I was in Bedford, New York earlier in the week where I found myself in the most beautiful organic vegetable garden that still had tomatoes on the vine.  Can you believe it?  (Bedford is a beautiful little town about an hour north of New York City, in case you are wondering.) The tomatoes were red, juicy and delicious. I ate them right off of the vine!  And so I feel kind of justified in holding onto them for just a bit longer. You agree with me, right? I know you do. Tomatoes, I just can’t quit you!

This creamy vegan tomato soup is what I like to call a Sunday soup. There’s not a ton of active work but it takes a bit of time for the cashews to soak and for the tomatoes to roast. I just kind of putter around the apartment doing chores and projects and wander into the kitchen whenever its time for the next step. It’s lazy cooking but the kind of lazy where you feel great about what you are putting into your body.  If you are looking for a soup that is warm, soothing and delicious, this is it. I know you are going to love it!

At some point over the past month, I gave up on trying to accomplish anything but survival.  My brain was absolute mush.  I think I had PTSD from being with my little monkeys almost 24/7.  I was talking to my mom about it and I told her that in any other circumstances, my “office” over the past six weeks would be considered a hostile work environment.   I do not thrive in chaos but our three sweet and adorable children successfully turned my life upside down. That’s what kids do, right?  And you can either go along for the ride or fight the fight the whole way through.  (You’ll go along for the ride anyway.)  I floated down the river of crazy and finally landed here.

So in case you got the picture that it is all sunshine, roses and perfectly photographed food over here, it is not. This mama nearly lost it over the past month.  

So here we are. Two weeks into September. I finally have all three of our kids in school, albeit not the same school, AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF PARENTING.  I need a dancing lady emoji.  The little one is in school for three hours a day but whatevs.  I am getting there.

It’s starting to feel like fall and with the shift in seasons, I found myself craving comfort food. That’s how these curried lentils with pickled fennel and wilted kale were born.  The tartness and crunch of the fennel is such a nice contrast with the cozy, curried deliciousness of the lentils.  As for the kale, it’s no secret that kale is packed with nutrients. While I could have easily pickled the kale together with the fennel, I liked how the warm, wilted kale worked with the lentils and the pickled fennel. The three elements together are fantastic, and I really think you all are going to love this.

It’s a great time for a healthy reset.   May we all start to re-ground ourselves and lean into fall!

All you need to make the noodles is a spiralizer.  (This is the one I have at home.)  It’s crazy how quickly you can make a mountain of noodles on the spiralizer and these cucumber noodles are so crunchy and refreshing.

While cucumbers are perfectly good for you, they aren’t exactly the most nutrient dense veggie you can find.  So I decided to make a pesto with baby kale, sunflower seeds and chives.  The addition of apple cider vinegar, cayenne, crushed red pepper and a bit of garlic give the pesto a slight kick.  Don’t you love it when something is good and good for you?  Have a great weekend, everyone!

If you haven’t made anything like this before, let me assure you that there is nothing to it.  My nut meat is simply walnuts that have been pulsed in the food processor along with olive oil, ancho chile powder and a few other spices.  It only takes a couple of minutes to make and it’s delicious.  The jicama taco shells are simply raw, peeled jicama that has been sliced thin on a mandoline.  Unless you are a sushi chef, you probably cannot slice the jicama thin enough without a mandoline but you could always do lettuce wraps if you don’t have one.

Jicama makes beautiful taco shells, by the way.  They are slightly sweet, crunchy and flexible.  Squeeze a bit of lime on the shells right before serving for a nice zing.  Did you know that jicama is relatively low in carbohydrates and high in vitamin C, by the way?  Many people consider jicama to be paleo-friendly but I am not about to engage in a debate.  

In terms of toppings, you will want to download these recipes for classic guacamole and pico de gallo.  I also added a bit of cashew crema (like drizzly sour cream) on top of the tacos.  You can find that recipe below along with the taco recipe.  Happy Taco Tuesday, indeed!

I wanted to create a healthy riff on the dish, something that I could eat everyday.  And that is how this dish, heirloom tomatoes with cashew ricotta, was born.

You guys, I am so psyched about this, I cannot even tell you.  Prepare to have your mind blown.  I knew it was futile to try to create a vegan burrata.  (I mean, come on, there are limits.)  But it is easy to create something more akin to ricotta and I am certainly not the first one to do it.  

To make the ricotta, I started by soaking a cup of raw cashews for six hours.  Now, if if you have never soaked cashews and you are the one thinking “Six hours!”, please know that there is nothing to this.  I simply plopped the cashews in a bowl of water before I took the boys to day camp this morning and by 2 pm, they were ready to go – easy peasy.  When the cashews were done soaking, I transferred them to a food processor.   I wanted to keep a bit of texture to the cashew cheese, similar to the texture of ricotta made from dairy.  I added a bit of water to the cashews along with a bit of salt, nutritional yeast and garlic.  I processed it all together, popped it in the fridge for about thirty minutes and that was it.  Cashew ricotta, done. 

This is prime tomato season and the heirloom tomatoes at the Union Square Greenmarket are divine!  I honestly can’t get enough.  They are so ripe and flavorful this time of year that you really don’t need to do much to them, do you?  That’s why the prep for these tomatoes is so simple.  

Start with about two and a half pounds of tomatoes in various colors and sizes.  Slice the larger tomatoes into wedges.  The smaller ones, simply cut in half.  Then, slice some radishes paper thin (on the mandoline if you have one) and add them to the mix.  Dress the tomatoes and radish slices with the juice of half a lemon, a bit of olive oil and fleur de sel.  The tomatoes will immediately start giving off their juices, which will help create the most lovely, simple dressing.

Spoon your cashew ricotta at one end of your serving dish.  Dress your ricotta with good olive oil, fleur de sel and freshly cracked black pepper.  Arrange your tomatoes and radishes on the serving dish as well.  Then, spoon some of the juices over the tomatoes and garnish your tomatoes with a bit of flavorful herbs.  

The gorgeous, flowery herb you see here is Delfino cilantro.  I picked up at the farmers market.  It is similar to regular cilantro but it’s a bit more citrus-y and delicate in flavor.  The greens look a lot like dill and the tiny flower blossoms are just beautiful.  If you can’t find Delfino cilantro, try regular cilantro or dill.  Or see what other herbs looks interesting and play around!  (Something like flowering chives could be really fun; I often see them at our farmers market, too.)

Serve the tomatoes and ricotta immediately because the tomatoes will start to lose volume but that is it.  I had this for lunch, today, by the way and it was awesome.

I typically use chermoula for fish (see here) but I wanted to create a simple vegan dish that would easily take you from now all the way into fall.  The smoky sweetness of the potatoes with the chermoula is pure magic.  You are honestly going to lose your mind over the heavenly smell when the potatoes are cooking.  This is a perfect easy side for veggie burgers or fish sandwiches.  If you are paleo, try this with some simple grilled fish with lemon.  If you are looking for another side to go along with this, you might make a kale salad or toss heirloom tomatoes in a simple vinaigrette.  

This dish is extremely easy to make.  Put the ingredients for your chermoula in a small food processor and pulse them until they are a rough paste.  Slice your sweet potatoes into wedges and toss them with the chermoula in a large mixing bowl.  Spread them out on two parchment lined baking sheets and pop them in the oven for about thirty minutes give or take.  And that, my friends, is pretty much it.  

I was a little nervous about sharing a guacamole recipe.  First off, there are a bazillion out there.  And second, as I mentioned, people are particular about what is “supposed to be” in guacamole.  Everyone seems to fall squarely in either the lemon or lime camp.  But if you know your guacamole history, there are those who actually believe that guacamole should be free of citrus juice altogether.  Diana Kennedy, a renowned authority on Mexican cooking, is one of them.  

As for me?  I like a little citrus and my juice of choice is lemon.  It’s a bit softer than lime and I think it is a better complement to the avocado.  (But I certainly wouldn’t kick some delicious guac with lime out of my kitchen!)

Onions and peppers bring more debates.  When it comes to white or red onions, I fall in the white onion camp.  I find red onion to be slightly overpowering.  As for peppers, I generally use jalapeños although I love, love, love the flavor of serrano chiles.  My reasons for choosing jalapeños are a bit more pragmatic.  Some of my kiddos, not to mention my husband, have an unfortunate aversion to the heat.

If you have a molcajete, you should definitely use it to make your guac.  (It’s not just a fancy serving dish!)  Mashing the ingredients in the molcajete allows the flavors to come out in a way they won’t with a fork and bowl.  But if you don’t have a molcajete, no worries.  Mashing the ingredients in a bowl with a fork certainly works, too.  Either way, your guac is sure to be delicious!

The flavors in this soup are insane.  Turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne, a bit of chipotle and even a hit of yellow mustard – this carrot soup has got it going on.  Add to that the lime juice and a touch of apple cider vinegar and you’ve got a party in a bowl.  And the texture!  It’s light but satisfyingly creamy thanks to the addition of a handful of soaked raw cashews.  

The simple squash blossom and sunflower shoot garnishes are beautiful.  I love how the colors work with the soup itself.  But it’s totally fine to substitute garnishes.  Cilantro or chives work as do many varieties of sprouts or micro greens.  This carrot soup is so delicious that it’s easy to forget just how good it is for you.  But it is good for you.  If you like feeling great about what you are putting into your body, you really need to try this.

Maya’s to Go is a tiny little gem of an eatery directly across from the airport.  And as the name suggests, it’s the perfect place for takeout.  There were so many dishes I loved, the seared tuna, mahi mahi, tomato salad, the asparagus, the beets.  But their lentil salad was one dish I wanted to take home with me.  It definitely got my wheels turning so I decided to put my own spin on a lentil salad.  Maya’s, I love you.  Missing you already.  (P.S. The reason I don’t have photos of your food is that I was too busy eating it. )

Now onward to the lentil salad.  It doesn’t take much to make a lentil salad fabulous.  Here’s what you need.  Start with French green lentils.  Does it matter?  Yes. They have more texture and flavor than larger lentil varieties and that makes for a superior salad.  I find them in the Whole Foods bulk bins.  

Lentils don’t take long to cook – about twenty-five minutes.  When your lentils are just done, transfer them to a large mixing bowl.  Add to your lentils some red onion, tomato, red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper.  Mix in a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, cumin, coriander, cayenne, kosher salt and black pepper.  Then, transfer your salad to the fridge to chill.

Add some chopped cilantro shortly before serving and that, my friends is it.  Hearty enough for a main dish, also a natural side.  Easy peasy.

I am obsessed with this grilled chicken salad.  Let’s be honest.  There are times when you really want the “big salad” – something super hearty that’s going to keep you going all day long.  But lots of chicken salads are chock full of things that aren’t great for you.  That block of cheddar, pound of bacon, river of unhealthy dressing.  

I set out to create my own “loaded” chicken salad with clean protein and healthy fats.  Gorgeous greens, avocado, tomato, black beans, green onion, fresh corn, pepitas and of course, that marinated grilled chicken!  I know that some of you may not eat black beans (not paleo) or corn (GMOs).  I don’t eat either with great frequency but I am not an all or nothing kind of girl.  But if one or the other is not your jam, just sub something else.  Throw some fresh summer veggies on the grill and chop those up, for example. 

The vegan creamy chipotle-lime dressing is downright dreamy. You have the smoky heat from the chipotle, acidity from the lime juice, honey for sweetness – yes, yes, and yes.