Last week I was invited to an event at Whole Foods Cambie St. location. It was really about healthy eating and nutrition and Whole Foods “Health Starts Here” program…which is amazing!! Basically all the food made by Whole Foods will focus on having minimal salt, no refined sugar, only whole grains, and no refined oils. The program is rooted in 4 basic ideas- eat whole unprocessed foods,  eat a colourful variety of plants, eat healthy fats, and eat nutrient dense foods. I think it’s awesome to see an entire chain of stores taking this much effort to promote healthy eating. It’s so important!!

The evening started with a healthy smoothie as we walked through the door for all of us bloggers. There was plenty of food including this healthier banana bread, brownie bites, two kinds of pizza, lettuce wraps and more!

These brownie bites are sweetened with date paste only.

Obviously all of this lovely food was served on eco-friendly bamboo plates.

These pizzas use an oil-free crust...the secret? Vegetable stock!

The main event was Whole Foods Senior Global Chef Derek Sarno’s demonstration. The topic of the night was his Wellness Bowls O’ Goodness. The idea was to create a bowl featuring a healthy grain, a protein, veggies, and a combination of delicious herbs/spices/sauce. These make up a nutrition-packed and filling meal. Chef Derek made a couple of bowls- one was made up of chicken, barley, black beans, onion and cilantro.

The 2nd bowl was an Asian-inspired one. It featured a mixture of brown and wild rice, edamame, steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts, onion, mint, bean sprouts, mushroom crusted tofu, tamari, coconut water, and fresh ginger. How can you resist!!?

Chef Sarno is also a big fan of kale (me too!!!!). He made a simple massaged kale salad using lime juice and avocado.

Chef Sarno in action

A great event for a great program I also had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer from Sweet On Veg for the first time in person! She was the lucky winner of a Vita-Mix that night- congrats Jennifer!!

I really like making pizza at home if I have a bit of time on my hands to make dough and let it rise, etc. It’s so easy to make, and I was stoked to make my take on Oh She Glows‘ pizza. I usually make a wholewheat crust from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day but I really liked the crust used in this recipe as it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The dough wasn’t finicky at all, either. I made a vegan parmesan cheese to top it with, although the crust was covered in pesto (which is not vegan). I loved the roasted onions and tomatoes as a topping- simple and delicious.

Garlic Oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 3 tbsp olive oil

In a sauce pan, add the minced garlic and olive oil and heat over low. Cook for several minutes until garlic is slightly golden but be sure not to overcook it. With a pastry brush, spread over the pizza dough before layering on the pesto.

Roasted Tomato and Onion Topping

• 2 medium sized tomatoes

• 1 large red onion

• 1 small white/yellow onion

• 5-6 basil leaves, ends trimmed, chopped finely

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1⁄2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Couple pinches salt

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions: Chop the tomatoes, red onion, yellow onion, and basil leaves. Mince the garlic. In a small bowl, mix together the oil, salt, vinegar, chopped basil leaves, and minced garlic. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the veggies and sauce. Spread onto a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes at 375F, watching carefully. Veggies can be set aside on counter for about 1 hour after cooking. Spread on top of pesto and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese before baking.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

• 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Toast sesame seeds in the oven ( I just toasted them in a frying pan on the stove) until golden and then throw all ingredients into a blender. Process for 30-60 seconds.

Easy Herb-Infused Pizza Dough

• 1 cup white bread flour  + 3⁄4 cup flour, divided

• 3⁄4 tsp kosher salt

• 1.5 tsp white sugar

•2 tsp pizza herbs (I used an Italian mix of rosemary/oregano/basil)

• 2 & 1⁄4 tsp instant yeast

• 3 tbsp oil

• 2/3 cup very warm water (not lukewarm)

• More flour for surface when kneading

In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, salt, sugar, pizza herbs, yeast. Stir well. Now quickly add in 2/3 cup of very warm water along with your 3 tbsp of oil. Stir well. It will be very wet and sticky at this point. Now add in 3⁄4-1 cup more of flour, gradually, as you stir. Once all the flour is in, grab the dough and place on floured surface. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding flour if it gets tacky. After 5 minutes the dough should be smooth and not sticky. Form into a ball and place in a large, oiled bowl. Cover the ball with a bit of oil so it doesn’t dry out. Now cover the bowl and let it rise for 1.5 hours. You can punch out the air once half way through. For best results, make the dough the day beforehand and place in an oiled and sealed plastic bag in the fridge. Allow dough to come to room temperature on the counter before working with it. Cooking time will vary but my pizza took 10-12 mins at 500F.

To assemble the pizza:

Make your pizza into a round (or whatever shape you like…), brush on garlic oil, top with pesto (homemade or store bought), add roasted vegetable mixture, and top with parmesan cheese. Bake and enjoy!

I’ve been trying to eat gluten free as much as possible lately, as I suspect I have a gluten sensitivity. When I eat totally gluten free, I find that my regularly occurring migraines disappear, as does the brain fog and fatigue.

I’ve never been a huge fan of rice but lately I have been eating more of it, as rice and rice flour are gluten free. Since the summer I have been wanting to make rice paper wraps and I finally got my act together! These wraps are so versatile, and once you get the basic steps of softening and rolling the wraps, you can really fill them with anything that you want.

Rice Paper Wraps with Almond Butter Sauce

• carrots, cut into matchsticks
• cucumbers, cut into strips
• green onions, cut into strips
• bell peppers, cut into strips
• parsley, chopped
• prawns, cut in half, de-tailed
• rice noodles, cooked, and cut into smaller lengths
• avocado, cut into strips

Almond Butter Sauce:

• 1/4 cup smooth almond butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 2 tbsp honey
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sambal oelek
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Blend all ingredients in food processor, or by hand, with a whisk.

Prep your ingredients

I used pre-cooked frozen shrimp in some of the wraps. I thawed it by running it under cold water for a couple minutes. I took the tails off and slice them in half.

I used a handful of rice noodles and put them in boiling water for one minute. I drained them and rinsed them under cold water to end the cooking process.

Lay out the things you will need to prepare the rice paper wraps. A big bowl of water, three damp tea towels or kitchen towels, and your wraps!

Handle the wraps carefully when pulling them out of the package ‘cuz they are fraaaaaaaaagile.

Lay out a damp tea towel and quickly submerge the rice paper wrap in the bowl of water. Don’t let it sit in the water literally cover it in the water and take it out right away. Otherwise, it will be too soft and you won’t be able to roll it without it ripping. Place it on the tea towel, and do a 2nd one. Cover them with another damp tea towel.

I did 4 wraps at a time- 2 on each towel, stacked on top of eachother. After all 4 are wet and covered, flip the wraps over. I did this by folding the sides of the towels and flipping it all at once.

Rice paper wraps are SO sticky. And my patience went from almost non-existant to completely non-existant pretty fast haha. If you try to pick them up and move them, they will just stick together like saran wrap. Instead….leave them on the damp towel and fill them there, it will save you some trouble!!

It was about this time, after wrapping half the wraps that I realized I had forgotten the spinach!!

Roll them up tight, tucking in the edges as you go.

Cut in half, or do like I did and cut into three’s. Use a very sharp knife (not serrated!).

Make your sauce and Enjoy!!!

Another way to take advantage of all the amazing fall squash. I got this recipe from my friend Sophie, in Belgium! I love how protein packed this chili is for a vegetarian chili- all the goodness of two kinds of beans, and quinoa! The squash was a great addition in this hearty, warming, and filling meal!

Butternut Squash Quinoa Chili

• 1 large red onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely diced
• 550g of butternut squash, cubed
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 100g quinoa, soaked in cold water for ten minutes and drained
• 1 750ml can of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 empty tomato can filled with water
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can other beans (I used black soy beans, but you could use more kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, etc.)
• a handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• olive oil

In a large pot, heat 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, stirring frequently. Add chili powder and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add quinoa, butternut squash, tomatoes, and water. Stir. Cook for about 25 minutes, lid on. When the chili is thickened and almost ready, stir in beans. Add more water it you want it thinner. When serving, add cilantro. Optional: add some grated cheese. Enjoy!

Thanks Sophie!!

And I said that I would share my Halloween costume, so here it is. I was a Chinese take-out box lol! I hope you all had a great Halloween

The other day I hankerin’ for cornbread. (Did I just say hankerin’…?) The fact that I felt like cornbread is pretty weird considering I’ve eaten it about twice in my life, and the most recent time was several years ago. I told my mom, and she was down. I searched for a few recipes, looking for one that might use a healthier flour than white flour, and I settled on Heidi’s recipe for ‘Firecracker Cornbread’. I didn’t change too much in her recipe, but I baked the bread in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, and it took about half the time. I topped it with butter and drizzled it with plenty of honey and my mom and I both enjoyed it. I really liked that it had fresh corn in it, and I loved the subtle spicyness from the red pepper flakes.

Also, please check out my latest Examiner article. It’s a review on this really great asian vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver called Whole Vegetarian Restaurant. My mom and I went for lunch and we ordered so much food that they moved us to a bigger table LOL. It was delicious, though. Unfortunately I was an extremely bad food blogger and didn’t have my camera on me!! Talk about unprepared….I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one

I can honestly say that dill pickles are literally one of my favourite things in the entire world, and they always have been. I have been known to polish off a jar in a day or two the odd time, and it’s mandatory that they are always in my fridge. They are essential after a night of a few too many drinks, and I have always said that they cure any stomach ache I may have. I also used to drink the pickle juice when I was little but that’s a different story….

My mom found a recipe for ‘overnight’ pickles, and we were super stoked to try this recipe out. Neither of us have any idea of how to can or preserve anything, so this seemed like the best solution for us to try homemade pickles! We picked up some pickling cucumbers at the grocery store, found a couple of mason jars, and began our pickling mission.

It literally took ten minutes to make these pickles, and we were patient enough to wait 2 or 3 days before eating them. Not going to lie- jar one was gone in a matter of minutes. They were delicious and they have a great crunch to them! My dad loved them, too, and hinted that we better go by some more cucumbers! You can play around with the vinegar that you use, and experiment with leaving the cucumbers whole, or slicing them. I liked sliced better!

Easy Overnight Dill Pickles

• pickling cucumbers, washed, and sliced or left whole
• enough jars for the pickles to fit in
• fresh dill
• garlic, thickly sliced
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Fill jar with fresh dill, garlic, and pickles. Boil the remaining ingredients in a saucepan, until sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour mixture over pickles and close jars. Place in the fridge for a day before eating.

I had the pleasure of going to Vancouver’s longest running natural foods restaurant with a few friends. The Naam is located on 2724 West 4th Avenue and has been serving delicious vegetarian food 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for over 30 years. There are live bands every night, too!

It’s super casual and cute inside and there is also a patio if you’d like to eat outside. The portions are just huge, and for an entree that was under $10, I had enough food leftover for 1-2 meals. Their menu is huge, and there is something for everyone- vegetarian/vegan or not. Everything with cheese can be substituted with vegan cheese, and there are plenty of other substitutions that can be made as well. They have a great drink menu as well- so many delicious sounding teas and shakes! The service was super casual, but friendly, and it does get busy around lunch time so you may have to wait for a few minutes.

We were starving and started off with the “Chips & Both” (taco chips with guacomole and salsa).

My friend had the Thai Noodles- “zippy sauce, green & red peppers, onions, tofu, mung sprouts, red cabbage, garlic, ginger, peanuts, and stir-fried rice noodles”. This was so delicious, it was like pad thai. I would definitely order this.

My other friend and I both got dragon bowls (they look the same so there is only one picture). She had the Thai Dragon Bowl which is “a coconut curry sauce on steamed veggies & rice with deep-fried tofu, sprouts, grated carrots, beets, and fresh cilantro”. This was spicy, and she really enjoyed it.

I had the Naam Dragon Bowl which is a “macrobiotic special with steamed veggies on organic brown rice with miso gravy, tofu, peanut sauce, organic alfalfa sprouts, and wakame”. I absolutely loved this. The peanut sauce and miso gravy were delicious and I loved the wakame (I wish there had been a bit more, as there was only a couple of strips!).

Although entering food comas, we decided to share the Shakti Cake because it sounded waaay too interesting too resist!!

The Shakti Cake is a “vegan chocolate carrot cake with hemp protein, pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds, smothered in a vegan hemp cream icing”. It was really different, and quite good. To me it tasted more like zucchini cake, with a molasses-y flavour and I’m dying to know how to make the hemp icing. With all the seeds and grated veg in this cake, you could tell it was healthier, but it made for a great ending to our meal.

I really enjoyed The Naam and I will absolutely be back. There are so many amazing things on the menu that I would like to try- enchiladas, their veggie ‘steak’, their burgers and sesame fries. Yum!!

This is a special guest post, the opinions expressed are those of the author’s.

Give me five mins and I’ll provide you 1 great reason to become vegetarian.

While fish is the major dietary source of the long-chain omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, which were shown to be crucial in supporting brain health, low intake of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in vegetarians does not adversely affect mood, as stated by a new study (Nutr J. 2010;9:26. DOI:10.1186/1475-2891-9-26).

A research team from Arizona State University conducted a cross-sectional study to match the mood of vegetarians who never eat fish with the mood of healthy omnivorous adults.

A total of 138 healthy Seventh Day Adventist adults living in Arizona and California (64 vegetarians and 79 non-vegetarians) were enrolled in the study and completed a health history questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire and two psychometric tests, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Profile of Mood States.

Vegetarians had significantly lower mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and the omega-6 arachidonic acid; they had higher intakes of the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and the omega-6 linoleic acid.

“Seed oils are the richest sources of α-linolenic acid, notably those of rapeseed (canola), soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed (Linseed oil), clary sage seeds, perilla, chia, and hemp.”

However, the vegetarians also reported even less negative emotion than omnivores in psychometric tests. Mean total psychometric scores were positively in connection with the mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid , and inversely in connection with alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid intake.

The study team noted there is also the possibility that vegetarians may make smarter dietary choices and may generally be healthier and happier.

If you’d like to try it out, here’s a good example of vegetarian recipe according to Italian cuisine

Italian Spaghetti with Zucchini

Ingredients:

* 17 oz. Spaghetti

* 24 oz. Of thin sliced zucchini

* A half cup of walnuts oil

* Some basil leaves

* 2 tablespoons of yeast flakes

* Salt and pepper

In a large skillet heat the oil and when hot, add garlic and zucchini. Raise heat and stir often to finish their cooking. They need to be golden and crispy outside and tender inside. Cook the pasta, drain and sauté in pan with zucchini, basil and yeast. Serve immediately.

Zucchini contain fewer calories and have no fat. But they are a good source of potassium, vitamin e, ascorbic acid, folate, lutein and zeaxanthin.

Most of these nutrients are very sensitive to heat and to enjoy their benefits you need to look for a quick way to cook or even eat raw in salads.

From the therapeutic point of view, zucchini have laxative, refreshing, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and detoxifying action.

About the writer – Louise Infante writes for the vegetarian daily menu blog , her personal hobby blog focused entirely on vegetarian food preparation tips to help individuals live better.

So my trip to Creekbread inspired me and once again I decided to make some dough and whip up a couple of yummy pizzas! The dough is so easy to make and can stay in the fridge for up to two weeks- perfect for when you need a dinner on the run. Just leave time for your oven to preheat to 500 degrees F, and get your toppings ready. The pizza should be done after 8-10 minutes, if it needs a couple of minutes longer, just rotate it so it cooks evenly.

This time I made a vegetarian pizza with a base of tomato sauce and I added cheddar cheese, fresh parmesan, corn, red peppers, red onions, tomatoes, fresh basil (YUM!), salt, pepper, a sprinkle of oregano, and roasted garlic. It was so delicious!

The 2nd pizza I made was half pesto-potato and half cheese + salami (a special  1/2 pizza for my brother….it’s not every day you can convince me to make something with meat on it…yucky!). I’ve never tried a potato pizza before, but it was soo good! I was stoked because I got to use my miniature mandolin and the potatoes sliced up so thinly. I’ll definitely be making that one again!

A piece of this, along with a nice big salad is one of my favourite meals! A great way to veganize the pesto-potato pizza would be to use carmelized onions instead of pesto. I can’t wait to try that, I might make it later this week!

My recipes for toppings is very casual- no measurements needed. Just add what you need for the size of pizza you make.

Light Whole Wheat Dough

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packs)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a stand mixer bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, without kneading, using the dough hook on your mixer. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature approximately 2 hours. Use the dough immediately after this, or, refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container for up to 14 days.

For each pizza you make, a one pound piece of dough should be sufficient!

To Cook The Pizza

With a baking stone in your oven, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Dust your table surface, rolling pin, and the top of your dough with flour. Stretch your dough into a round ball. Roll out your dough to 1/4 inch thick. Grease a pizza peel, and place your dough on top. Add your toppings. Bake your pizza for 8-10 minutes until it no longer feels doughy.

Vegetarian Pizza

• red peppers, diced
• a handful of cheddar cheese
• a sprinkle of fresh parmesan
• a handful of fresh basil leaves
• sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper
• sprinkle of oregano
• corn
• minced garlic (either packed in oil, or drizzle crust with olive oil and then add garlic)

Start with the garlic on your crust and add tomato sauce. Add cheese and other toppings, finish with herbs, salt and pepper.

Pesto-Potato Pizza

• very thinly sliced potatoes (I used little new potatoes)
• pesto
• fresh parmesan
• fresh or dried rosemary
• sea salt and black pepper
• minced garlic

Spread some minced garlic evenly over pizza crust, add an even layer of pesto, layer potatoes and add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

My garden’s lettuce box has been growing like crazy and we have an abundance of arugula, salad bowl lettuce, mesclun green, and romaine. I love love love our romaine- it’s sooo crisp and fresh and you can’t get more local than your very own backyard. I decided to make a caesar salad, because it was a perfect way to showcase this lovely lettuce. My friend was over for dinner and she couldn’t get over how good the salad tasted- she was sure it was the homegrown lettuce! This is a really neat Caesar salad dressing, because it’s completely raw. There is no mayo, or eggs, or anything like that, yet it’s creamy and garlicky, just like regular caesar salad dressing. Instead of using croutons, I just used cashews, as I’m not eating yeast right now. I know the argument that cashews aren’t technically “raw” but I don’t eat 100% so it’s not a big deal for me.

I took some pictures of the other wonderful things we have growing here, too. I think the only things I left out were our tomatoes, marionberry, strawberries, some herbs, and the several kinds of beans that I have yet to plant.

Romaine:

Lettuce Box:

One of the raspberry ‘bushes’….gotta give this little baby some love for the next couple years!

Parsley:

Peas (and those little containers contain personal cantaloupe!):

Rosemary- my favourite herb!!

Rhubarb:

Garlic (I cannot WAIT to harvest this and eat it…mmm….garlic….)

I found this recipe on the internet, but apparently it is adapted from Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Detox Diet Book. It makes about 3 cups, and keeps for about 10 days.

Raw Caesar Salad

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp miso
• 5 dates
• 4 celery stalks
• freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.