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: 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.

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.

Macrobiotic Summer Kickoff! - Berry Chia Overnight Oats

I love to make overnight chia oats in the summer time.  It's cooling to the body and very easy.  I made this with goji and seasonal organic berries.  See the recipe below!  

Summer is officially here!!!  One of my favorite things about macrobiotics is changing your diet to accommodate the seasons. You can really tell a difference! As much as I love winter macro recipes, summer recipes are so much fun and easier because it's require less cooking time.

As we shift from a yin season (winter) to yang (summer), the heat is a sign of the energy rising from the earth and reaching peak expansion and activity. Therefore the many yin fruits and vegetables that become ripe during this time contain plenty of liquid and develop higher above the ground.

Symptoms that appear in spring and summer (e.g.,  heart, and chest pains, cramps, hyperactivity) tend to be caused by excess yang and therefore have to be balanced by eating more yin:  lighter, more expansive food, including more fresh greens, garden vegetables, fresh fruits, as well as lighter cooking methods, cutting veggies in smaller chunks, using less salt and other seasoning, and drinking more liquid.  Cooking summertime meals that center around foods at their peak of freshness such as collards and mustard, summer squash, green beans, and sweet corn, helps us keep cool when the temperature rises.  Sautéed dishes that include tofu, tofu salads, tempeh dishes, and bean salads are used this time for protein instead of seitan (seitan possesses more yang than yin qualities).

In terms of grains, the main one for summer is corn and should be taken full advantage of by using it in salads, mixed with other grains, or simply on the cob.  This is also the time to cut back on short-grain and prepare more medium- and long-grain rice dishes.  More yang grains (short grain and barley) are switched out for lighter quick-cooking ones such as quinoa and amaranth and partially-refined grains such as couscous and bulghur.  Chilling your grains is also great to increase the yin, lightly child soba is super yummy.

One of the main changes I've done to my macro diet to accommodate the change in season is switching out my breakfast from brown rice porridge or oatmeal to a lighter more yin alternative like overnight oats.  Making different flavored overnight oats is endless and it's super easy to make.  To start, try this basic recipe for some overnight oats and see if you like it.  The chia seeds may take some getting use to but I love it.  You can have fun with overnight oats by adding nut butters, vanilla, hemp or almond milk, and other cut fruits like apples or pears.

Overnight Oats
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 goji berries
Seasonal berries to top
1/2 tsp flax seeds

1) Place the oats, chia seeds, and goji berries into a jar.  Fill the jar with water until it's about 80% full.  Shake and place in fridge.  Let sit overnight.

2) In the morning give it another good shake and pour into a glass bowl.  Crush flax seeds and top the oats along with berries.

Bay Area Trip Part 5: Cafe Gratitude (San Rafael, CA)

I finally got to try Cafe Gratitude!  There's one in Los Angeles but I never had the chance to make it down there.  I was able to go to the location in San Rafael and thought it was an awesome experience.  You know you're in for something different right when you walk through the door and see nothing but inspirational sayings on the walls and ceilings.  It continues all the way up to when you place your order where you're pretty much forced to say positive things about yourself (e.g., I am divine, I am whole, etc...) because that's the name of their dishes :P  So when you tell the waitress what you'd like, for example "I am whole," the waitress responds by reflecting your new enlightened self "YOU ARE whole." Lol!  It's quite different and you have to admit, inspirational and a great concept.  The decor was also very different, simple with the tables and very hippie with the paintings.  You feel like you're walking into another world!  I couldn't wait to try the their raw and cooked food to see if it's magical dish names would really change the way I feel.

I AM WHOLE – Sea vegetable and kale, local brown rice, house-made kim chee, carrots and sprouts with tahini-garlic sauce and teriyaki almonds.

I had the I AM WHOLE which is a very macrobiotic bowl.  You couldn’t ask for a more complete meal with the sea veggies to the kim chee, you really do leave feeling whole ;)  An interesting twist was the teriyaki almonds as their choice of protein.  This was my first time having almonds as part of my meal and I loved it!  It was crunchy and browned to perfection.  You’re given a spoon to chow down this bowl and although it looks like a somewhat small portion in the photo, believe me it’s a good filling size.  Only thing I think could make this dish even better would be some more seasoning with either the carrots or kale, perhaps having it sautéed, something to give it a little push over just the normal steamed veggies that you could do easily at home.  But everything was very fresh and delicious!

I AM EXTRAORDINARY – BLT with sautéed maple coconut bacon, romaine lettuce, sliced tomato and avocado.  Served with spicy chipotle aioli on organic wheat bun.

Karly had the I AM EXTRAORDINARY which I was immediately eyeing at the table next to us the moment we walked in.  I am a sucker for a good bun, no pun intended ;) and this one just looked light and refreshing.  Although I wasn’t able to grab a taste of this one, Karly raves about it.  If you’re an avocado lover like her I’m sure this one is for you.  Doesn’t coconut bacon sounds amazing?!?  

 Café Gratitude serves up some amazing raw desserts like their I AM CHERISHED a mocha cheesecake, I AM RAPTURE! a pineapple coconut cake, I AM IRRESISTABLE a coconut cream pie with chocolate swirl, I AM DEVOTED! a take on coconut pudding, and I AM SUPER! Which are dark chocolate nuggets.  All these desserts use yacon, agave, and dates to sweeten things up and are all raw so there’s no flour in them which is good for gluten-free and macro individuals.  However they do use coconut and almonds, which could be good for some and hard to digest for others.  Macrobiotics is very flexible so try and see which ingredients you can tolerate.  For instance my Native Hawaiian blood I notice can tolerate the coconut pretty well but for some reason the nuts I can only have it occasionally.  So I am torn!  Just remember, if it works for you then great!

 Dining here was really great and I am so happy I finally had the chance to try it.  There are so many other dishes on the menu that I can’t wait to try.  It’s great leaving your meal with a thought of “What are you grateful for?”  Something that we all should reflect on everyday.

Here's a Cafe Gratitude recipe for their macro Asian Cucumber Salad.  Great for the hot summer weather ;)

Asian Cucumber Salad

4-5 small persian cucumbers

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp of sea palm or wakame soaked and chopped

1 tbsp chia seeds

Dash of ground white peppercorn

Cut the cucumbers in 1.5 inch by 1/2 inch sticks.  Combine and mix well.  Marinate for at least 10 mins and serve chilled.

Cafe Gratitude

Asian Cucumber Salad

2200 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901

Phone: 415.578.4928
Fax: 415.259.0390
Hours: 10 am to 9 pm

Happy Birthday to Me !! - Peace Cafe (Honolulu, HI)

The Apple Banana Cinnamon Mochi was delicious!

Today is my birthday!!! This week I met up with my mom in Honolulu, HI to celebrate :)  For dinner we headed to Peace Cafe, an all-vegan and pretty much all macrobiotic cafe.  They have a variety of ciabatta bread sandwiches and brown rice entrees.  They use organic and local ingredients and try their best to always offer a variety of choices with alternating seasonal specials, miso soups, mochi flavors, and muffins.  

Find their menu on a huge chalk board!  If you read the bottom left corner you can see that they support a greener way of eating by encouraging customers to bring their own drink and food containers.  I also like how you can order their sandwiches with brown rice instead of the ciabatta bread.  Extra bonus is that they serve grain coffee!

 They always have a counter full of homemade goodies like candied nuts, muffins, and kettled chips.

 They make their own granola and serve Kusmi Teas.  You can also see that they won the Silver Honolulu Hale Aina Award for Best Vegetarian Restaurant.

Their Mauna Kea Ice Tea is their most popular drink and very refreshing.  It's a green tea from the Big Island.

I had their most popular dish, the Heart and Seoul.  This is a vegan take on the korean bi bim bap with a choice of either house flavored TVP or fresh tofu.  It comes with vinegar flavored shaved carrots, sprouts, and kale, with arugula.  Although this dish usually comes with a scoop of spicy miso paste right on top, I opted out to make it a little more macro.  I also went for the fresh tofu which was probably the best thing about this dish.  Although this is a great macrobiotic set-up I feel that it was definitely lacking in a few areas.  First, the arugula seemed to be just a filler for the plate and I thought it would have done better with some other fresh greens or even a hearty kaboucha squash.  Second, the carrots also seemed like a filler because it was shaved really thin.  All in all it really just felt like I was eating a bunch of sides on a plate.  The sprouts were very good and like I said, so was that amazing homemade fresh tofu, but it needs a little more.  I blame Inaka Restaurant for spoiling me so :P

My mom had the newest entree addition, the BBQ Tempeh Plate.  The tempeh is topped with bbq sauce served with vegan coleslaw, cornbread, and black and brown rice.  

The Macroveg:  "I tasted each and thought this was better than my dish!  The bbq sauce had the perfect tang, the bread grainy and warm, and the coleslaw light and flavorful.  What I think it needed was more greens, perhaps some collard greens to emphasize that southern style."

  

MOM:  "The bbq sauce was good and I liked the coleslaw.  I know what regular bbq sauce tastes like and what I liked about this one was that it was not overly strong and tangy.  It was totally unexpected because I thought it would be a bland sauce.  I also appreciated how it was not spicy.  There was nothing special about the tempeh itself, but the sauce saved it.  I normally like my coleslaw, yes non-vegan coleslaw :S, quite sour and vinegary and Peace Cafe's coleslaw did not disappoint.  I also loved the crunchiness of the cabbage.  The cornbread is not as flavorful as my usual cornbread but it completed the dish.  The salad greens was definitely a filler which I did not eat.  Overall I give it a B for a vegan meal :P"   

  

Their desserts include mochi, cookies, and homemade vegan ice cream made with coconut milk.  You can order an affogato with a shot of espresso, one of their premade sundaes, or choose your own toppings.  Their ice cream flavors include vanilla bean, chocolate, and avocado.

We decided on the Berry Granola which comes with two scoops of their vegan ice cream, berry sauce and granola.  We had a scoop each of vanilla and chocolate.

 The Macroveg: "The ice cream was really good, I just wish the servings were bigger.  It was served in a really small shot glass looking cup.  It was also made it hard to eat with a spoon.  There was hardly any sauce and the granola was gone in one bite.  I liked the vanilla bean more than the chocolate [we ordered 2 scoops of vanilla but they ran out] but the combination of the chocolate with the vanilla was great."


MOM: "It was good, the ice cream was more flavorful than expected.  BUT very small servings of everything.  I liked the chocolate better."

Peace Cafe is a great place with the right mentality for trying to get us all to achieve peaceful harmony with other living things.  You see a lot of Japanese tourists stopping by to dine here probably because the cafe is japanese owned and word is spreading about their simple delicious meals.  However, as stated previously, they do tend to fall short on some of their dishes with plate fillers.  Also another biggy is that they were out of a lot of things come dinner time: miso soup, ice cream flavors, muffins, tempeh musubi, and mauna kea ice teas [my mom and I got the last ones].  So expect some limited options for dinner time and possible waiting for a table because the cafe is small.  Is it a must go to for Honolulu Hi?  I would say it's a nice stop if you've exhausted other better eats on the island like Down to Earth and Kale's [future blog entries on these places coming soon!], but Peace Cafe is probably a better place for lunch than dinner.  Parking can be found in a small parking lot behind the cafe or street parking right outside.  

Because a big winner of our dinner tonight was the bbq sauce on my Mom's BBQ tempeh dish, here's a macrobiotic bbq sauce recipe for you to try ;)

Macro Red BBQ Sauce 

1 C Red Sauce (6 carrots, 1 small beet, and 1 celery boiled for 10-15mins and blended)

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1/4 C soy sauce

2 Tbsp onion, minced

2 Tbsp brown rice syrup

1 Tbsp wet mustard

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1/16 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Mix all ingredients well.  Tempeh can be marinated in sauce before broiling or broil tempeh and scoop sauce on top.

The Peace Cafe

2239 S. King St.

Honolulu, HI 96826

808-951-7555

info@peacecafehawaii.com

Mon-Sat: 11am-9pm

Sun:  11am-3pm

Bay Area Trip Part 4: The Plant Cafe (Marina District)

This place has got to be one of the best places that I've EVER ate at.  The Plant Cafe uses 100% organic local ingredients.  Although it is not fully vegan, I honestly felt like I was eating at an all vegan restaurant because of all the vegan foods to choose from.  Much of our thanks has to go to Executive Chef Sascha Weiss who previously served as vegan Millennium Restaurant's Executive Pastry Chef and famous vegan Ravens Restaurant's Sous Chef in Mendocino.  So you can imagine the high expectations I had, and they were definitely met.

Quinoa Bowl- substituted brown rice, sauteed veggies in ginger miso sauce, with side of sauerkraut.

I scouted for the most macroveg dish on the menu and to my surprise found that every vegan offering was pretty much macro.  I finally decided on the Quinoa Bowl and here's my little tip for ordering it even more macro ;)  Ask to have brown rice substituted for quinoa, add tempeh, and order a side of sauerkraut.  Boom!  The perfect macroveg meal!  This was so delicious, the best part being the ginger miso sauce (stay tuned for a future post on my take on this sauce).  The veggies were sauteed perfectly and the tempeh was filling.  Definitely order this dish and you won't be disappointed.

Wasabi Burger made with The Plant Burger patty (lentils, beets, mushrooms, cashews, bulgur wheat), served on sourdough bun with tomato chutney, grilled onions, lettuce, raspberry aioli, side salad, and pickles.

My good friend Karly ordered one of the famous Plant Burgers, the Wasabi Plant Burger.  Immediately you are taken aback by the colors.  Never have I seen a more beautiful burger.  Made with just lentils, mushrooms, cashews, beets, and bulgur wheat, this is the ultimate macro burger with no flour!  Imagine that :P  I got to have a bite with some of that aioli and it was the best veg burger I've ever tasted, especially with the raspberry aioli.  There was so much flavor and the bun was very soft.  Only downfall is that the patty seems to fall apart easily so be sure to use that knife and fork.  Also, Karly pointed out that it's unfortunate that sweet potato fries are not an option with this burger, which I agree would seal the deal.

You can definitely see Chef Weiss's pastry skills from Millennium with The Plant's extensive display of vegan desserts and pastries.  Although I did not try one of the sweets that day Karly had a vegan chocolate cake and she protests that it's amazing. There were at least 8 vegan goodies including coffee cake, cookies, and brownies. 

Another great thing I love about The Plant Cafe is their juice and smoothie bar. Their juices have uplifting names like "healthy sunrise" and "good start," and their smoothies can be made with either organic soy or almond milk.  An additional bonus is their daily specials menu.  As you can see on the left, this includes a vegan soup and vegan entree (usually a tempeh special).  They also have a daily special kombucha flavor, that day it was watermelon :)  Kombucha on tap is amazing!  

Overall, I think The Plant is a must go for an SF trip.  They have multiple locations (including one in SFO Terminal 2!) and you can find something for everyone in your party.  The service is fast, friendly, and it's really easy to order substitutions.  If you're dying to try that infamous Plant Burger but can't make it out to SF, try this recipe below to make it yourself ;)

The Plant Burger-serves 6

3 small beets, peeled & chopped
1/2 c green lentils
1/2 c bulgur wheat
1/3 c raw cashews

1 cup mushrooms
1/2 c minced yellow onion
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp + 1 tsp sesame oil, divided
2 cups water, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped beets on a lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes until tender. 
2. While the beets are roasting, combine the lentils with 1 1/2 cups water in a small pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils are tender.
3. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add the bulgur then turn off the heat and cover for 10 minutes. The bulgur should absorb all of the liquid and be tender when done.
4. Heat one tsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add minced onion, mushrooms and thyme and cook for about 6 minutes. Both onions and mushrooms should be softened.
5. Place raw cashews in either a food processor or Vita-Mix and process until they become a flour. Then, add roasted beets, cooked bulgur, onions, mushrooms and rosemary and process until combined.  
6. Add cooked lentils and continue processing until everything has combined but still on the “chunky” side. Remove mixture from either food processor or blender and place in a large bowl.
7. Heat up the remaining oil over high heat. Divide mixture into six veggie burger patties and carefully cook each side for about 5 minutes, until golden and crispy.

The Plant Cafe (Marina location)
3352 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA 94123  
Tel 415 931 2777
Fax 415 931 2719
Email contactmarina@theplantcafe.com

Mon - Fri 10:30am - 9:30pm

Sat - Sun 9:00am - 9:00pm

brunch Sat & Sun 9:00am - 2:00pm