Unhealthy Food? As If!

After the tragic and untimely death of Brittany Murphy, I re-watched her 1996 breakout film Clueless. And that's when I realized that so much of my life philosophy was shaped by that movie. I was 16 when Clueless came out, and that means I was young and impressionable.

For example, I do believe that Ren & Stimpy were "way existential." And I agree that "until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value." When someone sits next to you and crosses their legs toward you, it's totally an unequivocal sex invite. And it's okay to call your girlfriends "bitches" because in the words of Murray, "street slang is an increasingly valid form of expression. Most of the feminine pronouns do have mocking, but not necessarily in misogynistic undertones."

Why am I talking about Clueless? Because I've been cooking up a storm from Alicia Silverstone's new cookbook The Kind Diet. If you don't have it yet, it's a must-buy. Silverstone talks about the importance of going vegan in the first half of the book (stuff most of us already know), but the second half is filled with yummy vegan (and even some macrobiotic) recipes. Every dish is super simple, focusing on the natural flavors of a few ingredients.

For lunch today, I had Silverstone's Azuki Beans with Kobocha Squash:

It's just like it sounds — tender azuki beans, naturally-sweet chunks of kobocha squash, kombu, and shoyu. That's it. It's one of her microbiotic (or superhero, as she calls it) recipes.

I also tried her Ginger-Baked Tofu:

Firm tofu is marinated overnight in a simple sauce of fresh ginger, soy sauce, and a teensy bit of brown rice syrup. Silverstone avoids all forms of granulated sugar in her recipes, even turbinado and evaporated cane juice.

And her Sicilian Collards are to die for:

I typically cook my collards for at least 40 minutes, but these are quickly sauteed for only a few minutes with olive oil, raisins (I used currants), pine nuts, and balsamic vinegar. The vinegar hides any of the bitterness left in the greens. Even my non-greens-loving boyfriend liked this recipe. He said he'd start eating greens if I fixed this regularly!