Fashion Week Yummy Treats!

It’s no secret that I celebrate Fashion Weeks like full-on holidays. I love them! Love the energy, the clothes, ESPECIALLY the models and sense of community. I just adore how, during all this, fashion and beauty bring us all together all over the world. Of course, can’t have a good bash without food! So, I wanted to post here a few things I’ve put together for those of us enjoying the streams around here! :p

Tomato & Basil Organic Whole Grain Linguine. I love Racconto brand (pictured here) but my favourite is Nature’s Path w/ Flax. 🙂 Here, I tossed it w/ store-bought all-natural tomato/basil sauce, fresh diced organic tomatoes & fresh organic basil. Gee, that’s a lot of “organics” haha. From now on, I’ll just say what it is. You may assume it’s organic, unless I state otherwise.

Here’s the sauce I use frequently from my local Sun Harvest store. It’s quite good! Sometimes, I spice it up with some extra Italian seasoning, diced garlic, basil, flat least parsley. I have fun!

Limburger Cheese on multi-grain crackers w/ a blueberry on each. Those cherry tomatoes and raw okra are delish to snack on, too. Now, I know Limburger is heralded as one of the stinkiest cheeses in the world, and it’s true! But stinky cheese is my favourite kind. The pungency is lovely. The stench is nothing like the taste, I think. A lot of people can’t stand it but that’s okay. More for me! :p

Tomato Soup! I start by peeling a bunch of tomatoes like this. I saute onions in good olive oil, sweating them down like I always do. Then, I add the tomatoes whole, (no seeding! All the natural juices in the tomatoes help the soup!) Add some sea salt, white pepper, fresh thyme, 6 cloves of roughly chopped garlic and let it all cook down on low for about 20 minutes. Next, I add 2 cups vegetable stock and puree with a hand emulsifier. Voila! Tomato soup. Feel free to top with your favourite cheese, crumbled crackers or dip with warm crusty bread.

Blueberry & Almond Smoothie w/ a side fruit salad. This smoothie is Gwynnie’s recipe from GOOP.

Blackberries, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, baby spinach, good olive oil & gentle splashes of red wine vinegar. Yum!

Horseradish Hash-Mash Taters – This is a clever thing to do with mashed potatoes. I saw Giada de Laurentis do it to boiled red potatoes. She presses down on a boiled red potato to give it just a slight mash, flatten it, then fries it in olive oil with some salt and pepper. So I figured I’d try it with some left-over horseradish mash and it was glorious! Kind of like a french fry, kind of like a breakfast hash. Some crispiness mingled in with creaminess. Garnished with slivered scallion and pasley.

Heat olive oil in a skillet but don’t let it smoke. Add left over mashed potatoes and spread evenly with a spatula or spoon, whatever is easiest for you. (Just no metal spoon + non-stick cookware!) Allow to cook 7-8 minutes. You’ll see plumes of smoke start to pop out of select spots and around the sides. Turn up a corner or some small place to see how it’s looking on the bottom side. If it’s not turning golden yet, allow to cook a bit more. Then, test again. When you see the bottom getting golden, start messily flipping it over. This isn’t a goal of perfection. We just want to crisp up as many sides as possible. Feel free to mix it all up and flatten again if you like. You shouldn’t have to re-season but if you want to add anything, it’s up to you. Two or three rounds of that and remove before anything burns. It’s a fun indulgence. :p ~Oh, and do try to be frugal with your taters. Really don’t need A STICK OF BUTTER or cups and cups of heavy cream. I use Earth Balance and just enough veggie stock and olive oil to keep my mashed taters smart and lush. 🙂

🙂 Quinoa is one of my best friends. I cooked this quinoa in home-made tomato broth and tomato concasse with celery & edamame. Garnished with fresh basil leaves.

Kiwi Mash w/ Orange, Almonds & Chia Seeds – I love this. I halve a bunch of kiwis, scoop the flesh out with a spoon, (quicker than traditional peeling in my opinion), mash ’em up with any utensil (a potato masher works but so does a fork or back of a spoon) and top with fresh orange sections, raw almonds and sprinkle with chia seeds! Simple, refreshing and very filling!

I think that’s enough snacks for now! Back to the shows! It’s London Fashion Week right now and it has been great so far!

A Very Veggie Day Today!

So, today was sooo all up on the veggieness!

Morning started w/ my usual lemon water, followed by herbal tea, (Orange Blossom today) and a few raw almonds to snack on as a light breakfast till my brunch guest arrived. I was going to make something elaborate — like broiled shrimp tossed in lemon & tarragon and wilted escarole — but when choices came up, my guest shouted “Veggie dogs!” ~So Hot Dogs & Champagne it was! :p Marlene Dietrich proudly shone down on us from Heaven! (FYI: Hot dogs & champagne was her favourite meal).

We had these lovelies with some bubbly! 🙂 Beneath the Veggie frank is some all natural ketchup, all natural mustard and on top is my favourite all natural salsa from Sun Harvest and an organic dill pickle flank wedged into the side. Served ’em with some organic cherry tomatoes.

Lunch was mountains of fruit. Sad to say, I didn’t take pictures but I had enough kiwis and oranges to turn me various shades of orange and green! So refreshing and yummy.

Dinner rocked. I fixed vegan pasta w/ tomato & basil sauce full of baby spinach, flat leaf parsley and garlic w/ a side of Tofurky Vegan Italian Sausage. They’re my favourites! The texture is insanely good. Very firm, very satisfying for people (like me) who love to chew things.

Here’s the pasta I used. It’s made from Quinoa which is REALLY awesome! Here’s the company site.

Pretty shameless product feature but they’re sooooo good!

Finished off with some Hazelnut coffee spiked with coconut milk. Was a great day! 🙂

Raw Vegan Adventures Day 2

So all these “Raw Vegan” days were a bit ago, (2 weeks maybe?) but I never got around to posting all the pictures. So, I’ll gradually toss them up and when anyone searches this blog or clicks a tag, they’ll come up in order! 🙂

My wheatgrass of choice.

My chia seeds! I put these in everything, as well. Sprinkle on salads, cereal, they’re always in my Green Monsters. This + Wheatgrass = awesome Super Foods!

Breakfast canteloupe. Super juicy, refreshing & super sweet! 🙂

I had a smashingly good Green Monster that morning! Made with:
Coconut water from 2 fresh coconuts
18 purple grapes,
2 tbsp. Chia Seeds
12 Arugula Leaves
Liberal handful of flat-leaf parsley

Top sprinkled with freshly grated coconut. Garnished w/ a chunk of coconut, some wheatgrass blades, parsley sprig & Arugula leaf (as seen in the middle picture).

 

Gigantic salad of Mango, Kiwi, Arugula, Baby Spinach, freshly ground mixed pepper, golden flax seeds & radishes, tossed in red wine vinegar & a some sea salt. This was a perfect lunch.

Dinner!

Squash Ribbon “Pasta” with Broccoli

Something I love to do. I take the vegetable peeler to some squash (used baby zucchini here) and make long ribbons. They’re an excellent substitute for pasta! I tossed them with some fresh broccoli crowns, apple cider vinegar, chia seeds, golden flax seeds, sea salt, freshly ground mixed pepper & crushed red pepper flakes. Garnished with some parsley. It was SO substantial. Took awhile to finish this bowl!

Over the course of the day, I snacked on nuts and berries between main dishes so by nightfall, I was stuffed and ready for a coma to kick in. 😀

GOOP Day 2 Recap

This gets easier and easier every time I hop on GOOP. It’s already Day 4 and I have no idea where the time went. It’s such an easy, fulfilling regimen (at least for me). I hope everyone gives it a go at some point.

Here’s how Day 2 went!

My morning water w/ lime.

For tea time, I had Parsley Tea. Actually, I’ve been guzzling this stuff all I can stand because parsley is a natural diuretic and fantastic for eliminating water retention. So, if you find yourself frumpy with bloating issues, fix up some parsley tea to help get it all out. Hound down lots of watermelon, too!

Parsley is also high in antioxidants. However, word around the campfire is pregnant women should steer clear as it can contribute to premature labor.

I like this page from Your Cup of Tea.

Breakfast = Avocado, Strawberry & Mint Smoothie. Made w/ 1 Avocado, 4 Strawberries, 4 roughly chopped mint leaves & 1 cup Almond Milk, topped w/ Flax Seeds. All Organic.

My local Sun Harvest ran out of raspberries but I bought some blackberries and strawberries. 🙂 *As of 6:12 A.M. CST, their website is acting fussy but here’s a link to the weekly ad: http://www.mygroceryads.com/ads/tx/sun_harvest_san_antonio/

I used my own salad recipe for lunch.  It features a decorative Chayote Carpaccio, baby spinach salad w/ julienned carrots & a focal sauerkraut stuffed strawberry. To do that, I fanned the strawberry and stuffed some sauerkraut in the center. It may sound odd but the combination of tart/sour and tart/sweet make for a miraculous treat! Everything is organic and sprinkled with red wine vinegar, (my favorite of all vinegars).

Dinner ROCKED! I had the salad Gwynnie suggests on the GOOP menu here (scroll down some). (Salad w/ Carrot & Ginger Dressing). Salad assembly is simple. Torn lettuce, sliced red onion rounds, cubed avocado (that’s a how-to vid), and Ginger/Carrot dressing. However! Instead of using the blender, I fell back on my Mexican roots and whipped out the Molcajete!

Chef Charlie’s GOOP’d Up Ginger Carrot & Cilantro Dressing

1 large carrot, peeled & diced

1 shallot, peeled & diced

1 clove garlic, chopped (no need to mince, it’s gonna get smooshed to all Hell soon!)

1 tbsp. grated ginger

1 tsp Herbes de Provence

1 tbsp. chopped cilantro

1 tbsp. organic cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp. Red Wine Vinegar (or whatever your favorite vinegar is)

1/4th cup organic vegetable stock

Sea Salt & Grains of Paradise (or black pepper or mixed peppercorns if unavailable) to taste.

*I keep fresh ginger root in the freezer. It makes it super easy to pop out and grate with a small hand or box grater. Also, if you leave the frozen ginger to thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter for a bit, you are able to squeeze all the juice out once it’s soft. So, you can adapt that into this recipe. Instead of adding grated ginger, u can squeeze 1-2 tsp of juice into it.*

Heat olive oil in pan and saute carrots over med-low heat till carrots are soft, 6-8 mins or so. Cover to help the process, stirring occasionally.

Uncover. Add garlic, shallot, ginger, Herbes de Provence and saute till fragrant, 2-3 mins.

Add vegetable stock and simmer 2-3 mins.

Dispense mixture into molcajete. Add sea salt, Grans of Paradise or (freshly ground pepper), chopped cilantro, vinegar and get to mashing! It’s a bit of a process but it’s fun! Do it gently so you don’t make a mess! Once it’s reduced to a balance between clumpy and runny (see pictures above), it’s ready for storing or application.

You may adjust the recipe for the size of batch you’ll be making. You may allow to cool (as I did before distributing over the salad) or use warm to wilt the greens. Refrigerate unused portion for up to a week.

So, GOOP is going fantastic! I’ll try to post Day 3 pictures later today. I need to do some writing!