I was invited to Rockefeller Center for a guest appearance on LX New York with hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. I talk about 4 key ingredients in the raw food diet, and made 3 recipes using ‘secret’ ingredients: Marinara Pasta, Strawberry Tartlets, and Chocolate Pudding “slash” Frosting.

(this video’s audio is totally out of synch, and I’m trying to get my hands on a better copy of the segment, which I’ll upload later)

I was a guest on San Diego Living with host Erin Mikael’s Green Scene segments on June 24, 2010, and then again on June 27th. We make Cashew Kream with Fresh Red White and Blue Berry Parfaits and Fruit Tartlets.

On Day 3 of my SF book tour, I visited the vibrant Spencer Christian and beautiful Janelle Wang for a return appearance on their afternoon talk show The View from the Bay. Spencer already loves raw vegan foods, and this visit, we may have won Janelle over to our side with my Jap Chae Korean No-Cook Stir Fry Noodles and Berry Kream Tartlets. (The recipes follow below).

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

It’s always fun to be made up by a professional make up artist. Skye said she’s been working weeks without one day off. A perfect candidate for the raw vegan diet. 

Abbeba kicked off this show with her dehydrated crackers and salsa. I like to remind folks raw dishes like guacamole, salsa, gazpacho, and salads are already popular, so raw foods really aren’t that much of a stretch from what we’re already eating.

I met this pretty teen last year on my Ani’s Raw Food Desserts tour. She seems to have grown a foot or more, and has the coolest parents. Her pops brought her to the Ferry Building for my talk on Saturday, and her mom brought her to the TV station. She’s thriving on raw, and is continuing to convert and inspire her friends. What an inspiration.

The 2 recipes I made on air were for my Jap Chae, page 224, and Custard Tartletts, page 267. Jap chae is one of my favorite Korean noodle dishes, and it’s traditionally made with rice noodles.  This recipe was inspired by my mother, who pointed out how similar kelp noodles are to rice noodles.  Mom helped me figure out how to season my noodles with pretty much the same ingredients as the cooked version.

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

JAP CHAE – Korean No-Cook Kelp Noodles with Vegetables
(page 224, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup julienned carrot
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 (12-ounce) package kelp noodles
• Soy sauce (Nama Shoyu is unpasturized)

Place the onion and mushrooms in a large mixing bowl and toss with salt or soy sauce until mixed well.  Nama Shoyu is a raw unpasturized soy sauce, and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a live food. Another wheat free soy is tamari, if you prefer that. Set aside for at least 15-20 minutes to marinade and soften.  Add the carrot and sesame oil.  Mix well.  Add the noodles and toss to mix well.

Custard Tartlets
(page 267, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

CRUST (food processor):

• 2 cups nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pitted dates

CASHEW KREAM (blended)

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water

TOPPING

• whole fresh berries

To make crust, add nuts and salt into your food processor, and process into small pieces. Add dates to bind together your batter.

Line tartlet pan with plastic wrap. Press 2 tablespoons of the batter into pan. Remove tartlet crust, and place on plate.

Make kream by blending cashews with vanilla and water until smooth.

Scoop into tartlet crust. Top with fresh berry, and serve.

We’re offering a special on raw cashews and kelp noodles this month in celebration of my newest book. For organic ingredients and my favorite kitchen tools, visit my estore at: www.GoSuperLife.com

I kicked off my SF book tour at the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market yesterday. It’s sunny and warm here in San Francisco, and the market was packed with people shopping locally and seasonally. This has got to be the best farmer’s market in the country. I found amazingly sweet peaches and beautiful heirloom squash that are only available 1-2 weeks a year. What a treat!

I spoke to a full house about the benefits of raw food, weight loss, natural living, happiness, and my new book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. I demoed a recipe for TOMATO AND TARRAGON BISQUE, page 137, and STRAWBERRY KREAM PIE, page 266.

Sarah, who organizes the chef demoes, helped me portion and pass out samples. Most people in the audience were already familiar with raw foods, but it’s always fun to watch their reactions when they taste one of my raw recipes. Of course, folks loved  the soup and dessert. You can see Barry Jan behind the camera on the left, and you’ll find a couple of his photos in Ani’s Raw Food Essentials from last year’s farmer’s market talk and demo.

This may have been my longest line for book signing yet. Patient people stood in line for 50 minutes to meet me and to have me sign their books. What a huge honor for me that folks would wait around so long. I love meeting people, hearing their stories in person, and feeling the love they share with me. This bright energy is what keeps me doing what I do…it fuels my soul.

It was lovely to see many long time friends, like Dr D, and old friend from LA who now lives in Thailand. He happened to be in town, and brought me a moss monkey that’s the cutest plant I’ve ever seen! He’ll have to care for monkey while I’m in Florida since I don’t think it would make it on the plane.

Another long time friend and two lovebirds Jeff, who took all these photos for me, and Frog.

Hanging out at this awesome farmers’ market on a warm, sunny day was the best way to spend my Saturday. From here, I headed to Napa next….

For weeks, friends had been calling to say they saw a poster of me on Beverly Blvd. Now I can see why. Erewhon is the greatest store in the world for everything raw. Juan Hernandez has been the Erewhon force behind this great raw department. I’m holding a print gift from Tyler Golden, my food photographer, of my Mandu Dumpling recipe from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. I love it!

Another photo in front of my poster, this time with one of my favorite actors and directors Vincent Gallo. He directed and acted in Buffalo ’66 (1998) with Christina Ricci, who I love too. I attended high school in Buffalo, and enjoyed watching this film years ago. Buffalo ’66 was the first time I saw the camera effect when the set stays still and the camera pans 360 around the characters. This was a year prior to the same effects in the Matrix film.

It was another packed house on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Erewhon in Hollywood. I demonstrated how to make my Strawberry Kream Pie using dates, cashews, vanilla, and strawberries. The lovely Christy Morgan (in purple) volunteered to help me portion out the tastes and get them into the crowd. Everyone loved the dessert, it was fast and easy to make, and tasted delicious.

I talked about the importance of probiotics in our diets. In America, we take antibiotics, which kill off all our healthy intestinal flora. Probiotics will help us to regain balance in our digestive tract. My new book includes a chapter on probiotic drinks including kefir and kombuch, and another on probiotic pickled vegetables inspired from my Korean heritage.

I always love signing books after a talk and food presentation. It’s when I really get to connect with people and hear their stories. These two lovelies are getting married soon, and told me they’re planning to have 3 raw cakes at their wedding.

I had previously met Dana at one of the Community Services Unlimited gardens, where she was elbow deep planting greens in the dirt. Her garden is beautiful, very well maintained, and full of the most delicious plants. Read my post on the CSU, Inc gardens.

Thank you to Juan for hosting, Christy for helping, Tyler Golden for taking photos, and Raw Sangha’s Brother Echo for filming yesterday’s event. Brother Echo said he’d have a video up that I’ll link to in a day or so. Thanks everyone for joining me and celebrating my new book!