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Raw Food: Favorite Smoothies

June 29, 2014

Smoothies are a large part of my day. I always start my mornings out with one, often end my lunch with one and sometimes even have one for dinner. They’re simple to make, you can pack all sorts of nutrients into them and they are handy when you’re short on time. I can’t really imagine myself eating as many if we still lived in Seattle, the California sunshine and vast organic produce availability is definitely encouraging.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite smoothies and their sources. I tend to find things I like and stick to them, on repeat. 🙂 Happy blending!

1. Cacao Turmeric Smoothie
 -My absolute favorite. I have literally eaten one of these every single day for the last two months. It’s a little crazy, I know. 

cacaosmoothie

2. Cherry Almond Smoothie -Tastes like Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, no joke. Minus the massive calories. 

Recipe // 1 cup of water, handful of almonds, tablespoon of chia seeds, small bag of frozen cherries, 1 banana, 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, ice. Blend together, add more ice or water for desired consistency.

cherrysmoothie

3. Kiwi & Almond Green Smoothie-One of my favorite discoveries when it comes to green smoothies. Add almond butter and kiwi, it changes the game.

Recipe// 1 cup water, 1 mango, 1 green apple, 1/2 cucumber, 2 celery stalks, 1 banana, 1 kiwi, a bunch of spinach, 1 tablespoon almond butter. Blend together, add ice or water for desired consistency.

kiwi almond butter green smoothie

4. Strawberry Rhubarb Blast Smoothie -A new favorite and a perfect use for all that rhubarb growing in your garden. 

rhubarbsmoothie

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Raw Food: Thai kelp noodles with garlic ginger sauce

May 28, 2014

Recently I created a challenge for myself, raw food for 30 days. 30 days has come and gone and I’ve decided to keep going. Years ago we ate raw for close to a year and though we felt great, we eventually slipped into our old patterns and didn’t keep up. The biggest difference between then and now is approach and the weather. We live in California now (Seattle previously) and the sunshine and warmth makes eating things uncooked not so “cold”, but rather refreshing. It’s also opened our eyes to the abundance of local produce available almost year round here. Regarding approach, I’ve been focusing on keeping things as simple as possible. No elaborate raw food recipes. Smoothies, juices, fruits and veggies by themselves, simple sauces and combinations. It’s been amazing what a simple sauce or dip can do to an otherwise boring meal. And with that, I wanted to share a recent discovery as well as a kick ass flavor combo…Thai kelp boodles with garlic ginger sauce.

I was in LA for work a few weeks back and one of my sweet colleagues brought me to Real Food Daily, an awesome little joint serving organic, plant-based food. I ordered something called the Rainbow Bowl and was surprised that these thin rice-like noodles were actually kelp noodles. Noodles?! I love noodles! (How many times can I say noodle?) Doing some research, I was thrilled to find these at my local coop, and for $4! With some additional sleuthing, I found some great asian inspired recipes, changed things up a bit and threw this tasty little dish together in record time. I’m addicted.

Serves 2-3

Noodles //

  • 1 packet of kelp noodles (local coop or on Amazon)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 medium sized red bell pepper (finely chopped)
  • 1 medium sized carrot (finely chopped)
  • 1-2 small leaves of green or purple cabbage (finely chopped)
  • 3 leaves of kale
  • a few scallions (finely chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro (finely chopped)

Sauce //

  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 2 tablespoons almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons miso paste
  • 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic (finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Topping //

  • 3 tablespoons raw almonds (finely chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon nama shoyu

Optional //

  • Avocado (sliced)

Chop the kelp noodles up, breaking them apart into a large bowl. Remove stems from kale and break apart into small bite sized chunks. Add sesame oil and massage both the kale and noodles for a couple minutes. Add the remaining ingredients for the noodles and mix.

In a separate smaller bowl, add and mix all of the sauce ingredients…water, almond butter, sesame oil, miso paste, garlic, lime juice, maple syrup, ginger and red pepper flakes.

Chop the almonds until medium fineness. In another small bowl, combine the almonds, paprika, nama shoyu.

Add the sauce mixture to the noodles and mix until everything is nicely coated. Top with fresh slices of avocado, a few cilantro stems and the topping. Enjoy!

Adapted from Divine Healthy Food’s recipe here.

 

 

 

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