Emergen-C

Mixed Greens; cherry tomatoes; apple slices; Annie's Raspberry dressing; Emergen-C

I have some pita chips leftover from yesterday still in my drawer at work, also some sunflower seeds and dried apricots for snacking… Now that cold and flu season is in full swing I’m trying to protect my immune system. So, lots of grapefruit and oranges and, of course, greeeeeeens! I’m going to try out this Emergen-C today, see how I like it (if you go to their website you can get a free sample). I’ve been taking Elderberry syrup at the recommendation of my midwife. Oof-ta, that stuff is like a shot of liqueur! Do you take immune boosting supplements?

Oden

Oden (Root Vegetable Stew); Edamame; Collard Green Tofu Salad Wraps; Orange triangles

I’ve been raving about the Angelica Home Kitchen cookbook lately. I found the recipe for this Oden (root vegetable stew) in this amazing cookbook. Rutabega, Turnips, Parsnips, Squash in a broth of ginger, shoyu, mirin, shiitake, and seaweed…rich tasting, light, delicious. Even if you don’t like these vegetables, they taste delicious melded in this warming soup.

I’ve decided on our Thanksgiving menu: Oysters, Roast Pheasant; Garlic sautéed Kale; Medley of Roasted Root Vegetables (Rutabega, Turnip, Parsnip); Carmelized Onions; Smashed Squash; Rustic Corn Bread; Concord Grapes (if I can find them!!). Yum! What’s on your menu?

Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones!

Collard Greens

Tofu Salad wrapped in raw collard greens; kiwi; carrot/persimmon/whole wheat vegan muffin

I’ve never had raw collard greens before! They are surprisingly mild, I think they’ll be delicious with tofu salad. The muffin recipe comes from The Angelica Home Kitchen – my ROCKIN’ new vegan cookbook. It is chock full of amazing recipes from the Angelica Kitchen restaurant in NYC.

Better than Fig Newtons

Greens; Kiwi; Pomegranate; Figs; Whole Wheat Pita with Almond Butter and Jam

I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve tried real, fresh figs! They are wonderful! Way better than fig newtons, I must say. I think they are in season right now, along with the beautiful pomegranate. Fruit goes really well with salad greens (no dressing). And almond butter + whole wheat pita = perfect sandwich.

Herbal Salad Mix

Herbal Salad Mix; Kiwi; Orange; Cherry Tomatoes; Red Kidney Beans; Soba Sensation Sauce

 I really love this new salad mix I found with fresh herbs in it – cilantro, dill and parsley. It’s a nice refreshing addition to the greens and it goes particularly well with the soba sensation sauce (a tahini-based sauce/dressing – recipe from The Angelica Home Kitchen Cookbook). It’s a little hard to fit a full serving of greens into the little bento, so I sometimes bring an extra bowl or Tupperware for mixing the salad ingredients. It is still nice to have the veggies separated until eating time.

Dragon Bowl Bento

Salad Greens; Steamed Tofu; Brown Rice; Red Beans; Seaweed Salad; Soba Sensation Sauce

Thank you, Noe, for introducing me to The Angelica Home Kitchen, cookbook of Angelica Kitchen in NYC! I haven’t been there yet, but hope to soon! This beautiful, well-considered cookbook explains the history and philosophy of the Angelica Kitchen – a vegan, community-minded restaurant started in the 70’s. They have been serving the Dragon Bowl since inception. It is a hearty plate of veggies, rice, beans, tofu, and some delectable sauce. It really is a heavenly creation – simple, but nourishing and beautiful. I made the Soba Sensation sauce from the cookbook for this Dragon Bowl. It’s a yummy tahini-based sauce that tastes good on everything: salad, grains, beans.

Red, Yellow and Green

Kiwi, pineapple & pomegranate; Romaine, cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers; Raw almonds

Two red-fleshed fruits today. What are other red-fleshed fruits? Hmmm, red grapefruit, watermelon and pomelo, do they count? How about red fleshed dragonfruit, figs, and there must be some kind of plum with a red hue to its flesh. Any others? I wonder if the red hue gives them all something in common. I’ll have to do some research. And then there’s green fleshed fruit. Kiwi, honeydew melon, avocado - hmmm, what else? There must be many, and I’m sure I haven’t tried all of them. Sounds like a good project!

 

Pomegranate Season!

Romaine Lettuce, walnuts, orange & yellow peppers, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes; pomegranate seeds, kiwi; spelt crackers

Yay for pomegranate season! Yesterday I noticed they were on sale and bought a few. They taste good with kiwi slices, yum.  I haven’t had romaine lettuce in some time, it is so sweet! I’m still lovin’ the no dressing salads – this was a particularly sweet salad with sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes and romaine.

This weekend I heard Paul Nison speak about his new Daylight Diet. I thought he had some very interesting things to say about circadian rhythms, and how eating, digesting and eliminating fit into the cycle. It makes a lot of sense (eat during the day, assimilate and repair at night). So, I’m working on step one: get out of the habit of eating at night.  I have noticed that I don’t sleep well when I eat too close to bedtime. I didn’t buy his book, but now I wish had because I’m interested in the technical details about how the sun and moon affect our hormones and daily digestion and elimination processes…

Simple

Mango; Brown Rice with Sesame Seeds; Cherry Tomatoes; Asparagus; Chickpeas

Just a simple bento today, I had to make it while holding a grumpy toddler on my very pregnant belly. She was momentarily distracted by the mango slicing, and she wanted to try one of the cherry tomatoes and the garbanzos (maybe she’ll actually want to eat them if she tries them a few more times…). I’m sure I’ll dig into my little stash of dark chocolate at work today

Naked Salad, Naked Falafel

Field Greens; Roasted Red Peppers; Roasted Sweets and Golden Beets; Sunflower Seeds; Raisins; Falafel Balls; Grapefruit

I’m out of tahini, so along with my naked salad, I’ll have naked falafel balls! I love tahini sauce on falafel, so we’ll see how this goes… It’s not grapefruit season yet, but this one looks decent. Yum! I ate about 2-3 grapefruits a day at the beginning of this pregnancy, I didn’t have any this summer, so we’ll see if baby remembers it. Ooooo, and I just remembered that I’ll get really good baklava at work today, yay! Happy lunching.