Chickpea Veggie Burgers

June 20, 2014

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a lovely week and have some fun plans for the weekend. I will be venturing up North to visit my boyfriend’s grandparents and aunt. But before I do, I wanted to share my new chickpea veggie burgers with you all.

Chickpea Veggie Burgers

Today I have some lovely vegetarian Chickpea Veggie Burgers (garbanzo beans for my American’s) for you all! I had a craving for something cheesy and filling a few nights ago and thought it would be fun to experiment .. ultimately resulting in this delish recipe. Chickpeas are a wonderful source of low G.I. carbohydrates, protein, fiber and a range of vitamins and minerals. A 1 cup serving of chickpeas contain 40g of carbohydrates, 2g of fat, 14g of fiber (wow!! almost half of your daily requirement), and 14g of protein. They also contain a fair amount of iron, which is great for the ladies, especially ladies who choose not to eat red meat. These chickpea burgers are not vegan because they contain asiago cheese. However, they can be made vegan if you omit the cheese that is in them, or replace it with vegan cheese, but I cannot guarantee the same texture and taste if you do this.

Excited? Hungry? Hopefully both, so let’s get cooking!

Chickpea Veggie Burgers

Alice Williams

Enjoy a healthy burger without the guilt!

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Servings 1

Ingredients

1 cup chickpeas
4 tbsp shredded asiago cheese
1 garlic clove
1 egg
1 tsp tahini
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp himalayan pink salt or any high quality salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees farenheit
2. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth. You can make it as smooth or as chunky as you please.
3. Form the mixture into two burger patties, and then place in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, BROIL the burger patties on high for 2 minutes.
4. Serve naked, on some sourdough bread, on a tortilla like I did, or whatever your heart desires. And don't forget to add your veggies too!

Notes

Makes 2 large patties or 4 small ones.

Yummmm. They are so filling and delicious, in love! I hope you all enjoyed them as much as I did. I love having mine with plenty of spinach (my go to leafy green) and tzatziki. What do you have yours with?

Honestly yours,
Alice

Health

GreenHopping App

June 10, 2014

I had the good fortune to bump into Catherine Cuello, founder of the GreenHopping App, when I went to Project Juice a few weeks ago (recap can be found here). Funny how life works out like that, although I suppose it’s not crazy to think that two like-minded health and wellness individuals could meet in a juice shop in San Francisco 🙂

We got talking and I discovered that Catherine is the creator of this innovative and nifty app, which helps you locate green juice bars and plant-based restaurants … how cool is that?! At present, the GreenHopping App can only be used in New York but it will be launching nation-wide in the United States on June 30th and there are plans for expansion to Europe and Canada!

Catherine was kind enough to let me ask her some questions about GreenHopping and their mission, I hope you find it as interesting and informative as I did!

Hi there, Catherine! Tell us a bit about what the GreenHopping App is, and how it works.

GreenHopping is an application for mobile devices that assists consumers to locate healthy, green juice bars and plant-based restaurants. GreenHopping’s database contains over 1000 juice and vegan-friendly establishments (900 in the United States and over 100 others in Europe and Canada), with almost 370 in New York City alone. The “app” has been previewed on CBS, FOX, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan Magazine, among others.

It’s connected to your phone GPS system, so it will know exactly where you’re standing and will place green pins on the map for you to find and/or can draw a route for you to get there. You can also browse menus, view the tip of the day section, and by the end of 2014 – actually purchase your green juice or plant-based meal over the app and opt to have it delivered or picked up.

Where did the inspiration for GreenHopping come from?

The inspiration for the app is rooted in my own eating habits and lifestyle, which were a direct result of a health scare I suffered in 2012 at age 23. I lost my left ovary to a malignant germ cell tumor and opted to go “natural” and recover from surgery with a raw food diet and green juices. It’s been an amazing self-discovery journey full of a-ha! moments with lots of inspirational and beautiful people along the way.

What do you think made GreenHopping take off?

I think it’s a combination of the demand for more healthy food options and peoples awareness about the powerful connection food has on the body and mind. Once you start eating healthy and realize how much better you feel, you don’t want to stop. The app is a great tool to keep it up, feel inspired, and empowered. We want to bring the greens to the people. And since everyone is on their mobiles these days, it’s the perfect way to achieve it!!

Tell us a little bit about the brains behind GreenHopping.

I couldn’t have done ANY of it without my partner’s support (he’s also the co-founder of the company and we met 2 weeks after my transition to raw and vegan in Miami) and my mother’s encouragement, love, and faith. My high-school best friend and my dad have also been pivotal as they’re my go to people when I want to cry and complain! It has been incredible and so self-gratifying – the fact that I know this can help other people means everything to me. So yes, the “brains” are combined brains because no man is an island … and we all need some love and support to make things happen! But, I’m definitely determined and won’t stop when I put my mind to something!

What is your lifestyle like? Could you describe a day in the life of Catherine Cuello?

Raw till dinner, occasional sprouted breads when I’m in the mood for that, and juices and smoothies all day long! I love it! Dinner is usually black rice or quinoa with oven baked kale … olive oil, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and a little sea salt! When I want to “splurge” it’s usually with Ezequiel raisin bread, raw almond butter, and bananas or some oven baked potatoes with cashew cream. I stay away from all things processed including tempeh and tofu.

What’s the deal with green smoothies and green juices? Why should people take notice of them?

They are an amazing way to intake nutrients and vitamins. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes, to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. It’s powerful and great for your day-to-day energy levels and health. Plus, there are so many combinations you can make that it never gets boring. Nature is amazing!

Favourite homemade and bought green juice/smoothie drink?

Hmmmm … well on a daily basis I have a smoothie made of: blueberries, strawberries, sometimes cherries, banana, spinach, coconut water and chia seeds. Juice is always kale, spinach, celery, cucumber, ginger, mint, lemon. However, I LOVE Paleta’s strawberry “milk” shake and Pressed Juicery’s almond milk. They are incredibly good and do not have any agave or coco sugar! In New York, I am a big fan of LoveGrace’s probiotic smoothie (sooo good) and of LuliTonix’s green blends – she uses figs to sweeten her blends and it’s great!

Favorite vegan restaurant?

That’s easy… Gracias Madre! Greens in San Francisco is delicious too and One Lucky Duck and Hangawi in NYC are also pretty mind‐blowing. Oh,and the Butcher’s Daughter!

How can we help make health a priority for those who may not be interested?

That’s part of GreenHopping’s mission. We believe that an 80% plant-based diet is necessary in order to be in good health and be prepared to face the complexities of today’s way of living. GreenHopping strives to motivate consumers to think twice about what they eat and encourage them to reject packaged or processed food. Our mission is to help inspire lifestyle changes by facilitating access to healthy food and by educating consumers about the beneficial effects of eating a plant-based diet. Our goal is to create change via technology, by introducing a more ‘natural’ lifestyle in a way that’s accessible and applicable to today’s consumer habits via a mobile food locator and delivery platform. Lastly, common diseases like obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are directly linked with nutrition … we all need to start paying attention sooner or later.

What health trends do you think will appear in the next few years?

A demand for organic, gluten-free and dairy-free food establishments or products! I think this trend will be evident in Europe as well. The whole world is catching on.

What can we expect from GreenHopping in the future?

A mobile payment system! Until healthy food becomes more abundant in all neighbourhoods, GreenHopping wants to be the #1 access provider for finding healthy food.

Second, GreenHopping would like to push our grassroots initiative: encouraging grocers and supermarket chains that are frequented by food stamp recipients to provide greener, healthier choices, and to gain the support of green juice companies to 1) donate products to schools and become their “sponsor”, and 2) have them expand their product distribution to areas in need.

Third, community initiatives such as farmers markers, urban farming, urban agriculture education, and mobile food vans can help fill the gap through local partnerships and collaborations.

I hope you enjoyed this interview with Catherine, co-founder of GreenHopping! If you want to connect with GreenHopping, their website is www.greenhoppingapp.com and they can be found on various social media networks including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Honestly yours,
Alice

Health, Products I love

Bisogno Pasta: Gluten-Free & Vegan

May 21, 2014

Bisogno Pasta: Gluten-Free & Vegan

What a treat I have in store for all of my readers who suffer a gluten intolerance or happen to be following a vegan diet 🙂 Today I want to introduce you to Bisogno Pasta! They are a California based brand and currently sell their products in Southern California. Luckily for all us Northern Californians, Bisogno Pasta are currently expanding to the Bay Area, woo hoo!

I came across Bisogno Pasta and was instantly intrigued by them. Why? Because they are the only fresh gluten free and vegan pasta currently on the market. Their nutritional values were super impressive, boasting 20g of protein (as much as 4 ounces of chicken) and 23g of fiber (basically fulfilling how much fiber you need in a day). Their pasta is made from lentil flour and water and so absolutely no gluten, wheat, corn, rice, soy, dairy OR eggs were used at all!

I really wanted to try Bisogno Pasta because I have tried a few gluten-free pastas for fun but honestly, they were all kind of … lacking. Bisogno Pasta kindly sent me samples of their three flavors of pasta: beet, lemon parsley, and spinach. My boyfriend and I had a lot of fun thinking up some recipe’s to try out the pasta and were seriously so impressed. The texture and taste were both fantastic, and I would never had known that it was missing wheat and eggs if I had not known beforehand. I think my favorite was the spinach pasta (who doesn’t want a way to incorporate more veggies into their diet?) but my boyfriend preferred the lemon parsley. All flavors were fantastic though, and I encourage you to try them!

Here are some photos of what we made followed by the recipes 🙂

Spinach and lemon parsley pasta with cashew pesto and smoked salmon

Ingredients

1 serving of spinach bisogno pasta
1 serving of lemon parsley bisogno pasta
4-8 ounces of smoked salmon (I used honey smoked salmon)
Cashew pesto – I used walnuts instead of cashews in mine however because I had run out of cashews!
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese to garnish
A few basil leaves to garnish

Serves 2 people

1. Prepare the cashew pesto first and then set aside for now.
2. Prepare the bisogno pasta according to instructions – boil in hot water for 4 minutes.
3. Serve pasta and top with a generous serving of cashew pesto, smoked salmon and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Beet pasta with Thai style chicken

Ingredients

1 serving of beet bisogno pasta
16 ounces of chicken
1 can of coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 sliced carrot
2 cups of cauliflower
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fish sauce
1tsp red chilli flakes (feel free to add more if you like spice!)
OPTIONAL – 1 cup enoki mushrooms

Thai style chicken will serve 4. Make 4 servings of bisogno pasta to use all of it or store the rest away as leftovers.

1. Prepare the thai style chicken 1 day in advance. Using a slow cooker/crockpot, put all of the ingredients (minus the bisogno pasta) into your slow cooker and set on ‘LOW’ for 7-8 hours. Keep in slow cooker on ‘WARM’ setting until you make your pasta.
2. Make bisogno pasta according to directions – boil for 4 minutes.
3. Serve pasta with 1/4 of the chicken that you made. The chicken will serve 4 people and is a great leftover meal!

I cannot waaaait until Bisogno Pasta expands to the Bay Area. When it does it is going to be a constant in my kitchen! Can’t wait to make people think they are eating normal pasta and then tell them the nutritional profile hehe.

I am curious, how many of you are actually gluten-free and vegan?

Honestly yours,
Alice

DISCALIMER: I was not paid to write about bisogno pasta. I only ever write about brands which I believe in and have high quality and healthy products.