I visited Erewhon Natural Foods in Los Angeles on May 28, 2011 along my book tour for Ani’s Raw Food Asia. Erewhon is my favorite Raw Food store. These beautiful photos are courtesy of the very talented Sherman Lee at http://www.digitalslimages.com.

Juan Hernandez, the store manager, makes sure to offer the largest range of Raw Food products and brand, and has created the nexus for Raw Foods here in LA. Juan was one of my earliest supporters of my SmartMonkey Foods packaged and prepared foods products.

Each year’s visit celebrating my new book always draws a packed house. I love Erewhon!

I showed everyone how easy it is to make my Mushroom “Bul Go Gi”, from Ani’s Raw Food Asia, page 186, using mushrooms marinated in tamari or nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), toasted sesame oil, asian pear, and sweetener of choice like agave or brown rice syrup. We topped off these beautiful Lettuce Wraps, from page 188, with my version of a traditional Korean Gochujang Sauce, page 225, made with miso, sesame oil, chile powder, and sweetener like agave.

Following my food demo and Q+A…next, I get to sign books and meet people 1 on 1!

This tour, many people had me sign multiple copies of Ani’s Raw Food Asia for friends and family. I do love when people bring their entire collection for me to sign too…..a blessing for me.

My friends Ron Gilmore and Caroline Jue create an awesome animated series called Rawman & Green-Girl. They are doing great work educating and sharing information about our food sources.

Elaine R. Johnson hand delivered this beautiful porcelain sculpture she made to me all the way from Arizona with her mom. Elaine is amazingly talented. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for such a beautiful gift.

This is the beautifully talented Elaine R. Johnson. She told me how challenging porcelain is to work with….cracking as it dries, or cracking out of the kiln during baking. A labour of love, it shows!

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 love my raw food sea vegetables for chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals from the ocean, iodine, and all things good for my health. Iodine works with our thyroid to help regulate our metabolism. Plus, I just love how sea vegetables taste. They’re naturally ‘salty’ from potassium rather than sodium. They’re a great add-on to any dish, and also make for a great recipe all on their own. I enjoy nori pretty much daily, wrapped up to hold my favorite fillings….like this arame salad.

Super fast and easy to make, this is a great recipe for when I’m short of fresh ingredients in my house. Seaweed is dried and shelf stable, and  I always have hijiki, arame, and nori on hand.

My new favorite spice is yuzu paste. Found at Japanese markets, the paste is made with an aromatic, sour Asian citrus fruit (yuzu) that’s highly salted with spicy chili added to the mix. It has a pungent flavor with kick of spice and salt, and I like to add a tiny bit of it to some recipes, like this one. If you can’t find yuzu paste, you can just use pinches of salt and chili pepper instead.

The following recipe is super simple, easy and fast to make. It’s how I feed myself on busy days when I don’t have time to spend in the kitchen. I hope you’ll enjoy this. If you want to make it more complex, try adding in a bit of garlic, ginger, and sliced green onions too.

Arame & Sugar Snap Pea Salad
Makes 2 servings

• 1 cup arame, soak for at least 1 hour in double the amount of filtered water
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon yuzu paste, to taste, or pinches of sea salt

Squeeze all excess liquid from soaked arame. Place into clean mixing bowl with sugar snap peas.

In another small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, and yuzu. Mix dressing into bowl with arame and snap peas, toss well.

Serve immediately.

Will keep for 1 day in fridge.