Cucumber Crunch Salad

Good morning! It's a luscious Wednesday morning, and I once again feel like a human being! I'm going to cop to having taken an Advil congestion relief tablet last night before bed, but I have been making steady progress ever since starting the tomato tea, grapefruit seed extract, and oil of oregano regimen. I took the day off completely from working out as well, and skipped yoga (since breathing through the nose is kind of essential.) I don't like the idea of skipping designated workout days is early into a new fitness routine, but it seems that my body responded positively to the extra rest.

In keeping with the idea of recuperation, my morning smoothie was packed with vitamin C; two pink flesh oranges (Whole Foods strikes again!) a Meyer lemon, a handful of spinach, the bulk of a romaine heart, one mango and a scoop of soy protein. Delicious.

For dinner, I made a raw Cucumber crunch salad with Macadamia Cream (both Recipes from "Raw Food".)

For the salad:

One cucumber, peeled and diced.
2 tbsp macadamia cream
1/2 white onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp dill seeds

For the Macadamia Cream:
10 macadamia nuts
One orange, juiced
2 medjool dates, or 4 of any other kind

Stupify the ingredients for the cream in a food processor until it is thoroughly stupid. Confuse the salad with the cream, mix well. Voila.

Now a couple thoughts. I do not care for raw onion in almost any situation where it is even remotely discernible as such. I found it over powered the salad, and had to add an entire extra cucumber to pacify the dish. Next time I will leave it out altogether, toy with the idea of caramelizing first, or in all likelihood, substitute a more affable vegetable like green bell pepper.

The Macadamia cream was super-yummy. I probably would have made a little more proportionally to the amount of salad. Also, I did add Meyer lemon juice to combat the fumes of the raw onion. You've been warned. Make sure you wash your knives before chopping anything post onion, like a cantaloupe or honeydew melon. I didn't engage in any such foolishness yesterday but am always interested in sharing wisdom I have accumulated through trial and error over the years.

In other news, the Kimchi should be ready tonight, I did manage to squeeze a second chopped napa cabbage into the jar, and taste test will be this evening.
I'm in love with my new Pampered Cef cutting mats, which have a non skid surface on one side, take up very little space, and wash like a breeze. If you're not going to a pampered chef party anytime soon, I saw something similar at ocean state job lot, along with a giant bottle of raw blue agave syrup for about $6. PC also makes adjustable measuring spoons which are quite possibly smarter than I am.


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Location:Madison, CT

Raw Beet Salad!

Still on the mend, but definitely mending, thanks to tomato tea, grapefruit seed extract, and oil of oregano. Feeling like more raw foods might give me the boost I need to conquer this thing, so in that spirit I have raw dinners on the menu for Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Last night I whipped up a simple beet salad, (from the Boutenko's "Fresh" raw cookbook, and also started a raw live Kimchi from the same book.).

Delicious, but pungent, this recipe calls for the following:
3 diced fresh beets
5 (yes, five) cloves of fresh garlic
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Assault all ingredients in a food processor until you have a nice, nicely nice, relish consistency. Once again, this is probably not a job for the Vitamix, unless you want a raw beet and garlic smoothie. I served these in red wine glasses, with the suggested oregano garnish.

This salad was pungent but very tasty, definitely not for vampires, and if you prefer, you can adjust your orbit a bit and roast the garlic first. Also, you might tweak the amount of honey, lemon(I used Meyer lemon, which are lovely when you can get them) or both, you can significantly adjust the overall flavor of the dish. The purists among you will not use honey, so raw agave works just as well. I have no issue with honey, or homie, as my autocorrect suggests. Bizarre.



The live Kimchi is a process, but it's coming along. Kimchi is basically a Korean fermented cabbage, similar to a sauerkraut, but spiced much differently. The recipe will be forthcoming when I have the cookbook handy, it did require a few more unusual ingredients, but thankfully, nothing I couldn't find on the hallowed shelves of Whole Foods, ( I did have a moment of panic when I couldn't find Kefir starter, and thought for a second I might have to crawl back to the Asian market with cash in hand and tail between legs.) thankfully a knowledgable clerk showed me where it was. I am eternally grateful, you have no idea.

I only bring it up now because A. It requires time, and B. I'm already seeing the need to adapt the process. Boutenko calls for 3 entire napa cabbages stuffed into one gallon sized jar, but when I took a look at the size of the cabbages, I knew I could scarcely fit one into a jar at size. However, as it ferments it shrinks quite a bit, so my plan is to add more cabbage today, and let the mixture ferment another 12-24 hours.
Pics forthcoming.

If anyone is interested, I think I'm going to start post good local finds, talk about kitchen implements etc that I find useful (or not,) and anything else that seems appropriate.

See you in cyberspace!




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Thai Black Beans with Mango and Cilantro

What's better than a fresh, hot serving of your favorite dish? Often times, it's leftovers. Definitely the case with this dish, Thai Black Beans with Mango, and Cilantro (from Terry Walters, Clean Food) which I'm enjoying for lunch as we speak. Sometimes a certain recipe still has a little magic left to work in the fridge, and the extra the has stood this one very well.

Also, a shout out to my Mama, whose birthday was yesterday, and who consented to have this dish prepared as a birthday meal. Don't worry, even though it was amazingly delicious, she and my father pre-gamed the night before at The Guilford Bistro, just in case. As a person with a well-developed sweet tooth, she was also treated to a tart and tangy Cherry Mocktail.

A word to the wise, the Thai beans recipe assumes that you have A. Soaked your beans overnight and B. cooked them to desired softness before you begin. You can use a "quick soak" method, which of course I did, but it's still going to set back dinner time by an hour or two.

Here's the biz:
1/4 cup fermented black beans (just a note here, these are actually fermented black soy beans, and an Asian market or the interwebs are really your only hope. They are also known as Douchi. If like me, you don't happen to carry cash around with you much, be prepared to haggle with the clerk over a minimum credit card purchase amount. One more tangential note, of someone knows a good Asian market besides the one in east haven, let me know, since they don't like me very much now.)

2 garlic cloves peeled
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp roasted red chili paste
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp sucunat (an unrefined sugar with the molasses component still intact, whole foods has got you covered. Now if they'd just work on the Douchi.)
1 tbsp lime juice

4 cups of cooked black beans
2 mangoes peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Soak the fermented beans in hot water for 2 minutes, then drain them, rinse them, and drain them again. Add The next 6 ingredients, blend to a pasty sauce, and set aside.

Heat your cooked black beans until they are heated through. Add the fermented bean mixture, stir until thoroughly combined.

Walters suggests you take this mixture, press it into a mold, flip it over onto a serving dish, and drizzled it with the mangoes and cilantro. Honestly, if I were entertaining guests or trying to be impressive, I would have given it a shot. In this case, we were all hungry, so I dispensed with aesthetic and spooned the beans over some basmati rice, the spooned the mango/cilantro over the beans. Still a pretty picture actually, and less one mold and one serving dish to wash. Win win, I say.



Let me also extol the virtues of a rice cooker. Although it is one more thing to clutter up your kitchen, it makes cooking rice or quinoa a breeze. You can spend a lot of money on one, but mine cost about $20, makes about 3 cups of rice at a shot, and works just fine. When in the midst of preparing the main course, it's nice to be able to "set it and forget it," as they say in the infomercials. If you need more than 3 cups of rice at a shot, we may need to have a serious talk, unless of course you're feeding a lot of people. For the most part, it me and Mama. One of these days I might cook something that appeals to my father, but it doesn't seem bloody likely. According to him, the four major food groups are represented thusly (in order of importance):
Diet Soda
Chocolate Ice Cream
Ground Beef
Ripple Potato Chips

I'm working on it, folks, but it's sort of like trying to teach an orange traffic cone to play the harp.

See you in orbit!
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Tomato Tea and Cookbooks

It's a sunshiny afternoon in New England, if not particularly pleasant, but mild enough. My sinuses have been at war with my head for about 48 hours, culminating with the loss of my voice due post-nasal drip yesterday. It's back now, so you can stop smirking. I had originally intended to make raw avocado burritos last night for supper, but as I had no appetite and have been feeling generally miserable due to the inability to breathe freely, I opted for something a bit more medicinal.
I found this "Tomato Tea" recipe on a website called "Earth Clinic," supposed to be good for sinus congestion. I have to say I'll be darned if I'd didn't seem to help clear up my head right away. In fact, I'm making a big batch this afternoon for consumption over the next few days. Definitely try this one out!
It calls for tomato juice, and since I happened to have the innards of several heirloom tomatoes sitting in a jar feeling without a purpose ( a by-product of Thursday's Double-Stuffed Tomatoes--is anyone else's inner 11-year-old giggling?) I made mine fresh in the vitamix by simply adding a cup or two of water. I'm sure it would work just fine out of a can as well, if not better, as I'm told recently that tomatoes cooked have different but equally beneficial nutritional value to raw.
Long story short, it seems to work quite well.


In other news, I thought I might share some of my favorite cookbooks, and uncookbooks, with you, since almost everything I've prepared this far has been a selection from the forthcoming list. In no particular order, here they are:
"Vitamix: Live Fresh Raw/Vegan/Vegetarian Recipes," Various Authors, 2011.
(I'm not sure if this is available for retail sale, but it comes with the Turboblend VS package, and may be available to purchase at Vitamix.com
"Raw Food," Julie Rodwell, Editor, Hatherleigh Press 2008
"Fresh: The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook," Sergei and Valya Boutenko, North Atlantic Books, 2008
"Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook," Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Da Capo Press, 2007
"Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source," Terry Walters, Sterling Publishing, 2009
"Serving Up the Harvest: Celebrating the Goodness of Fresh Vegetables," Andrea Chesman, Storey Publishing, 2007
"Tomato: A Fresh-from-the-Vine Cookbook," Lawrence Davis Hollander, Stroey Publishing, 2010
"Power Juices Super Drinks," Steve Meyerowitz, Kensington Books, 2000
"The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health," Cherie Calbom, Penguin Group, 2008
I've also found several wonderful recipes on the web, and if/when I come across a gem I'll be sure to share it here as well.



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Maple, Mochi, Tomato Ice cream, and more!

Ok, I know I haven't posted in a couple of days but it dies not mean I haven't been busy! I am pleased to say that my cooking schedule has stayed right on track!

Thursday night was red cooked cabbage. Made with green cabbage, the red comes in from the colors of everything else it gets cooked in. Although, truth be told, they should call it brown cooked cabbage, but I can see where that might not sounds as appetizing, and it was very good. This one was a cinch! Here's the biz:

1 cabbage sliced thinly
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup vegetable broth(I've been opting for Rapunzel brand bouillon rather than keeping cans or cartons around what is quickly becoming a well-stocked kitchen.)
1/2 cup of soy sauce ( I used Bragg's Aminos, just as flavorful and much lower in sodium.)
2-3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1 table spoon rice wine or dry sherry (I used sherry because I happened to have it in the pantry already.)
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns

Cook the cabbage in the oil until it is vice and tender, add everything else, and simmer 25 minutes covered. Check out "Serving Up the Harvest" for the full recipe.

The result was pungent and peppery, I had mine for dinner ladled over a healthy serving of quinoa for some protein.




The night before my experiment du jour was maple roasted carrots. And frankly it's as easy as it sounds. This one also comes from "Serving Up the Harvest."

1 pound of carrots, cut into bite sized spears
1 tablespoon butter (or vegan buttery alternative)
2-3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (hint: Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth wouldn't know the real thing if it bit them.)
Parsley for garnish

Roast the carrots 10-15 minutes in a single layer in a greased baking sheet with sides. Melt butter and syrup together, drizzle over carrots, bake another 10 minutes.
Sweet but not too sweet, this would make a lovely, colorful addition to a holiday table in lieu of a more expected, nightmarish sweet potato marshmallow casserole.








Today ended up involving a bit more free time than I had originally anticipated, so I tried a couple of new things, to surprisingly pleasant results. First, raw "double-stuffed tomatoes," filled with a sunflower seed and sundried tomato filling. Second, tomato strawberry ice cream (made with, you guessed it, the vitamix) which I then used as a filling for mochi.

If you're not familiar with mochi, it's a Japanese dish, made from sweet rice flower and sugar essentially, which combines a sweet taste with a doughy,chewy texture. Almost but not quite gummy, mochi is often served as bite sized balls fille switch ice cream. There's a Mochi store on Crown St in New Haven, and all I have to say is whatever they charge, it's worth every penny. This stuff is a royal mess to make, from beginning to end. I should have taken a shot of the disaster area that was my kitchen during the mochi making process. Alas, as I was up to my elbows in gooey, sticky, hot mochi, I was unwilling to touch anything I couldn't easily wash. This of course includes the iPhone. I once heard someone compare an iPhone to Joan Rivers' face, something along the lines of they cost too much money, and if you get them wet you're fucked. I believe it on both counts.

Here's a shot of what mochi should look like:


Here's one of mine:


In all fairness, they taste the same. Mine are much darker because I used an unrefined sucunat sugar instead of white. And make sure you give these things a good dusting of cornstarch. Otherwise they will stick together, and, as you can see, this can lead to some mochi breakage when prying them apart.

The tomatoes by the way were just ok. Three out of five stars. The filling needs a little bit of zing factor, maybe some lemon juice, I'm not sure, maybe a higher ratio of sun-dried tomatoes and olives to seeds. They were tasty, but I had to spice mine up with a few spritzer of Bragg's Amino Acids. I will say, they look fantastic!



So at the end of the day taste and presentation were a wash, one dish succeeding where the other lacked. The tomato ice cream, by the way, spectacular!

I am working at becoming more diligent about sharing actual recipes with you rather than mere descriptions, and in the very near future will set out a list of all the wonderful cookbooks(and uncookbooks) I have been using.

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Ode to my Spiralizer

First let me begin by congratulating the person who decided to mince ginger and put it in a jar; will you marry me? Second, let me wax rhapsodic about one of e most useful kitchen gadgets one can own, the Spiralizer. Sounds like something you'd see on a late night infomercial, I know. And basically it only does one thing, which is to take a hunk of sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, or whatever else you might have handy, and slice it up into long thin spaghetti strips, or broader pappardelle type noodles if you have one with variable cutting options. Nothing to plug in, powered by elbow grease. At first the applications might seem limited, but trust me, I pull this contraption out more times than one would think,especially given my proclivity toward raw and vegan food preparation these days.

Last nights main course, for example, a zucchini "pasta" with a raw pomodoro sauce.
Start to finish in 10 minutes, and into the fridge to be consumed after my yoga class. I was running a little short on time, so it worked out nicely that I'd planned such an easy prep dish for Tuesday night, not to mention I don't like to do yoga on a full stomach. Once you've Spiralized a zucchini or two, perhaps about a cups worth per serving, it's a matter of throwing some veggies in the vitamix and pulsing a few times to get anime chunky, raw tomato sauce.

Raw Pomodoro Sauce ( from my Vitamix cookbook.)

3 Roma tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves to taste
Fresh oregano to taste ( be sure to get the leaves off the stems)
1 1/2 tbsp minced onion
Minced garlic to taste
Himalayan salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Of course, as with any tomato sauce if you ask me, you can feel free to add cilantro, or whatever other fresh herbs you might have on hand. Remember to give them a good chop before you put them in the blender, because you won't be setting the Vitamix to "liquefy" and forgetting about it. If you don't take some care here, you could end up with a sauce full of sticks and stems. I'm not saying it happened to me, but I'm not saying it didn't. I will say that last night was the last time I ignore instructions to chop or mince any ingredient before I put it into the vitamix.

If you have leftover sauce, why not serve it to guests as a nice bruschetta?

Of course I neglected to snap a pictures in my haste to run out the door, so I am including the first official photo of Orbiting Vegan's new official mascot, my cat Dusty Springfield. Isn't she adorable?


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Location:Madison, CT

I <3 lentils

Made a creamy lentil Dal soup last night using the vitamix. This one requires a little work but is well worth the effort! Of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but I did snap a shot of my stovetop in progress!






The first image is lentils,washed, soaking up some veggie broth at medium heat, the second began as sautéed onion and garlic, with tomato paste and spice added once tender. Combine all your ingredients into the vitamix with 2 baked potatoes and fresh cilantro and voila! I can't wait to make this one again!

Here's the ingredients just in case:

1/2 cup lentils, washed
2 cloves chopped garlic
One onion chopped
3 cups of water or broth for lentils
4 cups of water or broth for onions after sautéed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup tomato paste
2 baked potatoes
Fresh cilantro
( the spices can be adjusted to taste, but it would seem, all spices beginning with the
letter "C" should not be taken lightly.)

Also, I'm looking for fermented black soybeans, I'm putting this out to the blogosphere just in case one among you knows where I can buy some around here without getting on the Internet. Mecca, aka Whole Foods, does not carry them. Strike one. In their defense, I've shopped with them periodically since 2005 and this is the first time they didn't have something I needed.

I've sort of gone off blogging about smoothies, but I've also sort of gone off using recipes. Something fruity, some protein, some leafy greens, ice, blend. It's kind of the default for every recipe I've come across lately, and the results are generally very tasty. Use your intuition, if it seems like a good combo, try it out. If it seems like a bad one, try it out and see whether or not you prove yourself wrong.

On a final note for the day I found myself staring at a very tasty looking birthday cake from the Delight Bakery in Yonkers, NY as it was sitting on my kitchen island last night. I can assure you I had no hand in its procurement nor it's arrival on said island. Cake in general does nothing for me, and even less for my sister, the spaniard, but it did put me in the mind for a treat of some sort. So I whipped up a vegan "ice cream"-cherry vanilla flavor- since I happened to have all the ingredients leftover from other recipes. Once again, the vitamix reigns supreme, one device that can produce hot soup and frozen treats right out of the container. Here's a tip though, if you don't freeze the fruit, you will end up with a "milk"shake. It's not really a tip, since the recipe spells it out in plain English, but I missed it, and I'm fairly astute, so I'm passing it along. Freeze the fruit. Important.


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Vegan Benedict

Anyone who knows me knows I have aloft spot for Eggs Benedict. During the traditional Sunday breakfast using with my family, it's a frequent flyer. In fact, I've ordered it so frequently that my mother will feign shock when I do order it, and feign greater shock when I don't. I've pointed out that if the predictability of my breakfast order is the subject of her criticism, she ought to consider the fact that her response is more predictable than my choice of breakfasts. But I digress...

Last week I couldn't bring myself to actually eat ham, so I ordered actual eggs Benedict with tomato slices substituted for the ham(truth be told ham and I have never really been friends, though I am a fool for a nice prosciutto.). As soon as I had placed my order, I characteristically whipped out my iPhone and googled the term "vegan benedict." You can link to the recipe at http://www.chooseveg.com/display_recipe.asp?recipe=26

Eggs Benedict is basically a vehicle for Hollandaise sauce, so naturally I had my doubts that a vegan alternative could be found for a sauce made of eggs and even more egg yolks. I have to say I was delighted with the outcome. I highly recommend this recipe, and what's better is it took about 30 minutes from start to finish, assuming there isn't a deaf moose with carpal tunnel maneuvering around your kitchen.





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Location:Madison, CT

Raw Eggplant Pizza

Friday night I had a small party to attend, so I brought a raw avocado "chocolate" mousse. This stuff is so good, I decided to maintain the element of surprise until everyone had tried it, just in case anyone present is the type to turn up their nose at healthy food. You know who you are. After sampling to rave reviews, I gave everyone a small "valentine" with the recipe:

4 ripe avocados
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup coconut nectar (agave works too)
A pinch of Himalayan salt
1 tsp vanilla
Balsamic vinegar and tamari to taste

Basically, blend the avocados first, add everything else and continue blending until well-mixed. If you don't have a Vitamix, a good food processor should be able to handle this one.

You can use cocoa powder if you don't happen to have cacao, but cacao is a superfood, full of antioxidants and I'd recommend keeping some around. Makes a nice chocolate smoothie as well.

Yesterday's dinner was raw Eggplant pizza. Half inch slices of eggplant comprise the "crust," get topped with a marinara made from sun dried tomatoes, and Ito the dehydrator for 2 hours. I actually dragged my old "Ronco" dehydrator out for this one, and boy was the result ever disappointing!! A. There isn't enough room in between the trays for the slices and the sauce not to get squished in, and B. it could have probably stood to sit overnight. There's no temperature control on it, one setting fits all apparently. Maybe it would have been better with a better dehydrator, but for now I'll just have to dream. I topped the pizzas with leftover cashew Parmesan from last week's lasagna. While the warmth was lacking and the rawness for the eggplant still too strong, I can't say they didn't make a pretty picture.



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Easier eaten than rolled

Morning! It's a rainy and chilly day here, and probably there, too, since I pursue me my audience hasn't gone viral yet, judging by the astounding count of zero subscribers. Where are my loyal confessions in bad taste readers, I fought hard for all seven of you.

Thursday's main course was a "easy sushi." Ha! Let me just say, technically, this is Maki because it is rolled, but more importantly Let me express my profound respect for a beautifully rolled maki. You will see from my pictures that it is easier said than done.

However lacking in aesthetic, my rolls were very tasty! I made a few different kinds: Guacamole and sun dried tomato, dried mushroom and sprouts, and zucchini with a cheddary cheese made from pine nuts.




I also made a lame attempt at artfully drizzling some wasabi sauce on the plate as a presentation element, but only succeeded in making the plate look sloppy. Live and learn. Any of these combinations would make a delicious wrap with some added greens or sprouts, and in fact I see a few lunches in the near future made from the leftovers. Until I have some better knife skills and perhaps a class in sushi prep, I will probably leave "easy sushi" to the experts.



In other news, I made a key lime smoothie on Thursday morning that was out of this world! 2 kiwis, a tablespoon of key lime juice, a pear, some ice, a little agave, and into the blender. Tart, tangy, and definitely a great wake-up cocktail to get you going!

Friday, in addition to an avocado Mousse that is out of this world! I made a winter veggie soup from green cabbage, leeks, sweet potato, carrots, celery, and some "chicken" bouillon. Boil, simmer, blend with a hand blender, add a package of frozen corn. Talk about satisfying comfort food, and healthy to boot!

See you in orbit!

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Location:Madison, CT

Revitalizing 5-Day Cleanse!

It’s time to shed fat, clear the body of toxins and expand our energy! Spring and Fall are the best times for seasonal detox ~experience more aliveness as you become in sync with the natural rhythm of the spring season. Vegan, gluten free food conveniently packaged for pickup each night April 16-20th.


This is a mixed group of beginners and experienced cleansers. Athletes, professionals, busy people return again and again because they feel the difference our cleanse makes. Cleansing is an ancient ritual to clear blocked channels, release prana and toxins for a more joyful spirit and disease prevention.
If you zig and zag throughout the day being productive, helping others, engaged in tasks requiring consistent energy this cleanse is for you. Feeling o.k. doesn’t cut it for me or my clients-we do what it takes to have consistent clear energy throughout each day. Lose fat but more importantly clear your head & get empowered with mindful eating habits. Feel the difference when you eat our food. Nourish your cells without the feeling of deprivation because our recipes make all the difference. Each day you will receive 2 smoothies, 2 green drinks, 2 fruit or hydrating beverages and 1 large blended non cooked soup. Cost is $375 with a $200 nonrefundable deposit


by March 2nd to hold your space. Balance due on April 9Th. Are you ready for this? YES! We are half full.

I can't wait to share this experience with you!!!!!!
Michael.
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Location:Madison/Guilford CT

All about Endives

Good morning! I'm been up for several hours due to a very early appointment with some very, shall we say, demanding clients. I try to approach each and every session I give with an authentic sense of gratitude, but sometimes it is a challenge. We all have people that constantly test our limits, right?

Anyway, that's not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about endives, specifically braised. I know I did hint yesterday that today's blog would be on the subject of "easy sushi," a very tempting recipe from one of my favorite uncookbooks. However, I misjudged my free time, and the advance prep on a couple of items, so I moved braised endives up a day or two on my menu. Easy sushi will definitely be tonight, with pictures, I promise.

Endives have a naturally bitter taste, which is quite nice but can be overpowering without the right preparation and complementary favors. Once again, I am left with the profound awareness of the endive learning curve. In this case, they must first be browned. The recipe says about 5 minutes on a side, having made the recipe, I say cook those suckers until they really start to caramelize a bit. Don't be afraid to give them some extra time, remember, the end result wants to be tender.

Next, add some broth, and braise until tender, the leaves are going to come apart somewhat, nothing you can do about it, it's just the natural order of things. Once they're nice and tender, remove the endoves from the skillet, add "butter" and lemon juice, and cook the remaining liquid down into a nice syrup. I have no idea how long this will take because my liquid never got syrupy, but I do suspect I didn't give it enough time either. Endives=time apparently. Overall, it was a yummy supper, quoting steamed artichokes or cabbage to some degree. I did find the bitterness a bit pronounced,
perhaps a hint of agave to sweeten the sauce might have been lovely, or some sage.

Here's a pic of them browning endives in the pan...



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Endive salad with goat cheese

Yes! You heard it right, Goat cheese! Real, 100% and bonafide dairy! Incidentally my first intentional foray away from pure vegan since before my cleanse a couple weeks ago.

Morning smoothie was the "Laughing Gorilla" courtesy of my Vitamix cookbook. 2 oranges, a banana, romaine lettuce, ice cubes and a half scoop of protein powder to fuel my morning workout. Delicious!

In the name of simplifying things a little bit, I\\\'m trying to prepare only one or two time intensive recipes a week. Ergo endive salad with goat cheese. Add some mixed greens, lemon juice, olive oil, and a dash of Himalayan salt and you\\\'re done. The cookbook give you some instruction on plating it nicely, but if you\\\'re pressed for time, as I was last night, you can just throw it together and dress it. Truthfully, the overall bitterness of the endive was a tad overpowering, and I would probably add a more flavorful vinaigrette I stead of the simple lemon juice and oil the book suggests.
(if you\\\'re interested in the book by the way, it\\\'s "Serving up the Harvest" by Andrea Chesman. One of the things I enjoy most about this particular book is that it is divided up by season, making it easy to find in season ingredients without scouring the globe.)

Sorry to report I forgot to take a picture of this one, but tonight\\\'s entrée is going to be what one of my raw cookbooks calls "easy sushi," and if it comes out looking anything like real sushi, I will be posting several photographs.

I\\\'m now off to get a facial from the brilliant skin care specialist, Renee Baldo, of Unlimited Potential in North Haven.

Another Day, another smoothie

Monday is now officially my day to plan for the week ahead. I sat down and wrote my meal plan for the week, Took stock of what I already had in the house, and made a shopping list. Yesterday\\\'s smoothie was a lovely light green, made from romaine, banana, leftover parsley, celery, kale, and some lemon for good measure. Very tasty! Romaine lettuce is becoming a smoothie staple for me, I find it adds a nice crisp flavor without being too overpowering to the other ingredients.

Also, you\\\'ll find I rarely mention lunches or small I between meals on this blog, since they generally consist of leftover entrées from previous days. In this case, and likely tomorrows, raw lasagna. I\\\'m also discovering quickly one of the major rules of healthy eating: it doesn\\\'t pay to cook for one. Most of the recipes in the proportions I\\\'ve made them so far are enough to feed 4-6 people. In the future, first runs of everything will be halved, this way I can feed two people for dinner and with any luck squeeze one lunch out of the leftovers. The great thing about this is it will save me precious fridge real estate and be kinder to my wallet by about 50%.

Temporarily parting with raw food, I prepared a hearty root veggie stew for dinner. All those vegetables many of us tend to turn our noses up at individually, combine to make a surprisingly savory, satisfying dish on a cold night! Comfort food vegan style. Shallots and ginger sautéed, with diced sweet potato, turnips, celery root, parsnips, fennel, rutabaga, and a touch of cinnamon(if you don\\\'t happen to have a stick.) Simmer in vegetable broth about 25 minutes, give it a quick( a few seconds) mix with the hand blender, and your good to go. The cookbook suggests seasoning with Ume Plum Vinegar.

Makes enough to serve the whole family and probably have some leftover for lunch, or possibly a hot breakfast with some brown sugar or agave?

The Morning After: Eggs Benedict Arnold

Dinner out, at what barely passes for a restaurant, aka the "99," was followed by a family breakfast out at a local breakfast spot my mother lovingly refers to as "eggs over-easy." Feeling a little indulgent, I allowed myself a variation on eggs-beni. Eggs, yes, poached and fluffy. Ham, hells no, instead some sliced fresh tomato. Admittedly, still not the healthiest of breakfasts, but I have looked up a tasty vegan Benedict recipe that will be on the menu for next Sunday.

Most of my afternoon was spent way over my head with technical website jiggery-pokery (I will eventually be migrating this blog from blogspot to orbitingvegan.com, but don\'t hold your breath.) However I did find time to prepare a lovely raw sweet potato gnocchi! Topped with a sage and caper aioli, it was a snap to prepare and quite tasty. This is another one that calls for several hours of dehydrating, and I do think I miscalculated how much oven time I should give it in order to keep it raw, but the result was tasty and edible, if only slightly doughy inside.

Dining out

Is easier said than done. Went with parents to visit Libby, my father\'s former secretary, with whom he happens to share a birthday. Her choice of restaurants was financially economical but nutritionally lacking; A place called the "99."
As I leafed through page after page of artery-clogging entrees it became clear that it would be difficult to find something on the menu that resonates with my healthier outlook on eating. By default I settled on a soup and salad option. It was that or fill up on table napkins and water.
The soup was a tomato basil, tasty and I\'m certain loaded with sodium. All I can say for the salad was it came in a bowl. The greens were wilted and browning, the tomatoes smelled funny, and to my chagrin the whole thing was covered in grated cheese. At this point I\'ve come to the conclusion that 99 is what you have left after you\'ve rated this ace on a scale of 1 to 100.
Now, surprisingly, I ate both soup and salad. Remember, this blog is "orbiting vegan," and what that means, since I realize I have as of yet to define it, is while I am trying to select and consume mainly raw and vegan foods I am not doing so to the total exclusion of non-vegan foods. There is, as they say, a time for asparagus and a time for gruyere.
I did make a wonderful strawberry, banana, mango, and romaine smoothie for breakfast, and polished off Wednesday\'s butternut squash soup for lunch before heading to "99," The culinary equivalent of a lobotomy. I half expected to find Soylent Green on the menu.

See you in Orbit!

Raw Lasagna!

I\\\'m, tired of counting days, so look to see more variety of headings than "Stepping Up Wellness: Day 8." But you may rest assured that is still what\\\'s going on. So, now that we can all sleep better tonight safe and secure in this knowledge, let\\\'s move on.

The raw lasagna was incredible! In fact, it resembled a traditional lasagna in richness and full-bodied flavor, but the variety of favors was much greater. The raw cheese made earlier this week became a splendid Ricotta, covered with capers and olives, then layered over with more zucchini "noodles" followed by layers of pesto, marinated shiitakes, raw marinara sauce, and finally topped with halved grape tomatoes, sprinkled with cashew parmesan(very easy to make,) and garnished with a few herbal leaves of choice. I would probably normally opt for a basil garnish with a dish like this, but since I used it all up in the recipe, a few full looking sage leaves did e aesthetic trick.

The whole thing goes into the dehydrator, or oven on the absolute lowest setting, to warm through before serving. I did drain off the excess water from the serving dish once or twice. The end result was beautiful and delicious!

I will suggest that timing is crucial when preparing this dish. Cheese took 3 days, mushrooms had to marinate overnight, etc. and depending on what time you want to serve this dish, you might want to get it plated and in the dehydrator 2-3 hours in advance so it can really warm through. All I\\\'m saying is I had dinner at 10:00 last night.

just a couple more things...

My secondary goal for the next 90 days is to cut out all unecessary spending in order to facilitate the availability of funds for all this healthy living.

Second, I would like to begin hosting a biweekly pot-luck healthy dinner. I\'m posting this to the Internet at large, but clearly I am only equipped to host a small gathering. Also, this is restricted to persons whom I know IRL(In Real Life.) anyone interested should email me ASAP and I am considering Thursday the 16th as a kickoff date.

Stepping Up Wellness: Day 7

Ok, since yesterday\'s only culinary adventure was my morning smoothie, I\'m going to delve into a few tangential subjects today. Beginning with my new workout regimen: the TRX suspension workout system.

What I like:
* it is a small light weight system that attaches to a sturdy door or window that can support your body weight. I use the window in my treatment room, because it is very sturdy, and it is in the middle of the wall, so I have the ability for a wide range of motion. The problem with doors is they are often adjacent to a corner, hallway, or some other structure that will limit your movement.<
*it is not a bungee style system, which means your body weight is your resistance, which you can increase or decrease with the angle of your stance in relationship to the machine.
*it is very easy to setup, take down, adjust, and essentially consists of one piece of assembled equipment. Depending on where you will use it, and the type of mount, there is one extra strap to deal with. There is never changing of bands, chords, weights etc. * The system is fully portable. You can easily take it to the beach, anchor it to a tree, and get going. also, it weighs just about nothing. The real contribution to the effectiveness of each exercise is you.
* It comes with a simple, short, full body workout, with a variation of each exercise to fit your fitness level.

What I don\'t like:
* I\'ve never been a workout video kind of person, and I imagine I am not alone in this regard. The same cues, encouragements, suggestions, etc all at the same time make a daily workout fell very homogenized and tend to decrease interest and motivation over time. This is not a flaw of the system of, but rather a stumbling block I think many will encounter.
* it is very tricky to get into position for many of the exercises which involve using the foot holds to suspend the feet in the air. Each morning I find myself continually pausing the DVD during this segment to readjust the straps, and or my body to try to complete each exercise. Perhaps this is just a situation where, once agin, the problem is with the operator and not the device. I do suspect these exercises may be ore easily accomplished when the machine is mounted from overhead so as to eliminate the pitfalls of being close to a wall, unfortunately I am not equipped to use this kind f mount at home,so the struggle continues. Even if you don\'t use the machine, you can modify some of the core exercises to be done without it.

My workouts have thus far felt productive, amd the beginners workout definitely leaves me much room for improvement. They suggest doing this workout 3-4 times a week, but of course, since I\'m feeling very full-tilt about wellness these days, my aspiration is to do it every morning. Truth be told it is nothing most of us can\'t hand to some degree, and I suspect that these directions are directed to the lowest common denominator.
My energy level is way up these days. Although I\'m still finding that I am resistant to getting out of bed in the morning. My initial thought was to get up at 6:00, have my smoothie,and then workout, but so far, 7:00 or 8:00seems more realistic. Weight is holding steady at about 10lbs lost, and while I\'m not committed to continued weight loss, I am committed to continued slimming and toning.

I am noticing that I am shopping every day, and that as with most anything, eating and living well costs money. In the spirit of that I have created a spending journal, and a food journal, to track my input and output financially and nutritionally. I will share what seems appropriate, but in general this will be for my eyes only. My hope is that the initial expenses will start to Peter out, and the day to day fruits, veggies, etc, will be more manageable. Look to this blog to alert you to great deals I\'m finding in local markets, online, and elsewhere in the universe. I promise to share.

Yesterday\'s smoothies was dates, bananas, almond milk, and a few kale leaves and celery, sweet and delicious. This one definitely appeals to my mothers taste buds, which are household looking for "sweet" and can detect a Starbucks at 500 paces.

Once again, I neglected to take any picture, but I promise to take some shots of tonight\'s raw lasagna! I actually get really excited about photographing food! See you in orbit!

A new home for CBT Wellness

Hello all,

I've decided the name "Confessions in Bad Taste" does not lend itself appropriately to the kind of exploration I am beginning regarding food and wellness. Future posts will be seen here at "Orbiting Vegan," a phrase I've been using lately to describe my dietary aspirations, namely to orbit raw/vegan but not necessarily to land. As much as I enjoy living eating well, ultimately I do not subscribe to the idea that you have to cut everything you love, including meat and dairy, out of your diet in order to lead a healthy zen existence.

Please subscribe to this blog, and know that CBT will continue as a pop culture and opinion blog in the future.

Namaste!
Michael.