This weekend is the Oscars! Now in most of the world people are probably saying so what?… But here in LA they are treated like the Superbowl. The city shuts down and everyone tunes in. And even if you aren’t attending the awards, you’re probably going to a party to watch them. Here are a few of my favorite cocktails and apps to serve at a party like this 
Happy Oscars!
Are you cooking for your Valentine tomorrow? Impress them with this super fancy, yet shockingly easy, salad! The simplest way to make salad fancy is by using micro greens. They are tasty and look super expensive and rare, but alas, you can find them at a Trader Joe’s near you! In fact, I got everything for this salad at Trader Joe’s. No you don’t have to cut the beets into little hearts, but they’re so cute and going the extra mile will score you major bonus points You can also make this salad ahead of time, plate it, cover it and stick in the fridge until your honey comes home. Then just dress and serve!
You Make My Heart Beet Salad
Serves 2
1 head of endive, sliced
a few pinches of micro greens
1 cooked red beet (you can cook yourself, or you can buy pre-cooked at Trader Joe’s)
1 navel orange, cut into segments
dressing:
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside. Plate the salad ingredients and dress when ready to serve.
xoxo
Who needs those spice packets to make the ultimate spinach dip?? Did you know a lot of those packets contain monosodium glutamate? Yes, they contain MSG! Who needs that? This Superbowl, let’s ditch the packets and elevate this party staple to a new healthier level!
PS I served this to a bunch of meat eaters and no one realized it was vegan
Ultimate Spinach Dip
10 oz. frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
1 cup of vegenaise
1 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 can of water chestnuts, diced
3 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and serve cold or room temp in a bowl or bread bowl
Enjoy!
On the corner of Hipsterville and Echo Park is a gem of a restaurant! It’s there on Sunset Blvd. that you’ll find Sage Organic Bistro. I’ve been wanting – but too busy – to check out this place since it first opened back in March 2012, so when I saw a deal on Blackboard Eats for it, I jumped! I grabbed my friend and fellow major foodie Lynn and we made the trek all the way to the far east side.
There are many things I loved about this restaurant but appearance is definitely a standout. This is not your typical “hippy” vegan hole-in-the-wall, but instead a simple, clean-lined, modern, cafe. Crisp white walls and sleek tables welcome you to a decent size dining room. The specials are posted in chalk on the wall. The servers were nice, and prompt. And the place was laden with super cool looking people, many taking pictures of their food. And yes, there was even a celebrity spotting – not uncommon here in LA – but you won’t find a lot of pretensions here, just really good food!
The menu was very appetizing! After taking about 15 minutes to decide Lynn ordered the Soul Bowl and I the Chipotle Bowl.
When the bowls arrived, we were both shocked by the size! Huge portions are not something you usually get at a vegan restaurant, but we were both super hungry and welcomed the size! Here’s Lynn’s Soul Bowl (yes, that ball is a deep fried ball of vegan mac n’ cheese!):
And here is my Chipotle Bowl:
And the winner was: The Chipotle Bowl! The Soul Bowl had the mac n’ cheese ball, which was very yummy (and spicy), and dehydrated okra, which I had never had before and am now wondering why you would ever eat it any other way… was delish! But the deep fried jalapeno and nacho cheese sauce were stars in the Chipotle Bowl. Both of us only got through about half a bowl. But I enjoyed mine (again) for dinner.
Sage’s owners also own Kind Kreme (the vegan ice cream joint on Cahuenga, which I love!) so we knew there would be dessert involved in this lunch. We’ve both been to Kind Kreme many times so we passed on the ice cream and went for the heavenly-looking cake that was tempting us from the display case all through our meal. The divine dessert staring back was a raw-vegan espresso chocolate cheesecake. We’ll take it!
We are such goobers! I think we spent two minutes taking pictures of it before we ate it lol!
Holy cow it was delicious! Bursting with rich flavor this dessert was indeed, heaven!
I almost hate when I go to a restaurant and love what I ordered the first time because I’m then hesitant to try something new the next time I’m there… but this place has a very tempting menu…so I think I’ll tackle the burger section on my next visit!
The best news is that Sage is opening another location on the westside, but ’til then, my advice is to head east!
Happy Eating!
Between the cold weather and the CDC’s confirmed Flu Epidemic sweeping the nation, I thought I’d direct you to my hot soup feature on Mother Nature Network … it may be a year-old, but I’d say it’s steamy with relevance! Just click the pic for all the recipes and stay well!
Days like this when it’s windy and cold nothing is more comforting than a nice big bowl of chili! This chili is packed with flavor and healthy ingredients! But no fear, this chili is hearty enough to satisfy the hunger of any football loving man!
3 Bean Chili
Serves 6
1 large onion, large dice
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 + cup water
1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 ear of corn, zipped or small can of corn, drained
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 oz. of super dark chocolate (like 74% or higher)
2 Tbsp. chili spice blend
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
a dash of cayenne (or however spicy you like it)
salt to taste
In a large heavy pot saute the onion and peppers in a little olive oil until just getting soft. Add all the other ingredients. Starting with a cup of water and adding more later if needed. Cover and let simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. You can leave on low for hours on game day 
OR Throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker, mix and turn on! And poof in a few hours, you will have delicious chili! I would mix it a few times an hours to get the flavors all married.
This recipe is super simple and super tasty! It’s my Great Aunt Roses recipe. (I made it raw today as part of a cleanse I’m doing. Click here to find out more about it) All I did was swap out the cans of tomato juice with fresh pureed tomatoes. So easy! This is perfect for a raw diet or regular. I love enjoying it in the summertime after a long day at the beach just like I did in Long Island when I was a kid I hope you enjoy!
Raw Gazpacho
Serves 4-6
9 large roma tomatoes
9 sun-dried tomatoes
2 small cloves of garlic
1-2 cups water
1 English cucumber, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno -Optional
1 avocado -Optional
Other great add-ins are zucchini, corn, squash, celery, and carrots.
In a blender, puree the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic. Or for a spicy gazpacho, add the jalapeno as well. Add a little water at a time until you reach desired consistency. In a large bowl combine the tomato puree with the chopped vegetables and serve chilled. I like to dice some avocado on top of mine
note: you are welcome to add salt and pepper to this recipe.
First off, apologies for the quality of the photo… I only had my phone with me to snap a shot. I’ve had many a raw lasagnas in restaurants and most of the time very good and very filling. I wanted to make mine, still satisfying, but a little lighter. I also wanted to highlight the flavors of each ingredients as opposed to making a smashed pile. I assembled each lasagna individually on the plates to avoid messing cutting when serving. This recipe does take a good deal of prep time, but because you’re not cooking it for 30-40 mintues, think of all the time it actually saves By the way, the sun-dried tomato sauce turned out so good I think I’m going to incorporate it into some of my “cooked” cooking as well!
And ps I made this for my meat-loving very skeptical Mom and Dad and they both enjoyed it!
Raw Lasagna
Serves 4
2 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 yellow squash, thinly sliced lengthwise
3-4 cups of fresh spinach
8 mushrooms, sliced
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
1 3.5 oz. package of halved dried tomatoes
3 roma tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
water if needed
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender till smooth. Add water by the tablespoon as needed.
Pesto
about 2 oz. or a big handful of fresh basil leaves
1/8 cup pine nuts (or raw almonds)
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp. water
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until fine.
Cashew Cheeze
1 cup of cashews, soaked in water for 1 hour and drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley leaves
1/2 cup water
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor.
To assemble: Lay 3 slices of zucchini on the plates. Follow with a layer of tomato sauce. Next, the spinach, then lay 3 slices of yellow squash going the opposite way of the zucchini. Next is the cashew mix, then the mushrooms, followed by the last layer of zucchini laid the opposite of the yellow squash. Top off each lasagna with an extra dollop of tomato sauce and finish with some sliced basil.
Enjoy!
If you’ve never had raw nachos before you probably think I’m crazy, but raw nachos are awesome! Even if you don’t want to try these nachos, I highly recommend eating guacamole and salsa with thinly sliced jicama instead of chips. Infinitely more nutritional and better for you! I wish I could take credit for inventing jicama chips, but my favorite Sun Cafe offers you the options of jicama in their delicious nachos.
Raw Nachos
Serves 4-6
1 jicama peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
Salsa:
1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced (for less heat, remove the seeds and ribs)
10-15 sprigs of cilantro, leaves, chopped
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
Guacamole:
1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 -1 jalapeno, finely chopped
3 avocados
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
the juice of 1/2 lime
Mash avocados in a bowl and fold in the other ingredients.
“Cheeze”
1 cup of raw cashews, soaked in water for 1 hour then drained
1 garlic clove
1/8 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. lemon juice
1- 1 1/2 cups water
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Start with the 1 cup of water and add more if necessary.
To assemble the nachos, arrange the jicama on a plate and layer the guacamole, then salsa, then drizzle with the “cheeze” and sprinkle with chopped green onions. Enjoy!!
Sitting in my kitchen the other day I was thinking of how to put a twist on old classic recipes (as I often do)… I was thinking of staple “Americana” party food. Mexican 7-Layer dip was on the list. Now I’ve heard of people making a greek version with hummus and etc… but what about an Italian version? It got my wheels turning and when it was finished, I love it! I brought it to a party and the bowl was practically licked clean! It’s a festive looking dish, but it’s definitely going on my year-round roster. I hope you enjoy!
Italian Layer Dip
Serves 4-6 (easily double for a larger party)
Bean layer:
2 15oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp -1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
-with your hands or potato masher, combine the ingredients and smash beans until they are re-fried beans consistency. Add olive oil as necessary to thin.
Olive layer:
5 oz. black olives chopped
Roasted Red Bell Peppers layer:
2 red bell peppers, roasted, cooled, peeled, and chopped
Artichoke layer:
16 oz. of marinated artichokes, rinsed and chopped
Pesto layer:
1 bunch of basil (about 30 leaves)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
a couple grinds of fresh black pepper
-Puree in a food processor (you can also sub out your favorite store bought pesto)
Tomato layer:
2 large roma tomatoes, diced and seeds discarded
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp. balsamic vinegar
-toss together in a bowl.
Garnish:
a few leaves of basil, thinly sliced
What you’ll do:
Assemble in serving bowl (I like using clear so guests can see the layers). Apply the layers in order above starting with the bean spread and ending with the basil leaves. Served chilled.
*You can easily make all the layers the day before and assemble the day of your event
