My NYC tour kicked off last Monday at Rockefeller Center on the set of LX New York at NBC studios. I chat about the benefits of a raw food diet with hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. You can watch my segment here, though it’s stretched out horizontally and the audio is out of synch. (As soon as I get my own copy of the segment, I’ll repost)

Tuesday evening, I had a food demo, talk, and book signing at Bonobo’s Restaurant. The room was packed with folks eager to learn more about raw food nutrition and recipes. I demonstrated how fast and easy it is to make my Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad with zucchini, tomato, avocado, and herbs.

Pictured above is Rose Voisk of the World Olympians Association. She was a gymnast in the 1948 London Olympics. She looks great, is vibrant, and strong. A testament for eating well.

Wednesday evening, I was hosted by the lovely Hyacinth Mills of New Life Journeys and her Montclair Raw Food Meetup Group. I demoed my Super Cacao-Coconut Energizer smoothie recipe from page 39 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. Hyacinth’s group is full of vibrant folks excited about raw foods. Her husband and 2 boys are handsome as can be, and Hyacinth has a natural glow of beauty. A great spokes model family.

I had randomly bumped into Hyacinth at Port Authority late on Monday night, 2 evenings before our event, as we were both catching our buses back to NJ that night. What’s the chances of that? It’s magic!

Thursday night I was at Organic Avenue for a workshop hosted by Mia Santos Andres. Above are my lovely assistants Sara, Sam, and Lee who helped to prep my recipes and samples, and then helped me set up before my workshop. They all had that glow of inner health and beauty. What angels!

In my workshop, I demoed my Tomato and Tarragon Bisque, page 137, Pad Thai Kelp Noodles, page 227, and Strawberry Kream Pie, page 266 from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. It was another packed house with great audience participation, questions, and book signing.

Thanks Mia for a great event, and for my goodie bag full of green juice in the cute Organic Avenue bottle, and BlackBird Truffles, handmade by raw model Anthony Andersen. Yum!

Mia is so pretty, I look shiny. Ha haaaa. I can’t wait to get back to NYC before another 6 years passes….

My introduction to Sarasota RAWked! Exploring my idea that creating something together with other people in our raw community, rather than going it alone, is more fun, plus makes a bigger splash. We produced and threw down a pumping RAWktail Party, it was the biggest and most successful raw event in Florida to date! Dress code was RAWkstar, of course. A wonderful event and a very warm welcome to Florida and Sarasota.

A RAWstar RAWktail Party isn’t complete without headshots. Is that too cheezy?….

We brought together a fun crowd of local hipsters, movers, and shakers. Raw foods help us feel great, look our best, and fuel up for a long night of celebration. Raw food is also great for recovery, detox, and combating damage after a night of partying too hard and not sleeping enough.

The event was held at the Weller Historic Estate, and it was filled with rich period furniture and wonderful styling details. The host Jeff Weller is below in the white button down and jeans. I was to discover later that Jeff gives great massages!

The Weller Historic Estate was at full capacity with well over 120 attendees, and the energy was contagious.

I demoed 4 recipes, which follow below, while people stood around a 20 foot long table to watch and learn how to make fast, easy, delicious raw food treats. Below is Bryant Meyers, to the right, an ingredient sponsor who’s home is packed full of cutting edge healing therapy machines like an infrared sauna and scalar wave technology. I was skeptical at first, but the scalar waves made me pass out and sleep restfully the following day. Now I’m a believer.

Above is the spread for our Taco Wraps, served in a cabbage leaf. With raw food, it’s easy to have our ‘kitchen’ anywhere, even in the living room.

Lisa Tomasi, in pink, runs the Naples raw food meet up group. She saved the day and was the best assistant I’ve ever had! A testament for raw foods, Lisa drove over 2 hours to come to the event, worked all night, drove home, then came back the next day again. An enegizer bunny and beautiful woman.

The man in black above is Vincent Dessberg, who has a roof top garden on a warehouse in the industrial area of town, called “I Grow My Own Veggies”. He sponsored cabbage, edible flowers, herbs, and strawberries. I harvested from Vincent’s garden just a few hours before the party. It was amazing to see so much food growing on top of an industrial warehouse!

Now, for my recipes. Enjoy!

To make Cashew Kream, place cashews, honey, vanilla, and water into blender. blend smooth. Add as little water as possible for thicker consistency.

To make Chocolate Sauce, place honey or agave and cacao in blender. Blend smooth.

Day 4 of my SF tour was a dream come true. I visited the YouTube Google campus in San Bruno, where Chef Fletcher Starkey and Pastry Chef Jenna served up 6 raw vegan recipes in their campus cafeteria (recipes follow below).

They labeled each of my raw food dishes with my headshot photo, and they tasted delicious! I enjoyed lunch with my beautiful hosts before my talk, from left to right: Cat, Jill, and Cheryl Pon.

My chili recipe with Taco Nut Meat….how cool is this!

2 raw food salads. Folks said they didn’t even realize these recipes were raw! They liked the texture of the wild rice and loved all the flavors and colors.Raw food desserts included my Pineapple Ice Box desserts from Ani’s Raw Food Desserts, chocolate truffles, and a blended cantaloupe with blueberries. Yum, and just what I needed before my talk…cacao!

After a delicious lunch, we made our way over to the “UN Auditorium”. It was indeed tiered, just like at the United Nations, and was wired with video, projection screens, and monitors. All set up and ready to go for netcasting between all the Google campuses!

What an experience to speak in a fully wired room to YouTube and Google employees across all campuses! YouTube is amazing, enabling us to reach a global audience.

In the mid 90s, I was Internet Media Director for Simon and Schuster. I produced a project where video jockeys went around the Mediterranean. They shot video and then overnighted video tapes to me in California. I would sit with my Avid editors and edit together educational clips, then upload onto our websites. Today, this is all instantaneous and accessible to everyone, thanks to YouTube!All campuses were connected for my presentation and food demo. Next we’ll need to find a way to send raw food through the internet, George Jetson’s style!

The recipes I made included:

Sprouted Wild Rice with Corn and Tomato

Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad

Fresh Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat

Pineapple Ice Box Dessert

Visit GoSuperLife.com for specials on Kelp Noodles and Raw Cashews, organic ingredients, and my favorite kitchen tools.

Video TRT: 4 min, 42 sec

This is a book trailer for my latest book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. In it, I show you how easy it is to make a delicious, fast, raw food Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat, from pages 145-146.

Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat (bean-free)
Makes 4 servings

A vegetable chili made with chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, and corn kernels. Spiced with cumin, and oregano for a real chili flavor similar to the cooked bean version. Top with Taco Nut Meat for an added layer of texture and south west flavor.

• 3 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup red and green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup mushroom, chopped, any type
• 1/3 cup corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 batch Taco Nut Meat, below

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl, and mix well. Scoop about 1/3 of the mixture into blender and puree. Scoop puree back into mixing bowl.

To serve, scoop into 4 serving bowls. Top with Taco Nut Meat, and enjoy.

Taco Nut Meat
Makes about 1 cup

Walnuts are ground and spiced with cumin and coriander to make this taco flavored nut meat crumble. Use it to top salads, soups, and inside wraps to add taco flavor and texture.

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin, ground
• 2 teaspoons coriander, ground
• 1 teaspoon Braggs or Nama Shoyu
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place walnuts into food processor, and process into small pieces. Add remaining ingredients, pulse to mix well.

Will keep for 1 week in fridge.

For organic ingredients and kitchen tools, visit my estore and Go Super Life!

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….

Wild rice is actually a grass, not a grain. It’s an aquatic seed that’s found mostly in the upper fresh water lakes of Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in North America.  It’s a great source of protein, minerals, B vitamins, folic acid, and carbohydrates. I enjoyed wild rice the other morning to help fuel my cardio workout later that day.

I like to soak wild rice in at least double the amount of water for 2 or more days. Rinse and change soak water at least 2 to 3 times each day. Soaked wild rice will never get as soft as when it’s cooked, but that’s what I love about it. It has a chewy, hearty mouth feel that’s really satisfying, especially when my body’s craving some complex carbs.

This simple, quick, delicious recipe is made with just a handful of ingredients. Personally, I leave out the oil and salt. But it will bump up the flavor profile if you choose to add it in.

Sprouted Wild Rice with Corn and Tomato
Makes 2 servings

• 1 1/2 cup soaked wild rice (started with 1 cup + 2 cups soak water)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon jalapeno pepper, deseed, dice, to taste
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, optional

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Toss to mix well.

Will keep for 3 days in fridge.

Here’s a super fast and easy recipe I made the other day when I had very little time to eat, but needed a break from my computer for a few short minutes. I didn’t feel like a green salad, and wanted something a bit more substantial.

Zucchini noodles tossed with diced tomatoes and avocado with a touch of garlic, rosemary, and oregano for an Italian flavor. This is delicious and beautiful.

Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad
Makes 1 serving

• 1 cup zucchini noodles, from about 1/2 zucchini, spiralized
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 cup diced avocado, peeled and seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon rosemary, dry
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano, dry
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Toss to mix.

To serve, transfer into bowl. Garnish with 1 tablespoon hemp nut.

Enjoy immediately.

Here’s a sneak peak into one of my favorite recipes from my new book, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials (available June 1st). We shot this recipe last Thursday for TV, cable, and web.

I’ve been craving raw Tomato Chili the past few days, so I made sure to pick up some beautiful tomatoes, bell pepper, and fresh oregano at the farmers’ market. When I went to make this last night, I realized I had run out of chili powder, so I used chipotle powder instead. It turned out spicy hot. To help cool it down, I made a batch of raw Taco Nut Meat, which helped a bit, but not enough. So then I added some Cashew Sour Kream, and that helped. It was delicious, and energized me to write late into the night.

This recipes is simple and quick to make. I enjoy the mediation of chopping with my knife. But you can also just place ingredients into your food processor and let it do the chopping for you for an even shorter prep time.

Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat
(from pages 145-146 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)
Makes 4 servings

TOMATO CHILI

• 3 cup tomatoes, chop
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chop
• 1/4 cup celery, chop
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, chop
• 1/3 cup mushroom, chop
• 1/3 c corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon garlic, mince
• 1 – 2 teaspoon chili powder, to taste
• 1 teaspoon cumin, powder
• 3/4 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dry
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, toss to mix well.

Place half of your mixture into your food processor or blender and puree. Scoop back into bowl with mixture and toss to mix well.

NUT MEAT TOPPING

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin, powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander, powder
• 1 teaspoon bragg’s or nama shoyu, or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into your food processor, and process into small pieces.

To serve, scoop raw Tomato Chili into bowls. Top with Taco Nut Meat. Enjoy.

Tomato Chili will keep for 1-2 days in fridge. Taco Nut Meat will keep for a week or more.