Feel Good Guru

Beautiful on a summer table as a main course or as a tasty side, this ancient quinoa salad has it all going on: substance, crunch, flavor, beauty, and pizazz!

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. (more…)

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My favorite thing about southern California is not celebrities, or the weather, nor is it surfer boys, skateboard dogs, or even Urth’s sustainable shade-grown organic fair-trade coffee. No, my absolute favorite thing about southern California is the magnificent avocado. Creamy dreamy avocados that show up - miraculously ripe - almost year-round, fresh-picked within a hundred miles, at the local farmers’ markets, in six or seven different varieties, each with its own unique sun-soaked avocado-y characteristics.

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… (more…)

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Mmmm… Drinking in the mellow goodness of summer with this thick and creamy smoothie that refreshingly fills the gap between meals - or even replaces one… I had this before a workout and was fully energized without feeling full.

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.

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OOH this big fat spinach salad from “Feel Good Fast: Spring!” was so delish I wanted to share the combo with you ~ the zing from the lemon juice and spiciness from the ginger are nicely balanced with the softness of the avocado and the sweetness of the apple. The hiziki gives it a lovely subtle sea taste and the toasted pumpkin seeds add the nutty crunch.

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

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As some of you know, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on “Feel Good Fast - 21 days the Feel Good Guru way - your plant-powered seasonal guide to a cleaner, greener, leaner lifestyle”.

I’m excited to be able to finally offer this to you after doing the cleanse for years at the turn of each season!

The book will be released in early January, first as an e-book. You’ll be able to order each season separately, or the entire year in one complete doc. It includes the full-on how-tos, photos, menus, recipes, shopping lists, inspiration, motivation, and a special treat ~ tips and tweets from you! What do you do to feel good fast? Tweet @feelgoodguru with your best feel good fast tips using the hashtag #feelgoodfast. I’ll publish the best of them with a link back to you! (more…)

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There is almost nothing better in the world than a ripe market fresh heirloom tomato and they’re out in their full splendor right now. If ever there’s a time to eat tomatoes, it’s in the next few weeks. We all know in January a tomato just doesn’t taste like a tomato. So get ‘em while you can!

Heirlooms are painstakingly grown by smaller scale farmers for their extra juicy flavor and sweetness. They’re bursting with intense goodness, containing more nutrition than your average everyday tomato.

Tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C, which increases as it ripens on the vine, and they help rid the body of toxins. Lycopene, the antioxidant media darling du jour, present in tomatoes, can help prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer. It seems to be better absorbed by the body when we cook the tomatoes with a little oil. Easy shmeasy! Let’s do it!

Here’s a beautiful Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Basil Soup recipe:

Roasted Heirloom Tomato & Basil Soup

roughly 2 lbs of ripe juicy heirloom tomatoes (or any ripe juicy market fresh organic tomatoes)
8 cloves of garlic, whole
2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 Tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
1 small bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 cup of water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. Cut tomatoes into quarters and place face up in a lightly oiled roasting pan with garlic. Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil and roast for half an hour or until sizzling and caramelized.

Remove from the oven and blend all ingredients to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust.

Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil.

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We’re flyin’ the Feel Good Fast flag here at Feel Good Guru cause it’s fall and we’re on day 3 of the autumn edition of “Feel Good Fast” and yes, we’re feelin’ good!

Unfortunately it’s too late to join us this time around, but we’ll be going again on the 2nd of November, just after the indulgences of Canadian Thanksgiving, ending just in time for American feasting.

In between, we’ll have some amazing plant-powered feasting with friends at the LOVE Cafe Underground in Toronto and Venice Beach and we might even be shootin’ an episode or two of “One Meatless Meal”. Stay tuned!

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