Deconstructed Buddha Bowls: Simple Techniques to Stellar Plant Based Bowls

If you've followed me on Instagram, Facebook or even this blog for any length of time, you're well aware of my love for healthy plant based food.  As someone who grew up very sick, in hospitals, and suffered from a lot of digestive malaise, discovering food as medicine and whole foods detoxing has really provided me not just with the healing i was searching for, but gave me the permission and passion to share what helped me in an effort to educate others.  It's actually how this blog was born almost 10 years back.

Many of the older recipes on this blog were created after taking my first raw foods certification course and studying for my Holistic Health Practitioner's and Nutrition Counselor's certifications.  As a matter of fact, i'm not even sure if Facebook was in existence then, and surely Instagram was not around yet.  Over the years as social media became more popular i've spent much of my time sharing recipes on social and educating in my online formats, through my virtual programs, and social communities i've cultivated rather than here on my blog.  I've even put together four ebooks and a clean eating grocery list, including my newest Buddha Bowl ebook full of recipes and my Plant Based Slim Down Ebook which i followed to a T last month when i dropped 6.75 inches and almost 5 lbs in 42 days.  I never intended to publish and sell my ebooks, rather they have always just been a resource for my clients/challengers who invest in their health and commit to any one of my programs.  They were created to simply share what worked for me, and offer a step by step guide, meal plan, and recipe selection for those who wanted to follow my exact same plan and get the results i was getting.

After many requests at where you can find my ebooks and recipes i made sure they were all housed in one simple place for you to access.  While you can scroll down to see a deconstructed buddha bowl, my food prep for it, and how fast it is to eat healthy, if you want all of my exact recipes, eating regime, and my slim down plan, you can click HERE to get started on your program.  As mentioned above all four of my most sought-after ebooks and slim down programs come with your commitment to one of my virtual programs.  You invest one time and you get EVERYTHING including my coaching and online communities for eternity.  Pretty Badass right?  I sure think so!  After being on the hunt myself for optimal health, weight loss, and healing, and purchasing every program out there, i wanted to make sure i could offer my clients something that was personal, community driven, had every resource you need and most importantly gave you a coach that could help you customize your plan and a program that WORKS.  Fact was, i spent hand over fist on programs and did my research before launching my first program and what i found was a lot of people selling the next 'best' program, with very little support or follow through, and an auto-responder that got me no where or a 'coach' that didn't show up for me when i had a Question.  Get excited for what you get in my All Access Member Program....Check it all out HERE.

DECONSTRUCTED BUDDHA BOWLS

I'm a girl who LOVES to eat out of bowls.  Maybe because i love to get every little bite on my plate, and bowls make it so much easier to do that, or maybe it's because i like saucy things and bowls are such great containers for sauce, but either way this girl is all about BOWL EATING.  So the first thing you'll need for your meal is a badass big bowl.  The white ones i use are from Target.  They are bigger than a normal salad bowl, slightly smaller than a serving bowl, and perfect to spread out my veggies so my bowls are picture perfect!

Next, if you're a busy woman, you might want to consider doing some food prep for the week or half week so that you're bowls can literally be thrown together in under 2 minutes.  I steam most of my veggies so depending on how busy my week looks or if i'm traveling, sometimes i do a good amount of prep, sometimes i do it right before i make my food, but i will admit, having your buddha bowl content prepped before hand makes it so easy and fast to get your bowl made before your hangry girl mouth has a moment to be noshing on something else that's faster to grab and less vibrant for your body, mind, and soul.  Generally when i prep i zoodle zucchini with a julienne peeler, noodle carrots with a basic veggie peeler, grate beets or chop small for fast steaming, slice sweet potatoes, chop mushrooms, de-stem/clean/and steam my kale or other greens, and i always keep the insides of my zoodled zuchs for my superfood smoothies to thicken them up, and save the inside of my carrots for noshing with dips.

A few things that generally make their way into my buddha bowls:  

-Bragg's nooch (nutritional yeast) - important for B12 for those of you who are vegan

-Rawmesan (a common topper on my bowls) - you can make it with nooch, nuts, and sea salt 

-Coconut Aminos (similar to soy sauce/tamari but gluten and soy free)

-Seeds (hemp, pumpkin, or other such toppings)

-Tahini (sometimes made into a dressing with lemon and coconut aminos and spices)

-All the STEAMED veggies (i cook most all of my veggies for easier digestibility // steam or grill)

-Avocado

From there you can get super creative using my buddha bowl recipe ebook and slim down guide, and either master the recipes in there or start to create your own.  I guarantee your mouth, heart, and tummy will be happy.  Those of you who don't follow a grain free lifestyle, add some quinoa or rice, and those of you who love your proteins, add some fish, eggs, or other humanely raised and clean source of protein.  I'm not a big fan of Soy Foods, but if you choose soy, always look for GMO and organic!

5 minute dish: Moroccan Hummus, Olives, & Garden Greens

Because sometimes you want good food fast.

Moroccan Hummus:

15oz cooked garbanzo beans (if using canned, rinse well and drain)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp sesame tahini
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp Tagine Spices*
1/4 tsp Penzey's Hot Curry Powder**
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/8 tsp sea salt
4 oz water
1 Tbsp honey

Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
*The tagine spice i used is a combination of ginger, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, and saffron
**Hot Curry Spice is a combination of turmeric, cayenne, coriander, ginger, cumin, fenugreek, white pepper, cinnamon, fennel, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and tellicherry black pepper.

Serve hummus topped with toasted sesame seeds and plate with black olives and a quick green salad. Pictured: greens, avocado, tomatoes, lemon juice, living intentions ayurvedic spiced pumpkin seeds (also available in bulk at West Coast Whole Foods Markets), and seed salt available at the san diego little italy's farmer's market (combo of ground seeds, superfoods, nutrition yeast, and mineral salts, ingredients as listed in picture below.  You could easily grind up your own special blend at home.)

Summer's Here: Two Seasonal Shared Plates + Kombucha Cocktails

Enjoy these two easy to make seasonal dishes that require no fancy skills and let the flavor of the produce speak for itself.  Perfect for entertaining or simply enjoying outdoors with a flute of gingery kombucha topped with fresh berries or a peach fizz kombucha kitten kocktail.

xoxoxo

Seasonal Harvest Shared Plate:

serves 2-4 as light bites

3 sliced radishes with radish greens
1 peeled carrot chopped into small sticks
fresh dill, 1-2 Tbsp
2 tsp Olive Oil
coarse crank sea salt

Arrange the veggies on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, top with a few generous cranks of sea salt

Raw Corn and Mango Pico
serves 5 as a side

3 ears of corn on the cob
1 red bell pepper
1/2 an avocado
1 small mango

2 limes

2 spring onions

3 Tbsp cilantro, fresh

cayenne

optional honey

s/p

Chop the corn off the cob.  Dice the remaining vegetables.  Chop the mango.  Mix into a large bowl and add the juice of 2 limes, cilantro, a dash of cayenne, salt + pepper, and optionally a drizzle of honey.

Peach Fizz Kombucha Kitty Kocktail:
serves 2

1/2 cup coconut water
one small pitted peach

Blend coconut water with peach.  Slice an orange thin.  Drop ice cubes in a glass and line with a few orange slices.  Fill 3/4 way with GT's gingerade komucha.  Top with the blended peach coco water.  Drop in a straw and umbrella, serve, stir, and sip.

Vanilla Mint Mokjito

When it's so blazing hot outside that hot yoga feels cool...

 i've got the perfect summer mocktail for you to kick back with.

Dog Days of Summer Vanilla-Mint Mokijo:

start with fresh mint leaves and squeeze 1/2 a lime into your favorite cocktail glass.

Muddle/bruise the mint leaves well with a wooden spoon

Add 5 drops of Vanilla (or unflavored) liquid stevia

Fill the remainder of the glass with ice and sparkling water.  Garnish with fresh mint.

Get outdoors (it's most likely cooler than indoors)

Serve, Sip, and Enjoy

Cheers!

Noodle This: Raw Zucchini Pasta

raw zucchini julienne peeled with little tomatoes, goat cheese, and sauce of zucchini, nutrition yeast, braggs,  tomatoes, onion powder, and cumin

I don't consider anything about pasta to be skinny-people food.  I don't care how many size 2 italian hotties you know that swear by it daily (eva longoria, you're one lucky B), or for that matter how many french woman you know that are trim and eat cheese and drink wine daily (shouldn't the question really be how they make it look so classy? Pretty sure i kiss class a fat bah-bye when i start to drink!).  I surely don't look as good as them when i eat pasta, cheese, or drink wine.  'Tis why I avoid pasta.  It's processed, starchy, carby and seems to do nothing for me.  Sure it tastes good, but doesn't make me feel amazing or look amazing. Honestly, I'd rather just eat the sauce, and while that might not be socially acceptable, or even possible to order out (yes please sir, i'll have the sauce...  no,  no pasta... just gimme the sauce), i've found a viable, light, and healthy solution that allows me to enjoy 'pasta' AND a healthy sauce.

Enter Raw Zucchini Pasta.

There are multiple ways to transform your zucchini squash into noodles: saladacco/spiralizers (make angel hair like noodles), spiroolis, regular old veggie peelers will give you a flat/alfredo noodle, and my favorite to use is a julienne peeler!  Julienne Peeler is like a regular veggie peeler only it has teeth so as you swipe it down your zucchini it forms long strands/noodles.  It'll take you 2 minutes (or less) to turn a zucchini into a noodle, and another 2 minutes (or less) to make your sauce and garnishes.

Use your julienne peeler to peel your organic zucchinis (skin on and washed) until you get down to seed, at which point stop.

from this....

To this.

Chop the middle/seeded part left of the zucchinis and toss into your high powered blender with any variety of mix ins to make a creamy raw pasta sauce.  I make different variations on it each time.  Here's one to try:

one chopped zucchini inner
1/8 of an avocado
2 Tbsp Nutrition Yeast
5 sprays Braggs
1/8 cup fresh basil
a few shakes of onion powder
optional small clove of garlic
1/4 cup water (or just enough to thin to a good creamy consistency)
2 Tbsp Pine Nuts.

You can make a less fattening sauce using no avocado or nuts, or a tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes.  I make different variations on this each time.  Get creative.  Use spices like cumin, or toss in a handful of greens like spinach or arugula.

Food process a bunch of greens such as chard and basil together into little bits to stir into your pasta and dress with some goat cheese, tomatoes, and lemon or balsamic.

If you want to keep it raw, skip putting any cheese on it and toss a 1/4 cup of raw pine nuts in the food processor and process down to a parmesan like consistency - here's your raw pasta topper!

This dish ALWAYS goes over great in the summer.  Everyone loves it.  It's light, refreshing, inventive, and is a great alternative to heavy pasta dishes.

I Eat, Therefore I Blog. 10 of My All Time Faves.

Breakfast Cobbler (click for link)

BeeKeepers Muesli

Cantelope Coconut Mocktail

Peachy Green Smoothie

Raw'k N' Rolls

Fresh Lean & Green Lima Bean Salad

Oven Roasted Frenchy Fries

Pack'm Up Snack'm Up Bars

Raw Choco Chip Cookie Dough Bites (click for link)

Heart Healthy Cookie Jar

Market To Table Cooking Class & 5 Easy Recipes

cups culinary space la jolla

This sunday i went to a rocking market to table culinary class at Cups.  Local San Diegans you might know Cups for it's cupcakes, but tucked away on the back side down a nondescript alley and behind a big wrought iron cupcake gate lies this little mecca for the aspiring chef (or for anyone that wants to learn how to get savvy in the kitch.)  Jesus Gonzales is the creative director at Cups, the former head chef at rancho la puerta, and was our mastermind for the day.  I had already known about Jesus since he was the chef that prepared our dishes during beaming cleanse.

The group took a gander through the local farmers market where we picked up any produce we wanted to cook with or learn to cook with.  A few assistants and a few bag fulls later we were in the kitch where Jesus put us all to work.  We each had a task or two to create our lunch together.  And even though there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen we seamlessly put together an AWESOME lunch, thankfully without any band-aids, first aid kits, or the like necessary.

Here's what we dined on and a few of the recipes.  Everything was easy to do and so delicious!

this is the dish i made!

Kale Salad:

one bunch kale

one avocado

one asian pear

1 tsp EVOO

2 lemons

s/p

sprouts
broccoli stems (optional)

nuts and seeds (walnuts and pepitas)

a basic kale salad requires you to de stem the kale to take out bitterness, stack the leaves and chiffonate/slice ribbon like (thin).  Toss into a large bowl with juice from one lemon, 1 tsp EVOO, and a dash of salt.  Massage the heck outta the greens until they look wilted/slightly cooked.  Really give em' a good squeezin'.  Toss into the salad whatever add ins you like.  We did sliced asian pear, chopped avocado, onion and sunflower sprouts, pumpkin seeds and walnuts, and sliced broccoli stems: peel the stem of broccoli  and slice at an 1/8 inch intervals at a diagonal.  I added the juice from the additional lemon to prevent the asian pear and the avo from browning.

Muesli Stuffed Nectarines:

1 cup each of walnuts and almonds (pulse in a food processor to break down significantly)

Toss this with:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 can of coconut milk (full fat)

1-2 Tbsp of coconut sugar (or sweetener of choice like agave, stevia, honey)

cinnamon to taste

This would make an awesome overnights oats dish, or would be great on fruit salad, a yogurt parfait, with almond milk, or stuffed into any halved pitted fruits. Jesus uses coconut sugar since it has a lower Glycemic Index.

Pistachio and Goat Cheese Saute'd Figs and Dates:

slice your figs and dates only halfway through (remove the pit from the date).  Stuff with goat cheese and a few pistachios.  Eat as is, or saute in a lightly misted pan to lightly brown.  (some were wrapped in procuitto - should you choose to do this you saute first, then wrap w/ proscuitto, then saute lightly again.)

someone asked me recently how to cook with eggplant..here you go:

Vegetable Terrine:

1 eggplant (pick one that is firm and shiny)

2 large heirloom tomatoes

pesto (see radish greens pesto recipe below)

1 lb. goat cheese (or just more pesto if you are making it non dairy)

Slice tomatoes to about 1/8 inch.  Slice eggplant as thinly as you can.  Heat a DRY pan and cook the eggplant on both sides just until it browns.  Layer your casserole dish first with a layer of sliced tomatoes to fully cover the bottom, sprinkle goat cheese over tomatoes (or pesto), then a layer of eggplant, then a layer of  pesto, repeat until you've used everything, finishing with the eggplant.  Press down on built terrine with another same sized dish.  Place in fridge for an hour (we skipped this step and it was just fine!).  Cut into small squares and pour any sauce over the top (we used tomatillo though i think a marinara would be great...or even just more pesto).  This also would be really great over a bed of greens.

Radish Greens Pesto:

1 cup of walnuts

1 bunch of radish greens (green parts only)

1 avocado

EVOO (about 1/4 cup)

Asiago Cheese or 1/4 cup parmesan
3 garlic cloves

salt/pepper/cayenne to taste

All goes into a food processor.  The avo adds a lot of creaminess so just drizzle the EVOO in as it's processing so you can get to the consistency you like.

This was served on fresh rosemary bread with roasted red pepper and shaved asiago cheese.  It was also the pesto we used in the terrine.

ladies lunching!!!

terrine, broccoli rabe, kale salad, figs and dates, and squash tagine

The next class at Cups will be October 2.  This Farm-to-Table class is hosted by Jesus Gonzalez and Suzie's Farm - my favorite farm here in San Diego!!!

Do you struggle with what to do with the seasonal fresh vegetables you receive in your CSA box, or have you wanted to join one but have worried you won’t know what to do with all the fresh produce once it arrives? Or maybe you marvel at the variety of produce available in local markets and want to cook healthier meals. If so, this is the class for you! This class will feature a box of produce from Suzie’s Farm in San Diego, which the class will utilize to make several tasty dishes. Students are also encouraged to bring along their own CSA boxes or a particular fruit/vegetable that they want to learn how to cook. Recipes will be provided to all participants in this instructional hands-on class with an expert is using the freshest local, seasonal ingredients.

$65. 9am-12pm (Minimum 8, maximum 16)

Happy 4th of July: Easy Raw Livin' & New Jane Jewels

Official Business - New Jane Business Cards!

Happy 4th of July Friends!  I hope there are some fireworks in your near future along with a sunny day, some bike riding, maybe a BBQ or two, and lots and lots of smiling faces!  This is one of my absolute favorite days of the year!  I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE lover of fireworks and for me this day really marks the celebration of summer.  HOLLAH!!!!  Here's a great little Independence Day note my girlfriend Melli sent me earlier this week.  I especially like the second "D" I've highlighted for you.

 I     accept my unique preciousness, loving myself unconditionally
 N    ewness awaits me in every area of my life
 D    oubt evaporates as faith surfaces
 E    ach day brings promises of spiritual surprises
 P    eople in my life are messengers of God
 E    very moment is a gift from God
 N    ever depend on any person for your well being
 D    on't just spend time - invest it by planting positive seeds
 E    njoy your day/week/month/year/life
 N    ever say 'never' - with God everything is possible
 C    hange your 'thinking' - change your Life
 E    very demonstration happens in time and on time

 D    elays are temporary - be patient
 A    lways maintain  an attitude of gratitude
 Y    our first success comes after your last failure

I also wanted to share with you how flippin' AMAZING this month's issue of Whole Living Magazine is.  There is an awesome section with raw food recipes and beautiful photos (i've pasted a few below with links to the recipes).  Reading through the recipes, they are simple and easy for even the kitchen novice to approach. 

Sprouted summer salad:  click here for recipe

Strawberry Oat Bars:  click here for recipe

Zucchini Pasta:  click here for recipe

And news on the Jane Front:  Sculpt Fusion Yoga is now carrying my line of jewels.  All pieces are made with semi precious stones for their healing properties.  New business cards read:

"healing semi precious stones, femininity & sass, and a touch of glamour, Baby."

Though not on my etsy page yet, i do have a couple necklaces:

amazonite and agate

agate is known for it's grounding qualities and helps to dispel negative energy.  Amazonite helps to calm.

 And of course more danglers are online for your shopping, gifting, and wearing pleasure:

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

meredithgnau.etsy.com

my little vintage box of goodies