LA Story

Sometimes life surprises you.  I was recently in LA for a wedding of a dear old friend.  When I travel I worry about a lot of details, but most importantly where I am going to eat.  Luckily I was staying in Santa Monica, which has a variety of healthy restaurants.  However, the person I was traveling with was the bride's friend from graduate school whom I didn't know.  I prepared myself for having to give into eating at a "traditional" restaurant to appease this person who most likely would be grossed out by my gluten free suggestions.  But to my great surprise, she requested that we find a vegan/raw/gluten free restaurant to have lunch at.  I was so excited, as I had already Googled ten gluten free vegan restaurants near our hotel!  We ended up going to a place called Euphoria Loves Raw Revolution.  It reminded me a lot of San Francisco's Cafe Gratitude, with a super hippie vibe and amazing raw food.  I ordered a vegetable nori roll and she had the Indonesian coconut noodles, which were both delicious.  We also each ordered a smoothie to go, plus some "almond joy"- like treats for later!  As we walked down the sunny streets of LA, gabbing on about our favorite kale and tofu recipes, I let go of my worries and thanked the universe for offering up this perfect traveling companion.  

Green Kale Smoothie

 

I love kale.  It is an essential ingredient in my life, not only because it is so healthy for you, but because it tastes good.  I crave it all the time - even for breakfast.  I recently read in Joel Furhman's book Super Immunity that the wonderful immune boosting compunds called "ITCs" that are in kale are released when the kale is chopped or blended.  Which gives me all the more reason to put it in my smoothie.  It may sound weird to put vegetables in your smoothie, but with all the other ingredients it evens out into a sweet treat.  Sometimes I like to add a super ripe avocado to my green smoothie as it adds a real creaminess.  But I would say the magical ingredient in my smoothies is Vega One nutritional powder.  It's vegan and gluten free, packed with vitamins, plant-based protein, flax meal, plus stevia for some sugar-free sweetness.  There are a variety of flavors, but I love the vanilla chai one the best.  This powder adds more nutrition to my smoothies, but also a sweet flavor that pulls all the ingredients together.  Enjoy this good-for-you green smoothie!  

Ingredients

• 2 leaves of kale, washed and de-stemmed
• 1 handful of baby spinach, washed
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 1/2 cups of rice milk 
• 1 scoop of Vega One powder (or your favorite protein powder)
• Optional: half a ripe avocado

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
2. Enjoy your vegetables!

Best Gluten Free Bread

I actually enjoy many of the gluten free breads available in the grocery store, but I must admit they feel more like bricks than loaves of bread.  And they can't be eaten cold, they have to be toasted.  And the slices are really tiny....  Ok, so yes, it is very hard to make a good gluten free bread.  Or so I thought.  I recently discovered Canyon Bakehouse gluten free breads and they are amazing!  They are light and have great flavor and texture.  They taste much like multigrain wheat bread.  Plus you can eat this bread cold so they are perfect for sandwiches!  I brought a loaf home, spread some of my beet hummus onto the slices, piled on avocado, marinated tofu, and mixed greens and when I bit in, I remembered what sandwiches used to taste like, back in the day.  Canyon Bakehouse bread is available at Whole Foods and Rainbow Grocery!  Check it out, it will change your life!