Oh-so-refreshing seasonal kanten!!!

I first discovered the wonders of kanten at Real Food Daily in West Hollywood. It's a vegan version of jell-o, with consistencies ranging from harder than jell-o to applesauce-ish to custard-like.  I prefer the latter and it's taken me some practice to perfect just the right texture.  Now that I have, I am sharing it with you, my lovely readers!

Instead of animal-based gelatin (made from the hooves, bones, tissue, organs and some intestines of animals),  substitute agar agar (a seaweed based gelatin substitute).  To achieve the right consistency, I add one key ingredient: kuzu (Japanese wild arrowroot starch).  I haven't tried this with regular arrowroot, but I have a hunch it will work.  Do let me know how it turns out if you try this substitution!

Use your organic fruits of choice (I am especially enjoying pear/ strawberry at the moment) and enjoy this deliciously simple treat!!!


1.5 cups fruit diced into 1/8" pieces
3 cups unfiltered fresh pressed apple juice
Pinch sea salt
2 Tbsp agar agar flakes
3 Tbsp kuzu


Arrange diced fruit in a bowl.  Bring your apple juice, salt and agar to a light boil, frequently stirring to dissolve agar... about 5-8 minutes.  Dilute your kuzu in a bit of water, and  as soon as you remove apple juice mixture from heat, stir in your kuzu.  Add liquid mixture over fruit and let cool.  Refrigerate and then enjoy topped with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top and/ or chopped nuts and/ or fresh mint... DOUZO MESHIAGARE!!!

Fall (SoCal Style) Shake... YUM.

With fall just around the corner (September 22nd to be exact!), and L.A. weather still reaching triple digits.... I figured I'd do a fall inspired shake.  Warm, hearty ingredients... in the form of a refreshingly creamy milkshake!!!

1.5 frozen bananas
1 Tbsp unsweetened carob powder
2 small dates
1-1.5 cups Pacific Natural unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Dash of liquid bourbon vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbsp almond hazelnut butter (or nut butter of your choice)


Blend and top with chopped almonds and/ or hazelnuts and enjoy underneath a cozy A/C vent!!!

Chocolate Tangerine Pot de crème with salted caramelized Pistachios...YUMMY!!!

I don't recall who first told me about this, but imagine if you will, a dessert made with avocado.  Personally, nothing of the sort had ever crossed my mind, and since I try to limit my soy intake whenever possible... I filed it away in my memory bank and decided I'd give it a test run on a dinner guest tonight.  OK, the "guest" is just Jose....tee hee!  

There were plenty of opportunities for me to taste test along the way and I can safely say that this is one LUSCIOUS dessert.  I suggest the teeny tiny ramekins... this is some SERIOUSLY RICH stuff.  Flavor idea courtesy Pazzo, the pistachios my (ahem) brilliant twist!!!  I hope you love it as much as I do!  

Soy free & vegan.   Bon Appétit!!!

6 tangerines (all juiced except for 1/2)
zest of 1 medium orange

2 medium-large avocados

1 10 oz. package Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips

1.5 tsp liquid vanilla extract

small handful raw pistachios coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)

1 Tbsp brown rice syrup (or maple syrup)

pinch of coarse salt (ideally Himalayan Pink)

1- blend avocados together with a few tablespoons of the tangerine juice and 1 tsp vanilla, until you've achieved a smooth pudding-like consistency

2- melt chocolate chips in a double boiler, over low heat constantly stirring with a whisk.  add remaining juice to chocolate mixture and stir until relatively smooth.  add mixture to the avocado mix already in blender and blend together until all ingredients are incorporated and any remaining lumpiness is smoothed out.  taste along the way.  if it's not sweet enough for you, add a little maple syrup to your liking.

3- ladle into 2.5 oz. ramekins and set aside to cool.

4- coat pistachios with brown rice syrup (or maple), add 1/2 tsp vanilla and brulee with a torch (or caramelize over a stovetop with a little added water).  remove from heat and immediately add a pinch of coarse salt over pistachios and let cool.  

5- top the chocolate-filled ramekins with pistachios and tangerine supremes (skin/ membrane/ pith removed)

Chill for 3-4 hours before serving & enjoy same or next day.... Yummy yummm yummm!!!!


** Makes about ten 2.5 oz. ramekins

*** Note: I distributed these to friends and neigbors alike, and made each of them guess the secret ingredient... and not a single one of them could, so to those of you who are concerned about the avocado taste being overpowering-- don't be!  Props to these brave volunteers-- because telling me there's a secret ingredient in something is enough to make me not want to try it!  

Ice Ice Baby...

I hope I didn’t burst too many people’s bubbles when I first announced (in my last blog) that I am not perfect…haha!  And precisely for this reason, it is important to treat yourself every now and then.  But what do you do when your weekly treat snowballs into almost daily and when sugar is your (okay, my) heroin?  You cut out all simple carbohydrates COLD TURKEY for a few weeks (or longer), and then sloowwwly cycle them back in. So, this means…eat small meals often (2-4 hours depending on your activity level), always with a little protein.  This ensures that you’re satiated and that your blood sugar levels remain steady throughout the day, so you’re not tempted to eat something sweet because you’ve allowed yourself to become famished! This takes some planning, but it’s totally do-able and your body will thank you for it.  Nuts are a great on-the-go snack that you can pack in small Ziploc bags to munch on.  Just remember not to overdo the nuts.  A small handful should do the trick.   Small doses of nuts are high in good fats, but good fats are still fattening…so easy does it!   Also, include in your diet plenty of fresh, rainbow-colored vegetables of the non-starchy variety.  This way, you are getting all your nutrients in without the accompanying sugar rush that you get with starchy veggies and fruits!   Also, ladies who enjoy fragrances with a vanilla base can probably stand to lose the scents that smell like dessert for a little while.  I am one of those ladies.  Every time I spray on Comptoir Sud Pacifique’s Extreme Vanilla, I start having visions of cake and ice cream.  Just a thought, do with it what you will…hehe!

Having said this, I promised my readership a June blog about sorbetto and espresso and well, a promise is a promise!  :-D    I’m no quitter!   So, sit back and enjoy my tips on the best places to catch some relief from the scorching summer days that are upon us!

I did, in fact, go off the deep end and have a scoop of the chocolate orange sorbetto at Pazzo…. before the week was up.  OOoohhh, it was GOOODDDD.  It was so lush and creamy!   Anyone who considers themselves the “gelato type”, in favor of a richer, more sinful dessert…should try this sorbetto.  You will forget that there is no cream/ egg/ milk to speak of in the ingredients list.  It is INCREDIBLE.  Incredibly edible. Sophisticated flavors of dark chocolate with a substantial orange flavor throughout.  It tastes very much like those chocolate candy sticks (orange candy dipped in dark chocolate) you might’ve turned your nose up at as a child, unless you were a child with a refined palate- I, for one, was not!   The only chocolate in my childhood vocabulary consisted of Hershey’s chocolate kisses and Cadbury eggs every Easter! 

Up next on the gelaterias-to-visit roster:  Scoops and Bulgarini.   Keep your eyes glued!

<3 <3 <3

Affogato, anyone?

Ciaoooo my lovelies!!!  :-D

So, my mission this month: to find the best espresso and sorbetto in L.A.  Also, a bit of a paradox since my other mission is to seriously lean out and get more defined after gorging myself on pizza and gelato in Italy last month… eek!  Anyone who knows me,  knows well that I don’t indulge in any white sugar or much caffeine (save for green or white tea).  I don’t eat white sugar of any kind and haven’t in years and I hadn’t had coffee in probably two decades…UNTIL, that is, I went to Italy and all sense went out the window for the 12 days I was there.  And now… well, now I’m sure I’m addicted and need rehab.  I had made peace with myself in advance of my trip. I would have dairy while there and I REALLY took this and ran with it!  OK, so I’m not perfect…who is??? I totally enjoyed every minute of it and have no regrets. Now it’s time to rein myself in and so I shall!  So…sorbetto and espresso.   Back to the matter at hand!

During my Italian trip, I would have 3-4 espressos daily.  “Un caffè per favore!” was one of the first things I learned to say.  I figured I could always sleep when my holiday was over!  Three neat little sips and I would be done.. and WIRED!  No sugar, no milk…just delicious, bitter yumminess!  I was worried that this would be one bad habit that may just stick post-trip, until… I tried my first American-made espresso last week at Swork in Eagle Rock.   Kha-tooey! Così schifo!  Salty and sour makes a delicious potato chip.  But an espresso?  Not so much!  I was slightly relieved that this may not become a bad habit after all.  Americans can’t make a good espresso, I thought…yay!

My next try started with a text from my friend Jose “So, when are we meeting up for dinner/ lunch?”…it was originally supposed to be “Sorbetto Saturdays” in keeping with my fitness mission.  It was a Wednesday when he texted and I immediately began to have visions of gorgeous tubs of creamy sorbettos in all the glorious colors of the rainbow.   Did he say dinner? I suggested Pazzo ( http://www.pazzogelato.net/ ) in Silverlake and he was into the idea, YAH!  So, we first met at Flore, which is a vegan café right across the street.  I ordered a huge hunk of their vegan chocolate strawberry cake…I couldn’t (didn’t want to) resist!   The cake, we would share.  I hate sharing food (as most people who have dined with me are well aware), but I figured this would be my little compromise…trying to be good. FYI:  The cake is the only thing at Flore I’ve had which is AMAZINGLY GOOD.  The food, I can do without.  Then we walked across the street to Pazzo and there it was… a shiny happy technicolored display of gelatos and sorbettos in flavors like pear, pineapple, blood orange, white chocolate raspberry, mandarin stracciatella!  I had heard great things about this place, so I had a feeling it was going to be good…and mmm MMMM GOOOODDD it was!!!  I had heard through the grapevine that Pazzo also makes a great espresso and it was indeed AWESOMELY GOOD!  Easily as good as I’ve had in Italy!  Deliciously bitter, not at all acidic and with a beautiful rich muddy foam on top.   Also, the size of the espresso was about 4 times the size I had in Italy… apparently, we Americans like our coffee supersized too, haha!  The sweet waitress told us they use a brand called Weaver’s saying “they just know how to roast beans up there in Oregon” … in my research, I actually found they’re a California based company.  Who cares?!  They make damn good coffee!!!   I used my espresso high later that night to maniacally jump rope for almost 30 minutes straight.  If you haven’t tried it, you should!  Now, for the sorbetto… smooottthe (not in the least bit gritty), creamy, oh sooo good going down!  I had the limoncello which was perfectly tart but not so much that you have to squint your eyes before you swallow, haha!  I also had a scoop of the raspberry dark chocolate chip.  I had heard that Pazzo have a dark chocolate orange sorbetto which I was hoping to try.  They didn’t have it the night we went, so this fruit chocolate combination alllmost fit the bill… though I still prefer chocolate paired with orange!  Tart raspberry with jagged little crunchy bits of dark chocolate.  Tangy, fresh and sweet fruit flavor…creamy and crunchy textures.  HEAVEN in my bocca, I tell you!  I love that Pazzo change up their flavors all the time according to what’s in season.  Can’t wait to go back next Wednesday to try something new…yummy yum YUM!!!

Tip to all you Intelligentsia lovers.  Next time you don’t feel like standing in line, grab your coffee at Pazzo.  It can get crowded there too, but they don’t take themselves as seriously and the lines are still usually shorter.

Buon Appetito & stay tuned for more espresso/ sorbetto reviews coming your way this June (I'll be sad when June is over... haha)!!!

<3

At what expense?

I can’t help but wonder today what the heck is wrong with the world. 

I woke up this morning to the latest oil spill news.  This time, it’s the Gulf of Mexico, and the spill is five times worse than “experts” originally thought… endangering a variety of wildlife during peak mating/ spawning season.  Poor helpless creatures.  When are we going to wake up and realize we need to nurture this Earth that gives us SO MUCH without asking for anything in return?  When???  Aren’t the “natural” disasters  the world has been experiencing enough of a wake-up call?  Is it that people are just too busy to care?  And if the answer is yes, then what can we do to wake up the average working class person to what is happening to their world before it gets by them?  I’ve thought about this often.  I get that people are too busy trying to make ends meet, and trying to cut corners which sometimes makes it difficult (though not impossible) to live eco-consciously.  I think we need to start at the elementary school level.  Children are impressionable, smarter than most adults, and I believe wholeheartedly that implementing some kind of environmental education plan early on will prove to be priceless in the long run.

Now, what do we do about the adults?  I want your ideas.  What do you think will make the average person sit up and pay attention to the seriousness of this topic.  I know it has to take little to no time, but make a huge impression; this much, I know. 

Today, I heard that California is considering approving methyl iodide, a seriously toxic chemical, as a pesticide for strawberry crops.  According to Pesticide Action Network “Methyl iodide is so reliably carcinogenic that it’s used to induce cancer in the lab”.  I mean, at what expense do you really need to have those strawberries?  Before you consider popping those conventional strawberries into your shopping cart, then into your mouth… thinking it’s harmless and you are saving a few pennies, PLEASE consider all the strings attached to what it is you’re consuming.  Know that you are supporting an industry that causes farm workers to die a slow and painful death.  Farm workers who come to this country to better their lives and support their families, many of which are oblivious to the consequences associated with their jobs. 

I want you to consider this. Nature is smarter than anything that could ever be created in a lab.  It is perfect the way it is.  For this reason, a macrobiotic diet emphasizes  eating seasonally. To give an example, winter veggies like butternut squash and sweet potatoes are hearty and perfectly suited to our body’s natural need for denser, more caloric foods when the weather is cold out.   As the weather begins to warm, we naturally crave fresher, cooling foods like berries, nectarines and cucumbers.  Buying seasonal, organic produce not only protects you from harmful chemicals (Lord knows, anyone who lives in the city gets more than their fair share of these), but also protects the health of farm workers, our precious farmland and the voiceless animals for whom we can and SHOULD speak up.  As an added benefit, when you shop seasonally… you save money and your body gets the nutrients you were meant to have WHEN you were meant to have them.  What a novel idea!

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for weighing in with your thoughts and ideas.

RAW CHOCOLATE CHERRY SMOOTHIE

I woke up this AM with a brilliant new recipe... in fact, I'm enjoying it for breakfast this very moment as I write to share it with you!  This makes one serving, so adjust ingredients accordingly as needed.

1 medium frozen strawberry
3-4 frozen bing cherries
1 medium frozen banana cut into bite sized chunks
1 heaping Tablespoon raw unsweetened cacao powder (I like Navitas)
6 oz unsweetened almond milk (I like Pacific Natural) - you can start with less and add more to achieve desired consistency

** I especially like the slight bitterness the unsweetened cacao imparts to this luscious smoothie, reminiscent of a dark chocolate berry bar.  If you find it too bitter for your taste, feel free to add a touch of agave or maple syrup/ maple crystals.

** For those allergic to chocolate, carob powder is a perfectly acceptable substitute (I use Chatfield's brand)

** If you want to try something a little different... try adding a dash of cayenne pepper... trust me, it works!

** With summer on the horizon, try freezing this in an ice cube tray for mini berry fudgesicles...mmm... berrryyy good!!


Blend and voila... breakfast and dessert in a matter of seconds!!  Now that you're properly fueled, get out there and make your dreams happen!   <3