La Belle Vie Holistic Living

I've moved! Visit my new blog La Belle Vie for more recipes and healthy living tips. Don't forget to update your bookmarks xoxo Salads are an amazing meal option. They offer a variety of tastes and textures and a mega dose of nutrients. They're also super portable and don't require heating, which makes them a great lunch for work. Sadly, many people have an irrational hate for the salad. A hate that stems from the unfortunate myth that salads are confined to two to three ingredients, one usually being lettuce, and that they can't ever be enough to fill someone up, and that they're just for diets and therefore a food you don't really want to eat but do occasionally and grudgingly like it's a punishment. The truth is that salads, with their endless combinations, are a form of culinary art; they require imagination and innovation. And without it, salads are in fact just lettuce with a slice or two of tomato and cucumber, maybe some onion. But do...

I've moved! Visit my new blog La Belle Vie for more recipes and healthy living tips. Don't forget to update your bookmarks. xoxoxo   Collard greens, destemmed seaweed shitake mushroom caps, sliced, marinated snow peas, cut into strips carrots, julienned napa cabbage, cut into strips cucumber, cut into strips marinate 1 tbsp ginger, minced 2 cloves garlic, derooted, minced 2 tbsp tamari 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp sesame oil Marinate the mushrooms for 15-30 min. Squeeze out excess marinate back into bowl and set marinate aside. Put ingredients in the middle of the collard leaf and roll. Wrap and secure the roll with a strip of seaweed. Use marinate for dipping. For a richer sauce, add in some nut butter or tahini. Enjoy! xo Selene

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, here's a delicious green smoothie to start your morning off right. This refreshing beverage, stocked full of flavour and nutrients, will leave you feeling satisfied. Awesome affordable organic produce discoveries: President's Choice Celery ($2.99), Loblaws President's Choice baby spinach ($4.99/tub), loblaws  Carrots ($2.99) at loblaws or metro Ontario Greenhouse tomatoes are usually a decent price, are not genetically engineered and are "virtually pesticide free" To make, blend together 1 avocado 1 carrot, medium 2 celery stalks, plus the bits that are all leafy 2 handfuls baby spinach 2 tomatoes 1 clove garlic, derooted 2.5-3c water (4 servings) Add some parsley or cilantro, which in addition to the celery will help support your liver the morning after. Drink up and enjoy!! xo  Selene

Very excitingly, on Wednesday while I was at work a package came for me. It's always fun when packages come at work. Especially when the return address on it is not from our fulfillment house. I tore open the envelope (ok, I cut the side off neatly with scissors after I struggled for like three minutes to tear the envelope...) to find Rawlicious a raw food cookbook by Peter and Beryn Daniel. Rawlicious was originally published in 2009 in South Africa and will soon be available in North America. Rawlicious offers a nice sampling of a variety of dishes, from smoothies to soups to mains with a section on combining the different components to make a gourmet meal. The recipes are easy to make without many specialty ingredients, which I personally always look for in a cookbook. There are tons of recipes I'm excited to try, especially ones using sprouted legumes, such as the sprouted lentil burger and sprouted chick pea falafels. I love sprouting legumes because it's so easy ...

Totally into yoso vanilla soy yogurt right now. My fave ways to enjoy it? chocolate chia goji mousse madness mix vanilla soy yogurt with raw cacao powder and 1tbsp chia seeds. Mix well and let sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. When you take it out of the fridge, the texture will be more like a mousse. add in goji berries, mix and enjoy!! cookies and goji goodness break off pieces of raw cookie dough into vanilla soy yogurt. Mix in goji berries and enjoy!

Last summer I fell in love with parsley. It's not that I minded it before, but I was never a huge fan. Then suddenly one day I'm adding it to my salads and marinated kale dishes. By some miracle, my husband found a whole bushel at loblaws! I heart loblaws. I decided to finally make a tabouleh recipe. I made it with quinoa instead of the traditional couscous for gluten-free goodness, whole grain wonderfulness and that protein punch. I'm currently finishing it up (it didn't last long) and daydreaming about my next batch that I'll make with cilantro, black beans, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion, black olives, portabello mushrooms, and jalapenos. To make 1c quinoa, soaked and rinsed (to remove the saponins ) 1.5c water 1c cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2c fresh parsley, chopped 1/2c olives, sliced 4-5 mushrooms (I used mushroom, but cremini would be really nice) 1-1/2" wedge of red onion, chopped dressing ingredients juice of half a lemon 2T olive ...

Happy New Year! Here's to a 2011 full of healthy, delicious food! I've decided to make some resolutions this year, something that I haven't done for the past few years. I have a couple of them, but the general idea behind them all is being a healthier, happier me.  When I think about it and about the steps it takes to be a healthier, happier me - creating and eating delicious food, being around people I like, traveling, drinking tea -  it seems pretty stupid that I've put it off this long. The slush, freezing wind and damp chill of winter can make it hard to have the energy and enthusiasm needed to go out after our goals. Here's a hearty winter soup that will warm you up and keep you going through the next couple of months. Ingredients 1 small yellow or white onion, sliced 2 tsp canola or grapeseed oil 1/2 cup brown rice 1 cup brown lentils 4 cups water 1 low-sodium boullion cube 1 large carrot, sliced 2 Tbsp ginger 1/2 litre low-sodium vegetable ...