At Vida Vegan Con, I had the pleasure of meeting Blissful Chef blogger Christy Morgan. Her Blissful Bites cookbook hit stands just in time for VCC, so I purchased my very own autographed copy at the conference.When Christy sat down with me to sign the book, she said, "You know it's all healthy food, right?" Ha! I love my that deep-fried reputation precedes me! But really, folks, as much as I love biscuits & gravy and country fried tempeh steak, a lady's gotta eat some uber-healthy stuff sometimes if she wants to keep her girlish figure (whatever that means). It's all about balance, and after one too many Voodoo Donuts in Portland, I assured Christy that I was going to need her healthy recipes. Bad.
The glossy, full-color book is filled with macrobiotic, raw, and cooked vegan foods — all based on whole foods. Nothing processed. I love me some fake meat, but as today's tip in my Vegan's Daily Companion book suggested, we should all be eating whole foods as the foundation of our diet with processed foods playing a more minor role. Christy's Blissful Bites helps re-establish that whole foundation.
Her recipes are organized by season, so for starters, I chose two from the summer choices. I used fresh summer tomatoes from the Memphis Farmers Market for this raw Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho:
Confession: I bought regular tomatoes instead of heirloom, even though the recipe specifically calls for heirloom. At $2 or more per tomato, I just couldn't afford enough heirlooms to make this soup. Regardless, the regular tomatoes tasted fine — juicy and sweet, just like a tomato should be at the height of their season. The tomato is complemented by blended red and green pepper and balsalmic vinegar. Tangy, sweet, salty, delicious.For my protein, I made Christy's Curry Chickenless Salad and served it with Back to Nature Multi-Seed Brown Rice Crackers:
Wow! I've tried several recipes for chicken salad over the years, but this one takes the cake. It combines both steamed and cooled tofu and tempeh, and there's a little almonds, celery, and currants for crunch. All mixed up in a curry-Vegenaise dressing. Yum!How do you sneak more whole foods into your diet?
I don't really like kale, so I put it in with my beans and rice and cover it with salsa, so I don't notice the taste!
ReplyDeleteEvery so often I force myself to eat wholefoods by cooking a big batch of beans and another batch of wholegrain (millet, quinoa etc.) I hate wasting food so much that it makes me eat really well for a week. Though I do smother it in some really unhealthy sauce naturally!
ReplyDeleteBy blending EVERYTHING. When I need to eat stuff I'm not fond Of I just stick it in a soup
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"sneak whole foods into the diet"?!?! LOL shame on that question...although it made me laugh hard. a truly healthy vegan will have a natural taste and interest in almost all whole foods. i tend to eat 95% whole foods and maybe 5% processed, tops. today's menu, for example: breakfast - beet/carrot/cucumber juice, snacks - apples, plums, tomatoes, a nectarine; lunch - sumi salad (cabbage, green onions, almonds and some other items in a sesame-brown rice vinegar sauce); dinner - tom kha soup (thai veggie soup w/ coconut milk added).
ReplyDeletebianca, i swear i could have you eating healthy and still absolutely loving what you're eating. we do it daily! :D
I'm gonna have to get my hands on that book. Need more whole food recipes.
ReplyDeleteThe more you eat healthy, the more you can't go back. The more crap I remove out of my diet, the more sensitive to it I become when I do it. I'll have to check out this cookbook!
ReplyDeleteOh and kale, when juiced with apples or pineapple, has no taste! It really combines well with fruit. But I really do love to eat it whole. :)
Sounds like a great book! I like to eat both healthy and "non-healthy" food and that's why I really like to read your blog. You always got a bit of everything.
ReplyDeleteall your food looks so good! Just found your blog and love it!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I've never combined tofu and tempeh in a dish, but it sounds like a genius idea, especially with the curry dressing.
ReplyDeleteYou can sneak just about anything into a delicious smoothie!
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right. It's all about balance. I love my taste buds and my health.
I'm loving Christy's book too. I've been eating her Taste of India Artichoke Dip this week...next up is that curry "chicken" salad.
ReplyDeleteI think I need to own this book! I like all of the macrobiotic info and recipes in The Kind Diet and I don't own any cookbooks that feature raw recipes!
ReplyDeleteHilarious about your deep fried reputation. The dark color of the soup is awesome. I've never seen tomato soup that looks like that.
ReplyDeleteThis totally missed my radar (and I'm behind on blog reading). Thank you for the review! It was so lovely to meet you and I'm glad you are enjoying the healthy recipes!
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't wait to try your upcoming southern cookbook! I follow 80/20, gotta have fried goodness every once in a while ;)