I had a wonderful Memorial Day and I hope you did too! Three-day weekends are the best. Plus, the weather in New York was just dreamy (ya know, sunny, breezy, and beautiful).
On Saturday I made raw chocolate ice cream using coconuts and cashews (instead of dairy). There’s tons of antioxidant rich raw cacao powder in the recipe, and it’s sweetened with agave nectar. I was excited to use my practically brand new ice cream maker that my Stepdad scored from a garage sale for $8. Suh-weet!! The chocolate ice cream recipe is from an amazing raw cookbook called Living Raw Foods by Sarma Melngailis. If you’re into raw food cooking, you will love it. (Note: you need some special appliances like a high speed blender and dehydrator to do most of the recipes).
Making the ice cream was no easy task, but I had a lot of fun. I bought fresh young coconuts on the street in Chinatown (for cheap!) and had fun learning how to chop them up with a cleaver. The coconut water inside was just divine and I used the soft white coconut flesh to make the creamy base for the ice cream. When the ice cream was done, I served it with raw chocolate sauce on top too! It was a true holiday treat.
My first coconut cracked open!!
Raw Chocolate Ice Cream w/ Chocolate Syrup
On Sunday, I made my famous red sangria (yes, it’s famous), and stored it in the refrigerator over night to bring to the beach on Monday. See recipe here. My roommates and I sipped it all day long and had fun eating the fruit at the bottom when the pitcher was empty.
Laurels' Yummy Red Sangria
When my boyfriend and I got home from the beach last night, I put together a quick dinner salad with slices of organic filet mignon on top and a thin piece of garlic bread. I just seasoned the filets with salt and pepper, seared them for 2 minutes in a skillet on each side, and popped them in the oven for 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Then I let them rest (before slicing them) while I made the salad. The steak came out to a perfect medium-rare and we were so happy. We even decided to start a Sunday night dinner salad tradition. It’s the perfect “filling without feeling heavy” meal. You can switch off meats too (like grilled shrimp, fish, chicken, pork tenderloin, or vegetarian options like a quinoa salad or homemade hummus).
Steak Salad w/ Avocado, Tomato, Onion, Sprouts
Wow, what an indulgent weekend! I had a blast experimenting in the kitchen and making some of my old favorites too. Oh, one more thing. I recently picked up a new ceramic knife by Kyocera. It’s extremely lightweight and cuts through fresh produce like a dream. Plus, it doesn’t need to be sharpened for 10 years! I’d love to get a whole set of ceramic knives at some point.
My new ceramic santoku knife!
Wishing you a great week. Lots of love,
Laurel
