Speaking of reasons not to complain, I got a pretty amazing care package a few weeks ago:

My friend Vanessa, the beautiful, savvy, and talented CEO of Gnosis Chocolate, sent me a bunch of her new products to sample.

I. Was. In. Heaven.

Don’t know Gnosis yet? Fix that, now. Gnosis is my favorite brand of raw vegan chocolate and other goodies. I heart the company not only because it makes delicious food–the Gnosis “simplicity” bar is probably the best raw chocolate I’ve ever had–but also because it’s eco-conscious, good to its employees, and because Vanessa is a hugely supportive member of NYC’s raw “tribe”–a loose conglomeration of raw foodists and raw food lovers here in NYC. I met Vanessa over two years ago, at which point Gnosis was a fully operational company, but still very much a chocolate company. Today, the brand has grown and expanded into so much more. Not only is it widening its product horizons (Gnosis also makes a slammin’ raw trail mix,  beautiful raw soaps, and it sells various superfoods and supplements), but Vanessa is also growing into her role as Gnosis founder with grace and style.

Take this example: this year, as we know, there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding agave nectar. Since Gnosis uses agave in certain products, Vanessa took it upon herself to explore the issue in depth. She did this not by reading a few articles online, but rather by visiting an agave manufacturing site herself, and writing a thoughtful report of her travels. I couldn’t have been more impressed with Vanessa’s honesty and commitment to upholding the integrity of her brand. I’m also wowed by her efforts with the Raw Integrity Project, a forum where Vanessa shares her experiences and findings in pursuing integrity and transparency in the raw food and chocolate business. To guarantee that the ingredients Gnosis uses are Raw, Vegan, Organic, and of the highest quality, she regularly returns to her suppliers with increasingly in-depth questions, and she puts her hands in every stage of production at the farms and factories she visits to ensure nutritional integrity in Gnosis foods.

Me? I’m not a stickler about “how raw” my foodstuffs are. That is, I’m not bothered by the possibility of nuts or rice or other foods that have been heated unbeknownst to me, because I don’t believe that heating food about 115 degrees destroys or lessens all of its nutritional value. But I respect that other raw foods lovers do feel that way. As a business owner, it’s Vanessa’s job to be honest with those customers. I really applaud her for traveling around the world to be certain of how her ingredients are being sourced, and for being such a “hands on” food maker in the first place.

Putting all of this admiration aside, of course, I’m just a big ‘ole fan of Gnosis food. So when Vanessa’s gift arrived, I was over the moon (perhaps some of you saw my embarrassingly happy tweets?). Vanessa sent me four flavors to try. The first was Superchoc, which I’ve tried before. It’s Vanessa’s “signature” bar in many ways: a raw chocolate bar infused with “superfoods” like goji berries and mesquite”

The second was her immune boost bar, which contains pumpkin seeds, cacao, currants, and cranberries. I loved this one!

The third was her “power choc,” which is chock full of hemp seeds and Sproutein powder for a major protein boost–great for those with higher protein needs:

I really enjoyed this one, too! It felt more like a workout snack than a dessert.

And the final gift was Vanessa’s perfect simplicity bar, which I haven’t got a photo of. Why? Because it didn’t last long in my house! Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s how it tastes: perfect. This is most definitely my fave Gnosis flavor. I love that Vanessa creates such innovative flavor varieties, but I’m a true food purist, and I almost always like what’s most simple. I take my dark chocolate straight up.

Thanks to Vanessa, I have tons of chocolate still in my fridge, and I can’t wait to savor it in the coming weeks! I’ve also got a bar of cinnamon soap that I haven’t used yet, but it smells so good I have to stop myself from chewing on it:

AND a sample of her ridiculously delicious PowerChoc trail mix, which is the best raw trail mix I’ve ever had, and do you know why? Because it’s full of chunks of dark chocolate, that’s why. I am obsessed. I bring it to the office in little snack baggies:

And recently used it (along with strawberries) to top some of my Vega chia pudding (this is the same as last week’s recipe, but I blended it in the Vitamix after I made it) for breakfast today:

Yum!

Vanessa also happens to be a consummate event planner. Every few months, she throws “chocolate parties” that feature not only cool music and cool people, but also feature amazing raw food and heaps of her raw chocolate products. They are seriously fun, and if you’re interested in attending the next one, check out the details here. To recap them for you, it’ll be raw food, raw friends, and raw chocolate on a giant boat. Sounds like a serious party to me. I won’t be able to join, but I’m hoping any New Yorkers who do go will give me a full recap!

Thanks, Vanessa, for being such a confectionery genius, and such a vibrant and enthusiastic part of the raw community. I hope to hear more about your adventures as a chocolate maker and small business owner in the future!

Before I go, I have three announcements. The first is that my pal ZestyCook is kicking off a month of recipes that are student friendly, which is to say tasty, affordable, and healthy. I think this is a really noble effort, and we should all check in with his site often in honor of the students in our lives!

The second is that, starting today, all of the proceeds from Mara’s blog for the month of September will be donated to the A to Z Literacy Project. A to Z is a charity spearheaded by a coworker that sends thousands of books annually to needy children in Zambia, and entirely worthy of our support as bloggers. I don’t think any of you need reasons to read Mara’s blog–her tasty food and passionate, witty writing are reason enough–but this little initiative gives you extra motivation. Please support Mara’s efforts!

Final announcement? My dilly sunflower cheese makes for some awesome work lunch leftovers.

Anyone try it yet??

Phew. OK. It’s time for me to power through some work, because I have to be home later this afternoon to wait for my nemesis, Time Warner, to fix my modem! Cross your fingers for me, please?

xo

So I had a breakdown on the phone with Time Warner Cable last night.

Perhaps “breakdown” is a strong word. I burst into tears and uttered the words, “please, sir, you can’t do this to me,” when I was told that no technician would be available to fix my modem until next Wednesday. Does that count?

In retrospect, this little episode should have been a welcome, and perhaps a cautionary, signal of how dependent my life has become on the whims of technology. But it didn’t feel welcome. It felt like a breakdown.

Before you decide to stage a “Gena, you’ve gotten a little too attached to blogging” intervention, let me ‘splain: it isn’t just blogging. I take a lot of work home, each and every night, and a lot of it needs to happen online. My counseling practice is, at this point, almost exclusively via email, and there are other parts of my work life that depend heavily on internet access. So, not having a working modem means a lot more than having to update my blog from the office. It means falling way behind on a lot of things I need to do in order to make a living.

And it wasn’t just that. It had been a long week: my work schedule switched around again to the insane rhythm I was keeping up at the start of this past summer. I had fifty dollars stolen from my wallet. I got dumped (over email). And it’s that time of the month.

In short, not the optimal moment for my internet to go out.

Fortunately, my heroic mother was on the line when I got off with Time Warner, and she assured me that all would be well. (And it will be: thanks to my hysteria, I have an appointment with a technician on Thursday.) She also recommended I go to sleep immediately, which was the best advice I’ve heard in ages. I tidied up my little apartment, closed all of my books and manuscript pages, and went to bed at 9:57 pm. I woke up this morning, and for once I sipped my coffee without the distraction of emails and blog reading. Instead, I gazed out my window onto Columbus Avenue, and remembered that there was a time in my life (not so long ago, really) when my early morning ritual didn’t involve frenetic internet activity. It involved a quiet appreciation of the sounds of New York City waking up.

It was really nice.

I’ll never be a person who likes to “escape.” I like being plugged into the action at every moment. Even when I travel, one of my favorite moments in the day is the moment when I have some time to write emails and check in at the office. I can’t help it; it’s just how I am. There’s pressure aplenty in our busy age to unplug and go offline and empty our minds. This is fine, but it isn’t me: I like being “on.” Still, this morning reminded me that I am capable of appreciating quiet, if not constitutionally suited to enjoy it for very long. So in a way, I’m grateful to my internet for momentarily abandoning me.

Though if my modem’s not fixed by Thursday night, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

On to the food. Recently, I saw that Brigid had made my tofu scramble, and that she really liked it (thank you, Brigid!). This reminded me of a reader request I’d recently gotten for “tofu burgers that won’t crumble and fall apart on the grill.” According to this reader, such things are a rarity. I’d never made tofu burgers before, but it sounded like an excellent challenge to me—especially since I’ve been on a burger kick lately (still haven’t tried my chickpea and sweet potato burgers? Do it!).

My goal was to find a way to bind the burgers together without making them too dense. My solution was to use a bit of whole grains (oats) and a bit of nut/seed butter (tahini). It worked better than I could have imagined. And the taste? Thanks to carrots, nutritional yeast, and a bit of nama shoyu, these were delectable. And not even a little crumbly. Here’s how it’s all done:

Gena’s Tofu Burgers (yields 4)

12 oz tofu, extra firm and pressed if possible
2/3 cup oatmeal
2 tbsp tahini
2 small carrots, grated
2 small stalks celery, chopped
¼ cup nooch
1 tbsp + 1 tsp nama shoyu, tamari, or soy sauce

1) Mix all ingredients in a food processor. You’ll want to begin by pulsing, and then let the motor go till it’s all well mixed and fairly uniform.

2) Shape into patties.

3) Heat a skillet or grill pan (or, if you don’t live in an apartment with the kitchen the size of a shoebox, heat up your grill), and grill the burgers until each side is crispy and golden brown.

4) Serve, if you’d like, with salad and avocado strips—because what isn’t made better with avocado?

These burgers were a shining example of how wonderful it is that I have readers who write in with requests for food. I’d never have thought to make them–usually, if I want a burger, I’ll make my sunshine burgers, raw or cooked—but now that I have, I imagine they’ll make a regular appearance in the CR kitchen. Thanks to all of you for continually challenging me to go outside of my routines!

And now, It’s back to work I go. I ask you all to cross your fingers and hope that I’m the proud owner of a new modem very, very soon. I already did away with my pride on the phone with Time Warner last night; I’d hate to think how pitiable I’ll get if there’s a “next time.”

xo

Needless to say, I had to be there.

My friend Nelly and I planned a hot date—including a picnic dinner—to see the movie together. When we arrived at Sheep’s Meadow, I was delighted to run into Hadley, who was there with a group of friends.

Nelly and I found a little patch of spare grass, and, as we waited for the movie to begin, we got down to the real business of the hour: dinner!!! We attacked our picnic bags with gusto. Nelly, who’s a passionate athlete and runner, had been playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament all day. And me? I was just really hungry

Nel and I shared a little chuckle over the fact that we’d had at least some of the same picnic ideas: hummus and raw veggies were in both of our picnic bags. Nelly’s a vegetarian, so I can usually count upon our enjoying some of the same things, but we also share a lot of the same tastes. Nelly had with her a container of whole wheat pita, some Sabra hummus, veggies, and a delicious homemade cocktail made with ginger beer, cucumber, and fresh peaches. On my menu was (obviously) a giant kale salad, marinated earlier in the day:

I’d also discovered this brand at my local health food store earlier in the week:

It’s Chocolatree, which is the prepared food made by the staff at Chocolatree Cafe in Arizona. I picked up the pizza crackers (made with buckwheat and sunflower seeds) and the onion flatbread (made with sunflower seeds and chia seeds). Interesting fact: I have learned, thanks to Lori and Michelle, that while I do not like raw onions (or cooked onions, for that matter), I really like raw onion flatbread. Go figure.

My verdict? Two thumbs up! I really liked both breads. The pizza flatbread is heartier, and more “bread” like; it reminds me of Lydia’s breads and crackers, which I truly adore. The onion bread is nice and thin, and I imagine it would make a great raw “wrap.” While I’m still a loyal devotee of the Twins’ flatbreads and crackers, the Chocolatree brand is a nice second choice. I love that my local store takes care to stock these lesser known raw food brands!

I made two little open faced raw sandwiches. One was onion flatbread, roast red pepper hummus, tomato, avocado, and cucumber:

And the other was pizza flatbread with a simple topping of tomato and avocado:

Both were delicious! Between these, kale salad, and raw veggies+hummus, I was a very, very happy camper. And a very full one.

Of course, what made me really happy was the joy of seeing my favorite movie on a big screen. And what could be more appropriate than watching Woody Allen’s love poem to New York City in the middle of Central Park, surrounded by skyline?

I got a little misty when we got to this scene:

Forget Love is a Many Splendored Thing. Forget Casablanca. Forget Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Dr. Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, and even An Affair to Remember. Those movies are all terrific, but in my world, there is no more romantic movie still than this one from Manhattan:

My understanding of romance will always and forever be intertwined with my love affair with Manhattan. Part of why I—well, why most New Yorkers—love Woody Allen’s work so fiercely is that he understands that feeling. His movies chronicle the vicissitudes of human love, but the infatuation with New York is always a constant. In other words, he gets it.

Dinner last night was so extraordinarily good that, today, still basking in the haze of cinematic joy, I repeated it. Using only the pizza crackers this time (I’m saving the onion flatbread for later this week), I made one flatbread with avocado and tomato:

And another with cucumber and my dilly sunflower seed cheese.

How’d I made the “cheese?” This is just a simple sunflower seed pate, made all the more delicious with the addition of dill. Observe:

Dilly Sunflower Cheese (yields 1 1/2 cups, or 6-8 servings)

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked at least one hour
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4-1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup water
8-10 small sprigs fresh dill, coarsely chopped

1) Place soaked seeds, salt, and lemon into the bowl of a food processor and let it run till they’re broken down. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

2) With the motor running, drizzle 1/2 cup water into the food processor, so that the sunflower seed cheese becomes light and creamy. If it starts to get at all watery, stop adding water! I usually use anywhere from 1/4-2/3 cup water; it totally depends on how much water the seeds have absorbed, so use your judgment.

3) Add the dill to the processor and pulse a few times to distribute it into the cheese. What you’ll have left looks like this:

…and it tastes tart, salty, and fresh!

Along with some salad and raw veg action, it was a perfect midday meal:

Sometimes I find that raw flatbreads and crackers leave me totally empty only a few moments after mealtime; I’m really impressed with how nicely the Chocolatree products fill me up. A good reason to make these a semi-regular “splurge.”

And now, I’m procrastinating with Mad Men diligently working in preparation for the week ahead. I hope you all had great weekends. New Yorkers, were any of you with me in the park last night? And here’s a question: what cinematic moment or image ranks as most romantic in your book? I know that questions like these are a little reductive and silly but they—like naming the scene in a book or film that you find most sad, or most poignant—tend to say fun things about peoples’ personalities!

xo

It’s always nice when a recipe you like seems to “take off” with other bloggers. This has been true recently of my sweet potato and chickpea burgers, which Matt and Katie have made recently, as well as a bunch of other bloggers and readers who have emailed me or left comments on the original post. Thank you guys for trying the recipe out! I hope you’ve enjoyed the sweet, dense taste and texture as much as I did when I first made the burgers.

My experience with the sweet potato burgers got me hooked on chickpea flour. Versatile, high-protein, and possessed of a starchy texture that’s fairly unique, chickpea flour is ideal for all sorts of pancakes, burgers, and bread recipes. Just check out the Twins’ socca adventures if you’re looking to be inspired!

I’ve been enamored of chickpea flour as a burger ingredient, but this week I wondered whether or not I might extend its powers to the world of pancake making. Not sweet pancakes, but savory ones. Back before I became a vegan, I had a zucchini pancake recipe I loved, which came together with shredded zucchini, flour, and egg whites. I’ve long wanted to veganize it and amp up the color with more veggies. On Monday, with some corn and red pepper in hand (ah, summer produce!) I decided I’d give a zucchini and corn pancake a shot—made with chickpea flour as a binder, of course, and with flax as an egg replacer. The results were great!

With most of my raw recipes, I remind you guys that most substitutions and tweaks at home are just fine—they won’t do much to disturb taste or flavor. With anything involving flour and flax, however, I tend to say that it’s best to stick to instruction, because small changes might really affect texture and results. If you make these, then, try to stick to the instructions.

Corn and Zucchini Pancakes (makes 4 large pancakes)

1 small zucchini, shredded
Kernels from 1 large ear corn
1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
6 tbsp chickpea flour
1 tsp non-aluminum baking powder
1/4 cup flax meal + 6 tbsp water, mixed 5 min prior to making pancake batter and set aside
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp Herbamare or Spike
1/2 tsp cumin
Dash red pepper flakes (to taste)

1) Preheat a griddle or large saute pan over a medium flame. Spray or rub it with coconut oil—just enough for pancake making.

2) Mix all ingredients together.

3) As if you were making regular pancakes, drop the batter by 2-tbsp servings onto the griddle, and wait until the bottom side is nicely browned. Flip, and cook till second side is browned.

4) Serve!

These are fresh, sweet, and tasty:

And I imagine they’d be equally perfect for breakfast OR dinner. For my part, I enjoyed them over a big raw kale salad (how else?):

A few months ago, I made raw and cooked versions of homemade Sunshine burgers, which also got some nice reader feedback. You guys will be glad to know that I’m hard at work on a perfect raw version of these corn and zucchini pancakes, so stay tuned! It’s time to take advantage of the last few bushels of summer produce.

On that note, I have a long and busy Saturday ahead of me. I hope you guys have a great one—if you’re in NYC, enjoy the sun for me—and I’ll be back tomorrow.

xo

As usual, those were some amazing comments on my last post. I love writing about veganism on my blog. I always get such incredibly insightful and honest feedback! For those of you who missed this post, please go back and check it out: I was thrilled with the level of conversation.

So I had a long recipe post planned for y’all, but it’s been a long and hard day, so you’re getting a product review instead. Months ago, Matt over at Miessence—a company that produces high quality vegan, organic body, skin, and haircare products—offered me a few samples of supplements. Namely, he wrote to see whether or not I was interested in three supplements:

1) An antioxidant “superfood” powder called Berry Radical

2) A wholefood probiotic powder called Inliven

3) A liquid probiotic (gluten-free) called Fast Track

Well sure, I said. I’m not in the habit of turning down free, high-quality probiotics—though for the record, I don’t take a regular probiotic supplement unless I’m traveling or my stomach is feeling off. (I did take probiotics religiously for a period of time in which I was “healing” my IBS, and I think they helped me tremendously. And I’ve written about probiotics and enzymes in this post.)

Matt went above and beyond the call of any man offering a blogger a sample product. When I posed questions to him about the products, he responded instantaneously and kindly. My main question was this: As I understand it, most probiotic bacteria is killed in the stomach, due to its very acidic environment. This is why enteric coated probiotics are popular. So I wondered how the liquid probiotic, Fast Track, could withstand such a low pH? Matt wrote back,

Thanks for your question, a very good one at that! I am not the best at describing how Fast Tract works as a probiotic, I use the In-Liven product myself – which is formulated in a way that ensures that lactic
acid in the stomach does not “kill” off the good bacteria (lactic acid is formed when bacteria are fighting each other). This is done through providing a food source (superfood) for the bacteria, whilst also allowing the good bacteria to establish themselves in the digestive tract. Also, the bacteria strains have been established through rigourous “breeding”, using extreme cold and extreme heat to use the
most resistant strains of the bacteria. Fast Tract is to be used as a precursor to transitioning to In-Liven, to allow the gut to have a baseload of good bacteria who can handle the predigested gluten.

Something also to keep in mind is that the products are certified organic, completely raw and unprocessed (well, they are predigested over 30 days, fermented somewhat). The use of enteric coatings is to protect the contents of the pills, my basic research into these coatings highlights that they use chemical based coatings predominantly.

I thought this was a great, if confusing answer! Not because Matt articulated himself poorly, but because I’m still not 100% sure how probiotic bacteria withstand the stomach pH. And vegetarian, chemical coating to ensure efficacy in a pill still strikes me as smarter than a liquid supplement that won’t have its intended effect. If any med or science folks in the audience have further insight to offer, do please share!

In any case, I was really impressed with the due diligence that Matt gave my queries, and with his attitude in general. I get the sense that Miessence is an honest and solid company.

As for the products, I enjoyed them quite a bit! The enliven tastes just like Kombucha. This was good, in that it’s a taste I like, and bad, in that I wanted to drink it like a beverage, rather than take it by the teaspoon and as a supplement, which is of course how I was instructed.

The InLiven is tasteless and easy to put in smoothies, soups, and nut cheeses! I tried it all three ways – I even made a batch of my raw “goat cheese” with it – and it worked nicely in the fermentation process.

Did I notice a difference in my digestive health? Well no, not really. I’m happy to say that, at this point in life, my digestion works like a well oiled machine, and I these probiotics had no impact to speak of. But perhaps they would make a big difference for someone who has digestive irregularity or trouble; in any case, I think they’re as worthy as any other probiotic of a trial! As for the Berry Radical antioxidant powder, it made a fun and tasty addition to my summer berry smoothies. Here was my favorite concoction:

I used the Berry Radical:

…and I also used a packed of Sambazon’s original acai pulp. Acai—along with goji berries and mulberries and maca and lots of other “super” foods—tends to elicit my teasing. But putting aside for a moment it’s purported health benefits, I really do like the way it tastes, and so I purchase these guys sometimes:

And sometimes, I even use terms like “superfoods” with a straight face. Like now.

Gena’s Berry Antioxidant Superfood Smoothie (serves 1)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 pack Sambazon “original Rio blend” acai
1/2 frozen banana
1 tbsp Miessence Berry Radical antioxidant powder
1/2 cup nut milk
2 tbsp cacao nibs (I used Navitas naturals)
Ice as needed

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender till smooth. I prefer my smoothies to resemble ice cream, rather than liquids, so this will be thick, but you can of course add more nut milk as needed! I topped mine with a little raw granola, too – this brand, which I find at my health food store and quite like!

It’s a delicious and decadent mix, made chocolatey by the cacao and the acai (which has a chocolate overtone). I suggest you try it soon!

Thanks so much, Matt, for giving me a chance to sample the goods. I may be ambivalent about many kinds of supplements, but I do admire what you’re doing, and have no doubt that your products can and will benefit many.

Switching gears completely for a moment, were any other NYC kids at Cakeshop with me last night, seeing Tennis perform? They were impressive, even in the tiny and sweaty space. For those of you who weren’t there, I present you with my music pick of the week. Listen now, thank me later.

xo

A few days ago, my friend Bitt left the following comment on my crushing post:

I have had a question since seeing you in VegNews. Do you feel that you identify more with the “healthy living” community or the vegan or raw community? I have to admit I assumed the former but then was sort of surprised to see you in VegNews because they come to veganism from more of the ethical sort of standpoint. I’d love to know your thoughts on it.

The evolution of my veganism is something I’ve touched on before, most notably in my Thanksliving post, wherein I spoke at length about how my veganism was morphing into a lifestyle, rather than a mere way of eating. I also touched on veganism and its impact on my habits as a consumer here. But it’s been a while since I talked at length about my motives for choosing a vegan lifestyle. So here’s the story:

I became a vegan mostly for health reasons. I was a longtime non-eater of red meat; I swore off the sirloin after a traumatic Bambi-watching experience in childhood. I ate fish and chicken frequently all through high school and college, but by the end of college my consumption was tapering off, and I was discovering tofu, soy cheese (which was, looking back, pretty icky–you can ask Chloe about how much she enjoyed my soy cheese while we were roommates after college graduation!), and grain/bean based meals.

At the same time as all of this, I struggled with a near crippling case of IBS, which had me incapacitated not infrequently during my college years. Finally, I saw a great GI in Manhattan who suggested I give up dairy to see how it affected my digestive health. The change was immediate and dramatic. At that point, I wasn’t eating much fish or poultry, I didn’t eat eggs (they’ve always given me migraines), and dairy was suddenly off the list, too. Translation: I was eating vegan by default. And since the prospect of embracing a vegan diet seemed not daunting, but rather like a logical extension of the tastes and habits I was already learning to love, I took the plunge. I’ve never looked back.

Since I started eating vegan, I’ve begun to live vegan, too. As I read more books about veganism, and as I surrounded myself more with men and women who were passionate about veganism not for its health benefits, but because of its ethical implications, I couldn’t help but discover that, for most vegans the world over, veganism is not only a way of eating. It’s a lifestyle choice and a world view that extends from food down to clothing, language, and ideological identification. I may not have begun my vegan journey with these things in mind, but they have been an absolutely crucial part of my veganism. Why? Simply put, because I find the ethical and environmental arguments highly compelling, especially in the world in which we live. I believe that the best and most efficient way for me to remedy the abuses of factory farming and the environmental destruction it causes is to cease my consumption of animal products altogether. And I’ve come to question the assumption that our use of animals for our own benefit is right.

This ideological shift has been gradual, and it’s still very much underway. Two years ago, I ate vegan, but still purchased new leather and used non-vegan cosmetics. Today, I buy only vegan personal care items, and I also only purchase vintage or thrift shop leather (yes, I am well aware that wearing any leather sets an example, and it’s not a vegan example; I’m still in the process of changing, and this is my intermediary step). This doesn’t mean that I don’t have many, many changes yet ahead of me. Just last week, I used the expression “killing two birds with one stone” on my blog, which Bitt quickly pointed out is a non-vegan idiom! And a few weeks ago, when I mentioned staycation with my Mom, I noted that she had requested we visit the Central Park zoo.

Um, newsflash Gena: vegans don’t do zoos! Or at least, most vegans don’t support zoos, rodeos, and circuses. It was reader Sara who pointed this out to me in an email. She asked, “you’ve written before about your vegan shoes, vegan skin-care products etc., so I would just love to hear your thoughts about other non-food aspects of veganism and where you draw your lines?”

The truth, Sara, is that I didn’t even think about the zoo remark when I wrote it. My mom used to love taking me, and since our staycation was self-consciously touched by nostalgia, it must have seemed like an obvious suggestion to her. Of course, had I taken a moment to sit down and think about it, I’d have realized immediately that zoos are incongruous with a vegan lifestyle. But my veganism is young, and there are many connections that I’m making. I don’t stress about them: I have a lifetime in which to figure out where I draw my lines. As far as zoos go, I can say honestly that they–along with horse drawn carriage rides and circuses–have always depressed me and made me sorry for the animals involved, so I’ve no problem whatsoever avoiding them. If I want to see and play with animals, I can visit a farm sanctuary. But I needed an “aha” moment to connect my experience and emotions with my ideological position, if that makes sense. I imagine that this process will be long and ever-evolving.

Does this change the fact that I connect my good health to veganism? No. But I don’t think that my lifelong commitment to veganism would be as strong if the philosophical component hadn’t crept in along the way. I do believe that veganism can be the world’s healthiest diet for many people. But I also believe that it is one of many ways to live healthily. I, for example, might easily have managed my IBS and felt better by eating high raw and mostly vegan, but with the occasional inclusion of fish or yogurt. I know many pescatarians or people who eat a mostly vegan diet who feel great. So for me, the impetus to be a vegan for the long haul, rather than as an experiment to manage a health complaint, has to come from some place that isn’t exclusively health-motivated. It has to come from a conviction that goes beyond my body and how I feel. I think that all motives for choosing vegansim are great–i.e,. I certainly don’t think that non-ethical vegans are “lesser” vegans. But I do wonder if perhaps their attachment to the lifestyle would be strengthened by an appreciation of all that veganism implies, rather than its dietary dictates alone.

There’s another piece of the puzzle that I haven’t mentioned yet, but it’s a tremendous part of why I feel strongly about veganism. If health and ethics are my first two sources of devotion to veganism, this is a crucial third: my psychology. As many of you know, I struggled with various shades of disordered eating for many years, starting at a young age. Even after I learned to eat more consistently, I battled constant temptations to restrict food, and indeed my weight dropped dangerously low more than a few times after what I’d call the “worst” period of my psychological struggle. Veganism offered me an escape from these cycles. There are many reasons why that’s true, but I’d say that, for someone like me, appreciation of food had to be accompanied by a sense that the food I was eating had deep nutritional and ethical purpose. I had to feel that it was good for me, yes, but also that it was good for the world. This was my answer to the guilt that had dominated my eating for so long.

To this day, veganism isn’t supported by most health care professionals as a means of overcoming disordered eating, and I understand why: it’s very easy for veganism to hide sublimated food fears and self-imposed dietary restrictions. I also think that many women who have struggled with eating disorders find that they can never again make certain foods “off limits” to themselves, and in this sense veganism isn’t right for them. But for me, it was the gateway into having the sort of joyous and appreciative relationship with food that I wish I’d had all along. It was my way of understanding that, when we eat, we can nourish ourselves and the world in which we live all at once.

So you see, Bitt, my veganism comes from many different places. Health was the catalyst, if we want to call it that, and I still feel that veganism (as well as the very high portion of raw foods I eat) grants me energy and great health. But I wouldn’t say that health is my main motive at this point. It isn’t what makes veganism attractive to me as something I’m committed to for life. My feelings about its ethical and environmental implications, as well as the great changes it has wrought on my psyche, are what keep me hooked.

The other day, I was asked in an interview if vegans eat coffee. I laughed. “Well sure,” I said. “You have to understand that veganism isn’t about being a health freak. It is, first and foremost, a position of compassion.” Putting aside the fact that I don’t think coffee is a huge health no-no (Matt!), my point was this: veganism goes far beyond what is or isn’t on your plate. I don’t know if this response would have come to me so readily two years or even a year ago. But I said it almost without thinking. If there’s any clear sign of how much my veganism has evolved, this was it.

What about you all? For my vegan readers, what keeps you committed to a vegan diet and lifestyle? Do you identify more with one than the other? What are your reasons for exploring veganism, and sticking to it? And to my non-vegan readers, what are the motives you tend to attribute to vegans and their choices?

xo

I loved hearing your blog crush confessionals. It’s not too late to be a total creeper and chime in!

Late last week, I tweeted out that I’d made a tasty chia breakfast pudding using this stuff:

Meghann has been requesting the recipe ever since, and here, at last, it is.

What you see in the photo above is my friend Brendan’s Vega Shake & Go smoothie infusion, courtesy of the HLS swag bag. It’s no great secret that I’m not great fan of powdered supplements: I don’t regularly use a green powder or other smoothie infusion, and on the whole I prefer to load up my smoothies with nut butter or hemp seeds than with a formula. With that said, I recognize that smoothie infusions and powdered supplements can be mighty helpful when one is traveling (such as when I had the Vega smoothie infusion at the airport last week). And the reason I love and support Vega products is that they’re as close to having real food on the go as possible: Brendan has taken tremendous care to ensure that the whole line is vegan, plant based, mostly raw, and made with whole foods.

I mentioned last Monday that I’ve been on a bit of a chia seed pudding kick lately: it’s my hot weather answer to hearty bowls of oats. When I don’t have time to made something as scrumptious as Heathy’s blueberry chia pudding, I take the simple route, and I mix 2 tbsp chia seeds with a scant 1/2 cup nut milk, stirring every few minutes until it’s thick and resembles tapioca. I leave it in the fridge overnight, and in the morning, I take it to work, mush it up with bananas and berries and perhaps a little nut butter. It’s delicious, filling, and oh so easy.

As soon as I got my Vega Shake & Go, I knew I’d be marrying it with chia seeds in the near future. The genius of this stuff is that it can be mixed with a little water to make an instant smoothie: no blending or fruit is even necessary for either flavor or nutrition. But when one has a little more time on one’s hand, the Vega Shake & Go makes a nice addition to smoothies, puddings (check out Evan’s banana version), or parfaits.

Or, if you’d like a breakfast treat that also involves every healthy bloggers favorite trendy “superfood,” go ahead and mix 2 tbsp of Vega Shake & Go (any flavor is fine, but I used the chocolate) with 2 tbsp chia seeds, and a scant 1/2 cup of water. Shake or mix it every few minutes until it’s thick and congealed. You can either eat it right away, or leave it in the fridge overnight and take it to work in the morning. You don’t need sweetener, you don’t need a blender, and you don’t need time. This is a perfect breakfast on the go!

Topping it with sliced berries will make it look a little fancier. But they’re optional, too

There’s something undeniably fun about laboring over a bowl of oats, a parfait, or even mixing a killer smoothie. But it’s also nice to make breakfast with nothing but the twirl of a spoon. When that breakfast is rich in calcium (the chia seeds are a GREAT source — almost 20% of an average woman’s recommended value) and protein (15 grams), so much the better. Thanks, Brendan, for making life on the go a little easier for us vegan and raw folk.

HLS attendees, have you used your Vega Shake & Go yet? How? Any other Vega fans in the audience?

xo

If you don’t know who Laura is, I suggest you get to know her NOW. She’s one of the masterminds behind Vegansaurus.com, San Fran’s totally awesome vegan lifestyle guide (New Yorkers, I think we need to get us one of these), the writer of her own random, opinionated, and shittaciously funny blog, and the webmistress over at VegWeb.com, which is just the largest vegan recipe database in the world. She’s also one of the coolest vegans I know: whip smart, hilarious, and passionate. Few vegans are more blunt, outspoken, or vocal about why veganism rocks, but Laura—like all cool vegans—also knows how to be compassionate, encouraging, and to lead by example (rather than with vitriol).

In short, she is my hero.

I’m not only saying this because Laura happens to have featured me in the latest VegWeb newsletter. Yes, I just gave you the link, but don’t be lazy: as this issue proves, the VegWeb newsletter is awesome, and you should all go sign up to receive it (at the top of the VegWeb homepage) now. After all, it’s free!

Laura and I have spoken at length about raw foodism: the myths, the stereotypes, and the realities. I’ve shared with her my rather unorthodox approach to eating raw (which you guys already know about: semi-raw, flexible, etc.), and she’s shared with me her theories about why many vegans are alienated or put off by raw foods. This theory is pretty simple, and pretty hilarious. To quote Laura in the newsletter:

“Raw food gets a bad rap. Sometimes you get slack for eating vegan, but what’s weirder than that? Eating raw. Some vegans even like to point the finger at raw foodists when people accuse them of being odd. Like, look over there! Those people are the real freaks!”

Ha! I’ll confess, this attitude isn’t one I’m too familiar with. Typically, the people who write to me are vegans who are intent on becoming raw—perhaps even too intent, too quickly! I often find myself explaining to people that, while raw foods offer us myriad benefits, “going raw” isn’t the logical extension of veganism, or some sort of special challenge for the hardcore among us. Still, I see Laura’s point: I think raw foodies are natural targets for certain unsupportive vegans who enjoy the idea of there being someone out there whose food choices are even less conventional than their own. But, as Laura points out,

“ . . . the stigma attached to raw foods is slowly being erased, bit by bit, by the fact that some of the most innovative food coming out of the kitchen isn’t even cooked! Adventerous and talented raw-food chefs like Sarma Melngailis, Ani Phyo, and Mathew Kenney are changing the way people think about raw food. Bloggers are helping forge the way, too. My personal favorite is Choosing Raw, a blog maintained by the delightful Gena Hamshaw, who also happens to be VegNews’ raw-food columnist! Not only is she a total foodie genius, she’s smart and sane, to boot.”

OK I didn’t really have to include that last bit to prove my point about how raw food is going more mainstream. But it’s not every day that I get such sweet, if undeserved, flattery. Thankfully, I get to thank Laura with a big vegan dinner in San Fran when I visit (two weeks!!). If not, I’ll just continue to tell her about my girl crush on her until she gets creeped out by me.

Laura asked me to pick a recipe from the VegWeb raw food library to feature in the newsletter. Can you guys take a guess as to what I picked?

Duh! Raw green soup. Blended salad, con avocado: simple, easy, fresh. Vintage Gena.

While we’re on the topic of girl crushes, I was super excited to see that Ms. Katie gave my tofu scramble a spin on her blog this week. It looks as though her batch came out nicely! I was also really touched to see that my former client and friend Elese commented to say that she’s been inspired by the pleasure I take in eating (Elese and I have eaten out together in Chicago). When you eat “healthy food”—and especially when you write about it—the assumption is usually that you have a joyless, functional relationship with what you eat. I have to bat down this misconception a lot; to this day, I don’t think my ex-boyfriend believes that I really enjoy eating kale (are the 184572 photos of kale salad on my blog not sufficient proof?!?). So I’m always happy when a friend notices the fact that I like food. A lot.

To tie up our themes nicely, my lunch today involved both a girl crush and a raw soup. I used gray, damp weather as an excuse to make my girl Kristen’s incredible Harvest Soup, which is hands down one of my favorite raw soups ever. With simple salad, avocado, and pureed, steamed butternut squash (yes, I was feeling autumnal), it was exactly what I craved:

Comfort food for a rainy day.

And now, the usual Sunday night catch up ensues. Before I go, tell me: do you have any blogger girl crushes? Or guy crushes? (Yes, Evan, Matt, and Ian, I am trying to embarrass you.) I would love to hear your personal blogging heroes are, and why.

xo

Express post!

I’m just home from work and about to head out again, but I wanted to check in a) because I love you all, and b) to share a recipe from the other evening.

As you can imagine, I tend to get a lot of emails along the lines of, “Can I eat __________ raw?” or “Is ________ a raw food?” My personal favorite was an email wherein someone asked me if stovetop oats were raw. “You mean the ones you boil for several minutes?” I wanted to reply.

But I understand these questions, at least in theory, because some of the foods you wouldn’t expect to be able to eat raw do in fact make for lovely raw meals. Take wild rice, for instance. This delicious “grain” isn’t a grain at all, but rather an aqueous grass that’s often food to ducks and pond creatures. We can cook it, naturally, and I’m sure we all have: who among us hasn’t made a wild rice pilaf at some point? But it’s also very easy to soak wild rice, and the even better news is that you needn’t bother to cover and sprout it before eating: you can soak it for three days, changing water at least twice daily, and then dig in right away. Easy peasy.

This week, with little time on my hands, I didn’t feel like cooking up a batch of brown rice. As usual, raw foods came to the rescue. I threw together a summery wild rice salad that hit the spot and demanded no steamy stovetop vigil, and would have – if I’d had the foresight to make a double batch – yielded great leftovers, too. I’m about to give you a recipe for one portion, but do go ahead and double it. You won’t be sorry!

Wild Rice Salad Salad with Summer Vegetables (serves 1)

1/3 cup wild rice, raw
1 large plum tomato, chopped
1/3 cup corn, raw
1/3 cup green peas, blanched if you like (I like)
2 tbsp chopped basil
2 tbsp Tomato Basil Vinaigrette, courtesy of Epicurious
Salt and pepper to taste   

1) Place wild rice in a bowl and submerge it with at least 1-2 cups filtered water. Soak for 2-3 days, changing the water twice daily. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s still quite chewy, but no more chewy than cooked wheatberries or spelt. Give yourself 3 days to be safe, but 2 was all I needed here.

2) Rinse wild rice in fresh water, let it dry a little (or pat it with a paper towel) and mix it with all remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper, and serve!

You’ll notice that I didn’t make up a vinaigrette for this recipe, and you’ll be right. Usually I love making up my own dressing recipes, but I also love to be inspired by cookbooks and the web. This was one of those times. I daresay I could do as well as the Epicurious recipe (and maybe I’ll try), but it’s a solid one to make at home!

See? A fresh, summery raw meal that only requires a little advance planning: aside from soak time, this one is a cinch:

And did you know that wild rice has five grams of protein per 1/6 cup serving? For those of you counting, that’s ten grams for 1/3 cup.

Soaked wild rice isn’t quite as soft as we’re used to from pilafs, but I actually love the texture and chew. And it goes without saying that it works really nicely with fall and winter flavors. I just may have a recipe in store for the holiday issue of VegNews! Hope you guys try this one out and like it. I’m sure there is plenty of variety to add to the dish, and don’t hesitate to mix it up.

On that note, I hate to blog and dash, but I’m outtie. See you later this weekend!

xo

A few weeks ago, my friends over at The Pump let me know about an exciting opportunity to visit and work at the Target Bronx Community Garden. This incredible space, which has been created with the support of the New York Restoration Project, gives meaning to the expression “urban oasis”:

It’s hard to believe, but this beautiful garden is tucked away in an otherwise busy urban neighborhood—just blocks away from the bustle of Yankees Stadium. You exit here:

Stroll up a few very hilly blocks (Gabi, check out all the PR pride!):

And at the top of these hills you’ll be greeted by the sight of this guy:

He’s the gatekeeper to a perfectly planted and maintained vegetable garden, which gazes calmly over a busy cityscape:

The contrast is unreal. The eight year old in me was transported immediately back to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. I felt like Mary Lennox, stumbling upon a world of unkempt brambles and rosebeds for the first time. Except that I’m 28, American, not an orphan, and not living in an English country manor.

Work with me here, people. Look at these flowers, and tell me you don’t understand the comparison.

How about these veggies? Green tomatoes galore.

Try cutting these, dipping them in whole wheat bread crumbs, and baking or pan frying them. YUM.

Also, baby watermelons (so cute!):

Regular tomatoes:

Bell peppers:

Cabbage:

And eggplant galore!

My mind was full of dinner ideas as I strolled through the lanes of this fertile veggie haven. But recipe development wasn’t what I was there to do. My task for the day was to sit down and talk healthy eating with some of the folks who have worked on the garden.

And I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming audience:

Meet the hard working men and women behind the Target Bronx Community Garden. That fellow on the right there is Charlie, my program coordinator for the day’s event, who was so kind and welcoming to me. Next to him is a pastor from the local church, who kicked off our discussion by saying that she’s trying to incorporate more healthy options into her weekly soup kitchen. Many of her customers, she said, suffer from hypertension and/or diabetes: how to feed them without using too much salt or sugar?

I tried to share the most basic and practical tips I know: always buy soups, beans, and canned foods that are labeled as low-sodium. If you can, buy dried beans and legumes: you’ll save money and can cook them without adding too much salt. If you purchase canned tomatoes, tomato paste, or tomato sauce, be sure to also check the sodium count. Never serve processed dessert foods—that includes cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and the like. Try instead to make fruit bowls. If packaged or canned fruit is all you can offer, fine: it’s still better than most commercial baked goods (and more and more brands are canning fruit without added fructose).

I mentioned that using frozen vegetables is often a nutritionally superior alternative to canned, and not much costlier. Frozen vegetables are quick, easy, fresh, and they don’t have any of the sodium or BPA of canned veggies. They’re available year round, and they’ve been shown in some studies to retain more nutrients (or relatively as many) as fresh vegetables that are slightly past their prime!

And of course, using fresh, local produce is always the most ideal option. This is difficult for residents of low income neighborhoods for so many reasons: cost (fresh vegetables are usually more expensive than packaged foods), availability (a dearth of seasonal produce), habit, and lack of motivation. The Target Bronx Community garden—and other gardens like it—helps to diminish the first two obstacles in a major way.

As for motivation and habit, I often find that people who aren’t used to eating vegetables on a regular basis simply lack a basic mental repertoire of dishes and means of preparation. They want to eat more veggies, but they’re not sure how, or in what. This is where simple creativity comes in! I reminded the community members that making one fresh green salad daily takes no more than three minutes of rinsing lettuce, and that it’s always easy to throw some frozen peas, corn, broccoli or cooked beans into a dish of rice. Tomatoes are delicious plain and sprinkled with salt, and eggplants and zucchini—both growing in abundance in the garden—are easy to grill (many of the community members said they had grill access). I reminded the community members that many of the veggies they eat in abundance already are very healthy, but the preparations they use isn’t. Yams, plantains, and lettuce are all great: yam pie, fried plantains, and salads dressed with blue cheese dressing aren’t so great! The trick to eating more healthily often lies in cleaning up one’s customary preparation methods.

Of course, a few of the people I sat down with had seen my blog, so they were understandably wary of me and my work. Did they have to stop eating meat to be healthier, they asked? Of course not, was my reply. Here on my blog, I speak to an audience of men and women who have at least some interest in eating less animal foods. But I believe firmly that the most dramatic health improvements come from eating less processed foods and more vegetables. Eating less animal foods is hugely important for good health, but it can be a later step in the overall process of greening one’s diet. Depending on one’s lifestyle, circumstance, culture and custom, it may never be a step at all. But that doesn’t mean that huge health improvements can’t happen. The important thing is for all of us to eat more produce, local if we can.

And that’s what our conversation was all about. Add first; subtract later.

To help inspire the community members to eat more summer veggies, I passed out a few recipes. One was for Susan’s black bean and corn salad – a summertime classic that’s meat free and high protein, yet also simple and accessible. Another was for sweet potato soup, and it allowed for the use of canned pumpkin if that’s what’s available in supermarkets. And the last was a printout of Mama Pea’s chocolate chip zucchini muffins.

Mama Pea, I figured that you, a veteran of sneaking veggies into your kids’ food, would be an excellent resource for the community members who are having a hard time getting those 2.5-3.5 daily cups in. I printed the muffin recipe with a link to your blog – hope some of them stop by to say hey Thank you for sharing your veggie sleight of hand with your family, with me, and now, with the people of the Target Community Garden!

After my talk, I had a chance to meet a special member of the community garden. CR readers, meet Duane:

Duane’s Grandaddy worked on the garden, and he brought Duane by to see the vegetables:

I ended up having a long conversation with Duane about eggplants: what they are, what to do with them, how they taste–what’s up with me and eggplant conversations with cute boys lately?

Duane, I hope you try some eggplant soon. I suggest you start easy, and go with a (vegan) parmesan.

At the end of our talk, the members of the group were, miraculously, not fed up with me and my veggie gospel yet. And so we stood for some photos:

Me and Charlie—Charlie, thanks for being awesome!:

Here in the blog world, we get caught up in the minutiae of food and eating. We dissect specialty ingredients, and swap recommendations on where to find them. We trade recipes endlessly, and discuss the slightest modifications as though it’s rocket science. We explore the vast sea of nutrition knowledge, sharing information we’ve gleaned about macronutrients, minerals, and caloric ranges. We deliberate over whether to purchase $7 chia seeds or $14 golden mulberries at Whole Foods. We choose—we choose—to eliminate certain foods from our diets, because they’re not healthy, or because we have ethical reservations.

It’s great that we make these choices. But it’s important that we as a community also be thankful that we have a choice in the first place. With our dollar, we get to uphold our health standards, our tastes, and our ethics. Do I think that people in any socioeconomic range can make the sorts of choices that I see people making in this foodie community? Definitely. As the food zeitgeist evolves, I think that more and more people will learn that eating a produce-heavy diet is accessible, affordable, and fulfilling. But right now, culture, custom and access are still huge barriers. And economic limitations often result in a lack of choice.

For many years of my life, I experienced hunger not because I needed to, but because I was personally compelled to. I picked at my food. I broke it into pieces, played with it, moved it around on my plate, and then walked away. I nibbled at it, and then put it back in the fridge. I stuffed it into napkins under the table, or into my purse, to be discarded later. I tossed it, uneaten, into the trash. Sometimes I fed it to my dog. This was not a choice I made—disordered eating is an illness—but neither did I go hungry because I couldn’t afford to eat, which is the reality that so many people in low income communities face every day. I can’t get any of the food that I wasted back, but I can be forever grateful for the fact that I have always had the capacity to eat plentifully and well, and with pleasure.

Lucky, lucky me.

Thank you, members of the Target Bronx Community Garden, for letting me come talk leafy greens with you, and for making fresh, nourishing food an option for the people around you. You’re doing a wonderful thing, and I hope you guys know it.

For information on donating, volunteering, or becoming a member of the New York Restoration Project, please click here.

xo