Suggested Reading: Harvest

Sometimes you find a book that pulls you right in from the beginning, you want to sit down and read in one sitting.
Harvest is that kind of book.
When I find a book like that, I want to share it.

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Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seeds are insanely hip and you know it.
I just needed to put that out there.
Just think about it for a moment. For more than 30 years chia seeds have been part of our lives, they have never abandoned us and we will not abandon them now.
First, there were Chia pets.
Who needed a puppy, kitten, goldfish, or even a genuine pedigreed Pet Rock when you could have a Chia Pet?
You've got my point.
Now, there are Chia people.
Everyone and anyone who wants to be hip nowadays eats Chia seeds. Including myself.
Because I’m the kind of person that jumps on the bandwagon of every health fad I hear about.
Nah...just kidding.

Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon

I was at Urban Outfitters the other day when I heard a song that went something like "I know there's nothing to say, Someone has taken my place. When times go bad. When times go rough..."
I asked the store clerk (a typical 20-something Brooklyn hipster) about it and he was like “Dude, this is Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac!”
He even rolled his eyes as if to say “Have you been living under a rock or something?”
Geeeeeez…what is your problem man? Why are you making such a big deal?
First off, there is so much noise in your stupid store I could barely hear the music.
Secondly, I haven’t heard that song in years.
Thirdly, I could have shazamed it, but my phone has no reception in the shop.
R-E-L-A-X.

Pizza Sweet Potato Skins

You guys know that sweet potatoes have been ranked as the #1 most nutritious vegetable?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fibre content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium,  sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value.
Yes, you read it right. Sweet potato is numero uno!
The orange-skinned root vegetable got 184 point, spinach 76, kale 55 and broccoli just 52.
Talking about crushing the competition...

Very Cherry Recovery Smoothie

If you’re a runner, a triathlete, a cross-fitter or just a gym-goer, you know there’s no shortage of new supplements and other products that claim to promote faster recovery.
Most of us have learned to ignore them, we just don’t believe it.
Speed of recovery is subjective and hard to measure. On top of that, the evidence is often pretty weak and even when it’s there, I tend to be skeptical.
Plus, supplements have weird/funny names. Few have catchy ones, but some are…well questionable at best.
Have you ever heard of “Green Bulge”? It’s a supplement for enhancing strength and performance. I’m dead serious, it exists.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it could very well be a good product, but the first time I saw it, I thought it was an arousal supplement for the Hulk.
What about those Boost-Punch-Burn-KaBoom-XXXL supplements? If we were to judge a book by its cover/name, I would say that those are the kind of product with side effects that would include growing a few limbs, glowing skin or turning you into a mutant.
Supplements are expensive too. 50 bucks for a tub of chemical stuff? No thanks.

Spiced Raw Chocolate Mousse

I bought The Kinfolk Table almost a year ago and still pull it out whenever I’m lacking inspiration.
It’s a special book, because it is not your modern day cookbook.
The pages do not go between recipe and food photos.
There are people (chefs, musicians, writers, editors, bakers) sharing their stories, their houses, their food, their ideas.
The recipes are all personal, effortless and approachable.
The kind of food that goes through people’s kitchen routinely, not recipes written with the sole intention of writing recipes.
Recipes perfect for small gatherings (as the book’s title suggests), celebrating why it can be so good to sit down at a table and share a simple meal with others.

Nasi Goreng-Style Cauliflower Fried Rice

I have come to be very suspicious of the phrase “even better than the real thing” when used in the context of food.Take for instance Cheez Whiz, Cool Whip, or that “I Can’t Believe It’s Not” thing.
When I hear people claiming that those products are just as good – or even better – than real cheese, whipped cream or butter, I’m like “Have you ever made a side by side comparison? No? Do it, then we can talk.”
My 9-year nephew used to say that instant mashed potatoes were “Awesome!”
That was until I made him the real mashed potatoes: with Yukon gold, milk, butter and cheese.
The moment he tasted it, he gave me the biggest smile ever and adieu instant stuff, there’s only place for real mashed potatoes in his life now.

Shawarma Chicken Bowls with Basil-Lemon Vinaigrette

Can we talk about the song ‘Rude’ by Magic! for a sec?
I can’t stop blasting it. It’s been love/hate since I've first heard it on the radio - less and less love as time goes by, but still.
I enjoy the pop-reggae sound and I kinda dig the lyrics - a man asking a father for permission to marry his daughter, yet winds up getting soundly rejected. Pretty original.
There are a couple of things bugging me about it though.
First off, do we (i.e., guys) still ask the girl’s father for permission to marry her?
I know some do, of course. But is it still common?
Take for instance my friend Rob. Before he asked his now fiancee to marry him, he first discussed it with his parents, then he went over to his fiancee's house so that he could get the permission from her parents, and then asked her. Exhausting.
I honestly thought what he did was the exception rather than the rule.
The way I see it is: the guy pops the question to the girl first, and then tell the parents, hoping for their blessing.
Am I completely off-base?

Sichuan Pepper Chicken with Tomato-Chili Jam

This jam you guys. So good. All I can say is YUM.
And the chicken, juicy and OMG so flavorful.
Let me introduce you to my new obsession: dunking pieces of sichuan pepper chicken into tomato-chili jam. BAM! Just like that.
I don’t know why I haven’t been making this over and over before. For real.
Can you just imagine it in your mouth right now? It’s soy sauce salty, Sichuan peppercorn tarty, tomato sugary, and chili pepper fiery all in one bite. IT’S SO AMAZING.

Raspberry Hibiscus Popsicles

When my mum first bought a popsicle mold, I was about 8 years old.
I got super excited and filled it with gummy bears and Sprite.
The coolest popsicles of all time, if you ask me.
Next, I ventured into making milk and Nesquik popsicles.
I honestly thought I had cracked the recipe for making chocolate. After all, chocolate is cocoa in solid form, right?
Sadly, my dreams were crushed the following day, when I discovered I had just made frozen chocolate flavored milk. Bummer.
Growing up, I stuck to making popsicles by pouring pink lemonade (created with or without powder) in the molds, letting them freeze and eating them outside so we didn’t sticky up the kitchen floor.

Beet, Carrot, Ginger and Apple Juice (The Pre-Workout Boost)

This is the story of how I started loving beet juice.
A crazy and dimwitted love story.
It begins with my extreme hatred for beets.
Even as a kid, I always LOVED my veggies, but beets were something I have never acquired a taste for.
Seriously, how can you acquire a taste for something that tastes like…ehm, dirt?
I lived a happy, healthy and beet-less life, until a bunch of British lads from the University of Exeter discovered that beetroot juice - being a natural source of nitrate - gives athletes some extra oomph.
Nitrate has basically two physiological effects.
Firstly, it widens blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood flow. Secondly, it affects muscle tissue, reducing the amount of oxygen needed by muscles during activity.
The combined effects have a significant impact on performing physical tasks, whether it involves low-intensity or high-intensity effort.
In other words, beets have a similar effects of those disgusting nitric oxide supplements.
Drinking something natural and healthy instead of synthetic stuff? Too good to be true.
That was it for me. I needed to start liking beets, NOW!

SoCal Guacamole Burgers on Portobello Mushroom Buns

Yesterday I saw the movie Boyhood.
This is going to really date this post for future readers, but worth it. Because I have to talk about how once-in-a-lifetime and one-of-a-kind movie it was.
If you’re not familiar, Boyhood is a movie filmed over 12 years (from 2002 to 2014) with the same cast.
It’s a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason - with divorced parents and an older sister named Samantha - who literally grows up on screen before our eyes.
Boyhood depicts the rough terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and dating to birthdays and graduations. It’s all there.
The nearly three hours seemed like no time at all and I did not want the film to end.
Whether one is old or young, with or without children, and at whatever stage, the film grabs one deeply by being so quintessentially human.
Boyhood is profound and rich without trying to be. That’s why I loved every minute of it.
The intimacy, the emotion, it never once feels forced or heavy-handed.
I saw it last night and let it wash over me. It is still filling my mind and thoughts today.
It’s so beautiful, I can’t recommend it enough.

Huevos Al Plato

When I was a kid I loved to make my mom breakfast in bed on weekends. I would sit with her while she ate it.
I was inspired after reading Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, in which Calvin considers doing it for his mom. I thought, perhaps, I should do the same.
Breakfast in bed is one of the ultimate ways to pamper someone, and you don't need to be a master chef to make something delicious meal.
Dudes, if you don’t know this yet, girls love breakfast in bed.
Like they REALLY love it.

Zucchini Spaghetti (Zoodles) with Marinara Sauce

Every time I use the spiralizer I feel like a hero.
Same happens when I use the flashlight function on my smartphone, when I do handstand push-ups against the wall, or when I run into the subway as the doors are about to close.
But the spiralizer...the spiralizer is like the Superman’s cape in kitchen gadget form.
The first time I’ve tried it, I was blown away by how easy it is to use. I became hypnotized by the curly noodles spirals of veggies that came out.
I ransacked the fridge and spiralized just about everything that was large enough to fit onto the mechanism - big carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips, and of course my fingers (friendly reminder: it’s important to use a spiralizer safely...these things are SHARP!)
Creating noodles with raw vegetables has to be one of the coolest thing ever and yet, I haven’t posted a single recipe that calls for the use of a spiralizer on TIY.
Frankly because I thought that the spiralizer was a fairly uncommon kitchen gadget. Like the jalapeno corer, the corn kerneler or the bear paw meat handler forks (seriously, who owns those things?)