Ani’s Raw Food Essentials Tour Day 1+2
...photos from my book tour day 1+2 in Hollywood, CA taken by Tyler Golden
Community Gardens in South Los Angeles
During my silent 10-day Vipassina mediation last October, I had a vision to work with kids in underprivileged neighborhoods teaching them how to garden, grow food, and make healthy food. These neighborhoods lack fresh produce or healthy food options. The only way to save lives is to teach kids about food, real food. Growing our food builds confidence and self reliance. It's important for kids to understand where their food comes from. Neelam Sharma is the Executive Director of Community Services Unlimited, Inc. and is largely responsible for the development of CSU's food justice and youth training programs. She helped create The Healthy School Food Coalition, The LA Food Justice Network, and the California Food Justice Coalition. An inspirational lady...passionate, intelligent, and beautiful. Neelam and I met at the Expo Center garden, where I first met Dana Clay, the Urban Farm Assistant responsible for this beautiful garden. I found a curry tree for the first time, and the leaves tasted pungent, like curry. They even had a cherimoya tree! Yum. The last time I saw a cherimoya tree was in Baja. I love cherimoya, and just picked up 3 at the local farmer's market. Visit CSU's weekly Farm Stand in front of the Expo Center on Menlo just north of MLK on Thursdays from 3-6pm. Find more about Community Services Unlimited events, and how you can volunteer on their website. A special thanks to my good friend Bryant Terry for introducing me to Neelam and CSU, inc.
Pineapple Ice Box Dessert
In this video I'll show you how to make a beautiful, delicious, refreshing ice cream using cashews with folded in pineapple, and shaped into a cake form. This raw food demo was recorded during my workshop at Mom Tri's Villa Royale in Phuket, Thailand on January 24, 2010.
Cauliflower Mash + Mushroom Gravy
Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. It's beautiful, comes in white, green, and purple varieties, and works wonderfully processed into a mash. This is my version of mashed potatoes. Serve with a gravy on it's own, or alongside your favorite recipe.
Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad
Here's a super fast and easy recipe I made the other day when I had very little time to eat, but needed a break from my computer for a few short minutes. I didn't feel like a green salad, and wanted something a bit more substantial.
Listen to Ani on NYTalkRadio with Rhio and Leigh
Listen to my conversation with Rhio and Leigh from March 19th, 2010.
Ani at Erewhon in LA with Kate Magic
Watch video: 8 min, 15 sec Kate Magic was visiting from the UK last fall. In this video, you can watch our visit to Erewhon Natural Foods in the heart of Los Angeles, CA. I believe Erewhon was SoCal's first natural food market and co-op. It's full of the healthiest foods, cookbooks, natural eco green cleaning products, and lots more. Rooted in macrobiotics, they have a great book selection too. Erewhon offers a huge array of raw food products in their store, it's probably the largest raw selection in the world. The raw food goodies take up 2 full isles, end caps, plus a refrigerated section. It's always a treat to peruse the isles to see what new raw food products have hit the marketplace. Kate and I enjoyed a lovely day playing around West Hollywood. We started out at lunch eating delicious collard roll wraps, then stopped into Trashy Lingerie next door. Since raw foods keep me at my ideal weight, makes my skin smooth and clear, and helps me build a lean, strong body, it makes shopping for and wearing lingerie easier. Next, we visited a thrift store, which is my favorite way to shop. It's recycled fashion, eco, green, good for our environment, and it's true that one person's trash can be another person's treasure. Finally, we then made it over to Erewhon. Kate will be back in LA in August this year. I look forward to continuing our SoCal adventures together!
Arame & Sugar Snap Pea Salad
I love sea vegetables for all the wonderful vitamins and minerals it gives my body, including iodine for regulating my metabolism. Here's a recipe for Arame & Sugar Snap Peas.
For Dogs: Kanga’s Sweet Potato Treats
I made a batch of Kanga Dog Treats for my Rhodesian Ridgeback canine companion. She loves these, and asked me to share the recipe with you here on my blog so other dogs could also enjoy these treats. It's important to keep your dog's gums and teeth healthy, especially if they aren't crunching on dry kibble. These easy to make, crunchy treats will help remove plaque and freshen dog breath. Your dog may not be used to these at first. Just like other new foods, you may need to teach pooch how to eat them by taking a bite out of one first, then giving it to pooch to try. Dogs always love what they see us eating. Especially when accompanied by yummy, delicious sounds. Kanga is a dessert dog. She hates water and baths. She was rewarded after her lavender bath today with these treats, and was very happy. I realize this is a recipe section where I list food for people. The good thing about raw food is that even treats for dogs could easily be enjoyed by humans. Many times, friends have come over and said "your dog eats better food that I do!" And this is so true, since Kanga eats organic, local, seasonal, and many times stuff that I eat. I joke that she's my compost bin, eating up all my leftovers. Kanga Dog Treats (page 241 of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, the Kanga dog food chapter) 2 large sweet potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick Place sweet potatoes on dehydrator trays, and dry at 104 degrees F for 12 hours, or until completely dry.