But I can still find Champagne mangoes! And no one can stop me from eating them. 
This salad has spinach, frisee, spring mix, thyme, papaya, mango, and strawberries. I love thyme in salads! The smell stays with me for a while and is very calming.
It’s massaged dino kale, red leaf lettuce, spinach, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, and a few sundried olives I still have from a long time ago. Delicious.
The new camera works great. I just haven’t had many noteworthy meals as of late. And the lighting in my kitchen in the new place is awesome for photos (except with white bowls, note to self). Thanks again for the early birthday gift, Tracy!
I groan when I see some of my older photos, or photos I chose to put up, but I’m not a professional here. The point of my search being Urban Vegan’s cookbook is out in case you missed it.
And pics of some of the recipes I tested (although other people tested FAR, far more): http://utopiankitchen.wordpress.com/?s=urban%2Bvegan
Well, just as I got out the camera and turned it on to take a pic of my salad, I realized the camera’s done. The screen doesn’t function anymore, and while I can take photos, I can’t SEE what I’m taking a photo of. I don’t know if I dropped it or someone stepped on it. Doesn’t matter. It’s good to know before something important came up, like a trip to see family!
My post was simply going to be a recommendation on a way to prepare a salad differently, to chop it up finely. I use plum tomatoes, jalapeno, minced by hand, add some garlic and lemon juice; then I let the food processor do some magic! I throw in spinach, basil, cilantro, parsley, collards, red leaf lettuce, chives. Put in a little at a time and pulse it until it’s finely chopped. VERY easy and fast! I believe the flavors can incorporate well this way, too, after you mix everything together. Your salad will look like tabouli, and you may “trick” (oh, what a negative connotation for giving a person some amino acids!) someone you love into eating collard greens raw.
This, of course, is ONLY if I’m taking a break from my Champagne mango feast.
You can imagine that I don’t eat pies every day, or even every week. A more typical sweet treat for me is simply fruit or a banana whip. This is a banana whip with more fruit added. The strawberry portion has 1/2 of a vanilla bean scraped, 2 c. of strawberries, 2/3 of a fresh banana, and 1.5 frozen bananas. The mango part has 1.5 mangos chopped, 2/3 of a fresh banana, and 1.5 frozen bananas. You have to freeze it a little bit more; and stir it every 15 min. for about an hour until it’s ready.
Shown here with fresh mango, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes.
(for those that don’t know what a banana whip is, it’s bananas, chopped up, and frozen; then they are placed in a food processor, Vita-Mix, Champion juicer with blank attachment, or even a Magic Bullet, and blended (optional: add water or juice, a tablespoon at a time to facilitate blending or thaw the bananas for 10 min.). Bananas have a creamy consistency after being frozen. There’s really no reason for me to ever have even a raw-food ice cream made of nuts and coconut when I can just throw in some bananas and cinnamon or other fruit.
Entertaining in the Raw
I added the raw tofu to the salad. Shown here with pine-nut based parmesan and basil oil.
Kale, red & green cabbage, and carrots in a creamy nut-based dressing and topped with basil.
Entertaining in the Raw
I stopped putting these together for a bit to take a picture with the garnish, sour cream and tomato-chile sauce (thick sauce). The tamale mixture, like most raw foods I’ve found, is much more delicious than any cooked I’ve ever had. It has corn, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and lime juice.
Entertaining in the Raw
I know it’s not the best presentation, but everything is going to be eaten tomorrow after traveling, so I’m not sure how many pictures I’m going to be able to get. I wanted to show this, though; it’s so cool! Just five ingredients.
I’m serving it with a cherry/grape tomato salad with basil oil and parmesan cheese (yes, all raw).
Sweet Gratitude
(Edited later to add this photo and comment: You ever notice how the first piece of pie is usually the messiest? Well, I knew I was going to cut this pie further down into 16 pieces, so I figured I might as well get a picture tonight. It looks great! I hope it travels well.)
Without topping.
and with:
You can’t really tell its goodness yet; I’ll try to get an inside shot!
So I wanted my zucchini noodles with a basil sauce, but the store nearby didn’t have fresh, so I chose Italian, flat-leaf parsley instead. I did find local grape tomatoes, which was nice!
The sauce has parsley, tomato, and a little mango juice; whole parsley; garlic; a date; and pink salt. Very easy, very spunky! It’s not rich, as there is no oil. You can add sun-dried tomatoes, too, if you like.
FYI, zucchini noodles do get watery as they sit, and combined with a sauce even more. I’ll take that hydration, though.
You can make the noodles by using a mandoline, spiralizer, peeler, or knife.
