Quinoa, a mildly nutty-flavored, nutritious, gluten-free seed, contains an almost-perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids required by our cells. It cooks up in minutes for a low-maintenance grain-like meal that goes with almost anything.

For this light summer salad, I combined black and white quinoa with meaty shiitakes and eggplant in tamari and maple syrup, then added some crisp summer market veggies and organic greens, and drizzled the whole bowl in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Easy-shmeasy.

Black & White Quinoa Salad

for 4:

3/4 cup black quinoa, washed, rinsed, and cooked

3/4 cup white quinoa, rinsed, and cooked

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 Japanese eggplant, diced

2 Tbsp tamari

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/2 organic red pepper, diced

1/2 organic yellow pepper, diced

4 cups organic garden greens, or 2 big handfuls, washed

drizzle olive oil

drizzle balsamic vinegar to taste

2 large pinches of Himalayan sea salt to taste

Cook quinoa in advance so that it’s room temperature when you add your veggies.

In a cast iron pan on medium, stir shiitakes and eggplant in a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Add tamari and stir until each start to soften. Add maple syrup and stir until glistening.

Add veggies to quinoa and toss. Either drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar before serving, or serve with dressing on the side. Go easy on the balsamic vinegar as it’s potent.

Your non-veg guests will love the “meaty” quality the shiitake mushrooms and tamari-maple eggplant impart. This tastes especially delicious outdoors, with Peachy Guacamole and a handful of corn chips on the side.

For more market-fresh plant-powered summer recipes like this, get the book Feel Good Fast: Summer!

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The variety out in force at the moment happens to be the Reed. These babies are large and full, much moreso than the Haas. They’re rich and smooth, with a decadent creamy taste, and absolutely perfect for guacamole. As cosmic intelligence would have it, August Pride Peaches also happen to be dropping from local trees. I believe that nature intended these two magical fruits to be together…

The synergy between the sweet, slightly tart peaches and the butter-cream smoothness of the avocados is a revelation. My honored guests, mouths full of this creamy peachy sweet and buttery guac, left the planet one by one for a transcendental several seconds, only returning to exclaim, “Oh my God! This is the best guacamole I’ve ever tasted!” then off they’d go again with another bite. Yes. It’s all about the ingredients - fresh, local, in season, ripe. Mother Nature rocks, doesn’t she?

Peachy Guacamole

2 large ripe organic Reed avocados

1 small organic August Pride peach, diced finely

2 Tbsp red onion, diced in fine dice

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 large pinches coarse grain Balinese sea salt

Mash the avocados with a fork, keeping it nice and chunky, mixing in garlic and sea salt. Top with peaches and red onions. Garnish with an edible flower or a mint or basil sprig and serve with a really good quality organic corn chip or flat bread. Expect oohs and aahs. Make more.

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Cantaloupe is at its ripest and juiciest right now, and offers us a powerhouse of immune system-boosting nutrients with few calories. Avocados are at their summer best, as well, and deliver high quality essential fatty acids, great for the skin and hair. Coconut water, among its many miraculous health benefits, balances the body’s water content and helps lubricate the digestive system. Peaches give the drink a boost of sweet vitamin C, and bananas add a calming creaminess. Whip it up in seconds and do yourself a world of good.

Mellow Melon Smoothie

For 3:

1/2 small organic canteloupe

1 banana

1 ripe avocado

1 small organic peach

1/2 litre coconut water

Blend until smooth and creamy. Sip, and share the bliss.

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Tonight I tried a golden heirloom beet in the slicer. Though much denser, and a little harder to twist through, it turned out perfectly, and made the most gorgeous golden angel hair pasta bed for some juicy heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, and Whole Foods’ famous curried vegan chik’n salad. Ready in 5 minutes.

Yellow Beet Angel Hair

Per portion:

1 small heirloom beet

1 small heirloom tomato

3 or 4 leaves fresh basil

1 Tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

a few pieces of Whole Foods’ vegan chick’n curry (made with Gardein)

Slice the beet and marinate it in a splash of olive oil and apple cider vinegar with sea salt. You can massage the “noodles” a bit to help them soften, and if you can do this in advance, the “noodles” will soften nicely over an hour or so on the counter. Otherwise, they’ll be quite crisp and crunchy. Both ways are great.

Place the “noodles” in a bowl and top with tomatoes, fresh basil, and vegan chick’n curry. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Devour.

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Pink lemonade? Forget about flavor crystals with artificial color and evil aspartame. This simple homemade version is so light and clean, so good and so good for you, you’ll want to have a pitcher in the fridge for the rest of the summer. Cleansing, alkaline, detoxifying and delish, you can whip it up in minutes and serve it at any civilized summer afternoon garden gathering. The kids’ll love it too - especially if you let them squeeze the lemons.

Homemade Pink Lemonade

makes a pitcher of 8 small glasses

1 dozen large, ripe organic strawberries

4-5 small juicy lemons

8 cups spring water

5 quick squirts agave nectar

mint sprigs for garnish

Blend strawberries with a little water. Squeeze in lemon juice, straining out the seeds. Stir in agave nectar and top pitcher with water. Mix well, taste, and adjust sweet-sour flavors to your liking. Serve in wine glasses with a strawberry and mint garnish.

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It’s no wonder our life expectancy in North America is 15 years lower than the capacity of the human body as science presently knows it. Who would want to stick around much past 75 when you’re closeted away, made to feel redundant, mocked, and largely ignored? But the fact is, if we want to, we can. Watch the vid below to find out how:

National Geographic writer and explorer, Dan Buettner, examines the world’s so called “Blue Zones” where people regularly live to be over 100 and still ride their bikes to work, chop wood, and star in centenarian-of-the-month calendars. In this video, he shares the 9 diet and lifestyle habits that keep people young and active to a ripe old age. Anyone coming with me to Santorini?

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It’s been called “L.A.’s most romantic restaurant” for good reason. During the day, the light filters through the Topanga Canyon forest and dances shadows in the courtyard while the sun’s purest offerings are nibbled in reverence.

At night, the senses are heightened with fairy lights, whispers, and candle glow, the gentle flow of the creek singing nature into your psyche, a cool canyon breeze kissing your face, and the high-vibrations of food prepared with love raising your spirits.

Ninety-five percent of the menu is organic, and a good portion of the produce is local. The bread is made daily from organic grains, with no preservatives, colorings, refined sugar or bleached flour, and tastes as though it was kneaded by cherubs.

Celestial visitors to Inn of the Seventh Ray would discover the soul-satisfaction of a three-ingredient soup, the taste and texture complexity of a well-prepared portobello and the highest purpose of an heirloom beet. In a bite of vegan chocoless cake with espresso sorbet, alchemical mystery, and in a sip of local Pinot Noir, all the wisdom of the ancients.

An oasis, a getaway, a hideaway, a secret garden, and yes, I believe, a gateway for angels on a sensory journey, where a single dining experience could alter human form, transform human perception, and elevate human spirit.

If you know angels, invite them to accompany you to this barely-earthbound tasting ground. They may easily be convinced that being human is divine.

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Avocado Smoothie

1 avocado

1 banana

1/2 cucumber

1 cup coconut water

handful spinach

Blend until smooth. Sip slowly. Savor. Repeat.

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Annie Leonard, who brought us the brilliant “Story of Stuff” has recently released “The Story of Cosmetics” in which she exposes the grim truth about how our regular everyday household shampoos and lipsticks are loading our bodies with carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins. Annie entertains and informs with this 8-minute piece.

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Small things to give, but according to Cami Walker, author of 29 Gifts - How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life, these little things, given consciously every single day as a practice, can be transformational.

Cami was diagnosed with MS just a month after her wedding day. She quickly sank into depression and a dark vortex of too many prescription drugs to numb the physical and emotional pain.

One day, after suffering for almost two years with the debilitating effects of the disease, Cami got an unlikely prescription from her friend and spiritual advisor, Mbali Creazzo: “Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.”

Mbali, after telling Cami to stop thinking about herself, to stop focusing on her disease because that’s what feeds it, keeps it alive, says: “Healing doesn’ t happen in a vacuum, but through our interactions with other people. By giving, you are focusing on what you have to offer others, inviting more abundance into your life. Giving of any kind is taking a positive action that begins the process of change. It will shift your energy for life.”

Cami didn’t take the advice immediately, thinking it too simple. But eventually, it came back to her and she decided to give it a try. She was amazed by what unfolded. So much so that she wrote this book and began an online community which is now over 11,000 people strong, all giving gifts to others around the world and sharing their experiences with the community.

The prescription does sound simple. But it can be a revelation. By day 29, Cami’s health and happiness had turned around. Generosity leads to abundance.

Even if you’re born generous and you have no disease to recover from, it’s the act of consciously thinking kindness, daily coming up with things to give and people to give them to that becomes a catalyst for change. Try it. You’ll discover something profound–and you’ll make yourself and others feel great. That’s groovin’ with the woowoo:)

I’ll be on the road for the next week or two. The challenge will be to come up with a gift each and every day while traveling. Any ideas?

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If you’re like me, you probably have a few staples in the cupboard, like brown rice, quinoa, lentils and beans. And if you’re like most people, you probably have a bag of limp carrots buried somewhere in the fridge if you dig deep enough. Perhaps a piece of an onion that’s been there since February…

After walking around the block and deciding that none of the take-out options were a)healthy or b)healthy, I decided that I had enough of a stash, after all, to whip up a quick and simple (it’d have to be!) impromptu stew for one. While it would never cut it in an Iron Chef cook-off, it was very tasty, very healthy, very cheap, and I’m presently perfectly satisfied less than an hour after the cupboard search began. It could also be called “empty cupboard soup.” Of course, if your cupboards really are empty, you’ll need a good take-out option;)

Impromptu Vegan Stew

1/4 onion, diced

1 tsp veggie broth powder or 1 veggie bouillon cube

1/2 cup red lentils, washed well

2 small (limp is ok) carrots, diced

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp sea salt (only if veggie broth mix is unsalted)

1 Tbsp miso (optional)

sprinkle dried seaweed (optional)

Dissolve veggie broth powder in a splash of water in a saucepan on medium. Add onion and carrot and stir until they sweat. Add curry and turmeric.

Add lentils and about 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, covered, and turn down to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the lentils are soft. Add more water as you need to adjust consistency to your liking. I like a thick daal-like soup.

Turn off the heat and stir in the miso. Pour into a bowl and top with some dried seaweed like crumbled nori or dulse (whatever you have in the cupboard!). Any kind of green would be good chopped up on top as well. Or best would be kale chips, if you happened to have any around. Of course, if you did, you’d have had those for dinner! Ha!

Got any favorite empty cupboard tricks to share? Would love to hear what you do in bare-cupboard semi-emergencies!

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Pat Derby, founder and director of PAWS, says in the video below “This is a monumental rescue.” Indeed. For the first time in their lion lives, these lucky beauties will get to feel grass under their feet and roam free as lions should. Adore. Cry. Pass it on;)

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Happy June! Summer’s right around the corner, and along with the hot and sultry weather come cravings for fresh, whole fruits and veggies to quench your thirst and cleanse away internal cobwebs. The live food movement is growing like a weed, way beyond gag-inducing green smoothies and stringy sprouts. Raw restaurants are popping up from Arizona to Zanzibar and we’re starting to see uncookbooks claim an entire category of their own on the bookshelves - there’s never been a better time to get your raw on!

And there’s never been a more beautiful, more accessible book to satisfy your rawvenous appetite than the brand new Ani’s Raw Food Essentials, a gorgeous new offering from Ani Phyo, who also brought us Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen and Ani’s Raw Food Desserts. She makes raw food prep easy, with simple ingredients and elegant style. She was kind enough to grace FGG with a recipe sample from her book! Yummy!

photo: Tyler Golden

MEDITERRANEAN WRAP WITH RED PEPPER HUMMUS (BEAN-FREE)

MAKES 4 WRAPS

This recipe uses collard leaves for wrapping up vegetables, such as spinach, zucchini,

black olives, and avocado, with a delicious Red Pepper Hummus.

2 large collard leaves

2 cups spinach, washed well

½ recipe Red Pepper Hummus (page 184)

1 ripe avocado, pitted and sliced

½ cup zucchini, cut into long, thin spears

¼ cup pitted, chopped black olives

Cut the leaves away from the thick center stem of each collard leaf to make a total of four flat pieces.

Top each collard section with spinach leaves. Then, spoon Red Pepper Hummus across the bottom edge of the shorter width of each leaf. Top with avocado, zucchini, and black olives. Roll up into a wrap and serve.

Will keep for up to a day at room temperature, or store for a day or two in the fridge.

RED PEPPER HUMMUS (BEAN-FREE)

MAKES 2 CUPS

This hummus is made using tahini, as in traditional recipes, but instead of chickpeas,

I use red bell pepper and a pinch of cumin for a richer flavor. Sesame powder helps

absorb some of the excess liquid from the juicy bell pepper.

½ cup sesame seeds, ground into a powder

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups seeded and diced red bell pepper

1/3 cup tahini

¼ cup lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground cumin

In a food processor, process the sesame seeds, garlic, and salt into small pieces.

Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Will keep for 2 days in the fridge.

Here’s the gorgeous book;)

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Central Park

You could spend weeks in Central Park and not cover a quadrant. It’s the number one best feature of New York City. To have that much nature smack in the middle of the mayhem is miraculous. If I lived in Manhattan, I’d make a picnic in the park a weekly ritual.

Spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon wandering aimlessly into the dense urban green and breathe deep. You can feel the air getting richer in oxygen as you get close, and the noise of the city drifts away. Strawberry Fields is a beautiful place to spend some quiet time. People stand in reverence taking photos of the John Lennon memorial mosaic decorated with a peace symbol made of flowers and rose petals. Be moved and be healed. Peace.

For $2, you can ride the carousel near the zoo. It’s fun. It takes you back to your childhood. Do it just because you can.

The snow leopard and the polar bear in the zoo, though beautiful, do not belong behind a fence.

Brooklyn Bridge

So worth the walk. Wear sneakers. Staggering views from the East River in all directions. Start out just before sunset, then make it to its suspended center just as it’s coming down, reflecting off the glass and steel and water, casting veiled light into the air and onto your face - perfect time for pics - or a kiss - it’s maybe one of the most romantic places on the planet. Then get to the other side just in time for a Mediterranean-inspired dinner made with fresh organic ingredients at Superfine in DUMBO - down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The live jazz and the lively local vibe will fuel your spirit for the long walk back across the bridge into the sea of lights. Magical.

Cornelia St. Cafe

Stumble into the historic artists’ cafe, Cornelia St. Cafe, for a local Greenwich Village experience, whether it be for Sunday brunch, Tuesday night poetry or a singer-songwriter performance. It’s been proclaimed “a culinary as well as a cultural landmark” and has hosted on its stage groovin’ performers like members of Monty Python and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Suzanne Vega, freaky fiction writers and Eskimo poets.

The High Line

Yes, take in Central Park, take photos at the Statue of Liberty, walk through Times Square, pay a visit to a museum or two…but do not miss The High Line, one of NYC’s most unique parks which runs along an old 1930’s railway line once used by freight trains to drop off goods in second stories of warehouses. The trains stopped running in 1980 when it became too dangerous to have trains and traffic mingling in Manhattan, and nature took over. The park has been landscaped to echo that nature and for 14 city blocks, you’re immersed in a wild and natural setting two stories above the streets - Hudson River to the west, big city to the east. Check out the theatre-style traffic-viewing rest area - so surreal and “so New York”. Every Tuesday morning, free fitness and movement classes are offered in the 14th St. Passage. Bring your yoga mat and breathe. The High Line is truly one of NYC’s highlights.

Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon

Acclaimed British sculptor, Antony Gormley, has placed 31 life-sized cast-iron forms of himself on various rooftops as high as 55 stories up overlooking Madison Square Park and on scattered sidewalks around the Flatiron district in an installation he calls “Event Horizon”. If you don’t know this is going on, as I didn’t, and you happen to notice one Gormley in the park itself, you’ll wonder what the dude’s thinking. But eventually you’ll perceive your surroundings in a whole new way.

Broadway’s Pedestrian Park

In an experiment that went right, portions of busy Broadway in June of 09 were closed to vehicle traffic and pedestrians took back their street. I’d forgotten about this “green” news, and on a long walk the entire length of Broadway from south to north, it took me by surprise. In a city as dense and crazed as New York, being in the middle of it all with no honking, no swerving, no vehicle emissions makes you want to sit for awhile and savor the serenity.

Quantum Leap

The two “not-quite vegan” restaurants I checked out happened to be both leaning toward macrobiotic, both with some fish on the menu, which worked out well for myself and my party. Right next door to the “Moonstruck” restaurant on Thompson St. in the West Village, where Danny Aiello proposed to Cher, is Quantum Leap. It’s sweet and homey, with a lot of seitan on the menu. We had a great guacamole between three of us, some seitan satay, which would’ve fooled any meat eater in the house, and split a pretty plain “Ma-Po Tofu Dinner.”

Purume

I saved the best for last! This beautiful Asian Macrobiotic restaurant on East 13th had just opened three weeks prior to my visit and served me one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant. I stumbled into it on my way back to the el cheapo apartment in the East Village, and for two days in a row I picked up delicious wholesome berry and nut-filled muffins and scones for breakfast to eat in the cab ride over to the book expo, but didn’t have time to stop in for a meal until my last evening, tempting as it was with its clean zen design and the communal seating inside a large window open to the street.

The waitress said there had been some sort of a mass jumping of ship from Souen across the way and that most of the staff had migrated to the new place. It’s so new there is no website, but at a glance here, it seems they brought the chef as well.

Brown rice veggie sushi, miso soup, clean salads with lots of sea vegetables, pickles and baby greens, millet seitan, chickpea croquettes, curried vegetables, and pad thai made with whole wheat udon noodles, smoked tofu, loads of crisp veggies and a very rich and creamy peanut sauce. Delish.

Whatever disharmony may have caused the mutiny, they’ve very quickly found their groove in this new locale. If you have the opportunity to dine here, I think you’ll be humbled by the quality and care bestowed upon you. 11 East 13th.

There you have my top of the pops whirlwind tour of New York. I haven’t mentioned the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel, where you can get an expensive martini with a killer view of Manhattan served with deadly attitude by devastatingly beautiful supermodels.

Oh, and I forgot about the Mud Truck, where I picked up coffee to go en route to the book expo.

I also had an incredible backstage tour of the Met from a friend who works the lights. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to shoot while we were on the stage at intermission behind the curtain three feet from ballerinas leaping in anticipation of their next act. But you might enjoy this little pre-tour prance up the steps of the Lincoln Center by yours truly - so obviously not a ballerina!

You can cram a lot in to four days in New York - especially if your apartment is not somewhere you want to spend much time;)

What did I miss? What are your favorite things to see, eat and do in this fabulous city?

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Here are some of my favourite Toronto neighborhoods to explore by foot - part 1:

1. Toronto Islands - The best $6 you can spend in Toronto is for the return ferry that runs every 15 minutes from the foot of Bay St. and Queens Quay to the Toronto Islands. From here you’ll get the best views of Toronto’s skyline and enjoy the peacefulness of North America’s largest urban car-free neighborhood. Walk the boardwalk around the island and admire the spectacular gardens of its privileged residents; stick your feet in the water from several sandy beaches (including a clothing-optional one); or enjoy a light lunch and a beverage on Toronto’s most relaxing patio at The Rectory Café, a five minute walk from the Ward’s Island Ferry. And if you happen to be in town on June 13, Toronto islanders open their homes to city dwellers for the Toronto Island House and History Tour.
2. Kensington Market - Located in the heart of downtown, Kensington Market is Toronto’s most vibrant and diverse community. There’s a DNA strand here shared with Venice Beach in California. Home to Toronto’s bohemian elite, this eclectic neighborhood is a local’s favourite place to shop at the many indoor-outdoor markets. Try on some funky vintage clothing in the converted homes on Kensington Ave., or linger over Free Trade espresso at Luis Coffee Stop on Augusta and watch the colors of the world go by.
3. Chinatown - Along the eastern edge of Kensington is one of North America’s largest Chinatowns. Step out of Western culture and immerse yourself in the noisy din of Hong Kong or Saigon. At the corner of Spadina and Dundas, and extending outward from both streets, a plethora of Asian specialty foods and wares - and smells - spills out into the sidewalks, bombarding your senses. Prices are bargain basement here and eager shoppers will find everything from Asian cookware to electronics to imported jewelry and clothing. Find a restaurant packed with locals for authentic Cantonese or Vietnamese fare, or pop in to see a Chinese herbalist about your jet lag.
4. Distillery District - Steeped in history and used as a setting for countless Hollywood movies, this romantic cobbled neighborhood for pedestrians only is dedicated to arts, culture and entertainment. The refurbished mid-nineteenth century rye distillery, grist mill, ice house, dairy and store houses that make up Toronto’s Distillery District at the south east edge of downtown constitute “the largest and best preserved Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America.” Coffee lovers, gourmands and wine aficionados can satisfy their palates here at the many on-site cafés, bakeries, restaurants and bars. And every Sunday through Thanksgiving you can pick up your farm fresh produce at the bustling Distillery Farmers’ Market.
5. West Queen West - This is my neighborhood and I never tire of walking here. Bathurst and Queen is one of the ugliest corners in the city, which stops most tourists cold. But continue a few blocks west on Queen and you’ll find yourself immersed in a sea of funk (the good kind). Indie designers, one-of-a-kind coffeeshops, cutting edge art galleries, hipster hotspots, sunny patios, boutique hotels and an endless variety of restaurants. This neighborhood changes by the week as condos rise and street-level rents go through the roof. My favourite restaurant, Little Tibet, just closed its doors after years of serving up traditional healthy Himalayan fare. No doubt, in its place, will emerge a designer boutique or a chi-chi bakery. So far, West Queen West has managed to keep out most of the chains. But the tide is coming…

I’ll post more Toronto articles while I’m here soaking up spring in the city. So much to explore, so many new vegan restaurants to check out! Meanwhile, what’s your favourite Toronto walk? I look forward to hearing from you!

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Whatever your idea of good summertime eats, you’ll discover that these Curried Tempeh Burgers are a hit at any bbq party. They’re delicious, filling, protein-packed, and easy to whip up. Bake them first in the oven, then just warm them on the bbq to give’em a mild smoky aroma. Dressed with a homemade sundried tomato pesto, they’re simply irresistible.

Curried Tempeh Burgers

(makes 1 dozen patties)

2 8-oz pkgs of Wildwood Organic Tempeh

1 small-medium onion, diced

1/2 cup organic pumpkin seeds

2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, chopped

1/2-1 cup rolled organic oats

3 Tbsp mild white miso

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coarse Celtic sea salt

pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup of spring water

Open tempeh packages and crumble finely into a frying pan with a splash of water. Add onion and simmer for a few minutes on medium until everything feels incorporated. Add just enough water so nothing sticks (about 1/4 cup).

Meanwhile, make curry paste by combining in a small bowl miso and spices with about 1/4 cup of spring water.

Transfer tempeh from the pan to a bowl and add chopped spinach and pumpkin seeds. Stir in curry paste. Sprinkle in oats to adjust consistency. The oats will absorb excess water and help everything stick together. If your mixture feels very wet, add the entire cup. If not, try half a cup. Your mixture should stick together when you squeeze it in the palm of your hand.

Form into patties and bake for about half an hour on 325. Flip after 15 minutes to ensure even baking.

Heat through on the barbecue and serve in a multi-grain bun slathered with homemade sundried tomato pesto made by blending sundried tomatoes with pumpkin seeds, a pinch of sea salt, fresh ground pepper and just enough water to form a thick spread.

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Ume plums are powerfully medicinal. Despite their acidity, they have an alkalizing effect on the body, aiding digestion and settling the stomach. (I know someone who swears by umeboshi plums as a hangover cure!) They’re available in the Japanese or macrobiotic section of most health food stores. The sour flavor of the plums is nicely balanced by the sweetness of apple in this light dressing with a hint of sesame.

Ume Apple Buckwheat

for 4 light portions or 2 full meals

1 8oz pkg of 100% buckwheat noodles (Eden brand makes organic buckwheat noodles)

1 ripe avocado, diced

4 cups of loosely packed mixed greens

1 tsp black sesame seeds

Cook noodles as directed by package. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Combine noodles with greens and avocado. Drizzle with dressing and mix it all together. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and serve!

dressing:

4 ume plums, stones removed, or 2 tsp ume plum paste

1 apple, grated

2 quarter-sized slices of fresh ginger, minced

1 Tbsp sesame seed oil

6 Tbsp brown rice vinegar

4 Tbsp apple or orange juice

Blend all ingredients.

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We’ve all heard about the law of attraction, affirmations, vision boards, and goal setting…yes? Well… according to the American Hypnosis Association, our conscious mind represents 12% of our mind’s power while our subconscious mind represents 88%.

Our conscious mind is where our logic, reasoning and willpower reside, while our intuition, psychic ability and access to higher guidance and knowing resides in our under-visited subconscious mind.

Don’t get me wrong; our conscious mind is amazing in all that it can accomplish (you’ve seen “The Secret”, yes?) But, wouldn’t it be an interesting “experiment” to see what would happen if you joined your conscious AND subconscious mind in a manifesting experiment?

In my fifteen years as a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, one thing I’ve learned is that when you allow your conscious and subconscious minds to join forces, you become a power to be reckoned with…and anything is possible. In other words you expedite the process of making your goals/dreams/desires come true.

“Well…how do you accomplish the mighty task of joining the conscious and subconscious minds?” you ask.

Here’s the recipe…

1. Create a Dream Collage (check out the O Dream Board if you want to do it on your computer: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/O-Dream-Board-Envision-Your-Best-LifeTM) specifically targeted to a particular vision/goal/intent/desire that is at least 50% believable to you to achieve within a 30-day period. Or you can simply cut out images from magazines, or compile images from the Internet into a desktop folder).

2. Look at your Dream Collage for 2-3 minutes before going to sleep. Meditate and marinate on the FEELING TONE that your Dream Collage evokes in you (imagining that your vision is already realized and how GOOOOOOOD it feels) as you drift of to dreamland.

3. Go to sleep or take a nap (that is the easy part!)

4. Upon awakening, write down your dreams (or any snippets you are able to recall from your dreamtime).
***Bonus points: if you spend a few minutes interpreting your dream (i.e. you can reference “I Had The Strangest Dream” to help in the investigation process–If you’d like the pdf version of this-let me know and I’ll send it to you for free…if you want to purchase the paperback for ease of use you can get it on amazon.com or on my website: http://kellysullivanwalden.com/dream-book.html/)

5. If there is a significant image from your dream (i.e. ruby slippers, a bumble bee, ect) then add that image to your Dream Collage as a way of telling your subconscious mind that you are paying attention and that you are willing to see the ways in which this dream image might be a clue to helping you manifest your desire.

6. Continue throughout this 30-day process to add images from your nighttime dreams to your Dream Collage and repeat steps 2-5 for the remainder of the 30 days.

7. Allow the spirit of curiosity and adventure to accompany you through this process. Notice when images from your nighttime dreams show up in your waking life (i.e. if you dream of a bumble bee and you find one on your car –this just happened to me) pay attention to them, follow them, acknowledge them in the same way a detective would that is trying to solve an important mystery.

8. When you begin to see evidence of your desire/intent from your Dream Collage becoming realized, acknowledge yourself in a physically demonstrable way (i.e. put a gold star on your calendar, call a friend, e-mail me, take a bubble bath, turn up the music and dance to Madonna’s song “Celebrate”, you get the idea…).

Continue the process the next month with a new goal/intent/desire…and lastly, share your success stories with me…I’d love to include them in the new book I am writing entitled, “Sleep Your Way to Success.”

Comments or Questions? Tweet me your dreams or a message: @dreamexperiment

I will be tweeting a dream interpretation once a week: @dreamexperiment

For more dream info, check out: www.IHadTheStrangestDream.com

Dream Doctor, Kelly Sullivan Walden is the author of Warner Books’ I HAD THE STRANGEST DREAM, THE DREAMER’S DICTIONARY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. Author of DISCOVER YOUR INNER GODDESS QUEEN, an Inspirational Journey from Drama Queen to Goddess Queen, Kelly is a regular guest on FOX news New York, WZZR FM (Florida) and has recently been featured around the country on ABC, FOX, and NBC news, as well as in Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, SELF, ELLE, Woman’s World, Bride Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. Kelly is the creator of The Dream Project, a local movement for Global change.

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Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis start out by asking the question, “How do you grow your own food in a city if you ain’t got no land?” Then they set out to learn how, using green roof technology and an old Dodge Ram. They install solar power on the roof of the truck to film every little step, and with song and time lapse photography, they deliver an entertaining lesson in funky truck urban gardening. Dig it!

episode 1:

episode 2:

and the 2-minute film teaser:

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It’s a full on mega cleansing meal loaded in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, protein and flavour! Yum yum! Dive in and cleanse on;)

for 2 as a meal

1 cup organic baby spinach
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 organic fuji apple, diced
1/2 cup purple kale, woody stems removed, chopped finely
small handful of spring pea shoots (optional)
1/4 cup hiziki, soaked in warm water then drained
juice of 1 organic lemon
two quarter-sized slices of fresh ginger, minced
handful of tamari-toasted pumpkin seeds
pinch of pink himalayan sea salt

Toss everything together and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds. This needs no accompaniment. You’ll be fully satisfied with a big plate;)

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