Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

3 Citrus Himalayan Salt

December 16, 2014

I've given up on straight up table salt after reading about all the scary chemicals and additives they put into good ol' Morton and similar brands to prevent the salt from clumping and to keep it nice and white...I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons for this. In fact, most traditional table salts have zero nutritional value. Yuck!

That's why I only use natural sea salt, or my family's personal favorite, Himalayan salt, a pink coarse grain renowned for its health properties. It's naturally mined and is chock-full minerals like magnesium. In fact, the only way to make it better is to add your own flavorings to it to create a nice finishing salt for your meals.

I like to use a combination of organic citrus zest to pop out the taste of the salt. This blend works well on salads, fish, and other light dishes that need a little burst of bright flavor. This pink of the salt adds a fun dose of color that compliments the zest nicely.

Ingredients:

1 cup coarse Himalayan salt (or good quality sea salt)

Zest of 1 organic orange

Zest of 1 organic lime

Zest of 1 organic grapefruit

Combine all ingredients until mixed thoroughly. Heat oven to 200 degrees. Spread salt and zest on a pan lined with parchment paper. Bake until zest dries completely, around one hour. Makes 1 cup. Store in a small mason jar and use within three months. Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Sugar Rum Cherries

December 15, 2014

No, I didn't really mean to write "Sugar Plum Fairy," the title of the well-known ditty that makes up part of the Nutcracker Suite. I'm actually referencing Duke Ellington's spin on this classic tune, which he titled, "Sugar Rum Cherry." It's soft. It's sweet. It's smooth...and a little cheeky. If you haven't heard it, you simply haven't lived!

This song, along with the cherry and liquor stuffed chocolates that appear this time of year, inspired this dessert. I marinate frozen dark cherries in rum or brandy, and amaretto then dip them in both white and dark chocolate. What's not to like? They are full of more flavor and less sugar (and other suspicious ingredients) than their store-bought cousins. You can keep the liquor, too. The cherry flavor gets infused into the mix, making a perfect after dinner digestif--it's even better with a splash of lime juice.

Ingredients:

1 10 oz bag frozen organic dark cherries

2/3 cup rum or brandy

1/3 cup amaretto

1 cup melted white chocolate

1/2 cup melted dark chocolate.

Soak cherries in liquor mixture for at least one hour or up to overnight--the longer the soak, the boozier they will taste. Remove cherries from liquid and pat dry with a paper towel. Using a toothpick, dip each cherry into melted white chocolate and set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then drizzle dark chocolate across your rows of white chocolate dipped cherries. Place baking sheet in fridge and allow cherries to harden about 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and store in a single layer in a flat dish. Eat within one week. Enjoy!

Chai Tea Blend

December 11, 2014

Although this is not strictly a holiday type tea, chai is so chock full of those rich spices synonymous with the season that it makes the perfect gift for your favorite tea lover. The trick to any good homemade chai is to go easy on the cardamom and don't forget the peppercorns--they add a nice spicy kick that balances out the sweetness of the cardamom. I like a lot of spices in my blend, especially cinnamon, so you'll notice that I gave a range of how much to add.

I would also go easy on the clove buds though as they can pack a serious punch. If you want a decaf version of this blend, simply swap the black tea with a quality rooibos. Make sure to brew this loosely in a teapot or a big strainer--you want the hot water to circulate around the spices to really get maximum flavor. Sounds OCD, I know, but if the leaves and spices are too tightly packed, they can't steep properly. I've also been known to put equal parts milk and water in a saucepan along with my chai tea to brew--delicious! I don't add sugar to my chai but feel free to doctor up your own mug just as you like it. Sometimes I do throw in a pinch of stevia leaf or my stevia simple syrup to add some sweetness without the sugar, but I don't think it's necessary to enjoy this spicy brew.

Ingredients:

1 cup Assam black tea

1/2 to 1 cup cinnamon chips

1/4 to 1/3 cup pink peppercorns

1/4 cup dried ginger

1/4 cup cardamom

1/8 cup clove buds

Blend ingredients and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Make about 2 cups. To brew, add 1 tablespoon to 8 ounces boiling water (you need your tea this hot to open up the spices). Add sugar and milk if desired, although it is delicious on its own. Enjoy!

Orange Spice Rooibos Tea Blend

December 10, 2014

Come nighttime when I'm snuggled in my jammies, cheesy Christmas socked feet resting on my coffee table, enjoying the twinkling lights on my tree, I long for a fat mug of tea that soothes me to sleep and yet has the rich flavors of the season. Rooibos becomes the perfect based then for my Orange Spice Tea because it is caffeine free and has citrusy notes that pair well with the orange peel. You can find these ingredients at your local herb store or online at Rose Mountain Herbs.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic rooibos

1 cup dried orange peels

1 cup cinnamon chips

1/8 cup clover buds

1/4 cup calendula

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. To brew, add one healing tablespoon to 8 oz hot water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Aztec Mocha Coffee Blend

December 9, 2014

Mmmmmm....who can say no to a hot cup of chocolate-cinnamon coffee on a cold winter morning? That's what I thought: absolutely no one. Don't be turned off by the cayenne pepper--it only adds a little heat at the back end of your drink and compliments the chocolate and cinnamon nicely.

Don't forget to use good quality coffee here. I go for the Santa Fe based Aroma Coffee's organic Black Lighting dark roast. You can thank me later!

Ingredients:

12 oz quality coffee

2 oz cocoa powder

1/2 oz ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne red pepper

mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Don't hesitate to play with the proportions to find the perfect balance between coffee and spice for you. Brew as you normally would. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Blend

December 8, 2014

I love my festive flavored lattes this time of year, but sometimes I want a delicious caffeinated beverage that doesn't have added sugar and that I can brew up right at home before I've even had a chance to change out of my jammies.

Over the years my family and I have gotten into the habit of adding spices like anise and other flavors to bring a little holiday cheer to our coffee. Lately, I've been adding a teaspoon of my pumpkin pie spice to add an extra festive kick to my morning cup of joe--as if my cheesy holiday mug didn't already do that!

The great thing about flavoring your own coffee is that you can control the strength of the added flavor. After reading about flavoring your own coffee at home from good ol' Martha Stewart and The Kitchn I realized that most homemade coffee flavorings involve whole beans and other add-ins that get ground together--this whole bean method would look very pretty in a mason jar.

However, I don't always have the time or the patience to freshly grind my coffee every morning so I usually just stick with adding whatever already ground spices I have on hand to my coffee basket before brewing. In either case, always use good quality coffee because no amount of spices will make bad coffee taste good. I am personally addicted to Aroma Coffee out of Santa Fe, NM. Their organic Black Lightning Dark roast is pretty swoon-worthy. Flavored coffee also makes a great gift for the coffee fanatic in your life--one who appreciates the really good stuff with minimal additives. Simply mix your coffee, whole or ground, with your flavorings in a large mason jar and top with a bow.

Ingredients:

12 oz quality coffee

2 oz pumpkin pie spice

Combine ingredients and brew as you normally would. Keep in mind these ratios are for what I like in my cup o' cheer, so play around with them. If you like more spice, add more. If less, add less. Enjoy!

Bubble Bath Lover Gift Basket

December 7, 2014

It is a well-known fact that I love a good bubble bath. I love it even more when I can soak for a good long while, drinking a cup of tea or glass of wine, and getting lost in a good book. When the water cools, the tea (or wine) cup is empty, and the bubbles have all faded, I can seek consolation in homemade soap, body scrub, and lush body butter to finish off my decadent bath indulgence.

Over the years I have found that there are others like me. We have even compared notes: to read or not to read? (Always read!) What brand of foaming bubbles creates maximum frothiness for the longest amount of time? (The answer BTW is Everyday Shea Bubble Bath.) Wine or tea? (I tend to go both ways on this one, depending on my mood and the time of day.) Whatever your stance on these all important big life questions, any bubble bath lover agrees that a gift basket stuffed with just-for-you bath time goodies will never go amiss! I break my bubble bath gift basket into four parts: the literature, the beverage, the bath, and the aftermath pampering products:

1. The Literature: Choosing the right book for your bath is like a science. You want something you can get lost in, but also light enough to help you relax and wash away the worries of the week--no Tolstoy or Hugo here! A holiday themed cozy mystery like the one featured in the photo below works well for the cozy reader in your life, but you can also never go wrong with old pulp books or cheesy paperbacks with fun covers. And stick with paperbacks--hardbacks are too nice to risk a dunk in the tub.

2. The Beverage: This depends entirely on the type of bubble bather you are. For the tea lovers, I stick with a small jar of a soothing herbal tea, like my Soothing Mint Tea or Winter Wellness Blend. For the wine lover, you can include a half-bottle of wine and a pretty plastic wine glass in your basket (any bubble bath pro knows that a sturdy shatterproof glass is your safest bet when you want to indulge in the tub).

3. The Bath: I love whipping up a mixture of my Weekend Head Start Bath Mix and including a little vial of my favorite bubble bath so that the receiver has all the makings of a nourishing bath ready to go.

4. The Aftermath: These are the treats that your bath lover near then end of their soak, like nice soaps, scrubs, and body butters. Stick to a scent theme on this one--you can check out my Holiday TLC Gift Baskets for ideas!

At the end of a long day, your favorite bubble bath pal (or buddy--who says bubble baths are meant to be taken solo?) will thank you for this thoughtful basket of treats!

Holiday TLC Gift Baskets

December 6, 2014

There is no gift more thoughtful than a basket full of treats, especially if those treats are homemade and about pampering the receiver. Too often we overlook self-care during this busy season--which goes double for the festivity planners and organizers. Why not treat the holiday elves responsible for all the holiday decorating and planning to a basket full of just-for-them goodies?

The best way to make a gift basket is to stick to a theme, like the Winter Solstice, Sugar & Spice, and Peppermint Hot Chocolate TLC Gift Baskets featured here. I combine a nice range of treats, from scrubs to body butters, that the receiver can enjoy long after all the holly and mistletoe have been taken down. If you really want to do up the baskets, you can throw in other little treats like a loofah, bubble bath, or holiday tea.

1. My Winter Solstice TLC Gift Basket includes Winter Solstice Body Butter, Pine & Charcoal Soap, and the ingredients to my Honey Eucalyptus Foot Soak packed into a mason jar. Adorn your basket with sprigs of pine and a few pine cones and you've got the perfect gift for the nature lover in your life.

2. This Sugar & Spice TLC Gift Basket includes an array of cinnamony treats like my Cinnamon Sugar Body Scrub, Orange Spice Body Butter and Soap, and a Pumpkin Pie Body Scrub. Top with a festive colored bow and a bundle of cinnamon sticks and you've got the ideal gift for your favorite sweetie.

3. Finally, my Peppermint Hot Chocolate TLC Gift Basket is for those chocolate (and mint!) lovers in your life. You get to pamper them with Candy Cane Body Butter, and Peppermint Hot Chocolate Soap and Body Scrub. Tie it all together with a white and red striped ribbon and throw in a few candy canes (or peppermint chocolates) and you've been put on your chocolate lover's nice list.

Pine & Charcoal Soap

December 4, 2014

I know this may look like a lump of coal, but it's really a lump of wintery goodness for those angelic souls on your 'nice' list.

This soap gets its coal color from activated charcoal, one of those all-around wonder ingredients like baking soda. I use it for everything from making my own homemade mascara or adding it to cocktails for a gothic touch! Many people take it internally to help with bloating or apply it to bug bites to reduce swelling and suck out poison. See what I mean? Wonder product.

This activated charcoal is also a massive detoxifier and purifier which makes it great for your skin especially when cold weather and other elements wear it down. The crisp pine scent is reminiscent of a wintery wonderland and acts as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent. I get my shea butter soap base from amazon.com, but you can also find it in some health food stores--same goes for the activated charcoal. This soap makes a great gift for that special someone--your mountain man or earth woman--who likes a good homemade self-care product without super sweet scents.

Ingredients:

1 lb shea butter soap base

60 drops pine essential oil

1 heaping tablespoon activated charcoal powder, sifted

Chop shea butter soap base into half inch chunks and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for one minute and stir. Then continue to melt base in the microwave in 20-second increments, stirring between each heating until liquefied, about 5 minutes. Once the soap is melted stir in essential oil and sifted powder. Pour into muffin tins and allow to set, about an hour. (You can speed this up by placing them in the fridge for about 20 minutes). Remove soap from molds by gently inserting a butter knife around the edges of the muffin tin until the soap pops out. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or tuck multiples in an airtight container. Store in a cool, dry place indefinitely. Makes about 4 soaps. Enjoy!

Orange Spice Soap

December 3, 2014

I have a major citrus lover in my family: my younger sister. She simply cannot get enough of the tangy scent of oranges, lemons, tangerines...you name it. Her cocktails of choice? A limey margarita or an orangey Italian spritz of course! This comes as no surprise since she makes her living in Italy turning these citrus peels into fruit leather for her art and jewelry creations!

Keeping all this in mind, I simply cannot talk about making holiday gifts without whipping up some orange spice soap for the citrus lovers in our lives. This soap is full of cinnamon and clove essential oils that are antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. The shea butter in the soap adds that extra moisturizing power our skin often needs during the harsh winter months.

Ingredients:

1 lb shea butter soap base

30 drops orange essential oil

30 drops cinnamon essential oil

10 drops clove oil

1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon powder, sifted

Chop shea butter soap base into half inch chunks and place in the microwave safe bowl. Heat for one minute and stir. Then continue to melt base in the microwave in 20-second increments, stirring between each heating until liquefied, about 5 minutes. Once the soap is melted stir in essential oils and sifted powder. Pour into muffin tins and allow to set, about an hour. (You can speed this up by placing them in the fridge for about 20 minutes.) Remove soap from molds by gently inserting a butter knife around the edges of the muffin tin. until the soap pops out. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or tuck multiples in an airtight container. Store in a cool dry place indefinitely. Makes about 4 soaps. Enjoy!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Soap

December 2, 2014

Peppermint. Hot. Chocolate.

Really, there's nothing more to say. (Except maybe "All. Over." but that might be taking things to an uncomfortable level.) Every holiday season I have to indulge in at least one peppermint hot chocolate latte because nothing says seasonal cheer like a hot cup of this minty goodness!

Last year, I adapted this heaven-in-a-cup into a perfect body scrub and this year got to thinking that this combo would make a great soap--and a delicious prelude to slathering your body in my candy cane body butter. Who needs the actual hot chocolate when you can pamper yourself with these beauty treats?

Ingredients:

1 lb shea butter soap base

30 drops peppermint essential oil

30 drops spearmint essential oil

1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted

Chop shea butter soap base into half -inch chunks and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for one minute and stir. Then continue to melt base in the microwave in 20-second increments, stirring between each heating until liquefied, about 5 minutes. Once soap is melted stir in essential oils and sifted cocoa powder. Pour into muffin tins and allow to set, about an hour. (You can speed this up by placing them in the fridge for about 20 minutes.) Remove soap from molds by gently inserting a butter knife around the edges of the muffin tin until the soap pops out. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or tuck multiples in an airtight container. Store in a cool, dry place indefinitely. Makes about 4 soaps. Enjoy!

Gifts from the Kitchen, Gifts from the Heart

November 28, 2014

As we all know, today is Black Friday--that scary day in which the whole world runs mad trying to to be the first one into whatever shopping mall to purchase whatever super-sale items. Just the thought of the crush of people and the insanity of trying to buy as much as possible in one day is enough for me to want to retreat into my hobbit hole and not come out until this day is over--which is exactly what my family ends up doing!

In response to this buying frenzy that often seems to take the pleasure out of gift giving, I'm dedicating this coming month to blog on homemade gifts--simple gestures of love conjured in the kitchen.

Too often this time of year we can get caught in this whirlwind energy of spending, buying, doing more until the essence of this season--rest, introspection, and celebrations with loved ones--gets overshadowed by the glitz and noise of the outside world. In reality, it feels wondrous to escape the busyness of the city and immerse yourself in the peace and quiet of your own home.

There is no better way to spend a cozy winter morning that in the kitchen whipping up beauty treats and gourmet kitchen staples for your loved ones to enjoy all year round. So let's unplug from that tinsel town vision of the holidays and reground ourselves in what matters most: family and the gentle turning inward that the season originally inspired.

Heaven is a Weekend at Home

September 14, 2014

Time slows down.

You have no schedule, no place to be, no pressing plans. Just as you like it. You can let your imagination unfold as you tend your writing--those beautiful words and phrases you've been itching to polish during the week as other demands took you away from pen and paper. You can lose yourself in a good book--or two--and simply nourish your soul as you devour one story after another, filling up on words and tea in the comfort of your sanctuary.

Then there is the yoga. You get to let your body breathe and stretch into its fullest self, no longer confined by high heels or restrictive clothing (or, let's be honest, any clothing, if you so choose). It is in caramelizing apples for Saturday pancakes or making pasta from scratch for your Sunday dinner. That is the joy of being at home.

It is in disappearing from the outside world for two whole days and two whole nights. You retreat into your own world of dreams and stories that often feel more real to you than your waking world. You tend that inner landscape as you are safely sheltered in your sanctuary relishing the solitude that makes your healing and rejuvenation possible. Between crocheting on your couch and retiring to your patio to read, you decide that heaven, truly blissful, divine heaven, is in a weekend at home.

A Homebody's Love Letters to Her Home

September 11, 2014

This week has left me craving some home time; it's been a lot of out and about, a lot of this and that at work--all good stuff, mind you, but it has kept me away from my little hobbit hole for longer stretches than I would like. I found myself missing my home this week, eyeing my patio garden that needs a little TLC and gazing fondly at my couch, piled high with yarn for the baby blanket I haven't had the time to work on this week. This feeling has grown so much that I am beyond excited to be tucking in after tomorrow for a quiet weekend of crocheting, reading, puttering, and writing.

These thoughts and others made me realize how much I depend on my home, my sanctuary, to ground and replenish me after making my way in the world day to day. So I offer you three posts I've written about the love of home. Enjoy!

1. On Home

2. On Returning Home After a Long Journey

3. On Reasons I Love My Home

What do you love most about your home?

A Celebration of Kitchen Magic in 5 Flash Essays!

September 8, 2014

There is something almost ephemeral about the magic that is conjured over a simmering pot of beans or a shallow pan slowly melting butter for ghee. Somewhere between rinsing and sifting the beans and the hours they spend cooking on a hot stove--or the brief moments it takes for your melted butter to separate its contents--magic occurs. It is in the way tinkering in the kitchen can sooth us and in how we nourish ourselves not just by the food we make but how we make it. A pinch of this. A dash of that. Food is intention, a pure embodiment of how we chose to live, heal, nourish, love.

In many ways, the kitchen is also the most intimate space in our home; it reveals everything about us, from what we consider essential to our everyday life to how we connect with family and those we love. In honor of this kitchen magic that keeps pulling me back to my stove, a new recipe, or a fresh kettle of hot water, I present to you five musing on the wonder and healing energy of the kitchen:

1. Under the Influence of M.F. K. Fisher

2. On Baking

3. On Grocery Lists

4. On Cooking and Onion

5. On Cooking Dinner

What do you love most about the kitchen?

My Home, Myself After Cleaning Out My Closets

August 8, 2014

There is nothing but space and light where once old lives and whispers of the past used to live. It is a delicious feeling of wholeness in the empty spaces carved out of your closets and cabinets, a sweet fullness in yourself as you acknowledge that to move forward you must let go of the remnants of other selves haunting your home.

Your bedroom closet now resembles those spacious, clutter-free works of art you see in home magazines: everything in its place, easy to see and flip through as you prepare for your day one piece of your ensemble at a time. It is now your collection of things that make you who you are, plates of armor that protect you as you make your way in the world, bits of art that you proudly display on your body, visual expressions of your inner essence. Gone are the things that you once tried to fit into. You said farewell to the too tame traditional wardrobe staples that will never be your style. And another to the outlier impulse purchases that gave only a brief flash of confidence as you swiped your credit card to purchase them, only to get home and realize you are not, in fact, a woman who will ever wear this or that.

Your hallway closet--your storage closet--too is blissfully organized with seldom used but necessary things: the bin of winter holiday decorations, the file box of important papers (whittled down after shredding several years' worth of unnecessary ephemera), the stack of boxes, reserved for future moves. And yet it breathes free and easy from the one hundred other things you stuffed in there--Very Important Documents that, you realize, you have not touched for over a year and, in fact, had forgotten about, and so must not be so Very Important after all.

Your home feels this lightening up as if each piece of clothing or old household item you donated has liberated it in the same way it has liberated you. It can breathe again, no longer weighed down by things that don't belong there. You love this lightness and want to nourish it as it nourishes you. You don't want to weigh it down with anything else or fill up those spaces with something new. You simply want to enjoy the new space you've created, both in your home and in you, new space, new life that you can grow into. For now, it is enough to know it is there, a bubble of potential.

Summer Lovin' Rose-Lavender Tea Blend

July 14, 2014

Ahhhh...summer. The time for long afternoons reading on your patio over a cup of tea--hot or iced. The time when flowers are blooming and the bees are happily tickling your lavender buds in an attempt to collect and distribute pollen. The time of year when I start craving light floral teas that mimic the bounty of the season.

One of my favorite blends that perfectly captures the season is my Summer Lovin' Rose-Lavender Blend, a tisane, or herbal tea, that combines rose petals, lavender buds, and raspberry leaves for a lady-like tea that is delicious either hot or cold--and perfect for any occasion, from an afternoon tea with the ladies to an impromptu iced tea in the shade after tending your garden.

Yes, this tea is decidedly romantic with its fragrant rose and lavender perfume wafting from your cup. The raspberry leaf binds these two flavors together with its own light black tea taste with floral undertones. One cup of this is enough to make you see summer through rose colored glasses--if you aren't already! As a bonus, these herbs are healing powerhouses--details below.

Ingredients:

1-part lavender

1-part rose petals

1-part raspberry leaf

Combine ingredients in a bowl and store in a mason jar. To brew a perfect cup, use one tablespoon of blend per cup of boiling water. Let soak for 5-7 minutes. Enjoy!

Health properties of ingredients:

Lavender: a traditional nerve tonic and relaxant; antiseptic and antibacterial.

Raspberry leaf: rich in vitamins A, B, C, E, magnesium; tones uterus; relieves tension.

Rose petals: soothes skin; mild sedative and natural stress reliever; rich in vitamin C.

Dandelion Pesto

July 13, 2014

I know what you're thinking: what?! Dandelion? Pesto? The answer is yes. And yes. You know how much I love dandelions...and pesto. It seems only natural that I would find a way to make them work together. This riff on the traditional pesto is so packed with healing properties, thanks to the dandelion that is loaded with iron, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A and C. It's often used as a natural aid for anemia and is also considered great for all around body detoxification as it acts as a mild laxative and, if the roots are also used, a liver cleanser. Basically, this humble little weeds helps us clean out toxins from our body (and herbal mystics say our mind) so we can live healthier lives. Wow! This is why I am so in love with this herb and often use it in many of my tea blends like my Warrior Tea, meant to replenish the body after a hard workout.

Like my basil pesto, this pesto swaps out the traditional Parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast. I reduce the amount of olive in this recipe to compensate for the addition of lemon juice, here used to counteract the bitterness of the greens. I sometimes swap out the sunflower seeds for pepitas or pumpkin seeds with equally tasty results. As always, I don't really add much, if any, salt to this as the yeast and lemon provide enough seasoning for me, but you can always add salt if you want. This pesto is great smeared on sandwiches (in place of mayo), crostini, pizza, or pasta, and makes a great base for a salad dressing.

Ingredients:

2 cups organic dandelion greens (one bunch)

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Salt to taste (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a blend or food processor until combined. Store in a mason jar in the fridge for up to one week (though I doubt it will last that long, it's so good!). Enjoy!

On Attempting to Make Veggie Sushi

June 27, 2014

You awoke that morning with the lofty goal of making your own sushi. It would be veggie sushi with some of that chile-crusted tofu you needed to finish. And no rice. Rice is overrated. You would get the supplies today and figure out how to make that perfect little meal at home--cool, refreshing, healthy, just what your body wants during the hot days of summer.

It would be so simple; you'd watched plenty of youtube videos and looked up countless recipes for a good rice-less sushi roll on Pinterest (because really, isn't a good sushi roll all about the fresh slice of avocado, the crisp bite of carrots, the heat of wasabi invading your nose?).

So you got your bamboo sushi mat and even some chopsticks. You roasted some edamame for an appetizer and even mixed a bowl of soy sauce and wasabi for your roll. You prepped your vegetables, thinly slicing avocado, radishes, carrots, and then did the same to your spicy tofu. Now there was nothing left to do but assemble your sushi roll. Gently, you placed a crispy seaweed square onto your bamboo mat. You laid out your fillings atop that, careful to leave room around the edges of the seaweed for easier rolling--a tip you picked up from those how-to videos.

You began to roll your creation; soon it was a tangle of loose carrot strands and tofu that wouldn't quite stay in place, little cracks on the seaweed as you attempted to make a tighter roll. It was all you could do to finish the process, wrapping that one naked strip of seaweed around your creation, sealing it with water--afraid to let go, lest your grip was the only thing keeping your roll more-or-less together.

There it sits, your first attempt at making sushi. It is not particularly lovely, nor the graceful tight roll you had envisioned that morning. But it is yours. You made it. You tried something new. So with the happy resolve of someone determined to master this new kitchen project--already taking notes on how to better make sushi next time--you slice your roll, not caring that carrots stick out at each end or that the filling doesn't quite want to stay in. It is delicious in its messiness, perfect in its embodiment your fearless kitchen experiments, your constant thirst for new ways of experiencing nourishment.

Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers

June 26, 2014

I am all about the stuffed anything: bell peppers, in this case, or avocados, or tomatoes. I love the concept of using something edible as a container for a nutritious meal; it also helps with portion control (a useful tool when my eyes are bigger than my stomach!).

These stuffed bell peppers came to me one night when I had a handful of veggies that I didn't quite know what to do with--about 3/4 cup chickpeas and a handful of mushrooms leftover from my Chickpea & Mushroom Salad, a forgotten chunk of frozen kale, and half a jar of capers. I was once again flipping through the New Vegetarian cookbook when I stumbled across a recipe for stuffed bell peppers. I didn't have the tomatoes or olives that the original recipe called for, but I did have bell peppers and my random collection of food odds and ends. Thus a new dish was born. You can eat it on its own or serve it on a bed of lettuce--either way is delish!

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper

3/4 cup chickpeas

5-6 mushrooms, finely chopped

1/4 cup capers

1/4 sun-dried tomatoes (re-hydrated)

3/4 cup kale, finely chopped

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 oregano sprigs, leaves finely chopped

Olive oil

Preheat ovenr 350 degrees. Slice bell pepper in half longwise, removing seeds and stem. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl. Once fully combined, stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix thoroughly. Spoon the filling evenly into each bell pepper half. Drizzle with more olive oil and set on pan. Cook in oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating. Serves 2 as a light meal. Enjoy!