time 🙂 I also wish I had more of the tart base dough while I was making them, so that they would have come out thicker, but I was still very happy with these and they were great! The Raw Chef Russel James makes the most gorgeous raw food items, I was so excited to finally try one of his recipes. This recipe will require you to make the bases ahead of time so make sure to plan with enough time.

Fresh summer corn is one of my favorite things! I love the fresh sweet taste and pairing it with avocado and red onion is beyond delightful. I have made a variation on this many times and every time my husband and I love it so much. This was a fun dish to share with our friends as well. It is really quick and easy to prepare and then even easier to enjoy!

Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche served with Fresh Corn and Avocado Salad

quiche and salad

Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche
Recipe from The Raw Chef Russel James
Makes 4, 11cm quiche

For the base
1c cashew
1/4c macadamia nuts
2T flax meal (ground flax seed)
1 clove crushed garlic
1T nutritional yeast
2t olive oil
1/4t salt
3T water
1T lemon juice

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed, leaving some texture to the nuts.
• Press into plastic film lined individual tart cases *so you have a thin crust. You will find that regularly dipping your fingers in a bowl of water helps with this.
• Place bases onto a mesh dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 2 hours. They should now be firm enough to remove from the tart cases so you can continue to dehydrate them for a further 6 hours.

*Tart cases should be approx 11cm wide and no than about 1cm high, to allow the mixture (details to follow) to dehydrate inside.

For the filling
2c wild mushrooms (or substitute for any type of available mushroom)
1/2t salt
1T lemon juice

• Wash and roughly chop the mushrooms, then marinate them in the salt and lemon juice and set aside.

2c  zucchini
1/4c water
1 1/2c cashews
1/4c white miso
2t lemon juice
1/2 medium white onion
3T nutritional yeast
1/2t salt

• Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth.

2c tightly-packed spinach
2T olive oil
1/4t salt

• Pulse spinach, olive oil and salt in a food processor for 10 to 20 seconds until broken down.
• Drain the mushrooms from earlier and transfer them to a large bowl, along with the blended courgette (zucchini) mixture, and spinach. Then also mix in the following ingredients:

1/4c finely sliced spring onions
1c diced tomatoes
1T minced basil

• Once thoroughly mixed, pour this mixture into the bases. You’ll need to slightly overfill the bases as the filling will reduce slightly in the dehydrator.
• Dehydrate overnight and during the day, for anything up to 24 hours.
• Remove from the dehydrator and decorate with slices of tomato and fresh basil sprigs. It’s also a good idea to brush the top of the quiche with a small amount of olive oil, to make them more appealing in their appearance.

Fresh Corn and Avocado Salad

4 ears of fresh corn, husked and cut from cob
3/4 cup red onion, diced
1 1/2 avocados, diced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons of minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Enjoy the fresh taste of summer! 🙂

Cucumber-White Grape Gazpacho

Cucumber-White Grape Gazpacho
Recipe by Matthew Kenny from Everyday Raw
serves 2

gazpacho

This is a really great summer soup. Simple, fast and so refreshing! It is lighter and fresher than a traditional tomato based gazpacho, plus it is always fun to mix things up. As I have said before, I love raw soups and how simple they are. This involves dicing and blending and that is it! I love having some of the mixture whole since it adds such a nice texture to this soup.

I love tomatillos with their texture and surprising flavor! They are so gorgeous! If you have never cooked with tomatillos before, they are a treat! They have a papery husk that you peel off and they look similar to green tomatoes. But the taste is the surprising part as they are tart and almost citrus-like.

Cucumber-White Grape Gazpacho

2 cups peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers
2 cups seeded and diced tomatillos
2 cups diced white grapes
1/4 cup ginger juice
salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Dice all the ingredients. Set aside 1/4 of the diced mixture and blend the rest. Pour the blended mixture over the rest and Enjoy!

Herb-Grilled Chicken Breasts, Thai Style with Bok Choi Stir-Fry

chicken - herbs greens

This may not be the prettiest dish but it smelled super great and Michael really enjoyed the flavors! I would suggest slicing the chicken afterwards to make a prettier presentation. The bok choi cooks quick so put it on right after you get the chicken on the grill. You could also substitute the bok choi with other Asian greens to compliment the flavors of the chicken or to eat on their own as a vegetarian dish. I love bok choi, especially in the summer when they are so strong and a beautiful green!

Herb-Grilled Chicken Breasts, Thai Style
Recipe adapted from July 1998 Bon Appétit

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tamari
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Sriracha or 1 hot chili chopped
  • 6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
  1. Combine first 10 ingredients in processor. Process until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.
  2. Arrange chicken in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass dish. Spoon herb mixture over chicken, covering completely. Cover dish; chill at least 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally.
  3. Set grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates and serve.

Bok Choi Stir-Fry

  • 1 medium bunch of bok choi
  • 3 tablespoons peanut or sesame oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Sriracha or 1 hot chili chopped
    1. Clean and wash the bok choi carefully. (There tends to be dirt caught under the leaves)
    2. Cut into 3 inch pieces
    3. Heat the oil in a wok or large pot and add the garlic, salt and Sriracha and stir for about 1 minute
    4. Add the greens and stir until the greens go limp but the stems are still crunchy about 4 minutes.
    5. Add salt to taste

chicken - herbs

TapIt

TapIt is a new service that allows you to refill your water bottle free of charge at participating NYC restaurants and cafés.

tapitdrinktapit

Sand Art Salad

My fabulous girlfriends can be so creative. Rae (an amazing artist, etsy site soon to come but for now see her portfolio on facebook) created this gorgeous Sand Art Salad. Yi-Ching (total master of photography, see her work here) took this great picture! Love it so much!! I always say, you eat with your eyes first! Beautiful Girls!

sand art salad

Six Reasons to Drink Green Juice Every Day

Six Reasons to Drink Green Juice Every Day

Check out this short article on the fabulous benefits of Green Juice! MMMM!!! We drink our juice or green smoothies every morning but it is still nice to be reminded of the benefits we are getting. I love doing what is more beneficial for me as much as possible and why not have that be the focus and start of each and every day!?!

So even if you don’t own a juicer you can always either make a quick green smoothie or go to a local juice store and order one up. Love it!

Here is my favorite recipe for our everyday green juice. But of course feel free to spice it up every once in a while for a change.

My go to recipe is:

  • 2 different heads of greens (kale, chard, romaine, etc.)
  • either a celery or cucumber base (3-5 stalks of celery or 1/2-whole cucumber)
  • 1-2 green apples

It is really very simple and the whole process from washing the greens, juicing to cleaning the juicer happens in less than 15 minutes! So there is no time excuse for me, unless I am truly rushing out the door and then I could always stop at a local juice place and order it up I always try to use as many organic veggies as possible. We drink these raw and we want to get the maximum benefits, so organic is the only way to go!

 

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries