Mango Season is Over

fruit & salad 007

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.

New Camera and Kitchen

kale salad

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. 

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Vegan-Sumptuous-Recipes-Favorites/dp/0762752815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255544906&sr=8-1

And pics of some of the recipes I tested (although other people tested FAR, far more):  http://utopiankitchen.wordpress.com/?s=urban%2Bvegan

Local Summer Treats!

DSCF0377

All tomatoes, basil, and zucchini are local.  I’ve been devouring local apricots, cherries, blueberries, peaches, and greens as well.  If you’re in the Philadelphia area, try to visit the Clark Park or Rittenhouse farmers’ market this weekend!

 

Above is simply basil and tomatoes pureed/pulsed in the food processor over zucchini.

Cherries, Strawberries, Bananas

cherries strawberries bananas

Photos courtesy of Orlando’s camera.  :)

This is the best type of dinner there is – a never-ending plate of fruit!

Papaya, Banana, Strawberies, Blueberries

fruit

This is a great way to start your day!  Some people have been told or taught that whole grains are needed to make a complete, balanced, or filling meal.  As someone who is mostly grain-free, I feel incredible without whole (or refined) grains and on a raw, fresh/unprocessed diet.  I have said it before, but I’ll say it again – my skin has never looked better.  I have 10-year-old scars that are disappearing, previously keloid, red, raised, that on a healthy, mostly green vegan cooked diet did not disappear.     :)

Becoming a raw foodist isn’t a new fad; all other animals except humans (and the companions they feed with their processed foods) eat raw, and humans originally ate all raw as well.

Chopped Salad

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.

Asparagus with Strawberry Dressing (cooked)

From Professional Vegetarian Cooking

asparagus-with-strawberry-dressing

Asparagus with mango, black sesame seeds, and a strawberry-basil dressing.

Orange Barbeque Tofu (cooked)

From Passionate Vegetarian

orange-bbq-tofu

I hate to give this recipe, or any recipe, a bad review, but in my opinion, this is one of the worst sauce recipes I have ever made.  The recipe is called, “Terrible Delicious, Talk-of-the-Town Tofu.”  Sounds great to serve to a bunch of people; right?  Well, the orange rind and juice were overpowering and the sauce too thick.  I think the only thing that’s making this recipe serveable is what I added to it, how I chopped it, and how I’m serving it.  Oh, well.

I’m enjoying fresh orange juice and papaya before heading over to a celebration of The Vegan Twins’ birthday.  :)

Marinated Tomato Salad

Entertaining in the Raw

I added the raw tofu to the salad.  Shown here with pine-nut based parmesan and basil oil.

marinated-tomato-salad

Green & Red Cabbage with Kale Slaw

green-purple-slaw-w-kale

Kale, red & green cabbage, and carrots in a creamy nut-based dressing and topped with basil.