What We’ve Been Eating: June-July 2010

July 19th, 2010 - filed under: The Food » Food and Health

Summer is in full bloom and it’s brought along the most beautiful bounty. My kitchen is so full of color and life, I can’t help but photograph it! So here’s a little ‘food porn’, haha, from me to you. Enjoy!

Big Ass Salad (BAS). I’ve been eating *lots* of these! This one featured [organic] crispy crunchy romaine, cucumbers, radishes, red onions, red bells, avocados, carrots, chia seeds, and hemp hearts – tossed in lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

Raw Wraps! Stuffed with sunflower seed paté, cucumber, carrot, leeks, and avocados, served with a turmeric tahini dip.

Cinnamon Rolls. I made these for Damian’s first father’s day, and they were very much enjoyed by both him and my father-in-law. I didn’t actually have any, but I’ve made the recipe before and can attest that they are maybe the most delicious, and most naughtiest, breakfast food on the planet. =)

Strawberries! I growed these myself, ain’t they cute? I think this handful went straight into my blender (before I realized Waits reacts to them).

Wakame seaweed salad. This puppy packs something like 50% of my RDA for iron, and about 25% for calcium. I like it with sesame oil, lemon juice, sesame seeds, crispy cucumber, slivered onion, and a side of avocado slices. Mmm delicious!

Black bean and quinoa salad, with onion, tomato, avocado, black olives, and plenty of homegrown cilantro. This is a summer staple, and SO GOOD. Damian scoops it up on organic corn chips; I use it as filling for raw cabbage leaf ‘tacos’.

Remember when I showed you all the cherries that Damian harvested from our tree? Well, this is what I did with them!

For Damian I baked miniature cherry pies. How friggin’ cute is that??!

For myself I made raw chocolate cherry tartlets. Oh. My. God.

Plant Blood! For this veg*n vampire, muahaha. Cucumber-cilantro-celery-watermelon, plus the watermelon rinds (which are really good for you!) My first homemade green juice! Also, can you find my family hiding in this pic? ;-)

Damian bought me a raspberry bush for my first mother’s day. Isn’t that so sweet? This is the first teeny harvest. Harley was very interested . . .

My first batch of kimchi fermenting on the counter. Success! I’ll post a tutorial soon, this stuff is so amazing and crazy good for you!

Raw sushi! With chunky almond paté in place of rice, filled with cucumber, avocado, and red bell pepper. Served with kimchee (store bought).

‘Peanut Butter & Jelly’ green (pink?) smoothie. Such a treat!

This was an amazing farmer’s market stir fry, sublimely simple with sesame, tamari, garlic, and ginger. Featuring snap peas, sweet onions, tempeh, and shiitaki mushrooms. We eat this weekly these days – just had a variation tonight!

I honored the first peaches of the season in this raw tart. The peaches sit on a bed of vanilla cashew cream and are garnished with fresh berries and a generous dollop of raspberry cashew cream. Um, yeah. AMAZING

I’ve been so inspired around food lately, just loving this delicious, health-giving, high-raw fare. I’m coming up on my 2 year Veganniversary, and I’m really feeling so grateful and so delighted to be veg*n! To explore and enjoy such diverse plant-based cuisine, it’s so powerful! Such a positive force in a mindful life.

So what about you? What foods have you been enjoying lately?

http://shillig4family.blogspot.com Caroline

Congrats on the veganniversary!
I love your blog, I found it when researching homemade drano a few months back and think this is my first comment.
I’m loving my garden this year and your blog inspires me!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

@ Caroline – Welcome! Im so glad you commented, and that you like the blog. And thanks for the veganniversary wishes!
http://kpapoulias.blogspot.com/ Kathryn

These look soooo good. Have you heard of Stumble? Half of the time on the internet, which isn’t too much, I’m stumbling vegan food porn…I think it’s making me permanently starving, haha.
Anyway, this is awesome! Yummy and pretty ideas. :)
kate in sb

omg so hungry now!
beautiful pictures!
http://alternativehousewife.com Janine – Alternative Housewife

Cannot wait for the tut! I’m obsessed with kimchee – literally one of my favorite foods of all time, definitely in my Top 10.
Helen

Thanks so much for posting that… I don’t have many people around to share my vegan tasties with and it gets disheartening… seeing all your delicious looking raw vegan delights was really inspiring!
Melisa

Beautiful photos! I had no idea you were a relatively new vegan! You seem like a lifelong expert. I also didn’t know watermelon rinds were good for you–already learned my new thing for today!
Leah

Mmmm. Everything is beautiful. My peach season is nearly at an end (sob), but maybe I can enjoy yours vicariously.

When you made your juice, did you use a juicer, vita mix, food processor, or blender? I think my blender might be dying ’cause it’s not handling smoothies very well anymore.
Katrina

Where do you get you wakame seaweed from? I have no idea where I’d find it, but I desperately need iron. Love this post all looks great!
http://www.heathers-perspective.blogspot.com Heather

raw cherry tart=yes!! i wanted to lick my computer screen when i saw that! ok, i’m gross, but yeah, it looks that good :)
we’ve been enjoying home-grown bell peppers, snap peas, tomatoes, lettuce, & spinach.
A friend from church gave me some patty pan squash. we had that for the first time and it was SO good :)
http://www.oregonweddingofficiants.com Maureen Thomson

How inspiring! It’s only 7:00 AM and you make me want to run to my kitchen to whip up something! I’m not vegan–but a year ago, I cut out all meat and opted to eat only organic and non-chemicalized (a word I made up–don’t you love it?) foods. Can’t tell you how much better I feel! And after you get used to it, whipping up things from scratch becomes second nature and not all that time-consuming.

My recent homemade food addiction is a yummy granola I’ve been making. Can’t get enough of the darn thing!
http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com windycityvegan

That all looks delish. What I really want to comment on, though, is that I’m so happy to see that I’m not the only one who uses a glass straw!
http://www.myspace.com/tirscatha Lenn

Congrats on your garden, looks like you’ve had a great harvest! I planted/harvested my first sunflower seeds this year! Was so much fun! And they tasted wonderful…Next year I think I’m going to try making peanut butter only with sunflower seeds instead of peanuts, then use it to make a variation of peanut butter cookies or something…mmm.

The pretty tart, the peaches with the other yummies…Where is recipe? *pout*
http://www.itsbythesea.livejournal.com Rea

Haha, I’ve been experimenting a lot with nutritional yeast lately! I used to hate it so much, and then I came into a huge jar of it and realized I shouldn’t waste it, and the more I’ve been eating it the more I like it!
Kate

STOP MAKING VEGAN RAW FOOD LOOK SO DELICIOUS DAMMIT!

… :) Love,
Kate
Hyla

I love food porn! (^_^)
I am celebrating my 2 yr veganverssary this month too. (Off and on vegetarian prior to going full vegan.) It has been a wonderful food journey! I eat a wider variety of foods now, after cutting out meat, dairy, eggs and gluten products. So fun to try new things!
Keep up the great work!!
http://starshipnarcissus.blogspot.com Lisa M

Wow, so delicious! I honestly can’t afford to eat this healthy unless I cut out all my other enjoyable hobbies. Why are fruits and veggies not subsidized? It is scary how cheap meat and dairy is! Of course as a vegan on a budget I eat a lot of grains and legumes. One day when we are out of school we can eat this well I hope!
Jeannie

I love veggies and these ideas look so yummy. I am new to eating organic and am really just learning to “cook”. (I used to be an open the box or jar type of cook but since I have learned how terrible processed foods are…well you know. Are you going to post the recipe for the Quinoa and black bean salad? (New to Quinoa. New to all of it really).
Cedar

Dang, girl!! You eat so well and are helping me learn how to take care of myself! It’s funny (and slightly sad) how I’m just now slowly learning how to feed and really nurture myself. It only took 20+ years! ha. Better late than never though. :)

As usual, awesome pictures and ideas to be found here!!
Cedar

p/s
I must agree with a PP about how difficult it is for our family to afford really healthy food as well! The cost produce is outrageous!! But I digress….
Cindy

I’m so excited by all of this beautiful food, and especially by your raw goodies. I’d love any recipes, guidelines or insights into how you do things. I’m still learning right now, so raw for me ends up being tons of salads and eating ‘ingredients’ rather than prepared foods. And Lisa M, I’ve found that the farmers market makes eating like this totally affordable. If you’re anywhere near a good one, it makes all the difference in the world.
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

Oh wow, I love all the comments this post generated. Who knew?! Haha, love that you guys are into it. I <3 food photography!

@ Kathryn – I do the same thing! I can get SO inspired just hopping around the internet, gazing at food porn.

@ kate in sb – Yay, and coming from the firl who doesn’t like veggies, that’s saying a lot!

@ Janine – Alternative Housewife – I’m planning a huge series on fermented foods, which I’m really into right now. The kimchee tutorial will be up in the next few weeks!

@ Helen – Yay, so glad you like it! =)

@ Melisa – I’m also surprised, haha. I’m like “Really? It’s only been 2 years??” I guess it just suits me, feels so natural!

@ Leah – I use a Champion juicer, but you can also use a blender or food processor and then strain it through a sieve/mesh bag. I think my food processor is on it’s way out, too. I work it pretty hard! =D

@ Katrina – You can usually find wakame, dulse, arame, and nori at health food stores. Whole Foods should have them. I get mine at a local Asian supermarket – ‘ethnic’ grocers are also a great place to check, though the packaging can sometimes be difficult to decipher.

@ Heather – Ooh I’m jealous of your homegrown peppers! I’ve never been able to get them to thrive.

@ Maureen Thompson – You’re so right, once you get the hang of it, cooking from scratch is sooo easy. I’m used to thinking ahead now and doing a bit of prep each night/each morning. It doesn’t take much time but eating real, whole foods really does make all the difference. Seriously, good for you fer getting de-’chemicalized’!

@ windycityvegan – I LOVE MY GLASS STRAW!!! But I only have one right now, I need to round out my collection and get a complete set. They are so amazing and I use it every day. Never going back! Do you use Glass Dharma?

@ Lenn – Mmm, sunbutter is my favorite of all the butters! I’ve never made homemade, I bet it would be so divine.
No recipe because I totally make it up as I go along! Sorry! Maybe I’ll try to formulate one at some point.

@ Rea – I loooove nooch, it is so yummy and SO healthy. It really does pack a nutritional punch considering its serving size. I use it in soups, sauces, salad dressings, smoothies, basically anything that starts with an ‘s’ apparently!

@ Kate – NO WAY MAN! That’s my job! =D

@ Hyla – Same with me, I eat sooo much more now being veg*n! It really does open up a whole new world.

@ Lisa M – I hear ya, but there are ways to make it happen! Farmer’s Market’s are *much* cheaper than supermarkets. Have you read my posts on filling up on veggies without breaking the bank and how to bulk buy? With a bit of planning you can definitely afford fresh produce and quality food!

@ Jeannie – No worries lady, when I started dating my husband we were eating out of boxes too. Not so very long ago, really! We’re all on a journey – it’s awesome that you’re moving in that direction at all!
The quinoa black bean salad is super easy. The quinoa and black beans are a 1:1 ratio, maybe a cup and a half of each? I make my beans from scratch but that’s about a can’s worth. And about 3/4 cup dry quinoa to make a cup and a half cooked. So combine those, then add a diced tomato, a handful of black olives (diced), a couple slices of onion (diced), maybe some red or green bell peppers (diced). Then stir in a couple spoonfulls of salsa, a handfull of cilantro leaves (minced), maybe some nutritional yeast if you like it, and some salt and pepper. That’s the basic recipe but it’s very forgiving – you can leave stuff out, or add stuff in as you like. I sometimes add diced zucchini which works well. Luck!

@ Cedar – Hey, it took me 20+ years too! So no worries.And I’m still learning! =D
I do understand that it can be more expensive when you transition to healthier food. But think of the cost you’ll save in medical bills down the road! Check out the articles I linked to above, they have some great tips for keeping in budget!

@ Cindy – What sorts of tips are you interested in? Like, how to do ‘easy raw’ sorts of stuff? Or more along the lines of budgeting? Or just recipes?
Cindy

Sayward – I’m in a city with a decent co-op and an amazing farmers market, so budgeting isn’t much of an issue for me. I’m a still a raw novice, so uncooked recipes are very welcome. I’ll likely never be 100% raw, so cooked vegan recipes are great too, but when the average temperature is so hot, cool and room temp foods are far preferable. It’s all part of the learning curve, and I’ll take all the brains I can borrow. :)
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

@ Cindy – I can do recipes! I’m on it! =D
Kelly

That is some seriously HOT food porn! Lovely and motivational!
katrina

raspberry are dangerous. don’t let the bushes spread or you’ll have an impenetrable thicket covering half your yard in a few years.
Mandie

I.love.foodporn.

I love you and this site! Thanks for all you do, and keep it up <3
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

Thanks so much guys!

@ katrina – I’m keeping a careful eye on them. ;-)
Danielle

What’s the recipe for the crust on that tart? It looks amazing!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

@ Danielle – Sorry, I don’t have a recipe! I just throw things into the food processor until it tastes good. =)
Anonymous

I cannot seem to find your kimchi recipe. My husband and I want to have a raw sushi dinner this weekend! Would you be able to direct me to the right place on your site? Aldo looking forward to baking something with a flax egg (not impressed with ener-g).
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

I never posted a kimchi recipe, unfortunately. However if you look at my sauerkraut recipe, there’s a video at the bottom that talks about kimchi. It’s basically the same process as kraut. Hope that helps!

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