I’ve spent the last few weeks meandering though Mimi Kirk’s 200-plus page book, Live Raw. Raw Food Recipes for Good Health and Timeless Beauty. As you might recall, about this time last year, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mimi, who had recently been voted the “Sexiest vegetarian over the age of 50″ by Peta. My conversation with her is posted here. Since then, I’ve been anticipating her first book and I’m pleased to say that it delivers great recipes, and captured Mimi’s take-on-the-world personality at the same time. This weighty paperback— which has traveled with me from nightstand to kitchen to couch and back to nightstand nearly every day— can be opened to any random page and reveal something inspiring.  While the book offers hundreds of delicious recipes and raw food techniques, I found it to be a delightful smorgasbord of really good advice about health, beauty, and nutrition, and of course, food.

Food. There’s no shortage of food in this book. Let me tell you about some of my favorite recipes:

Basic Green Smoothie. It should not come as a surprise that I’m a big fan of green vegetables. What I love most about the raw food movement is it has popularized the idea of putting highly nutritious, leafy green vegetables into a smoothie. Parents note: kids will like these drinks too!  Mimi’s recipe for a Basic Green Smoothie is right on target: not bitter, not too sweet, simple, and nourishing. And if you like smoothies, Mimi has included dozens of other creative recipes for liquid concoctions. From nut milks to Mojito in the Raw, there is no shortage of delicious, healthy drinks to choose from.

Bagels and Cream Cheese. This really is a delightful recipe and while they won’t fool anyone who is a die hard bagel fan, it’s a fun recipe that offers the perfect crunch. And of course, Mimi has given us a delicious raw cream cheese recipe too. Raw cream cheese is a wonderful non-dairy spread made from cashews. Yum!

Lettuce Wrap Salad with Cilantro Sauce. This was delicious and so easy to make. I found it to be a perfect light lunch on a hot summer day. Using a combination of crunchy, cool summer vegetables like jicama, peppers and peas, this wrap is entirely nutritious. And the cilantro sauce is a perfect complement.

Corn Tortillas. This recipe gets my star of approval for innovation. I own quite a few raw food cookbooks and have never seen a raw corn tortilla recipe before. This is easy to make and a delicious alternative to cooked tortillas. I’ve included the recipe below so give it a try and let me know what you think.

These are just a few of the great things you’ll find in Mimi’s book. The section on condiments is fantastic with wonderful recipes for everyday staples like ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. And then there are chapters on desserts, soups, salads, and main courses, all delivered with Mimi’s wisdom and passion for raw foods. Whether you are fully embracing a raw foods life-style or just want to explore some healthy plant-based recipes, I promise Live Raw will be an excellent addition to you cookbook collection.

Corn Tortillas from Live Raw, by Mimi Kirk

Reprinted with permission from Skyhorse Publishing.

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob
• 1/2 cup ground golden flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/8 teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon combined Mexican seasonings, cumin, oregano, and garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Water if necessary

Method

Blend all ingredients except flax meal in a high-powered blender until smooth, adding water if needed to make a smooth texture. Add flax meal and adjust liquid if necessary. Blend into a smooth, thick, but pourable consistency. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Pour 2-3 tablespoons on a nonstick dehydrator sheet and shape into rounds with a spatula or back of a tablespoon. Dehydrate for 5-6 hours or until tortilla is dry yet still pliable. Be careful not to overdehydrate. Store in ziplock bag in refrigerator. Will last three days.

Enjoy!

Available on Amazon

Beets and goat cheese are a classic pairing so it’s no wonder this sandwich is nothing short of outrageous. This simplified gourmet feast is a beautiful homage to the early spring garden.

Roasted beet sandwich with arugula and goat cheese

Makes two sandwiches

Ingredients

• 2 to 4 fresh beets, roasted, peeled, and sliced
• 2 large handfuls of fresh arugula
• 4 slices (1/2-inch-thick) good quality, multi-grain bread slices
• 4 tablespoons soft goat cheese
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• sea salt, to taste

Method

To prepare roasted beets

1. Remove stems and greens from beets, wash and pat dry (no need to peel the beets before roasting)
2. Wrap beets in foil, drizzle with small amount of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and roast whole beets at 400 degrees until beets are soft (30 to 50 minutes, depending on the size of beets. To test for doneness, spoke a beet with a toothpick— the toothpick should easily be inserted all the way to the center.
3. When cool enough to handle, gently rub the skins off the beets.

To assemble the sandwich

One of my intentions for the coming year is to have more long walks with my furry friend, Koa.

Welcome 2011!

I woke up filled with gratitude this morning. As most of us do this time of year, I’ve been reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the new one.  Although nothing in my life this last year unfolded as I had expected, I am filled with gratitude for everything— mostly for still being a conscious being in a body that moves and breathes. Life is a gift.

Setting intentions for a new year

I’m not a big fan of resolutions. The word itself connotes failure for so many people. We can be so hard on ourselves. We make promises— resolutions—  to change something in our lives, and then we jump off the deep end without knowing how to swim. The problem with resolutions is that we’re rarely prepared and we have goals that are way too big without having the resources to get there. Usually, we haven’t done our homework when we make these resolutions. We want to go from A to D, but we have no idea how to even get from A to B.

Rather than declaring resolutions tonight as the bell tolls, I invite you to sit down in a quiet place and ask yourself what’s important to you and what you really want in the new year. I invite you to make intentions instead of resolutions. In my life, I have found that the act of setting intentions has almost magically made things happen. Intentions are not goals, but rather living, dynamic, authentic projections of the things that are truly important to us.

Here’s an example. A resolution might look like this: “I resolve to stop spending and put $10,000 in savings.”  An intention, on the other hand might be this: “I intend to become more aware of my spending patterns, with the goal of always having enough money.”

Do you see the difference? Intentions reflect the most authentic, basic need. In the above example, the need is not to have a specific amount of money in the savings account, it’s to have the comfort of knowing you have enough.

I encourage you to explore the idea of setting a few intentions. Be kind to yourself. Look at where you are in your life right now, and ask yourself what’s truly important. From there, the intention of your life will become clear.

My intentions for 2011

More yoga. Less desk chair.

More family and friends. Less meaningless TV.

More biking, hiking, swimming, and frolicking in the outdoors. Less “exercise”.

More gratitude. Less worry about how the future will unfold.

More long walks. Less long sits.

More simple. Less stuff.

My New Year’s wish for you

For all my loyal subscribers and casual readers, I appreciate that you have tagged along with me during this freshman year of my blogging adventure. Thank you.

May you all you have a year filled with love, compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude. First for yourself, and then for others.

Christy

I know that probably sounds odd— beets in chili. I hadn’t planned on putting beets in my chili, it just happened. And am I glad it did.

As a member of  local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this year, we’ve been getting a bounty of locally-grown vegetables every week. Well, now that Fall has come and gone, it seems our weekly goodie baskets have been overflowing with beets and winter squash. I like beets. I usually chop them in to small cubes, roast them in the oven with olive oil and sea salt, and enjoy them just like that. Sometime I add the roasted beets to my salads. Sometimes I add raw shredded beets to my salads. Sometime I juice the beets and drink them up.

After several weeks of getting beets in our CSA basket, I was feeling a bit uninspired by them. Nearly ready to give them away to my beet-loving friends, I was suddenly struck with the idea of adding them to my chili. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good idea or not, but not wanting the beets to get the best of me at the end of the CSA season, I decided to give it a try. Chili is one of my favorite winter dishes. It’s easy. It’s filling. It’s delicious.  And what I love the most about chili is that my vegetarian versions are super healthy—low in fat, high in fiber, with tons of veggie goodness in every spoonful. My vegetarian chili often has a bit of whatever veggie is in my fridge— sometimes its kale, or carrots. Other times I reach for the lesser known root vegetables like celeriac or rutabaga. With chili, I find that you can put almost any veggie into the pot. It’s flavors will merge with the others, and yet still retain a hint of their natural essence.

For this version of chili, it tasted like chili, and yet it tasted like beets and butternut squash at the same time. The beets and squash imparted some sweeter notes to the dish, with the lovely earthiness of the beets shining through.

I like to make chili in a slow cooker because it just doesn’t get any easier. The most time you’ll spend on this recipe will be chopping a few veggies.

Enjoy.

Fall harvest chili with beets and butternut squash

Ingredients:

1 can cooked kidney beans (or black beans, or pinto beans, or whatever bean you like)
1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/2″ cubes
2  to 3 medium beets, scrubbed clean, chopped into 1/2″ cubes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of medium or hot chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 to 3 teaspoons sea salt (to taste)
black pepper, to taste
2 cups water, or vegetable stock (more if you like a wetter chili)

Directions:

Place everything in the slow cooker. Put the lid on and cook until the beets and butternut squash are soft.

The tomatillo is an odd little fruit. When I tell people that I planted a tomatillo plant in a pot in my front yard, they usually say, “Toma-what-what?”. I actually never knew what a tomatillo was either, until last summer. I like to try new foods… sometimes I’ll just buy something I see in the store or at the farmers market because it looks different. Often times I have absolutely no idea what I’m getting into.

Once, I purchased a bitter melon. Had there been a sign near this curious-looking vegetable that said ‘bitter melon,’ I might have had a clue about it’s overpowering, awful, bitter flavor. But no, there was no sign. It was anonymous… and I just couldn’t keep my hands off of it. It looked a bit like a funky cucumber so I expected it to be similar. And oh boy, was I wrong. Really wrong. Let’s just say there is a very good reason it is called bitter melon.

But I digress. This article is about the amazing, nearly indescribable tomatillo— which is a relative of the tomato plant. It is not, as some people think, a green tomato. Without it’s papery husk, it does resemble a green tomato from the outside, but once you cut into it, you’ll know it’s different.  It’s not at all watery like its tomato cousin. It has small seeds that are nested in a sort of crispy, green-apple-ish looking interior. And the flavor— hard to describe. It’s tart, tangy, and sweet all at the same time.

In the store or at the farmer’s market, they look like this:

I became so enamored with this crazy little fruit last summer that I decided  to try growing my own this summer. The bush itself shot up quickly— its gangly dark stems reaching towards the sky. The flowers were sweet little yellow things. My favorite part the tomatillo plant are the tiny little lantern-like fruits that magically appear and over time, transform into delicious little firm spheres of tomatillo yumminess.

Although my yard doesn’t get a full day’s worth of direct sunlight, my tomatillo plant did ok. I didn’t have a bumper crop this year, but I managed to harvest enough tomatillos to garnish a few dishes— and they were absolutely divine. I had purchased a purple variety of the plant and as you can see from the top photo, where the husks split open and the fruits were exposed to the sun, they turned a beautiful shade of purple.

My favorite tomatillo salsa

Unfortunately my plant didn’t yield enough to make my own salsa this year, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying some amazing tomatillo salsa. I have recently discovered a fabulous tomatillo salsa made by a company here in Colorado called White Girl Salsa. I met the founder, Julie, a.k.a. White Girl, this summer when she was offering free samples at Whole Foods. (I just love it when people who make delicious food offer free samples!) Julie is a cool gal, with an awesome cowboy hat, and it’s her fault that I now have a unyielding addiction to her tomatillo salsa.

She calls it Cranberry Mango salsa, and as you might imagine, tomatillos go fabulously well with cranberries and mangoes. Check out her site— you can order her delicious salsa online! Seriously, this is good stuff. I eat it on chips, spoon it over beans and rice, and it always goes on my healthy nachos!

Every recipe offers a new exploration of homestyle cooking, with a touch of class. Of course, they cover all the traditional foods that people who are on a gluten-free diet want to cook— things like pasta, muffins, scones, pizza, and cake— but they offer so much more than bread recipes made with gluten-free flour. How about tostones or Costa Rican Slaw? Have a hankering for crab cakes? Maybe slow-cooked tilapia in spicy tomato broth? And if all this talk about delicious food is making you thirsty, don’t worry, Peter and Kelli included a chapter specifically designed to keep you hydrated with yummy liquid concoctions like Cupid’s Arrow and White Sangria. And an artisanal cookbook wouldn’t be a cookbook without desserts. I told you I liked these guys!

The interview

I recently spent some time with Peter and asked him about his gluten-free journey and how they managed to squeeze so many great recipes into such a small package. Peter is just an all-around great guy who loves sharing his knowledge and helping people— and it’s always a pleasure to talk with him. To listen to the interview (11 minutes), click here:

No Gluten, No Problem

And here’s a shameless plug for their blog: No Gluten, No Problem. It’s good. Check it out.

Lasagna Anyone?

Who doesn’t love lasagna? I couldn’t stand the thought of showing you the cover of the book and not giving you the recipe for that amazing lasagna. Thank you Peter and Kelli for sharing the delicious recipe.

Mediterranean Lasagna

For the Bechamel:

3 tbsp salted butter
4.5 tbsp Artisan GF Flour Blend
3 cups milk
Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste
1.5 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

For the spinach filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 ounces fresh baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling:

1 tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, small dice
1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms (about 4 ounces, or 5 medium mushrooms)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, thinly sliced

1/4 cup pine nuts, dry roasted
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pasta Dough, formed into 4 thin sheets of lasagna

Instructions

1. To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook until frothy and bubbly, about 2-5 minutes. (The sauce should be pale, not golden.) Add the milk all at once, whisking to combine and prevent lumps from forming. Season to taste with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the ricotta cheese, and set aside.
2. To make the spinach filling, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium non-stick skillet. Sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and use tongs to turn the spinach until all leaves are wilted. Remove from the heat and set the spinach aside.
3. To make the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling, melt the butter over medium-high heat in the same skillet used for the spinach. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until soft. Add the tomatoes and peppers and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set the filling aside.<
4. To dry roast the pine nuts, heat a clean, dry non-stick skillet over high heat. Add the nuts, and gently toss or stir until lightly golden, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. To assemble the lasagna, spread a thin layer of the béchamel sauce in the bottom of a greased 9×9 baking pan. Add a sheet of lasagna noodle. Spread half the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling across the noodle, spread one quarter of the remaining béchamel sauce over the top, and sprinkle one quarter of the mozzarella cheese. Add a second sheet of lasagna, spread all of the spinach filling and one third of the pine nuts, spread one quarter of the béchamel, and one quarter of the mozzarella. Repeat the pattern for an additional tomato-pepper-mushroom layer. Lastly, top with the fourth lasagna noodle, the remaining béchamel and mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle with the remaining 2/3 of the pine nuts.
7. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cheese is golden on top. Cover with tin foil, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Margarita Corn on the Cob

My favorite way to enjoy Fall’s bounty of delicious fresh corn is to grill it, generously squeeze a fresh lime all over it, and sprinkle it with sea salt. Trust me, stop thinking about butter— this version is so divinely delicious that you may never put butter on your corn again. In addition to being delicious, it’s easy. “How easy?” you ask. This easy:

1. Heat up the grill, slice a lime into several wedges, and husk the corn
2. Place the corn directly on the hot grill and rotate every 2 to 3 minutes, until all the corn is slightly more golden with some caramelized edges
3. Remove from grill, run sliced lime up and down and all around your corn cob
4. Sprinkle with salt
5. Eat like a crazy person and wipe your mouth later!

Why do I husk my corn before I grill it?

Many people leave the husks on the corn when they grill it, which is fine, if you want steamed corn. Think about it. If you leave the husks on, the actual corn kernels are enveloped in a wrapper (the husk) that keeps the moisture of the corn trapped inside—thus, steamed corn. There’s nothing wrong with this, and I much prefer this method to boiling, but if you want to experience that amazing transformation that happens with dry heat and hot grill, take the husks off.

Don't be afraid to put your husked corn directly on the grill. Keep an eye on it an turn it frequently to ensure even caramelization. You can thank me later for this idea.

Have you ever experienced a summer that seemed to disappear before your eyes? Earlier this summer, I distinctly remember thinking about how great it was going to be spend my weekends trying new veggie burger recipes, in search for the perfect home-made patty. And this weekend, I realized that Labor day is just around the corner and I am no closer to creating that one, spectacular veggie burger recipe that will become a part of my summertime repertoire for years to come.

I set a lot a lot of goals for myself. Sometimes I make them happen and sometimes, life unfolds a little differently than planned. So, as summer draws to a close, I have to acknowledge that my veggie burger goal is most likely going to be postponed until next summer. But that’s ok. Part of being mindful and compassionate with yourself is to be able to let life unfold and go with the flow, even if it means that some goals aren’t achieved exactly as planned.

Fortunately, I discovered a great little book that just might provide a delicious remedy for my home-made veggie burger cravings.

Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, by Lukas Volger

It seems Lukas experienced my frustration with frozen veggie patties and was inspired to write a great little book. Here are just a few of my favorite things about this book:

1. It contains dozens of healthy, unique veggie burger recipes using whole grains, beans, nuts, tofu, and a wide variety of vegetables as the star ingredients

2. Lukas doesn’t try to make his burgers taste like imitation meat burgers— instead, he developed recipes that allow the ingredients to shine on their own, while still behaving like a burger

3. There are a variety of creative ideas for making burgers ‘hold’ together without using eggs. The big ah-ha for me was using steamed potato and potato starch as a binder. This seems like a very clever idea

4. Besides burgers, the book offers some great recipes for buns, salads and an array of home-made condiments and sauces

The first recipe

This is my uncooked veggie burger— look at all that yummy goodness

I tried one of the recipes in the book, but true to form, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly as it was written. The recipe for Quinoa, Red Bean and Walnut Burgers caught my eye. However, in the spirit of improvising (which just means I didn’t have all the ingredients so I had to get creative) I made a version of his burger which I will call Quinoa, Pinto Bean and Pecan Burger.

Quinoa, Pinto Bean and Pecan Burger

Adapted from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, by Lukas Volger

Ingredients (Makes 4 to 6 small to mediu, burgers):

• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 small potato*, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup white onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 1 cup pinto beans, cooked
• 1/2 cup raw pecans, chopped
• salt and pepper

1. Cook the quinoa. Bring several cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and boil gently for 10 minutes or until each grain of quinoa is translucent through the center of the grain. Drain quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potato until it is cooked through.
3. Heat your skillet and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add onions and garlic and sauté over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until onions are slightly translucent. Add parsley and cook for about 30 seconds longer.
4. Add the cooked quinoa, potato, sautéed onions, garlic and parsley, pinto beans and pecans to a large bowl and mix with your hands.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste (Remember, this is not raw meat and doesn’t have eggs— it’s perfectly ok to eat this delicious stuff raw!).
6. Form into patties.
7. Saute each patty in a small amount of oil in your skillet until slightly browned on each side, or place on a small sheet of aluminum foil and grill on both sides until warmed through.

*NOTE: Be cautious not to add too much potato or else your burger might become dense and starchy. Try mixing in a small amount of potato first and then add more if you feel you need more to achieve the desired ‘sticky’ consistency.

Enjoy with your favorite burger fixin’s and share with friends! And as always, let me know what you think.

Here’s the best tip ever for storing fresh herbs for a very long time:

1. As soon as you get the herbs home, remove the rubber band around the stalks and pull off all the loose, wilted bottom leaves from the stalks. (See below.)

2. Place the herbs, like a bouquet of flowers, into a drinking glass or other upright storage container.

3. Fill container with water so the stems are in the water, but the leaves are not.

4. Place glass and herbs in a plastic bag and tie loosely the top, or use a rubber band to close the top of the bag.

5. Store upright, in the refrigerator.

6. Change the water every couple of days. Be sure to remove any wilted, slimy stems when you replace the water.

I’m not kidding—I’ve had herbs stay fresh and delicious in my fridge for 7 weeks. It’s unbelievable. This method works well with all fresh leafy green herbs.

Fresh, ripe berries by themselves are delightful, but when paired with a simple “cream” made of blended bananas and ground cinnamon, they are devine.

Here’s how you make can make it for breakfast at your home:

1. Buy the most beautiful, fresh berries you can find (preferably organic). Wash them, gently pat them dry (or let them air dry while you are making the cinnamon banana cream), slice the strawberries, and put them all in a bowl.

2. To make a delicious, non-dairy cream, blend a banana with a pinch (or more) of cinnamon, and a tablespoon or two of nut or seed milk. I used fresh hemp seed milk, because that’s what I had in the fridge. Use more or less milk to achieve your desired consistency.

3. Pour your cream over the top and enjoy!