Autumn Jumpstart

Be sure to check out your local farmers market to get the dibs on some fresh autumn produce :)

Are you starting to feel a little off both mentally and physically?  Probably because your body is trying to adjust to the changing seasons.  It's starting to cool down as we welcome in the Fall, that means more warming and denser foods than summer ones.  We're still in the transitional phase so be sure to switch between this and summer cooking until the weather stabilizes.  Some common symptoms your may be experiencing are mood swings, skin breakouts, joint/muscle pains, increased fatigue, and digestion problems, but hopefully switching up your foods and cooking styles to more yang styles will help it stabilize.  Now if you're experiencing funky weather like here in LA (cold in the morning, warms up during the day, then drops back down at night) then it may be wise to eat both ying and yang right now depending on the temperature until it fully cools down throughout the day.  For instance, if you are still enjoying your light summer salads start eating it with a side of soup, miso soup cures all ;)  Here's a quick reference I made to help you adjust and jumpstart your macrobiotic autumn season.

Since it seems to be a lot cooler here in the morning, try this balanced macrobiotic breakfast menu for Autumn:

Bulgur Porridge with Scallions, Sauerkraut, and Grain Coffee
Boil 2 cups of water and add 1/4-1/2 cup of bulgur and pinch of sea salt.  Boil, cover, and reduce to medium-low to simmer for 30 mins until creamy.  Garnish with sliced scallions.  I like to top it with my sauerkraut but if it's too strong for you in the morning then pass.  Enjoy with grain coffee from my favorite Inka grain coffee.

Restaurant Review: Le Pain Quotidien (Claremont, CA) - Organic French Lentil Salad

Organic French Lentil Salad - french lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, red radish, cucumbers, carrots, and avocado on top of arugula sprinkled with flaxseeds.  

Sticking to lighter salads for summertime, I visited Le Pain Quotidien in Claremont, CA and ordered their Organic French Lentil Salad.  This salad was amazing and a great summer treat.  I think it may be a summer special and is only served at some Le Pain Quotidiens so it may not be available near you.  However here's a recipe that you can try to replicate it at home.  I have yet to try it but sounds like it would come out pretty darn close to tasting like the one they serve.  I added some ingredients to it to make it a little more macro friendly ;)

Macro French Lentil Salad

Eden makes a great raw unpasteurized one.

1. Cook 1/4-1/2 cup of green lentils a sprig of thyme and some diced onions.  To make it more macro be sure to cook it with 1 inch piece of kombu.  Stir in some presoaked hijiki towards the end of cooking.  Be sure to not overcook the lentils, it should be easily separable not mushy.  If you like you can add 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas to your salad as well.
2. Slice 1/4 cup each of carrots, radish, and cucumber.  Mix on top of a bed of arugula.  Scoop cooked on lentils and top with 1/2 sliced avocado.
3. For the vinaigrette, mix red wine vinegar, with lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, minced shallots, pepper, chopped parsley, and pesto.  Add a dash of shoyu and ume vinegar for more macro dressing.  Pour on top of salad and enjoy :)

Fast Summer Salad

I love veg shish kabobs!  They're perfect for summer grilling and easy to make.    Cut and skewer them ahead of time and store in fridge so they're easy to grab and throw on the grill.  For my kabob I used green, orange, and red bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and mushroom.

Here's a great fast salad that you can throw together for summer, especially when that lazy summer slug is creeping into your daily routine and you really don't feel like putting much effort into cooking :P  This is a very yin dish so make sure you monitor how you feel after.  If you start to feel a little lightheaded have the salad with some warm miso soup to help balance it off.

Summer Salad

1. Veg shish kabob - Skewer summer squashes and peppers on a skewer, sprinkle with umeboshi vinegar  and place on grill.  Turning until both sides are slightly charred.
2. Mixed Greens - Try a mix of mixed greens for the salad but try to steer clear of spinach.  Top with shredded carrots, sliced beets, and half an avocado.  Squeeze fresh lemon.
3. Tofu - I just diced up fresh tofu but you can go ahead and grill your tofu or skewer it onto your kabob as well.  Replacing this with a tofu dipp is a great option.  Just mash up the tofu in a suribachi with some green onion, tahini, miso, shoyu, and a dash of brown rice vinegar.
4. Buckwheat salad - Cook 1/4 cup buckwheat and toss with shredded cabbage, cooked chickpeas, dash of cumin, sea salt, olive oil, and baby tomatoes.

Macro beauty: Cleansing with Castor Oil

I'm all about using natural beauty products especially facial cleansers, but you have to admit that buying those organic raw cleansers all the time can get pretty pricey.  So I decided to try out the castor oil facial cleansing method.  Some people freak out when they hear about using oils as facial cleansers because they think that oil for the skin is bad and that it clogs up your pores.  However castor oil is non-clogging, in fact it does the opposite by penetrating the skin and lubricating our pores to help push out blackheads and other congestions in the skin.  It also moisturizers your skin which is great.  If our skin gets too dry it produces its own pore-clogging oil which causes even more congestion.  Each time we strip our face of moisture it overcompensates by producing even more oil.  

The basic concept with this method involves two things:  (1) massaging the oil into your skin dissolves and lubricates the oil that's hardened in your pores, and (2) using steam will help open your pores allowing the oil to easily unclog them.  Keep in mind that this is a deep cleansing routine so it's best done in the evening right before you go to bed.  I do it daily when I find that I'm having a very stressful week and my skin is not its best.  When it gets back into normal routine I do it every other day or three times a week.  Here's what you do:

I invested in a face steamer which was only $20. 

1. Massage 1/4 tsp castor oil into skin.
2. Apply another 1/4 tsp of the oil onto face and massage in circular motions.  You'll find that this time around it will mostly sit on top of the skin instead of absorbing.
3. Boil water in a big pot (big enough to cover whole face), remove from stove carefully and place on a pot coaster on table.  
4. Sit with face above the pot so steam is encompassing your face and place towel over head over the pot so it captures the steam inside.
5. Steam face for 10-15 mins. then wipe clean with damp cloth.  Wash face.

I really love cleansing my skin with castor oil.  It really helped and I hope you guys love it too!  This is also great to help ease muscles and joints when massaged or applied to the affected area with castor pads. So many possibilities with castor oil ;)

This is the brand that I use.   It was a good price and can be found at Whole Foods and other natural markets.

Update! Summer Breakfast: Papaya & Berries

Eating more fruit over the summer will help your body cool down.  I've also noticed that I'm digesting fruit in the morning better now than brown rice porridge!  Must be the change in season.  I like this simple and quick way to enjoy a nice fruity breakfast.  I got the papaya from Trader Joe's (Caribbean Red Papaya) and organic berries from whole foods.  Enjoy this with a nice hot cup of kukicha tea :)

Benefits of Papayas


Digestion
Besides the great amount of antioxidants in papayas like Vitamin C, E, and betacarotenes, the proteolytic enzymes found in papayas are very important to digest food.  The main enzyme papain helps to break down protein and helps treats bloating and chronic indigestion.  You can even find the papaya enzymes in tablet form but it's always better to eat it naturally straight from the fruit.

Cleanser
A natural cleanser for your colon is drinking a quarter pint of papaya juice, cucumber juice, and green bean juice intermittently for 12 hours.  Papaya is also very rich in fiber binding itself to cancer-causing toxins and flushing itself from the colon.

Inflammation
As previously mentioned, papain breaks down protein which also breaks down protein in the skin.  Therefore ingestion can help move dead skin and treat skin injuries, psoriasis, warts, ringworms, and cold sores.  This in combination with its high levels of antioxidants makes papayas great for your skin.

 

Restaurant Review: Lemonade L.A. (Pasadena, CA)

Their summer seasonal lemonade flavor is peach ginger lemonade.

What screams summer more than fresh squeezed lemonade!  I did a review on Lemonade L.A. at their USC location, but had a chance over summer to go to their Pasadena location multiple times.  If you're unfamiliar with how lemonade works, first thing you should know is that this place is not all vegan, they do serve meat, fish, and a lot of dairy desserts.  However their deli salad marketplace area is vegan heaven.  Just ask them which of their marketplace items are vegan and they'll point it out for you.  They usually have at least 5 items that are vegan.  You can order up to 3 full portions and you can have the portions split.  So then your 3 different marketplace choices turns into 6 different half size choices.  They rotate their menu with seasonal specials and the main hit for summer is their farro special with lima beans, chickpeas, and kalamata olives.  I absolutely love farro and this was the first time I actually tried it cold as a deli salad.  The olives gives it a nice kick and the lima beans gives the farro a very light almost creamy consistency.  I split the 2 portion option and got the farro special with 1) kale, mushroom, kumquat vinaigrette, 2) cauliflower, golden raisins, almonds, curry, and 3) snap peas, edamame, sesame.  So I urge you to head on down to the closest Lemonade L.A.!  Oh and don't forget to grab a lemonade.  They always have an unsweetened flavor which would be the most macro.  If you're in the need for an immediate cool down then try these macrobiotic summer drink refreshers!

Raspberry Lemonade

Just a few drops of lemon juice is a natural energy booster.  Mixed with antioxidant powers found raspberries, this drink protects against cancer and muscular degeneration.

1/4 cup fresh raspberry puree

lemon juice to taste

1 cup water

Apple juice to taste (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a blender till mixed well.

Refreshing Grapefruit Spritzer

 Grapefruit is a rich antioxidant that helps reduce the risk of heart disease and prostate cancer.  Perfect for a summer night!

1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice  

1 cup sparkling water

Add ingredients into a glass and stir.   Try additional flavors with ginger, apple, lime, lemon, cinnamon, cranberry, pomegranate, and cherry.

Iced Barley Tea

This is a good summer drink and helps reduce fever, cooling the body.

Roast barley in a skillet, stirring constantly to prevent burning, until a fragrant aroma is detected. To 1 portion barley, add 10 times the amount of water . Bring to a boil, reduce flame, and simmer 10 minutes.


Lemonade L.A. (PASADENA LOCATION)
146 S. Lake Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-304-7700
Open Daily 11am-9pm




*Street parking is available.  Seating is cafeteria style so it can be quite a challenge to find a seat when it is busy.

Bending the rules for summer

Visit your local farmers market to see what's in season!

So many fruits and veggies fall into the "use sparingly or avoid" category because of its extremely yin qualities.  However, because it's local to some regions and in season right now, you can definitely experiment to try and see how your body reacts.  I admit, I did try to eat some of these earlier in the year but noticed that my body just did not seem to accept it.  But now that summer has started I decided to revisit them and I love it!  Key is to eat them cold, like in salads.  This will help cool down your body even more for summer.  I think it's so amazing how our body adapts to our surroundings.  So go ahead and read the list of forbidden fruits and veggies.  You'll see that they have vital nutrients that our body needs so take advantage of them now!

1) Avocados

This little green hulk is on a rampage right now.  It's everywhere!  Research shows that avocados significantly increases the absorption of lycopene and beta-carotene.  Yes, it's high in fat, but these heart healthy fats especially phytosterols helps inflammation.  I've been adding them on top of my salads.  I find that it gives it a really nice caesar dressing taste.  I usually just use half and store the other half in the fridge by squeezing some lemon on it (with the pit still in it) and warp it up in saran wrap.  It tends to last 1-2 days.  Another great way to use it is in brown rice sushi and wrapped in nori with some sprouts, carrots, and peppers.

2) Tomatoes

These have high antioxidant power, hence the deep red color, because of its lycopene concentration.  I haven't taken so kindly to tomatoes, however I find cherry tomatoes to be the big hit this summer and much better to digest.  I tend to have just a few in my salad which brings a nice red color to it ;)

3) Eggplant
Eggplants are really popular for summer grilling but I've pretty much stayed away from them.  You can go ahead and give it a try to see how you handle them, but I still get really heavy nightshade symptoms from it.  They are rich in phenolic antioxidant compounds, contains nasunin which has been shown to protect brain cell membranes from damage, and it's delicious.  If you're enjoying grilled eggplants right now with no problems then I envy you :P  Grilled eggplant brown rice sushi sounds pretty amazing right now.

4) Cucumber
The most cooling thing you can eat for summer.  Development of new anti-cancer drugs are currently looking into the use of cucumbers because of cucurbitacins A, B, C, D, and E all found in fresh cucumber.  It also has fighting power against cardiovascular disease because it contains lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol.  I use sliced cucumbers in my salad, pickle them in some ume and brown rice vinegar, add it to brown rice stir fries, and of course make brown rice cucumber sushi.  Heck, use cucumber slices on your eyes while sun bathing!

5) Summer squash
These are one of the primary sources of beta-carotene and alpha-carotene, and one of the top three foods containing lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin (three other health-supportive carotenoids). I do prefer winter squashes over summer ones, but when steamed they are quite refreshing.  Toss them with some cold stir fried soba noodles or slice them really thin to make some raw pasta.  These taste pretty darn good sprinkled with ume vinegar.  


6) Melons
Probably the most popular melon for summer is watermelon.  They have a high concentration of lycopene which helps fight against cardiovascular disease.  It's a very refreshing dessert to have, especially when pureed and chilled.  But I gravitate more towards honeydew and cantaloupes because they're less sweet for my taste.  Fruit salads with sliced up melons is great!

7) Peppers
A huge source of vitamin C, vitamin E, and six carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin)!  Great in stir fries, wrapped in nori, and grilled.  I love munching on them raw, especially red bell peppers.  You can also pickle them too which I have yet to try but imagine would be quite beautiful in color.  

Remember that everyone is different so go ahead and try out which of these works well with you.  You may find that what didn't work earlier in the year now just clicks for you as the heat rises.  Have fun!