A Fall Soup to Ease Summer’s Passing

It’s fall. Yep, I mean, there are still summery days, but fall is in the air. I refuse to wear socks, or boots, yet. But I admit it. I love fall. It’s so awesome to be able to throw on a scarf and walk in the crisp air, it really makes my heart sing. But it’s always a little sad to say goodbye to the easy breezy summer lifestyle. Salads with fresh tomatoes. No need to turn on the stove. Flip flops and a sun dress.

This soup will ease the blow. It’s creamy and comforting and about as fast as a home-cooked meal could be. It may be the easiest soup of all time, and it’s about as delicious as any I can think of. READ MORE >

Green Soup

Happy Sunday my sweet petunias! I hope your weekend was fantastic. They pass all too quickly don’t they?

I spent the weekend working, mostly, but I did manage to breath some air, do some yoga, relax (sort of) over a foam roller with candlelight on Friday night. Yeah, that’s how racy I am. Candlelight and a foam roller for a Friday night date. I think I was in bed by 10.

Anyway, I just thought I’d stop in and share an awesome and easy meal I threw together. We’ve been picking zucchini and kale like crazy over here. Seriously, the zucchini are beginning to frighten me.

Huge Zucchini Plus, we had visited the farmer’s market and scored some local leeks and garlic. And OMG we were starving and time-starved. Thank goodness dinner came together in a flash.

We put our Brooklyn blackberries in a bowl as centerpiece, roasted this maitake mushroom…

Mushroom Roast!

…and sat down to an incredible gourmet meal in about 20 minutes. Not too shabby.

You can pair this soup with anything. It’s just the green part. But super delicious and filling and satisfying. And healthy like drinking a green smoothie…only so savory.

Get thee to a farmer’s market and make this pronto! You won’t be sorry.

Very Green Soup

Serves at least 4

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
1 bunch kale, torn
2 medium leeks, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
Hemp seeds (optional, for sprinkling)

Green Soup MakingDirections:

Add zucchini, leeks, kale and garlic to a large soup pot.

Add 4 cups water to the pot.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes, or until all vegetables are soft.

Ladle most of the broth and about 1/2 of the veggies into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the soup pot.

Ladle into soup bowls. Drizzle each portion with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Optional: top with hemp seeds.

Dive in!

Green Soup 2 I’ve made something similar but added peas to the mix, which make it heartier, and fresh and springy at the same time. I’ve pureed the whole batch and eaten it smooth, but the BHH doesn’t love it that way as much. What I mean to say is, it’s malleable, make it your own. Got spinach instead of kale? Great. Got onions instead of leeks? Go for it! Use the veggies you have on hand. They seem to ‘work out their differences in the pot’ as Ayurveda says about kitchari.

And with that, I am finally turning off my computer until tomorrow morning. Time for a little wind down.

With love and green veggies,

L.

 

Life is Just a Bowl of Zucchini Flowers

IMG_0259So here I sit on my beautiful deck, on my small mountain, on a brilliant day, looking at my computer. But I tell you what, it’s still bliss. And I can’t help myself. Must share last night’s accidental recipe.

The husband continually asks me not to let him plant too much zucchini. Every year he begs me to stop him. Every year I fail. As if I could change his behavior in any way. We end up leaving them in front of neighbors’ houses and running away. READ MORE >

The Crux of the Matter

I was just about to hit publish on a fluffy little post with a green juice recipe at the end of it. Then I got an email from my sweet cousin, and had to redirect. You see, she hit on the exact nature and purpose of A Life Delectable, and I couldn’t help but share it with you.

She wrote to ask me whether:

1: I’ve ever done a cleanse and would I do it again.

2: Did I actually like the taste of whole foods when I started eating them so long ago.

Ha! She had no idea what she was in for with those questions. Yes, Debra, I’ve done every cleanse on the planet. And I have a variety of thoughts on them. It really depends on the person, where they’re at emotionally and physically and what their goals are.

DId I like the taste of whole foods when I first started? Hmmm, that’s complicated.

You see, I had a certain idea of what they were at first. I ruled out all kinds of things it would have been fine to eat. I put myself in a very tiny dogmatic box. And after a while I felt deprived. 

But, cousin, and everyone else, you don’t have to! I have already been there, done that, for you. Also, the world has come a long way in 11 years and whoa, there are so many delicious indulgences in the “whole food” category now.

But more than that, I think people are scared of the term “whole foods” without knowing what they are. Like whole foods will have to taste like grass clippings or sawdust. Yes, you could include raw kale salad in that category, but no, you don’t have to. I imagine you already love lots of whole foods you don’t really recognize.

Eggs? Free range, organic ones qualify. Sweet potatoes? Lay em on me! Salad. Roasted asparagus or roasted roots. Grilled portobello mushrooms. Cream of mushroom soup with cashew ‘cream’. Lentils. Chickpeas. Avocado (OMG Guacamole!). Fruits. Nuts. Seeds. Nut butters. Oats. Olives. If you eat animal protein, that can be a whole food (just eat it sparingly and please get it local, humanely raised, and antibiotic/hormone free, grass fed).

Did you hear anything in there that you actually already like to eat? I can’t possibly list the entire range of whole foods. It’s everything that doesn’t come in a box! But if you need more convincing, check around my web site a little.

Here’s an example of a whole food treat that knocks even “omni” “regular” eaters’ socks off (and I’m talking about my dad and husband here). Cream Filled Pumpkin Muffins. Do they say 1970s hippie to you? I think not.Muffins Close Upkichari and millet mashPB Balls

IMG_0257If that’s not good enough think cashew based pistachio ice cream, coconut macaroon raw key lime tartlets, coconut based salted caramel, dates stuffed with almond butter and preserved orange peel, chickpeas braised in red wine with sun dried tomatoes, toasted almonds and apricots all stuffed into chickpea blini. A lasagna made with cashew “ricotta” and basil pesto.

All of this can be yours. All you have to do is step away from the low fat, sugar free chemical laced packaged goods.

I can help. These questions are exactly what I set out to help people answer. How do I enjoy a whole foods lifestyle? How do I jumpstart my new habits? How do I “clean up my story” without punishing myself? How do I reset for the season?

Contact me we’ll work it out together. And, oh my goodness, it’s going to be delectable!

Use Your Noodle (and, it’s GIVEAWAY time)

I can’t get out of my own way today. I tried one thing. I tried another. I dropped a few things on the floor. I wrote and deleted a post. I’m just noodling around apparently. And, although I had a heartfelt yoga musing planned for this week, I think it’s not going to happen. So, I thought I’d finally do a long-awaited giveaway. READ MORE >