An Island French Christmas 2013

Vegan ratatouille served with "cheezy" millet/brown rice mash, and red wine reduction.

After hearing someone I know name Disney's "Ratatouille" as their favorite Christmas movie (don't know why haha), it gave me the idea to create this warm hearty dish as a Christmas entree for myself and lovely side dish for the rest of the family back home on Guam.  This classic French dish is sure to please everyone :)  Merry Christmas!!!!

Ratatouille - inspired by the official recipe used for the movie.

Ingredients:

• 2 yellow peppers, seeds and ribs removed, sliced in half
• 1 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed, sliced in half
• 2-3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, divided
• 1/2 c. finely diced yellow onion
• 3 tomatoes (about 12 oz.), finely diced, juices reserved
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 3 zucchini (4 to 5 oz.) sliced in 1/16-in. rounds
• 2 eggplant (4 to 5 oz.), sliced into 1/16-in. rounds
• 1 yellow squash (4 to 5 oz. ), sliced into 1/16-in. rounds (Guam did not sell summer squashes but they had butternut so I substituted that and thought it actually worked out better!  Plus, it's more of a wintery feel to the dish.  Definitely go for the butternut).
• 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-in. rounds
• 1/8 tsp. dried thyme leaves (I did about 1/2 tsp by accident and it was good!)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the peppers cut side down on a foil-lined sheet. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.
• Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil (Or 1-2 teaspoons), 1 teaspoon garlic and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, their juices, fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Do not brown.
• Add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season to taste with salt and discard herbs. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the mixture and spread remainder in bottom of an 8-inch skillet.
• Reduce the heat in the oven to 275 degrees.
• Down the center of the skillet arrange a strip of alternating slices of zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash and Roma tomatoes, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap the vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled. (It's a little confusing, just arrange them artfully with a good amount of overlap, with the center of the pile being mounded up a bit higher)
  
• Mix 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, the dried thyme, 2 teaspoons olive oil in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over the vegetables.
• Cover pan with foil and seal well. Bake until vegetables are tender, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (to cut time I baked for 1 hour then turned it up to 300 degrees covered for another 30mins.  Final 30mins I uncovered and baked).

"Cheezy" Millet/Brown Rice Mash

• I cooked about 1/2 cup millet and brown rice combined in a rice cooker and to make it into more like a porridge used about 1-2 cups of water.  I also used majority millet and just sprinkled in a few brown rice grains.
• After rice cooker finished it into a porridge I boiled it it in a pot and added .5-1 cup water and really boiled it down to thicken it.  This is so you still get the benefit of a soft grain but sturdy enough to assemble on your plate.
• While boiling grains sprinkle in some nutritional yeast to give it that cheezy flavor.  Plus it gives your dish that protein kick as well.  I probably put in about 1/4 cup.
• You can also cook the grains in a pot as well.  I use Bob Mill's whole grain millet which will take about 30-45mins to cook without the rice cooker.

Red Wine Reduction

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bottle red wine
• 1 garlic clove sliced
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 1/2 apple (use fuji or granny smith) sliced
• Pinch salt
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns

Directions:

• Place all ingredients in a pot.  Bring to a boil over stove and immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer.  Cook until reduced by 2/3.
• Drizzle on top of dish or on sides.

Be sure to serve the dish warm and assemble as you please.  I liked having the grains underneath the ratatouilleI hope you all have a very ratatouille holiday!  

A Vegan Thai Feast - Christmas 2013

MELE KALIKIMAKA!  I know it's been a while since I've posted but wanted to share a delicious vegan thai meal that my boyfriend and I whipped up for the holiday season.  It includes a vegan thai green curry and fresh avocado spring rolls.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, remember the best part of the meal is sharing it with those you love ;)

Vegan Thai Green Curry

This curry was so onolicious.  You can substitute regular potatoes for the squash, but to make it macrobiotic good to use seasonal squashes such as butternut or kaboucha.  The squash actually helps sweeten the curry as well.

Ingredients:

3-4 tbsp thai green curry paste

2 cans of coconut milk

2 slices of thai galangal.  If you can't find this, then can substitute regular ginger.

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 cups vegetable broth

2 stalks lemongrass peeled and halved

1 pack extra firm tofu cubed

2 cups broccoli chopped

2 bell peppers seeded and chopped

1 eggplant cut into half moons

1 tbsp lime juice

5-6 green thai peppers, sliced open

1.5 cups cooked brown rice.

2 cups cubed butternut squash

1 carrot sliced in chunks

Directions

1. Before starting your curry be sure to prepare your rice in a rice cooker.  If you don't have a rice cooker on hand then place uncooked rice and water into a pot with pinch of salt.  Bring to boil then turn down to a simmer and let cook 40-60mins.  Remove lid and let stand for 10 mins and fluff with fork.
2. Heat a heavy pot with the sesame oil to low-medium heat and add curry paste.  Saute for 3 mins.
3. Stir in coconut milk & vegetable broth.  Add lemon grass, galangal slices, thai green peppers and cubes of tofu.  Bring to simmer and cook uncovered for at least 20mins.  You can remove the lemongrass, galangal, and peppers after this.
4. While curry is cooking prep your other vegetables.  Add in butternut squash, carrots, and eggplant since these take the longest to soften.  Stew for 20 more mins.  
5. Add in rest of veggies and cook for another 8-15mins.
6. Once all veggies are cooked through add in lime juice and serve immediately over brown rice. Curry can keep in fridge for up to 5 days.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Ingredients

1 pack of rice paper

1 pack of maifun noodles

Dipping sauces - I like to use Thai Kitchen Sweet red chili sauce and Annie Chun's Thai Peanut

1/2 carrot

1/2 zucchini

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 lime

1 romaine lettuce

1 pack of sprouts

1 avocado

1/2 head of red cabbage

Directions

1. Soak the maifun noodles in warm water for 10mins, drain, and place in fridge to cool.
2. Chop the bell pepper, carrot, zucchini into thin sticks.  
3. Slice the avocado into thin wedges, and shave the red cabbage into shreds.
4. Wash and break up romaine lettuce.  When assembling the roll I like to use just the leafy parts.  
5. Assembly
• Have a plate of water nearby to soak the rice paper.  Place paper in water until all is submerged, then remove and lay on new plate to assemble roll.
• Add shredded lettuce, carrots, bell pepper, noodles, sprouts, zuccini and noodles to center of roll.  Add noodles and avocado last.  Squeeze slice of lime in middle.
• Roll short ends of roll to center then tuck and start rolling.
• Dip in sauces and enjoy!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Xander!

Macroveg Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas everyone!  I know it's been a while since my last post but there was no way that I was missing this post ;)  I'm back on Guam enjoying my time with family.  It's also nice to finally have time to be in the kitchen again and whip up some yummy vegan holiday food.  Tonight I kept it simple and elegant with a kabocha stew.  It was delicious and relatively easy to make.  Great for this time of season.  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday.

Kabocha Stuffed Stew

1 small kabocha

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup broccoli

2 cups sliced kale

2 shiitake mushrooms

1 tbsp kuzu

1-2 tsp shoyu/tamari

2 tsp ginger juice

2 tsp sesame oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Cut the top of the kabocha squash and remove seeds.  Peel and cube the removed top portion of the kabocha, place pieces in pot with boiling water and boil until tender (approximately 10-15 mins).  
3. Puree the cubes with 1/2-1 cup of boiling water in a blender until smooth (Tip: add the water slowly till a gravy consistency is reached).  Pour the puree back into the pot and bring to simmer.
4. Dissolve 1 tbsp of kuzu in a bowl with 2 tbsp of water.  Pour dissolved kuzu into the pot with the simmer kabocha puree and stir till it thickens.  Add the shoyu/tamari and stir well.  Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Place 1 tsp of sesame oil in palm of hands and rub together.  take hollowed kabocha squash and coat skin with oiled hands to prevent kabocha from drying while roasting in the oven.  Once coated, take a bounty and rub outside to remove excess oil.
6. Place hollowed kabocha onto pan and roast in oven for 45 mins.
7. Prepare filling by stir frying the sliced shiitake mushrooms in a pot with the remaining sesame oil.    Add 1 inch of water and boil carrots till softened.  Next add broccoli and kale to pot.  Keep adding 1 inch water to pot until broccoli and kale are softened.  Once veggies are cooked place 1-2 inches of water into pot and boil for 1 min. and remove from heat.  
8. After the kabocha has roasted for 45 mins. place the filling with the water into the kabocha and roast in oven for another 15 mins.
9. Remove filled kabocha from oven and place on plate.  Heat up kabocha puree to a simmer and then pour over kabocha squash so that it overflows over the sides of the squash.  Serve with 1 cup of cooked brown rice and some fresh corn.  Enjoy!

Feel free to eat the peel of the kabocha squash.  It's highly nutritious and one of the only squash skins that are edible.  The skin is very thin which makes it easy to digest.  Remember to always wash your veggies when it's not organic.  Wouldn't hurt to do it even if it is organic.  On Guam it's hard to find organic veggies, especially kabocha squash, but I was able to get my hands on the Environne vegetable and fruit wash which I love!  They use a surface-acting cleansing agent that is non-toxic and bio-degradeable.

Restaurant Review: Thanksgiving 2012 (Native Foods Cafe and Shojin)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  Unfortunately I couldn't cook this year because I was so busy with school but I went to some fabulous vegan Thanksgiving gatherings at two restaurants:  Native Foods Cafe and Shojin!  I was very fortunate to have my Dad visit me from Guam during this time :)  Here's my review:

Native Foods Cafe (Westwood Location)

Native Foods Cafe is the perfect place for a Thanksgiving luncheon.   You get to try their famous Native Wellington, and how often do you get to have an all vegan Thanksgiving buffet?  ;)

Native foods holds a "Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet" every year with their famous Native Wellington as their main attraction.  Seating reservations are in two hour sections starting at 11:30am.  My Dad and I took the 11:30 seating which was perfect because it was not overly crowded.  You pay $24.95/person and can head back to the buffet as many times as you like within your 2 hour seating period.  The menu looked very appetizing and my favorite part was that it had Thanksgiving classics like cornbread, green bean casserole and stuffing.  They had two buffet stations, one downstairs the other upstairs so you didn't have to go up or down the stairs at the Westwood location.

Native Wellington

At the beginning of the buffet was the Native Wellington carving station.  The Native Wellington is a puff pastry filled with savory Native Seitan, stuffing, orange-glazed sweet potatoes, kale, and herbed mushrooms, served with mushroom shallot gravy.  This was may favorite part of the meal.  Reminded me of a pot pie!  Definitely a must try!  They even sell the Wellington itself during the holiday season.   I believe there's a way for you to order it online as well.  Makes a great addition to your Thanksgiving table.  Native Foods is going to serve this for X-mas as well ;)

Cornbread

Next up were standard buffet stations like mash potatoes, stuffing, and the green casserole.  Another great reason to come early, everyone is so neat and you get first scoop.  At the end of the station are two salad bowls to make sure you get some more greens in your meal.  To top it all off you can grab some delicious Native Foods cornbread which is the same cornbread you get from their Soul Bowl entree.  It's one of the best vegan cornbreads you'll ever have.  Just the right texture with a little kick in it.  What made it even more delicious was that they just toasted it so it was nice and golden brown near the bottom and very warm.         

Dessert table 

Finally, to top off our great Thanksgiving luncheon was a fantastic dessert buffet with vegan brownies, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake.  Right when you walk into the door you see the dessert station so you're just tempted to start with dessert.  Hey, who's stopping you?   It's Thanksgiving!  ;)

Fun and happy atmosphere

 Overall, Native Foods Cafe was amazing.  My Dad (who's only vegan when he visits me lol) thoroughly enjoyed the food and specifically loved the green bean casserole.  I thought the highlight was the Wellington because it was so different and really brought the feeling of Thanksgiving to the whole meal.  As for dessert I thought the winner was the brownie, my Dad thought it was the pumpkin pie.  The staff was so friendly (look at the worker smiling in the picture!) and the atmosphere felt like you were having a meal amongst family.  Truly the air was filled with vegan love :D



 Shojin Restaurant

Main Entree:  Tempura Maitake, potato steak, mashed potato with Quinoa soy butter sauce.

Shojin Thanksgiving Menu

Next stop for dinner...Shojin!  This place is famous for having special holiday set courses.  I went here for Valentines Day once with my sister, so I definitely had high expectations from the start.  One thing that I was not so excited about was how much nightshades were going to be used in the meals (macrobiotics does not value nightshades).  As you see from the menu there's a lot of potatoes and some eggplant so I was definitely curious with how I was going to feel at the end of the night.  But hey I avoid nightshades all the time so what better occasion to indulge in some nightshades other than  Thanksgiving so lets have some fun ;)  

Detox Elixir

I started off with a Cranberry Detox/Green Tea Detox drink which was so refreshing.  It has ginger and cayenne with cranberry and green tea to help clear your sinuses, and detox your kidney and liver.  My Dad ordered one too but he found it to be too strong.  I compared it to a Kombucha drink and found it delicious but it may definitely be too strong for those who are not use to detox elixirs.

Beautiful!

Our first course was a pumpkin souop with a "Kuri" chestnut wrapped in "reckon" lotus roots.  Your first served with a big bowl with nothing but a ball in the middle (the kuri) and a lotus root on top.  You're left wondering, where is the soup?  But then out comes the waitress with a bowl of steaming golden pumpkin broth to serve fresh.  It's quite the presentation :)  The soup was creamy and delicious.  The chestnut ball complimented the flavors nicely and added great texture.

Crispy Rice Role Appetizer

Once again the appetizer was a beautiful presentation that reminded of an artist's paint palette.  However the best part of the dish was the brussels sprouts.  The crispy rice roll with konnyaku and agetofu was interesting but I didn't care for the crispy rice on the outside.  I found it to be somewhat odd and the textures seemed to clash with the smoosh of the rice paper inside of it.  If anything, this was the worst part of the set meals.

Tempura mushroom and potatoe

We finally got to the main entree which had tempura mushrooms, potato steak, and mashed potatoes.  The assembly was very formal and the waitress came out to pour the warm quinoa soy butter sauce.  The meal was filling and tasty but it had way too much potatoes for my taste.  Also I tended to avoid the sauce because I found it to be too oily.  Probably the best part was the tempura mushroom and the tempura shiso leaf on the side.  After eating the potatoes I could already feel my body react.  Felt a little heavy and somewhat tired :P

Fried Apple and sweet potato pie

Out came our dessert which was a fried apple and sweet potato pie with cranberry sauce and vanilla ice cream (which I believe is kindkreme).  Once again the waitress came out to pour the warm cranberry sauce, making the night extra special.  The dessert was satisfying.  Although I was a little afraid of the dessert being fried since I already felt that the nightshades was grounding me way too much, the dessert was surprisingly light.

Shojin is a great place to have a nice fancy meal.  It's hard to find a full vegan set menu so it's a great way to share a special night.  But unfortunately I left feeling really tired, probably from all the nightshades.  Another thing that was a slight disappointment was the absence of the Thanksgiving feel.  I loved the Japanese influence but felt that more classic Thanksgiving recipes could have been incorporated more thoroughly.  But you can't beat the ambience they serve up here, and what's really nice is that they take your picture and give it to you in a very nice handmade card with a free Shojin calendar :)

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun and I was so grateful to be able to share compassionate meals with my Dad.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I can't wait to share what I cook for Christmas this year!  

Finding Caffeine Alternatives the Macro Way

Hi Everyone!  I know it has been a while since my last blog but I've been so busy with school that finding the time has been somewhat difficult.  But know that it has always been on my mind ;)  Based on my hectic schedule I've tried to find ways to keep my energy going and made a pact to stay away from developing a coffee addiction, like many other students in my cohort ;P  So I've tried different things and here's what I have to say.

When you're macrobiotic you try to avoid caffeine as much as possible, this includes heavier caffeinated teas like green tea and black tea.  But if your body is telling you that you need the extra kick every now and then to help you get through your long day, like me with classes from 8am-7pm with only 45mins lunch break in between :S, then having a caffeine fix is much needed.  However, try your best to stay away from coffee (120mg of caffeine per cup) since this is the most extreme source you can get it from.  Especially if you've been off coffee for a while it' best to start off in lower doses of caffeine to see which one gives the boost you need with the least amount.  

Black teas are are one of the strongest caffeine sources besides coffee.  This organic earl grey (always go for organic tea when possible) was mountain-grown in India or Sri-Lanka.  It has a wonderful aroma and banks in at 50mg of caffeine per cup.  It gets its flavor from natural bergamot oil, a citrus fruit grown in Bergamo, Italy.  

I thought this tea did it's job, but would of definitely tasted better with some sweetener in it.  Although it seemed to wake me up right away it left me with dry tongue and an unpleasant dizziness at the end the night.  So it definitely gets some getting use to but it's such a beautiful product.  Look at the individual tea bags it comes in!  This is a very elegant tea and maybe a little too formal for my taste.

Next up is Green tea.  This is probably the next step up from the traditional macro choice of Kukicha tea.  Only thing is that, like Kukicha which has some caffeine, I feel like green tea does not really do much for my energy.  It is a great option besides coffee though and very accessible, you can find it everywhere.  Don't get me wrong, the taste is amazing and it has a lot of health benefits.  Green tea has an antioxidant called catechins which has been linked to anti-cancer activities.
But for some reason I seemed to have the opposite effect where it relaxed me more than woke me up.

This bulk tea bag version is available at Trader Joe's!

Finally, the newest thing I've been trying is called Yerba Mate.  Known as having the same "strength as coffee, with the health benefits of tea, and euphoria of chocolate," this sounds too good to be true.  It's naturally caffeinated with 150mg/serving with essential vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, C, E, B1, B2, B3, 5 Complex, and Calcium, Manganese, Iron, Selenium, Potassium, and much more.  It's a powerhouse.  But with the highest caffeine content it's probably the least macro.  The taste is also very strong and distinct, with a woody/smokey flavor, not like tea at all.  However I found that this gives me just the right amount of energy and caffeine if I steep it for just a few seconds.  Definitely worth a try.


Be sure to monitor your energy level.  Don't routinely take these in the morning if you have adequate energy to begin with.  When your energy begins to fall is when you should take these.  Also try to alternate between these caffeinated and decaf alternatives to avoid desensitization.

If you're not a follower of Alicia Silverstone's blog The Kind Life, log on and see what she has to say about some caffeine alternatives.  Amazingly, I had no idea she would blog about this as well around the same time haha so it's great to have additional sources ;)

Probiotics the Macroveg Way

Why should I take Probiotics?

If you are under stress, taking antibiotics, traveling or simply want to promote your health, taking Probiotics daily will maintain the health-promoting good bacteria in your intestinal tract. This is important because the intestines are the largest immune organ in the body and promoting their health strengthens your body's overall natural defenses. If the balance is disrupted, this can leave a comprised immune response. Fortunately, taking Probiotics supplements can help sustain the digestive tracks balance by re-introducing beneficial bacteria. To help restore normal dermal Probiotic balances natural Probiotic based skin products can assist the process.

People with flourishing intestinal colonies of probiotics are better equipped to fight the growth of disease-causing bacteria i.e. pathogenic organisms.

Probiotics also produce substances called bacteriocin, which act as natural antibiotics to kill undesirable microorganisms e.g. fungus and yeast, viruses, parasites and bacteria.

Where can we get our probiotics? 
Here are my top 3 vegan ways to get my probiotics.

In my previous post I talked about how pickled veggies/sauerkraut is a great way to get natural probiotics.  This is definitely the most macroveg way, but it's also the most inconvenient because you have to slice up the veggies, make sure you have brown rice vinegar and/or ume vinegar, and you have to pickle it for at least 1-2 days.

Buying sauerkraut is the second most macroveg way and so much more convenient.  I've really grown to love this organic raw kim-chi from Rejuvenative Foods.  Really turns your macro plate into a yummy
bi-bim-bop!

Then there's kombucha, which is sooooo good and addictive (literally!)  Just recently they've been selling it as a 21+ drink because it has 0.05% alcohol content in it which naturally occurs from the fermentation process.  So you can probably imagine that this is the least macroveg option but I feel perfectly fine drinking it a couple of times a week and I know it works magic with others who drink it at least once a day (jealous!).  I like the original but have really like the trilogy flavor too.  I resort to this when I'm unable to get something pickled with my meal to help with digestion.  So you'll find me drinking this when I have lunch at whole foods or when I'm traveling I go ahead and stock up for the hotel.  

Have fun trying these out ;)

Restaurant Review: M Cafe de Chaya

M Cafe Meal with Black Beans is the must go to dish.

M Cafe de Chaya is a modern day macrobiotic restaurant that serves both vegan food and fish.  It's hip and fast and very popular in the L.A. area.  You'll see celebrities walk in and order a juice to go and unfortunately sometimes you'll have to waif for an open seat.  But if you need simple macrobiotic fast food on the weekdays [they even have curbside pick-up] then this is the place to go.

Favorite dish to order is the M Cafe Meal with black beans.  It's a balanced macro plate with beans, brown rice, veggies, pickles and seaweed.  But what makes the plate good is the carrot ginger sauce that you pour over the veggies and brown rice.  It's so good.  However, don't expect this to be anything like the Inaka plate at Inaka Restaurant.  It takes literally 5-10mins for them to make it so go figure.  The taste is somewhat bland and on most occasions it comes out cold.  But it's satisfying and leaves you with the same balanced macro feel.  Be sure you get the sauce!

Probably the most popular thing at M Cafe is the Peanut Kale Deli Salad.  It is the best kale salad you'll ever eat.  It's healthy, rich, and tastes great with a side order of brown rice and miso soup if you want to make it a complete meal.  If I'm really craving it I'll order a side of it with my macro meal.

Another side to order that's really good is the Sweet Potato M Fries.  It's seasoned with chili, sea salt, and lime and comes with a spicy yuzu mayo which is amazing.  Order this with one of their sandwiches or burgers or of course with the macro meal if you feel like you need more of a root veggie to ground yourself.  

   



They have two locations: Melrose and Beverly Hills.  I personally like the Melrose location better because there's more seating, daily lunch and dinner specials, later open hours, and their service is better.  However big downside to this place is parking.  You may get lucky and find a parking right in front of their cafe but there's only 5-6 spots and it's a weird parking situation where you have to drive up onto the sidewalk and park [but you get the hang of it after a while].  If not then their parking in the back is only valet, which is 1 hour but I hate putting time restrictions when I eat.  The Beverly Hills location is much closer to where I live but it has less seating and seems to be a lot more crowded than Melrose.  Also the service is somewhat lacking [food comes out cold, noticed things missing in my dish like the sauce or the pickles] and parking in Beverly Hills is hard, especially during lunchtime [meter on the street, or parking structure around the block which is always full during lunch].  However, I've gone here for dinner on the weekdays and it's been pleasant and curbside is fast and easy.

Oh and one more advice, ask to buy their tote bag.  If you use it every time you order take out then you get $1.00 off!  I'm not sure how I got my tote bag, I feel like it was given to me free that one week I kept on ordering out from Melrose but I don't know how you go about purchasing one.  It's definitely worth the $1.00 off though.  

Here's a recipe for the kale salad.  To make it more macro simply replace the peanut butter with tahini and chopped peanuts for garnish with sesame seeds]  ENJOY! :D

Kale Salad

Ingredients
• 1 large bunch kale 
• ¼ cup peanuts, chopped for garnish [for more macro version use sesame seeds]
• ¼ red onion, halved and sliced for garnish 

Spicy Peanut Dressing*
• ½ cup peanut butter [for more macro version use tahini instead]
• 2 T low sodium soy sauce
• 2 T brown rice vinegar 
• ½ tsp. garlic, minced
• ½ tsp. ginger, minced 
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper 
• 1/8 tsp. salt 
• 1 ½ oz hot water

DIRECTIONS
1. Remove the kale from the stems. Add a pinch of Salt to a pot of boiling water, then blanch the Kale for 3 min. Remove the Kale from the boiling water and shock it in a container of ice water. Finally, squeeze the excess water out of the cooled Kale.
2. To make Spicy Peanut Dressing: Place all dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until mixture turns into a smooth consistency.
3. Drizzle the dressing on top of the Kale and mix the kale and dressing together until kale is evenly coated. Garnish with sliced red onions and chopped peanuts [for more macro version use sesame seeds].

M Cafe de Chaya

Melrose Avenue Location
7119 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90046

323-525-0588
Hours: M-Sa [9am-10pm]; Su [9am-9pm]

Beverly Hills Location
9433 Brighton Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

310-858-8459
Hours: M-Sa [9am-8pm]; Su [10am-7pm]