Pure Food and Wine, at Home

Pure Food and Wine (http://oneluckyduck.com/pages/pure-food-and-wine)is one of my all time favorite NYC spots.  They are a raw and vegan restaurant.  Now I know that immediately may turn some of you off, but trust me, it is amazing.  My favorite dish there is their "lasagna", and so I thought I would share how to do it at home.  While I can't take credit for the recipe, which I will share, I will say that it is one of my favorite summer meals. Not turning on the oven in the summer is a dream.  The other great part about this recipe is that all the steps can be made well in advance.  I have even assembled the lasagna, without the garnish, ahead of time.  This makes it a great dish for entertaining and one that will certainly impress your company.  

Here is the link the recipe:
http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/zucchini_lemonpignoli.htm

The one thing about the recipe that I change, is the Pine-nut "Ricotta".  Instead of this, I make Cashew Cheese.  It has a creamy consistency like ricotta and the cashews are way cheaper than pine nuts.  

Cashew Cheese

1 cup Raw cashews

1 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water

First, soak the raw cashews in water for approximately 3 hours. Drain the water and put into a food processor with lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.  Start to run the food processor and drizzle in water through the feed tube.  Do this slowly, stopping to check if the consistency is to your liking (think ricotta, not cashew soup).  I use this all the time in recipes instead of cheese.  You'd be amazed how good it is!

Breakfast of Champions

My husband and I have become addicted to green smoothies. Somedays I make them, somedays he makes them, but everyday this is our breakfast of choice.  

Green smoothies make me happy, and here is why... First, you start your day with several servings of vegetables, fruit, and some protein for good measure.  Secondly, freezing any greens you have not used saves you money as well as the shame of throwing food away.  All you have to do is take your washed leafy greens (kale, spinach, dandelion, etc.) that you haven't used raw, put them in a plastic bag and stash them in the freezer. Lastly, the variety of smoothies you can make are endless. Somedays we may use kale, cucumber, mint and lemon juice. Others, mango, dandelion and green apple.  Still some days we may throw frozen blueberries and spinach in the mix. Whatever produce we add, we also use chia seeds and flax seeds that we keep in our fridge (I use this mix on salads as well), apple cider vinegar (http://bragg.com/books/acv_excerpt.html, check out the numerous health benefits), protein powder and coconut water. 

Try it, you'll like it...