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]

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!

Summer Lunch: Steamed beets, veggies, greens, almonds, and miso tahini sauce

Steamed golden and red beets, bok choy, carrots, kabocha squash, almonds, miso tahini sauce, toasted nori, raw garlic.

This is what I've been eating for lunch over summer besides some lighter salads.  I was inspired by my trip to San Francisco and decided to combine what I ate at Cafe Gratitude and Om Shan Tea into one dish.  Most of this dish is steamed for lighter summer cooking.  Here's the recipe for how I prepared this:

1) Soak 1/4 cup of almonds overnight in soy sauce/water--add about 1/2-1 tsp soy sauce to water.  Next day, put soaked almonds on a tray and place under the broiler for about 3-5 mins (be sure to constantly check so it does not burn).  Remove from oven and let cool.
2) Chop 1 red beet, 1 golden beet, slice of kabocha squash, and carrot into 1 inch chunks and steam for 8-10mins or until soft.  Add on top bok choy and steam for additional 3 mins.
3) For the dressing, dilute 1/4 tsp of hato mugi miso in 1 tsp water.  Add 1-2 tsp of tahini.  Depending on your preference, you can dilute or add more tahini.
4) Scoop brown rice into dish, place veggies and almonds on top of rice, top with toasted nori strips, dressing, and chopped fresh garlic.

This dish can be eaten warm or cold and the brown rice can be replaced with lighter grains like quinoa or fresh salad greens.