Luna's & KaleKaleKale

Happy belated 4th of July everyone!  This past week has been semi-busy for me.  Hence the lack of blog posting.  My mother drove up from Georgia to take a mini vacation in The Queen City.  When my mom visits, it almost always equates to yummy food.  Ever since I graduated from eating nothing but cereal and chicken fingers (yes... real... i think... chicken fingers... I wasn't always vegetarian), my mom has been my right hand woman when it comes to having/making good food. 

For lunch one day, we visited Luna's Living Kitchen nestled in the Atherton Mill on South Blvd.  When I first moved here, I was PUMPED to find a vegan/raw restaurant just a few miles from my house -- only to find them mysteriously closed.  Well, the mysteriously reopened not too long ago and I've been enjoying their tasty alternatives to my usual meals.

They have the best veggie burger in town.  That is, if you're into the non-traditional veggie burgers.  There's nothing "meat" like about this one.  It doesn't come in the normal "patty" shape, and it tends to fall apart easily.  But that has never bothered me.  Delicious. 

Here's a picture of their veggie burger taken from their online Lunas Living Kitchen Menu.  That's avocado-deliciousness on top.

I enjoyed my burger with a homemade beet kamboucha.  My body was in heaven.  Funny -- sometimes when Jason and I are out running errands, and I'm either tired of cranky, he'll usually suggest that we stop and get me a kamboucha.  Key to my heart.  All things are better.  :)

For me, Luna's is definitely a treat.  It can be somewhat pricey, but when you consider the amount of time that it takes to prepare such dishes on top of the amount of fresh and raw ingredients that go in to each salad, sandwich, and juice... it's well worth the price.

Onward to the kale portion of this post...

We spend the night of the 4th at friend's cookout.  I decided to bring a marinated kale salad to share, as I have not been having my daily "green meal" since I've been on summer break.  So kale it was. 

My recipe is adapted from my 30 Minute Vegan cookbook that I usually turn to when I don't have a lot of time on my hands or am feeling a little lazier than usual (don't judge me).  I think the authors call it Rainbow Kale Salad.  Regardless, it was delicious and a huge hit.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but our Harris Teeters have local kale on sale for super cheap.  I probably got 15 cups of raw kale for only $0.79.  No joke.

Marinated Kale Salad  

(adapted from 30 Minute Vegan)

*eyeball all veggies to your preference.  you can never have enough.*

Raw Kale, chopped

Red and/or Yellow Peppers, seeded and chopped/diced

Carrots, chopped

Red Cabbage, chopped

Raw Almonds, sliced/chopped

Dressing: (if you have about 6 cups kale)

2-3 T Olive Oil

1-2 T freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

2 t Soy Sauce (or Tamari)

1 clove Garlic, pressed or minced

1 t Maple Syrup

Pepper to taste

Combine all veggies in a large bowl.  Whisk together dressing separately.  Distribute the dressing evenly amongst the salad.  Gently massage the dressing into the salad with your hands for 2-3 minutes.  You're marinating the kale at this point and it should be getting softer.  I stuck mine in the fridge for an additional 10 minutes to let things soak.  :)  If you haven't thrown in the almonds already, you can garnish the top with 'em.

Variations -- Add any vegetables you have on hand.  While eating it, I thought that some raisins might be nice.  You can probably substitute sesame oil for 1 T of olive oil mentioned above since you've got the soy sauce flavor going.

Happy Eating!!

tempeh tacos & summer pasta

Two dinners as of late...

Tempeh Tacos & Mango Salsa  (vegan)

ww tortillas

tempeh, tamari, onions, cumin, chile powder, black pepper

black beans

fresh tomatoes

fresh cilantro

mango salsa (mango, cucumber, jalepeno, red onion, cilantro, lime juice)

This Is Summer Pasta On The Porch  (vegetarian)

ww penne, aldente

fresh tomatoes

mozzererlla

fresh basil

olive oil

sale & pepe

urgh

Welcome  to my life.  As both a math education major in undergrad... and a high school math teacher.

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trip to guernsey?

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My copy of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society arrived at my local library branch a few days ago.  And ever since I picked it up last night, I haven't been able to put it down.  After realizing that I have been reading oh-non-stop today, I decided to take a break to investigate this magical channel island nestled between England and France.

The novel is a series of letters back and forth among the many characters.  Some short, some long.  It has me wanting to write letters to my long distance (or nearby) friends.  Real letters.  Sent via mail.  Anyone down?

I caught myself (a few times) wanting to be Juliet -- writing letters back and forth with people she has never met only to develop everlasting friendships with.  To meet Dawsey and Kit.  To play in the wild flowers that lie in the meadow outside her little house just before the cliffs.  To have tea with silly Isola.  And to dream about The Elizabeth that so haunts (in a good way) the story.

I have a feeling that Juliet and Dawsey are perfect for each other.  Shh.  Don't spoil anything for me.  So long as she is not with Mark.  He's just not right for her.

I thought that now, with a mere 50 pages to go, would be a good time find pictures of Guernsey Island.  I love a book that removes you from the present reality and captures so much of your attention that you daydream about what life would be like if you yourself were the protagonist or the character in the corner.

I found some great old photos of Guernsey.  Perfect -- because the novel is set in the 1940's after German Occupation of the Islands.

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I found a few sites that have cottages to rent weekly if anyone is up for it.  Yes?

new love = gardening?

I admit.  This was my first time planting flowers.  Why I never ventured to plant before... I don't know.  Despite the sweat dripping down my face in this 98 degree weather we're having, I enjoyed being outside, jamming out to some tunes, and gettin' in the dirt.  I made no attempt to arrange them in any order.  I'd rather they mingle.

It's not much, but it's a start. I got the flowers from The Gardens of Blackhawk Hardware -- a tucked away gem in the Park Road Shopping Center. 

I've usually always planted mostly herbs and some vegetables.  With Athens' crazy water ban during the summer, maintaining a garden just wasn't possible.  This year, I started late because we didn't move in to our new place until the very end of May.  But I was able to start some basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, cucumbers, and a tomato plant which we decided to hang -- never had a hanging tomato plant before (all of these purchased from some lady at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market). 

He's kind of worn down from the storm last night.  :(

Jessie's "a new title"

I thought I'd pass along a dear friend's most recent sharing on her blog.  I suggest reading "the grass is always grassier" before reading "a new title".  Jessie is attempting to redefine the title of Stay At Home Mom. 

You have to watch the videos of her children.  They. Are. Adorable.

Jessie is perhaps one of the most amazing women I have ever met, and I have the pleasure of having a friendship with her.  Her outgoing personality, sense of style, and willingness to share her life with me has moved me.  I was introduced to Jessie by my husband, who has been good friends with Jessie and Mark for quite some time.  They were one of the first couples to welcome me to Charlotte, and I'll never forget their warm hospitality and instant acceptance.

yoga-time

I thought I was in heaven this morning when I found the yoga studio at the Y not-so-crowded.  It was my first yoga class in well over a year (urgh!).  The few yoga classes I tried to go to last summer were just too crowded for me.  And the instructor went through poses way too quickly.  I had a bad taste about the Y yoga classes until this morning.

It brought me back to my college years where I frequented RubberSoul.  Man how I miss the luxury of practicing yoga 5 times per week (no full-time job, just studying).  At the time, RubberSoul just took a $3-5 donation per class.  You can't find that price anywhere here in Charlotte.  :(

I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite yoga poses.  These are my top 5 poses, mostly focusing on balance, opening the hips, and just overall feel-goodness.  Enjoy.

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 #1  Tree.  My students often laugh at me because I find myself standing like this, minus the praying hands, during class.  Yeah... they think I'm weird. 

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#2  Dancer.  After "tree",  go straight into "dancer".   

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#3  Pigeon.  Opens the hips.  Hurts a little... but a good kind of hurt.  ;)

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 #4  Plow.  I like a variation of plow where I place my knees into my eye sockets.  Or I massage my forehead with my knees.  Sounds weird.  But try it.  You'll love it, too.  Note:  After plow, your body will want the counter pose, "fish".

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 #5  Eagle.  Another balancing pose, similar to "tree".  But this one really opens up my traps and upper shoulders to relieve the stress that tends to build up from being on a computer all day.  Except I don't usually have a cheese-ball smile on my face.  ;)