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]