SWEET POTATO WEDGES with GARDEN SALAD + SWEET CORN

This is a perfect example of what my dinners look like these days: loads of baked sweet potatoes, greens and fresh veggies. I don't use any oil or salt and yet the whole meal ends up being so flavourful and delicious I can hardly believe it! My secret? Lemon or lime juice and herbs and spices!  Feel free to add a pinch of Himalayan salt if you want to, but I am JUST SAYIN: I don't use any when I make this. I also used to think I HAD to use oil to get my potatoes just right, but I was wrong! I have learned that if you bake them on parchment paper and spray them with a bit of lemon or lime juice (this adds flavour too) they will turn out perfectly crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside - exactly how I love them. You might be thinking: "But Emily - those aren't sweet potatoes because they aren't orange!" Well, my friend, they actually are! Sweet potatoes come in many varieties. There are white ones (my favourite), orange ones, purple ones, and all kinds of variations in skin colour, flavour and more. Also, yams and sweet potatoes are NOT the same! Go figure.

ARUGULA BASIL SALAD with SWEET CORN, RED BEANS, LEMON + SPICES

Hey, baby. How you been? I've been makin' salad.

I was in the garden with my mom today a few weeks ago and we were looking at all the edibles we have growing. She noticed the arugula should be picked so my fate was sealed: lunch was to be arugula salad. I also picked some basil, cilantro, and cherry tomatoes. I cannot really take much credit for all this wonderful food we have blooming in our yard - momma Nancy does it all, and I reap the bounty. Hehe. The night before, I was making my dinner which was a bowl of red beans and sweet corn, when my partner and I decided we were gonna go OUT for dinner (at this cool veg place called Tera V Burger). So I threw my food in the fridge - figuratively - and headed off. Thus the following day I had that to add to my greens and tomatoes! It was perfect. I sprinkled on some lemon juice, antioxidant omega oil blend, agave syrup, salt, cumin, coriander, sunflower seeds, and love. The result was pure deliciousness. I wish I had made more but I was going for vegan tacos with my friends later that night so we could all laugh hysterically together and slap each other before I went away for 3 weeks.

Note: I do not eat out every night, but it's summer and hey - I'm a wild child (sarcasm). Usually I prefer to be a frugal ferret and only go out once a month or so. Save money yay! I will have to be even more of a thrifty homo sapien once I move in with Jack since Vancouver is LITERALLY the most expensive city in the world to live in. Great.

Back to the recipe! Honestly, this salad is so simple and so tasty. It made me remember why I love salad so much. It makes you feel nourished and connected to the earth, especially when you pick most of it from your own backyard. I haven't been eating enough greens lately and this was the yummiest wake up call I could have received. Eat your greens! Eat this salad!

ARUGULA BASIL SALAD with SWEET CORN, RED BEANS, LEMON + SPICES

Salad:
2 cups arugula
1/2 cup basil 
1/2 cup cilantro
2 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes 
1 cup red beans
1 cup sweet corn 

Dressing:
1 teaspoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon antioxidant omega oil blend
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander 

Throw it all together, let it sit for a few minutes so the flavours develop and the leaves soften, then chomp! Note: you can really use whatever you have lying around to make the dressing (and salad too, for that matter). All you need is a sweet component, a creamy component, and a tangy component. 

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salad, salad, salad: the main meal

Like the title says, salad should be the main meal on the dinner table! It is so important to get tons of greens in your diet, as well as veggies. Both are super low calorie, high fiber and packed with the best quality nutrition on the planet. What more do you need? Well... okay, you need raw brownies too. Note: If you don't like tofu plain and raw, then go ahead and marinate, bake, or prepare it however you like.

Mega dinner salad: serves one to four people

Dressing:
1 tablespoon each of mustard, tahini, miso, raisins
3 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes Water, as needed

Salad:
3 heads of lettuce, washed and ripped into pieces
1/4 cup baby tomatoes, halved
5 olives, halved
1/4 package of tofu, cubed
3 mushrooms, sliced and marinated in tamari
1/2 avocado, chopped

Blend all the ingredients for the dressing until smooth, using as much water as needed. Toss the lettuce with dressing until evenly coated then top with the rest of the salad ingredients. Enjoy!

potato salad with cilantro, dill, tomatoes + raw mayo

Mmm... I love potatoes. They are easy to grow, hearty and delicious to eat, and super versatile in the kitchen. You can do SO MANY different things with good ole taters. Today, I keep it simple with a whole food potato salad, complete with fresh herbs, tomatoes and a raw mayonnaise dressing; it's a bit different from my usual raw dessert recipes but hey - variety is the spice of life.

This recipe is great for a summer dinner, or really any occasion. My unexpected inspiration was found on this page, where a there's a list of the top chef restaurants in Vegas. One of them was Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. WELL. I went ahead and veganized one of his recipes. The result was mega delish. If you have time to get some chives and red onion, I'd recommend adding them. Enjoy! 

high raw potato salad: serves three or four

Salad:

1 pound new potatoes 

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

1 cup cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

Raw vegan mayo:

1/2 cup cashews

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 garlic cloves

Juice from 2 lemons

Water, as needed

Prepare the salad: put the potatoes in a pot with water to boil. Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Cut each in half and throw in a bowl with the other salad ingredients. Set aside.

Make the mayo: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water or other liquid as needed and adjusting to your taste. Toss the mayo with the salad until evenly coated and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired. 

holy garlic

we bought garlic from the farmer's market on saturday... it is so intense. like, the most potent garlic on the planet. i naively used an entire clove in the dressing of my salad, i have now killed all my taste buds. learn from my mistake - be cautious with your organic garlic. start with half a clove if you've got strong stuff.

besides the garlic insanity, this salad was friggin delish. i had a great workout up at my campus gym and all i wanted to eat afterward was a big salad from my garden. i added some chickpeas for extra protein. hemp seeds would also be a nice addition. we had grilled zucchini from last night and well... that's never a bad thing to throw in. enjoy! i sat in the sun and fought with wasps to eat this.

walnut garlic salad: serves one

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon tamari

3 tablespoons almond milk (or water)

1/2 garlic clove

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tabelspoon honey/maple syrup (or 2 dates)

1 tablespoon hummus (optional... but yum)

salad:

2-3 grilled zucchini slices

1/2 cup chickpeas

4-5 cups kale and/or rainbow chard

2 figs

3 olives

make the dressing by blending all ingredients until smooth. hopefully you like it, it might be a little thick so feel free to add more liquid. chop up the salad topping and tear up the leaves into bite-size pieces. pour on the dressing and mix into the greens, then add your toppings. yummers.

garden herb salad

i beg you, grow your own tomatoes. they're pretty easy as long as you don't over water them... and they taste HEAVENLY. really... they should be golden with holiness, not red. i've been eating them like candy. some of ours are cherry tomatoes and some are larger. either way - ridiculous.

today i made a salad with rainbow chard, oregano, basil, and tomatoes from the garden. i also added some bell pepper, dried figs, avocado, and leftover gardein. the dressing is sooo good. it has mustard, miso, walnuts, garlic and fresh basil in it. sweet basil is probably my favourite herb. i left whole leaves of oregano and basil with the rainbow chard greens too, i think it's lovely when you get a bite and suddenly it's a herb-filled explosion of flavour!

garden herb salad with tomatoes: serves one

salad:

4-5 cups rainbow chard (or your fave greens)

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1 bell pepper

1/4 avocado

handful basil leaves

handful oregano leaves

2-3 dried figs/dates

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 dates

2 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

handful of walnuts (around 1/4 cup)

handful basil leaves

water, as needed

chop up the greens, tomatoes, pepper, avocado and figs. set aside. to make the dressing, blend all the ingredients together, adding as much water as needed. pour the dressing onto the greens and mix in. top it off with the remaining goodies and enjoy!

garden kale salad

we have so much kale in our garden.

this is not a problem though, i could eat it all day... and i do. i use it in smoothies, wraps, kale chips, soups, and salads! mainly in smoothies though. so yesterday i figured i make it into a salad instead of the usual green smoothie. oh wait - i had a green smoothie for breakfast.

but still.

dino kale is a bit bitter and tough for regular salad greens so what you do to make it all nice, soft and flavourful is massage your dressing in and let it sit for a few minutes. i did that while i cut up my other salad ingredients. they included: THE BEST TOMATOES EVER, grown on our deck. i also added some bell pepper, beans, and gardein because well... i like the taste. my dad thought i had put real chicken in the salad for a second. hah.

garlic kale salad: serves one

salad:

1 large organic tomato

4-5 cups organic dino kale

1 organic bell pepper

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (or throw in some nuts to keep it raw)

1 serving of tempeh or gardein (optional) 

handful of raisins

dressing:

1 tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon mustard

2 dates

handful of walnuts

3 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon tamari

water, as needed 

chop the veggies and kale, set aside. to make the dressing blend all ingredients until smooth. i hope you like it! then massage the dressing into the kale and let it rest for a 5-10 minutes, getting soft. put the tomato, pepper, raisins, chickpeas/nuts and protein on top and enjoy!

motorcycles, tiny houses and... humanure!?

hey, my darlings. i'm sorry the posts have been less frequent than normal lately. i've been sleeping like a bear in winter, and eating salad.

lots of salad. 

in the pictures shown, i've been using a balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil dressing, sometime i blend it with herbs, miso and garlic. the greens are spinach, and 3 different kinds of lettuce from the garden, along with herbs. the ones above are dill, oregano and ... ? i can't remember the name of the last one.

then i load on tomatoes, cucumber, olives, figs, avocado, and we had baked potatoes one day so i used that. yum!

here's a recipe, if that description wasn't enough. 

i've also been researching for the motorcycle trip my dad and i will be taking at the end of summer. i'm so excited! you can see the route we're following here.

so far i've just been finding veg-friendly restaurants we can eat at along the way. happy cow is a terrific website for finding vegetarian and vegan eateries all around the world. i can't wait to get to jasper, because i discovered they have a raw vegan cafe there called gratitude cafe! how cool is that. here's some of their food:

i've found vegan places nearly everywhere else too. next - finding camping sites. originally we were going to hotel it, but it's going to be the perfect time of year to camp, and it makes the whole trip more interesting. any chance to be closer to nature and i'm there!

i have also been getting increasingly stoked about building my tiny home. you know what i'm talking about. i think the weebee is my favourite model from tumbleweed tiny houses.

it's 102 square feet - just right, not too big and not too small. i sound like goldie locks here. anyways, i am planning on buying the building plans but tweaking them for my personal desires =)

that means i'm going to use recycled materials and antique windows, have no need for an oven/stove, have a closed water system, install solar panels, and have a composting toilet!

composting toilet? huh?

i know. sounds a little weird... and smelly. but not to fret. apparently they're the greatest. check it out! it's called "humanure". you can see humaure's book online for free here. aren't their chapter titles great? all you do is build a box around a bin/bucket and make it look like a normal toilet. you do your business and cover it with wood shavings.

 it doesn't smell at all! this means i won't have to figure out plumbing. i just dump this stuff in the forest or bury it in the dirt wherever i will be living. and hey - after a year i can use my compost as, well, compost! circle of life, my friends.

don't you judge me. everyone should do this!

friends & salad

i've been eating a lot of salad lately. our greens are growing like crazy so i can run out to the garden and pick some lettuce and spinach whenever my heart desires. my friend christine came over yesterday and we made a lovely mix of greens, cucumber, tomato, olives and mushrooms. it was nice to catch up with her, since we hadn't seen each other in awhile.

she's all cool and awesome so she made this photo:

i also added some oregano, basil and cilantro. i think sweet basil may be my favourite conventional herb. my mom's is cilantro. i tear the herb leaves up really small, so it's lovely when you get a bite of salad and every now and then there's a hit of basil or what ever.

mmm...

oh goodness. i just ate a salad (a lot like the one above) but these photos are making me want to make another. i think i actually might. because after i finished eating the first one (just now) i went into the kitchen and realized my friend amber had left two avocados as a gift.

because she's the best.

she's also all hip, so she took these trendy hipster pictures last night: 

as far as salad goes, it's pretty much the greatest thing ever. except maybe for avocados. so when you combine them both - it's almost too much to handle. almost.

i'm definitely going to go make another giant salad now. 

i hope you have an amazing weekend! here's an easy and delicious recipe for you:

green love salad: serves 1-2

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1/4 cucumber

1/2 cup mushrooms

4 tb olives

1/4 red onion

5 figs

1 handful of fresh herbs like basil, oregano, cilantro, lemon balm, rosemary, etc. 

5 cups or more of fresh, organic greens like lettuce and spinach

chop up the tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, olives, onion, figs and herbs to your liking. set aside. 

in a big bowl, pour a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the greens and mix them up with your hands, coating them all with the dressing. throw on the chopped goodies and enjoy! 

this is best enjoyed outside on a sunny day, right beside your garden.

i usually add hemp seeds and sometimes salt and pepper. 

oh! and avocado. duh.

mmm... salad for life

Hello beautiful people! Nothing fancy or in-depth today (not that my posts usually are...), just salad =)
I took some lovely pics and wanted to share.

WHY IS SALAD SO GORGEOUS!? ...I know of many reasons, actually.

Every time I have salad (i.e. every day), I have to dance around and show everyone because it's so awesome - literally. Just throw some fresh greens together with a simple dressing and tons of veg. What do you get? Perfection and happiness. In a big, blue, clay bowl.

eat to live

Hey guys and gals, I wanna tell you about the book I just finished reading. It's called Eat To Live, by Joel, M.D. Fuhrman. I highly recommend reading it; especially if you want to lose weight. It's great for every type of person to read. It basically explains why a mainly raw and vegan diet is best for everyone, along with some mild exercise. Fuhrman says to eat a lot of greens and veggies, along with some fruit and occasionally raw nuts, seeds and avocado.

He says his most important piece of advice is that "salad is the main dish". I love it. It's a great way to think about your diet. Because for most, a salad is something on the side that we must get through to enjoy our burger (if we even order the salad). 
Greens should be the BIGGEST part of our diet! Look at every other herbivore and omnivore out there.

I used to be a salad lover, then I found green smoothies and my love reached a whole nother level.  
But this book turned me on to salad again! I've been eating gargantuan salads everyday since I read it. They're wonderful, just like green smoothies, and a nice change-up. I just need to chew more =)

If you have read the China Study, you will like this book. If you haven't read the China Study, run to the nearest bookstore or library RIGHT NOW and get it. 
Eat To Live is similar in that it gives a non-biased, valid, and proven scientific explanation for why this diet is superior. At the same time, the language is still easy for most to understand.

There are chapters on cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other health problems; along with in-depth chapters about why raw plants are the perfect food for us; as well as success stories and before and after photos of people who have achieved amazing results with the diet. There's also recipes and a FAQ section, which I found useful. 

The only qualm I might have with the book is that Fuhrman says to avoid coconut because of it's high saturated fat content =(  
I understand why he says this, because the demographic that's reading this book is usually over-weight, middle-aged people who have tried everything to lose weight and regain health... not exactly me. 
For these people, if they want that weight gone as soon as possible, then I suppose avoiding coconut isn't bad advice. But it's not great advice either. Coconut oil has many benefits, as does it's meat. It's saturated fat is in fact quite healthy for us, unlike most other foods with saturated fat. Read more and get a recipe here.

Other than that one little thing, the book is excellent. Everyone should read this!

salad is superior

Your food should make you sing and dance, and want to share your joy with the world. My food does! =)

Every time I make a green smoothie, I want to take a picture of it and show it to everyone 'cause they're so beautiful, health-giving and delicious! It's the same for salads. They're always SO gorgeous and green.

So here's some pictures =) This salad had kale, some bell pepper, tomato, pecans, a little bit of tofu, and I topped it with hemp seed and dried cranberries. The dressing was just miso, water and garlic, blended. YUM!