Chelsea Harrison7 Comments

Summer Basil Rolls

Chelsea Harrison7 Comments
Summer Basil Rolls

Last week my friend Alice asked me what I eat when I don't feel like cooking, haven't planned a recipe, or when the refrigerator is looking sparse.  Great question! On my journey toward a more natural slow food diet I used to eat really well until I hit speed bumps.  If I was really tired, didn't feel well, or simply wasn't inspired, I turned to takeout and processed foods.  I'd know that somewhere in the pantry I'd find a bag of zero-nutrition crackers with a scary-long shelf-life.  After eating I'd have even less energy than I had before.

Once I got to a point where I was buying almost no processed foods, eating like that simply stopped being an option.  Now when I don't feel up to cooking, the choices for foods I can grab and eat are fruits, veggies, or nuts.  And I often find that after a handful of cashews or an apple my energy comes back enough to prepare something substantial.

But I'm not always in the mood for twig-and-berries kinds of snacks, so I try to plan ahead for times when cooking isn't going to happen.  When I make a meal with a grain (quinoa, farro, rice, etc.), I make a double batch of the grains to keep on hand in the fridge.  And if I make soup, I always make more than I need so that I can refrigerate or freeze some.  My freezer is always stocked with fruit for smoothies and I love to make flourless seed and nut breads and keep them in the freezer as well.

I also try to come up with recipes that don't require a trip to the market.  It is actually like a fun game to challenge myself to make a complete meal with ingredients I have on hand.  Sometimes it is hard to let go of the idea that if I just had one more ingredient it would be perfect.  But I can stand to learn to be more flexible.

Kohlrabi is all over the farmers' markets around here right now.  If you've never tried it, its appearance can be intimidating.  They can be purple or green and look like something out of a sci-fi movie.  But for their dramatic appearance the flavor is actually simple, sweet, and mild.  They have sort of a cabbage-turnip flavor to them.  Kohlrabi is low in calories but high in fiber and Vitamin C.  Eat them raw or try roasting them.  Delicious either way!

This recipe is a great way to make a meal when you think you've got nothing to eat.  You can use almost any combination of fresh vegetables and they always seem to taste good.  I got sunflower sprouts, fresh basil, and kohlrabi at the local farmers' market.  If I made these at a different time of year I'd just swap out for whatever vegetables happen to be in season.  If you can't find kohlrabi for this recipe substitute carrots, cabbage, turnips, or radishes.  That's the beauty of this recipe.  It is super flexible.

Summer Basil Rolls

Makes 8 rolls.  If you don't feel like slicing the beets and kohlrabi, you can save some time and work by running them through the food processor.

Ingredients:

8 sheets of rice paper

8 large basil leaves (use lots of small leaves if you don't have large ones)

1/8 cup sesame seeds

1 beet, julienned

1 kohlrabi, julienned

1/2 cup snow peas, julienned

1 avocado, sliced

1. Fill a wide shallow bowl or a deep plate with warm water.  Submerge a sheet of rice paper for about 20 seconds.  Remove rice paper and lay flat on work surface.

2. Sprinkle rice paper with a spoonful of sesame seeds.

3. Thinking of rice paper as a clock, lay a large basil leaf on the paper from 11 to 6.  Put a little of each vegetable evenly on top of the basil leaf. 

4. From the left side (6 on a clock), fold the paper just enough to cover the filling.  If you've ever folded a burrito, this is the same strategy.

5. From the top (12:00) fold the rice paper down about 1.5-2 inches.  Do the same from the bottom (6:00).

6.  Starting from the left (9:00), roll the rice paper all the way across.

7. Repeat until all ingredients are used up.

After all that folding I am usually too excited about eating to make an elaborate dipping sauce.  I usually just use tamari sauce with a few drops of chili oil and maybe some raw almond butter whisked in.  But get creative with it!  Miso, tahini, lemongrass, and garlic all make great ingredients for sauces.  Or use the Orange Peanut Sauce from the Baked Vegetable Pockets recipe or the sauce from the Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash recipe.

Chelsea Harrison3 Comments

Eggnog & Cranberry Raw Holiday Cake

For Friendsgiving I was put in charge of bringing dessert.  Ok, I volunteered.  While I'm known for bringing raw desserts, I thought maybe for the holidays I'd bake something.  Then I realized Thanksgiving is the perfect day for raw desserts.  Here's why: When I thought about all the heavy cooked foods we would be having for dinner, I realized nobody is going to have room for yet another decadent dish.  And I was right.  By the time we finished eating, I was in the mood for something a bit more refreshing.  Fortunately, I decided to pass up the pies and took my standard cashew freezer cake to a new level by adding some holiday flavors.

The cake is one layer of salty, nutty crust, followed by a creamy dairy-free eggnog layer, topped with refreshing cranberry sauce.  So much holiday goodness in one healthy dessert.  And since it's raw, you won't have to use any valuable oven space.  You can even make it a day or so ahead.  I served this to a groups of my friends who do not usually eat raw foods and everyone loved it.

Chelsea Harrison3 Comments
Eggnog & Cranberry Raw Holiday Cake
Chelsea Harrison7 Comments

Quinoa and Avocado Veggie Bowl with Lemon Tahini Dressing

Last week marked the autumnal equinox, the end of summer and the beginning of fall, a day when sunlight and darkness are equal in balance.  As this day approached I was feeling completely out of balance.  In an effort to "reset" myself, I decided to try a juice cleanse.  I had tried one five years ago, but I wasn't as invested in my health at that point in time, so I decided to give it another shot.

While I know that many people benefit from juice cleanses, I can now safely say that juice fasting is not for me.  As someone who typically has a good relationship with food, I suddenly felt obsessed.  I was so hungry that I was craving junk foods that have never interested me.  I don't normally have any "rules" about what I eat.  I simply eat what appeals to me while trying to make the most nourishing choices I can.  But as soon as foods were off limits, they were all that I could think about.  Half way through the third and final day I decided to break the cleanse.  I was so hungry that I knew if I kept it up I'd end up eating something unhealthy.  By stopping early I was able to make a more sensible yet delicious choice: quinoa and avocado veggie bowl with tahini lemon dressing.

Chelsea Harrison7 Comments
Quinoa and Avocado Veggie Bowl with Lemon Tahini Dressing
Chelsea Harrison5 Comments

Summer Corn Salad

Whoa.  Summer is coming to a close and I haven't even shared one of my favorite summer dishes.  One reason I haven't posted this is that I've been distracted by weather.  I'll have plenty of time to work on the site when it's cold outside and I'm trapped indoors.  Right? But another reason is this nagging idea of perfection.  Sometimes I fall into a spiral of thinking that I should wait until I have higher quality photos, create more complex recipes, or find some other excuse not to post a recipe.  And what happens when I think like that is nothing.  I stop creating and I stop sharing.  It's time to overcome that idea of perfection and share with you all a recipe that is not elegant and complex, but simple and beautiful.  And the pictures may be low quality iPhone shots, but the important thing is to keep creating, keep sharing, and stop being so hard on myself.  I feel better already.

This recipe is incredibly simple to make, yet crazy delicious.  Whenever I make this, people ask for the recipe or beg me to make it again.  And while it's still summer, I am trying to take advantage of eating these delicious seasonal foods while I can.

Chelsea Harrison5 Comments
Summer Corn Salad
Chelsea Harrison1 Comment

Baked Vegetable Pockets + Orange Peanut Dipping Sauce

Most days I wake up craving fresh fruits and vegetables, raw foods, and earthy flavors. They energize me and leave me feeling pure and on top of the world. But other days…I really miss junk food. That is to say I miss the warm salty flavors and reassuring feelings I get from eating familiar foods. What I don't miss is the inevitable can't-move, bloated, sick feeling that comes along with junk food, not to mention the unseen havoc it causes my digestive and immune systems. 

It was on one of these junkfood-minded days that I came up with this recipe. My perspective is that eating should be fun and intuitive and not about deprivation so when I feel like I need comfort foods, I embrace it. I wanted to make something comforting to satisfy my craving without the heavy feeling and negative repercussions. With this criteria in mind I came up with Vegetable Pockets stuffed with eggplant, mushrooms, cashews and more. It's not quite Indian, not quite Chinese, although it hints at both dumplings and samosas. Usually stuffed foods are wrapped in white flour based pastries or noodles which offer little to no nutritional benefits. White flour also spikes your blood sugar (hello, disease fuel) and is one of the most common triggers for people with food sensitivities. Instead I used rice paper because they are light and gluten free. Rice paper wraps hold everything together without adding much to taste, allowing the vegetable flavors to shine through.

Chelsea Harrison1 Comment
Baked Vegetable Pockets + Orange Peanut Dipping Sauce
Chelsea Harrison12 Comments

Buckwheat Flatbread with Goat Cheese & Summer Squash

I could post a different zucchini recipe everyday for the rest of the summer.  I never tire of eating summer squash.  On these long summer days I hate to spend my time indoors, so I find myself sticking to simple recipes like this that I can pull together in thirty minutes.  And when the produce is as good as it is in the summer, it doesn't take much to make a delicious meal.

Chelsea Harrison12 Comments
Buckwheat Flatbread with Goat Cheese & Summer Squash