Kayleigh's Walnut Pesto Pasta

This is for my very wonderful friend, Ms. Kayleigh Brown.

Raw Walnut Basil Pesto

1 c fresh basil

3/4 c walnuts

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

3 or 4 cloves garlic

a generous squeeze of lemon juice

1 tsp sea salt

(3-4 tbsp of water as needed)

Directions:

Place all ingrediants in food processor and pulse like crazy.

Goes beautifully over zucchini pasta!

xxx

Day 3: Good to the Last Drop!

Today, a greens juice saved my life :-)

Upon rising: lemon water, probiotic and 2 shots frozen wheatgrass.

For breakfast, I enjoyed a vanilla peach smoothie (peach, coconut water, Sunwarrior vanilla, and coconut oil.)

snack: apple.

At lunch, I devoured a bowl of kelp noodles, layered with homemade hemp pesto.

snack: coconut water and wheatgrass

My glorious supper (above): kale, romaine, cucumber, bok choy, celery, ginger and lime.

I could have definitely added some garlic and/or chilies, but I am out :-(

Now the challenge will be to stay out of the kitchen until bed!

Big day tomorrow: I am leading Yoga in the Park, followed by Summer Solstice Mala --108 sun salutations for charity!

This may require one whole lot of juice ;-)

peace.

Day 2: Chocolate Covered Sabotage!

Wow!

This is good!

Likely, really, really good.

Good enough to mess up my detox (though it is technically allowed -- in moderation!)

It is good on smoothies. It is good on it's own. It is good mashed up with an avocado and stuffed in a romaine lettuce leaf.

I am sure that I could find an infinite number of uses for this outstanding product.

Fortunately, the bag is empty.

You can get yours at the Herb and Spice on Bank.

You may find me outside of the shop at 8 am, pacing back and forth, waiting for the doors to open...

Tomorrow, I am all about wheatgrass.

I can do better.

I swear!

Love,

K

Day One of CLEAN!

Today is my first day of the CLEAN program.

I picked up the CLEAN manual at Mother Tongue bookstore on Monday, and I figured I'd give it a go!

Over the course of my twenties, I have completed most other detoxes on the market: the Master Cleanse, juice fasting, mono-fruit diet, herbs, potions and lotions... but this time around, I am looking to create a healthy, affordable and sustainable change.

Not that I have a poor diet; I eat largely raw, mostly organic, high vibe living foods, with an occasional piece of seafood, cup of gelato, or slice of fresh bread tossed into the mix. The trouble is that I have a habit of consuming too many sweets and eating too late at night.

(Not to mention the wine... the artisanal cheese... the occasional Americano... all in good fun!)

Today is day One.

It is a moon day (full moon and eclipse!) so I did not have Mysore practice.

I wake at 5am, enjoy a double shot of wheatgrass, fire water, bio algae and a mug of matcha tea with coconut milk. After returning my e-mails, I blended up a beautiful blueberry smoothie (blueberries, dates, hemp milk and chia) and took my wonderful pooch, Guillaume, for a walk. Got home, showered, read twenty pages of a Thomas Hardy novel and biked to Hintonburg to meet up with an old friend and to teach my Wednesday Pranayama class.

After yoga, I treated myself to lunch at the Table. The Table (http://www.thetablerestaurant.com/) is a fresh, organic, vegetarian buffet. I have had mixed experiences here in the past, but today's fare was divine: Marinated dandelion greens, fresh sliced cucumbers, vegan broccoli slaw, and a heaping spoonful of mung bean salad. I am not big on beans in general, but I have to admit that it was colourful, tasty, and good for my belly. Oh, and I had a kombucha tea for dessert.

I have to load up big on lunch, because on the CLEAN program, dinner is a liquid meal.

On CLEAN, one eats three times per day: a liquid breakfast (fresh juice or smoothie), a solid lunch, and a blended dinner (smoothie, soup, etc.) No dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, corn or added sugar. Bananas, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, pistachios, macadamia nuts, honey, nightshade veggies, shellfish, red meat, alcohol, tobacco, black tea, coffee, etc. are also off of the menu.

To speed things along, Dr. Junger recommends taking a good probiotic and a digestive enzyme at every meal. The program also encourages you to take a magnesium supplement (I love Natural Calm: http://www.naturalcalm.ca/) to help keep things moving ;-)

Oh, and drink water... lots!

Is it worth it?

Demi and Gwyneth say so. And so does Martha Stewart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdiaiMTVak&feature=player_embedded

I would do almost anything for skin that glows, eyes that sparkle and for this strange blockage in my right ear to go away. I would love to sleep better, be kinder to others, and fly through my Ashtanga practice at 6 in the morning, without hijacking Tippy's coffee!

Tonight I will make a massive green juice with celery, cuke, kale, sprouts, romaine, apple, ginger and lemon.

I am supposed to eat a whole clove of garlic every day, but this has not happened yet --

Not convinced?

Learn all about the CLEAN program, download oodles of killer recipes, connect with other CLEAN detox participants, and check out some awesome videos at http://www.cleanprogram.com/

And, yes, it is FREE!

At least my $16.99 went to support an local, independent bookstore.

peas and veggies to all,

K

ps: I will post my favorite CLEAN meal of the day, everyday, in order to keep detox fun.

Do note that agave sweetened, raw chocolate pot-brownies would technically make the "approved" list :-)

Outstanding Raw Vegan Sushi

Outstanding vegan sushi takes a little bit of effort, but, boy, is it worth it!

This dish is sure to impress fish-lovers and tree huggers alike.

Fresh veggies, mineral-rich nori and creamy mac and pine nuts simply can't be beat.

An ideal hors d'oeuvre at your next cocktail party.

The Perfect "Rice"

1 and 3/4 cups peeled fresh parnips

3 tbs. mac nuts

3 tbs. pine nuts

1 tbs. flax or olive oil

1 1/2 tbs. agave

2 tbs. lemon juice

dash of sea salt

1 tbs. organic tamari or unpasteurized miso

Place all ingredients in the food processor and pulse until you achieve a perfect rice-like consistency.

Marinated Veggies for Sushi

1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

1 stalk celery, strings removed, cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

1 scallion, white and pale-green parts, cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

1 cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

1 yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-by-3-inch matchsticks

Marinate everything for 1-2 hrs. in

3 tbs. sesame oil

1 tbs. black seeds

1 tbs. organic tamari

2 tbs. lemon juice

Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Extras

1 avocado, julienned

1/2 cup sprouts (clover sprouts, sunflower sprouts, etc.)

Directions

Place a raw nori sheet face-down on a clean counter.

Spread a heaping spoonful of rice over the first quarter of the nori sheet, leaving a good one inch margin at the side.

Layer a colourful array of marinated veggies on top.

Top that with a few chunks of avocado.

Place a healthy handful of sprouts over the avocado.

Roll it up!

Use your thumbs and fingers or a sushi mat and roll it up.

When rolling, tighten the roll every time.

Wet the edge and let the roll sit seam-down for 5 minutes before cutting.

Using a serrated knife cut the nori roll into 5-6 equal parts.

Use a see-saw motion to make a perfect cut.

Plate 5 nori rolls and garnish with garlic chives, edible flowers and sesame seeds.

Serve with freshly grated wasabi and organic tamari.

Enjoy!

For the Love of Ireland GreenSmoothie

I dunno what it is that makes the beer green (!) but this chlorophyll-rich, vitamin picked, Irish Green Smoothie will have you dancing a jig in no time!

Ingredients:

1 c pure water

large handful of baby spinach

1/2 ripe avocado

(if you are looking for something super creamy and comforting, add the whole avocado!)

1/2 banana

1/2 lime

large handful of ice

Combine all of the ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth.

Serve in a pint glass and enjoy in the sun!

This recipe serves one, but it is super-easy to double or quadruple.

We leprechauns travel in packs!

Love,

K

Baja Breakfast Burritos

For those of us not lucky enough to be south on Spring Break...

I chowed down on this awesome raw vegan burrito before hitting the hills at Ski Fortune this morning and I was out flying.

Cashew-Cilantro Cheeze topped with Almond "Meat", tomatoes, avocado and red onion. If I had had more time, I could have fixed a salsa.

The recipe belongs to the wonderful Ani Phyo and you may watch Ani at work here:

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2010/02/baja-taco-wraps-by-ani-phyo.html

The Cashew-Cilantro Cheeze is especially delicious and could also hold it's own as topping for zucchini or kelp noodles, or in a thai-inspired nori wrap.

Ingredients:

1 c raw cashews (soaked)

1/4 c cilantro

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp garlic (I used 2 cloves)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 c water (I used 1/2 c)

Toss sea salt and garlic into the food processor and chop until fine. Add cashews, lemon juice, and 1/4 c water, and process until smooth. Add cilantro and pulse until it has broken down. Ideally, the cheeze will be white with green specks.

Almond "Meat"

1 c raw almonds

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1/8 tsp sea salt

Chop almonds in food processor until you have reached a "ground beef" consistency.

Add all other ingredients and pulse until well-mixed.

variation: sub walnuts for almonds.

Directions:

Place either a romaine or collard leaf flat on a plate. Smother with Cashew-Cilantro Cheeze and top with Almond "Meat". Dress with thick slices of tomato, avocado, onion, olives and/or any other fixin's you may have on hand.

Enjoy in the sun and dream of the Mayan Riveria!

I had the joy of meeting Ani Phyo last summer at YogaWorks (Larchmont) in Los Angeles.

She is incredible sweet and promised to check out an Ashtanga class real soon!

Ani has several awesome unCook books on the market, including Ani's Raw Food Essentials, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, and Ani's Raw Food Desserts.

Ms. Phyo's desserts will totally blow your mind. They are always a smash hit at birthday and office parties. No one will ever believe that they are wheat and dairy free!

Learn more about Ani at www.aniphyo.com

Watch Ani on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman here: http://www.youtube.com/aniphyo

Love,

K