The Choice to Cook

Life can go in a vast array of directions. It can also start up stream and decide to whip around and change course dramatically. Often I see my life in colors. Some days are filled with brightness chartreuse light slipping around me, while the blue in the sky beams down making all the colors of the world around me magnify. Other days, are filled with a deeper contrast. Indigo blue shrouds my sight, and a dark sultry red trickles delicately onto everything I create. It is on these days, the dark days that I crave creativity more than ever. The kitchen was always home to me. The smells of my childhood are cilantro, parsley, basil, rosemary, and garlic on soft hands. I was born an introvert, I cared more for my colored pencils, and my animals than I did for people. There was an exception to this, and that was I blossomed when I created food for others. It was exactly like when I wrote words on my favorite paper, cooking became a means of expression, a way to show people I loved them, a way to create beauty through simplicity.  Food is nourishment for your body, but when you eat food that is pure that is real it is nourishment for your soul. The choice to cook, was a decision I made for myself, but it has grown it has rooted deep within me and now my desire is to share this love with others. Beyond making meals and sharing recipes I also want to make a point to stop people around the world from going hungry. There is plenty of sustenance on this earth for all, but just as my course changed the planets course has altered from the choices of mankind. I cook to bring joy to people, I cook to create something magical out of what some would deem ordinary ingredients, I cook to bring life to my body and others bodies, I cook to create beauty, I cook to remember my childhood, and I cook to create my future. As I spend late nights configuring how my first cook book is going to look, the voice that will be present, and all the other little details that create a whole, I am most excited about sharing vegan simplicity with people all over the globe. I am hopeful that one book will turn into 10 books, and that every book will give back to people who deserve for more than myself. ❤

Lilla Baci Weekly Menu

                                                                    Lilla Baci- Weekly Menu

Above is a link to the official weekly menu for Lilla Baci!! I am beyond excited about this next step in spreading the word on organic vegan cuisine and lifestyle! For the first time I am putting all of my energy and time into growing a beautiful vegan business. Vegan food is such an adventure. For many who were not raised in a vegan or vegetarian household it is a whole new exploration in the kitchen. It also forces you to make a connection with your plate. You start becoming interested in where your produce comes from, new ingredients bring you to different locations and connect you with fabulous local organic farmers that you begin to establish relationships with. The vegan community I am becoming part of has become family. Like minds and like hearts striving for a similar purpose; to give every creature on this earth a fair chance at a wonderful life. I would love for you all to take a minute and read through the menu! It will be changing weekly based on the produce available through my farmers and the seasons. I would love to hear all of your thoughts! I thank you for sharing this with me and I look forward to getting to know so many of you on a more personal level! Blessings and love to all! xoxo

                                                            

Roasted Beet Salad with Baby Kale, Blackberries, and Tangerines dressed with a Balsamic Reduction

This colorful array of goodness has been my favorite salad since I was a tiny little girl. I have always adored beets, their rich varying colors, their earthy robust flavor. Simply sent from the divine. In this dish the roasted beets give way to the sweet juiciness of blackberries, and then a tart blast from the tangerines all evened out by the grounded baby kale. The balsamic reduction that is added with the warm beets becomes a caramelized sensation that brings you on a journey you will want to take again and again. This dish brings together simple, seasonal ingredients and takes you back to what nourishment from food is all about. Get ready to crave this daily!!

Roasted Beet Salad with Baby Kale, Blackberries, and Tangerines dressed with a Balsamic Reduction

Serves: 3-4

The Goods:

2-3 Bunches of beets, red, candy, golden whatever is available

2 bunches of kale, or a bag full of baby kale

2 tangerines

1/2 pint of blackberries (more if you so desire)

2 cups balsamic vinegar

1 bunch of parsley

10 basil leaves

lemon zest and tangerine zest

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves

salt and pepper

Put it all together:

Wash beets well, you can save the greens if you wish and make delicious sauteed beet greens. Place washed beets in a roasting dish. Rub olive oil, salt and pepper all over them and place in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The beets will take about an hour to an hour and half depending on size. You want them soft yet firm. While the beets are roasting, prepare the kale and herbs. Wash the kale well, if you are using bunches of lacinato kale, de-stem it first and then wash well. If using baby kale just wash well and add to your favorite salad bowl. Chop basil, parsley and garlic cloves. Add to bowl with kale. Zest one lemon and one tangerine and add zest to salad bowl. Massage all with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add tangerine and blackberries. When the beets are finished roasting take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on a cutting board. Once cool peel the skin off and slice however you wish. Now for the balsamic reduction. You will put the two cups of balsamic in a pan over medium heat, feel free to add lemon zest or herbs of your choice. Let the balsamic reduce for about 5-7 minutes. It will reduce to a gorgeous thick syrup. Pour this reduction right over the warm beets in the salad and then toss the salad together. You can also add fresh squeezed lemon juice for an extra punch! That is all. Simple ingredients, exquisite taste.

Enjoy!

Organic Vegan Cupcakes

Chamomile Cupcakes

Raspberry Vanilla Fusion

Ginger Spice

Pistachio Rosewater

Blood Orange Grand Manier Cupcake with Citrus Frosting and a Candied Blood Orange

Almond Joy and Ginger Spice

Chocolate Raspberry Burst

Blackberry Cabernet Cupcakes

Mint Chocolate

 

For the love of organic vegan cupcakes! I love making new flavors of cupcakes, so many to try and conquer. Let me know which ones you like the look of and I will post the most requested recipe! If you need it to be gluten free and or sugar free I can help make that happen! 🙂 Hope you are all having a beautiful Saturday!