Blue Zones Challenge: Adventist Meals

As I'm working my through the 30-day Blue Zones Challenge, I've been trying recipes from all five Blue Zones (Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California). And I've loved everything I've tried. But the recipes that are closest to my heart are those from the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda. That's because they're more familiar, I guess. And it's 100% old-school hippie vegan food, which isn't far off from how I eat typically. 

Here are a few of the Adventist meals I've made from the Blue Zones Kitchen. One was Adventist Haystacks, which let's be real, are nachos. Or you could call this taco salad if you wanted to make it sound healthier. But it's corn chips topped with lots of veggies, beans, and cashew cheese, so I call that nachos. This was also the only Blue Zones recipe I've made so far that called for a little optional vegan ground burger. I used some Beyond burger, and this was a very tasty dinner!

I also loved this Hearty Kale and Barley Bowl. This is your standard grain/green/bean bowl with barley, kale, carrots, and white beans, and it has a vinaigrette dressing. Seems pretty normal, right? But then it's topped with pickles, kalamata olives, and dates! Yes, pickles and dates in the same dish. Super weird but I had to try it. And you know what? It was delicious. Salty, sweet, tangy, all the good flavors. 

Here's an Adventist Granola that I've been enjoying for breakfasts this week. It's a simple homemade granola with oats, maple, pecans, almonds, walnuts, dried apricots, dried cranberries, and raisins. And I made some unsweetened soy yogurt (in my Instant Pot) to eat with it.