Native Foods Blog

5 Reasons to Vegan This Week!

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Cafe

 

1. Easy Vegan Options! -From Whole Foods to Trader Joe’s and even regular old school grocery chains but just heard about the Hilton in…are you ready?....Dallas, Texas! Anatole’s Nana restaurant is riding wild with options. Yeeehaaaaawwww! 

 

2.Natural Disaster Preparedness-When power goes out, pull out your trusty butane stove, dried lentils, water, dried spices and make a great soup for you and the neighbors. Don’t forget to keep a pot in your kit. Did you see the picture of Irene from space?

3. Factory Farming-99% of animals raised from food come from factory farms and that means minimally 10,000 heads of animals are raised in one confined large area, not healthy or friendly. Even if you are just getting into the vegan thing you can still walk the walk…with Farm Sanctuary's Annual Walk for Animals. 

 

4. Cappuccino Milk Shakes and French Toast- Not necessarily together, but when in Chicago there is a fun diner called Pick Me Up Café that has what you need vegan style 24 hours on weekends at until 3am other days. 

 

5.Greek Street Food Goes Vegan-Try this vegan tzatziki recipe as an app, on a sandwich,  as a topping on  a warm meal. From my last cooking demo!

Vegan Tzatziki

1 cup unsweetened non-dairy yogurt

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

2 each cucumbers, peeled, seeded & grated

3-4 each garlic cloves, minced

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

2 TBSP fresh dill, chopped

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use!

The Power Of Pickles

By Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Cafe 

They used to cost a nickel and they still are a great price considering that pickles can save your life. 

There a few different ways to power your pickle... including a salty brine (Native Foods Cafe)

There are a simple old school ways to prepare pickles that have stood the test of time. I am not referring to the pickles you may see at the market loaded with sugar, preservatives and artificial colors. Beware the “Takuan” or daikon root pickles you get in some sushi restaurants or at the market that are bright yellow, they should be brown. 

Should be more of a lighter brown like this, rather than a bright yellow (Naive Foods Cafe)

 

What happens in traditional pickle making is a fermentation that then provides valuable digestive enzymes. Chewing your food well also provides a plethora of enzymes naturally, so slow down the gulping. Native people throughout the world have always included a small amount of pickles in their diet.  This is a great balance when eating cooked foods. 

Batches of fresh sauerkraut at The Cultured Pickle Shop. (Native Foods Cafe)

There are quick pickles and stronger longer pickles. Quick pickles get put in a salty brine for a short time and the latter a longer time. Both kinds are meant to be eaten in small amounts, but eaten regularly is when they work best. 

Tickle the pickle!  We serve three kinds of pickles at Native Foods Cafe: traditional dill, fried, and daikon and carrot!

When your body has the flora it needs in your inner workings it stimulates the immune system. Diet sodas and heavy sugars actually deplete the natural enzymes and therefore don’t help strengthen the immune system. So you can make your own pickles, or if live somewhere like, Berkeley, California you can stop in to see Alex  Hozven at the Cultured Pickle Shop.

Can't wait till Native Foods Cafe San Francisco opens so I can hang out at the pickle shop more often!

She has an amazing array of authentic Japanese and multicultural pickles. Ayurvedic Sauerkraut, Kim chee, burdock  root pickles with flavors and herbs beyond belief. No artificial anything here. 

I'm in pickle heaven!  (Native Foods Cafe)

Definitely put The Cultured Pickle shop on your map when you are in the San Francisco area. The beet and fennel pickles turn a B sandwich into an A+ and you get the extra “enzymatic action” perks…hey that would be a good name for a band!  

TIP: You can make a pickle with miso too. Cut some firm veggies like carrot, pumpkin, burdock root and bury in a some miso for one or two days. You can rinse before eating, chop into salad or warm rice. 

Miso Pickles photo courtesy of spindlesandspices.blogspot.com

native foods cafe, native foods cafe chicago, native foods cafe san  diego, vegan food, vegan restaurant

Animals Wearing Jewelry? How Peculiar.

by Christopher Arnett

Native Foods Cafe

Ever wonder where use of bull rings came from? Bulls always seemed to be depicted with them in popular imagery, so I decided to investigate a little into this seemingly bizarre practice (I have obviously not spent a lot of time around livestock, and dad left this part out of his stories about the farm back in Kentucky. Oh, well.). 

Putting rings where they don't belong.  Sounds like bad karma! (Nstive Foods Cafe)

The use of bull nose rings goes back to the earliest times recorded history. They were used in ancient Sumer, which was a civilization and region in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Sumer was first settled around 4000 B.C.E., so this was a very long time ago! On the Standard of Ur (an artifacts dating back to c. 2500 B.C.E.), nose rings are shown being used on cattle. 

Native Foods Cafe

Since bulls are such powerful animals, they can easily injure or even kill their handlers. Thus, the ring is attached to the most sensitive part of the bull: its nose. Bulls usually receive their nose rings when they’re six to eight months old. The animal is placed in a restraining device called a head gate, and some local anesthetic is usually employed. The ring is aluminum, stainless steel, or copper and can weigh as much as six ounces and be three diameters in size. Sometimes the ring is just a clip-on. The ring is reserved for those animals that get handled a lot, such as for livestock shows and breeding. A rope is usually tied to the ring so as to lead the bull around, thus giving rise to the saying “led around by the nose.” 

Oh lord.  What is going on here?  This cow better start freaking out!  Ugh. (Native Foods Cafe)

Calf-weaning nose rings are used as an alternative to separating calves from their mothers during the weaning period (doesn’t sound very nice—who would want to prevent a mother from feeding her child?). These rings have plastic spikes on them which make suckling uncomfortable for the mother cow, which then reject her own calf! Wow. 

Sick sick sick sick sick..... Wake up world.  What are we doing?  (Native Foods Cafe)

According to a report from the Canadian Farming Administration, 42% of all livestock-related fatalities are related to bull attacks, with only about one in twenty victims of a bull attack surviving. And for dairy farmers in some parts of the U.S., the hazards of bull handling are a significant source of injury and death. So is the moral of the story that bull-handling (i.e. piercing its septum and pulling it around with a rope or chain) is hazardous to your health? And if there was less of a demand for meat and dairy, perhaps there would be fewer fatalities? Hmmm…Maybe we should leave the nasal piercings for those creatures that actually have a say in the matter: humans!

Now that's more like it.  Rock that septum piercing Kelis!

Vegan food, native foods cafe vegan restaurant, native foods cafe chicago, native foods cafe san diego

6 Reasons to Vegan this Week!

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Cafe

 

1. President Bill Clinton told CNN he eats vegan. He now inhales tempeh. If the president can do it, you can?

 

 

2. Coming Soon New Porn Site-Vegan bodies get big ratings-PETA launching porn site as You Tube won't play their animal rights messages but does play some porn. A great way to stimulate the economy as well as new jobs in the vegan market place!

 

3. None of Your Beeswax-Lush Cosmetics have a new vegan lip balm out without beeswax, everyone is buzzing about it.

 

4. Another 60,000 lbs of beef recalled for E. coli contamination, why bother when there are Scorpion Burgers in the world?

5. Sunny Side Up- Maybe not so sunny. Free range eggs can be misleading as this most likely means they are not in cages but in super crowded large barns with dirty floors, and cold in winter and hot in summer. Try a tofu scramble instead... or try this vegan sunny-side-up recipe from Chow Vegan!

 

6. Berliners!- Berlin, Germany now will have a complete vegan grocery store called Veganz! Our favorite baker, Urban Housewife from San Francisco, is helping them bake! Road trip.....!!! Ach de Liebe!

 

Tomato Time!

By Chef Tanya Petrovna 

Native Foods Cafe

 

There are too many at the Farmers Markets now and they are practically giving them 

away.... so here are two things you can do:

 

1. A Slow Sauce-Get 2 lbs. that won’t make it until tomorrow (very very ripe, sweet 

and juicy) and chop them up. And put in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, some 

fresh basil leaves salt and pepper. Then bake at 300 for 2 hours until they are 

slightly dried and soft. Let cool, then spread on bread, baked tofu, sautéed tempeh, 

grilled seitan…the list goes on. 

Photo courtesy of healthygreenkitchen.com

2.  A Roasted Tomato Bread Salad-

Get 2 lbs. of those cute little cherry tomatoes that are growing like weeds everywhere right now!

Walk over to the fabulous bread stall at the market and get a baguette or some great

Italian loaf and rip it up into big bite size pieces and toss with 3 Tbsp. of olive oil.

Place the bread on one baking tray and lightly oil  a slightly deeper baking dish and

put the cherry tomatoes in it. 

With oven on 400,  bake the tomatoes and bread for about 20-25 minutes. Tomatoes

should just split and bread should be lightly toasted. 

Then mix bread in the tomato pan along with, ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, 2 Tbsp. 

balsamic vinegar,  1 Tbsp. of capers, 3 cloves of garlic, minced, salt and pepper.  

Feel free to get creative too and toss in any over ripe veggies from the garden. 

Native Foods Cafe California, Native Foods Cafe Chicago, vegan food 

 

You Know that Crusty Hollywood Type.... Fresh Fruit Cobbler!

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Cafe

Hollywood.  Some say it’s peachy and some say it’s crumby…I say it’s both!  Nothing better, when in LA, on a Sunday morning after a morning spiritual session (whatever that may be for you) to take a gander and peruse the Hollywood Farmers’ Market. 

The first thing to do is start with the Breakfast Biscuit from the Taste of Life peeps  and pick up a warm vegan cobbler from the Cobblermania Lady next door/tent!

Chef Tanya Petrovna (Native Foods Cafe) and her new friends at Taste of Life!

Then go get your groceries.  Groceries? What to get, where to start?…I say go with the flow.. Here’s how my day there began and ended… Eating vegan breakfast sandwich, I wander past all the produce first before I buy. In between sandwich bites, I test fruit samples, check for organic and ask about pesticide usage. That’s the most I like to think about and then I let the vibes of the food speak. For example I passed beef for sale, which just begged to be buried 6 feet under with gratitude. Then I hit the greens! 

Hollywood's got some goooood green yo!  Chef Tanya's faves! (Native Foods Cafe)

This vibed so loudly “You need me!” and upon reflection of when I ate them last I realized that it has been a couple of days. So I buy some.  I also see chanterelle mushrooms and think of a warm and wild mushroom salad, I see gorgeous artichokes and think of love and their soft warm and tender hearts. I got some organic impulse strawberries and ate them before they went in the bag. What about the fresh Italian yellow broad beans. I love anything yellow and thought of the recipe my mom made as a kid and buy a couple of pounds…Then I see the groovy peach dude

Peachy keen dude.  Weighin' em' up.  (Native Foods Cafe)

...ate a sample of some white peaches with bee stings (kisses), had a moment with God and Goddesses and bought them all…turned around in a blissful state and the white light led me to a tray of three types and colors of berries and the word cobbler flew into my head. I bought the berries and headed home right away, used ingredients I had at home and … 

Super Crispy Crusty Cobbler 

6 cups sliced peaches 

2-3 cups fresh berries of choice 

1 tsp.. freshly grated nutmeg 

2 Tbsp. corn or tapioca starch 

¼ cup brown sugar 

1 cup unbleached flour 

½ cup rolled oats 

½ cup brown sugar 

1/3 cup chopped almonds 

1/3 cup shredded coconut 

2 tsp. baking soda 

½ cup soy free Earth Balance 

¼ cup coconut oil 

1 Tbsp. vanilla paste 

Preheat oven to 375. 

1.  Put peaches and berries in a bowl and mix lightly with nutmeg, corn starch and 

brown sugar, then place in deep dish casserole. 

2.  Mix dry ingridients together in separate bowl to combine well. 

3.  Melt Earth Balance and add coconut oil and vanilla paste and let cool a bit. 

4. Mix liquid with dry to form a nice moist crumble and put evenly on top of peach 

berry mixture. 

5. Bake for 40 minutes, until peaches are soft and crust is crunchy and browned. 

6. Take your socks off and get ready to rock.

I rocked my socks while listening to Highway to Hell by AC/DC.

 

vegan food, vegan recipe, vegan cobbler 

 

 

 

Yurts?...Yes!!

by Christopher Arnett

Native Foods Cafe

 

“Glamping” seems to be becoming all the rage, with its mix of modern creature comforts (private bathrooms, flat-screen TV’s, Wi-Fi, etc.) and traditional camping. And the humble yurt is riding the crest of this popular trend. 

So does this mean while dining in the Native Foods Cafe in Costa Mesa, you are technically "glamping"?

But what exactly is a yurt? Where did it come from? Well, quite simply a yurt is a kind of tent (like a teepee). But it has a cylindrical bottom and conical top, with thicker walls.  Overall, it’s more homelike than the average tent. Traditionally, it’s felt-covered with a wood lattice frame, and of course, it’s portable! Yurts originated with nomadic peoples from Central Asia, such as the Mongolians and Turks. Today, yurts are still the principle form of dwelling for many people in the region, especially among Mongolians. 

The Mongolian nomads have evolved to transport by motorcycle... but their lodging remains the same.

But you don’t have to trek to Central Asia to experience a yurt (of course doing so would be awesome!). The Wilds, an organization in southeastern Ohio dedicated to conservation, offers luxury camping experiences through an on-site area called Nomad Ridge.  The yurts here boast private bathrooms, electricity, decks, and ceiling fans. Admittedly, when I first read that visitors to Nomad Ridge had a view of wild African animals from their yurts, my internal animal rights alarm started to go off. But, after reading that the goal of The Wilds is conservation and checking out their website, I’m pretty impressed! Their self-stated core ideology includes “commitment to and respect for nature” and “social and scientific relevance.” The facility provides nearly 10,000 acres of diverse habitat, and is continuously developing programs in the areas of conservation medicine; animal management, husbandry, and health; restoration ecology; conservation science training; and conservation education. All this and yurts, too? Sign me up! 

Native Foods Cafe Ohio will definitely be in Nomad Ridge.  We love yurts.. hint, hint Native Foods Cafe Costa Mesa!

And if you happen to be in SoCal and are looking for a nature-filled yurt experience closer to home, check out the Treebones Resort at Big Sur. The views are breathtaking, and you can even spend the night in a “human nest!” 

Made only more perfect with in-nest vegan dining!  Native Foods Cafe delivery?

And of course, we at Native Foods Café could not have a blog on yurts without paying homage to a yurt that holds a special place in our hearts: Native Foods CafeCosta Mesa!  Come by and check us out at our location that has made us an OC landmark. The yurt, like the food and the people, is fantastic! 

This image of the yurt that houses Native Foods Cafe in Costa Mesa is courtsey of www.fourletterlife.com.

 

 

The Rise of a New Way of Thinking?

by Holladay Allen

Native Foods Cafe

 

Has anyone checked out Rise of the Planet of the Apes yet?  My cousin saw it and said it was a must-see!  Smart sentient beings that aren't humans?  Not possible.... Think again.  And think hard.  Give us some reviews if you've seen it!

 

FLUORIDE.....is not what people are called that live in Florida

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Cafe

 

How would you like to take some medicine that has: 

1. NO FDA oversight 

2. NO Dose control 

3. NO side-effect monitoring 

4. U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services recommend a nationwide reduction 

5. 41% of teens have an overexposure issues to it currently. 

6. Illegal to dump in sea or surface water as is pollutant. 

7. Is a by-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry. 

Well, that’s what you are doing if you are drinking water that your city has added fluoride to. It’s been going on since the 50’s... and just now the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water are saying flouride levels are too high. This is four years AFTER the National Research Council reported to Congress the amount added to public water should be reduced. 

This dude is wearing a crazy protective suit just to handle the fluoride... and we're supposed to put it in our bodies?  Eek.

WHY is there fluoride being added to our water supplies? Well, it’s all about dental health and cavities. I would say let’s make it a city ordinance to not eat junk food with sugar first before adding the stuff to the water, or passing out free toothbrushes, but I’m not mayor…..yet! 

A fabulous inexpensive toothpaste without fluoride... Baking Soda!  Straight outta the box yo.

Apparently most of the studies that show fluoride helps with tooth decay refer to topical treatment... not from ingesting internally. There is a group composed of Professors of Emeritus with degrees and PhD’s from Cambridge, Dartmouth, University of Calgary and UC Berkeley that are involved with trying to ban fluoride from drinking water and have published a book The Case Against Flouride for your reading pleasure. 

Some citizen groups in Tennessee, New Hampshire, Arkansas and Alaska have introduced state legislation requiring home water bills to be printed with a warning that says not to give the fluoridated water to infants. The Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association continue to promote fluoridation of public water systems. Google up and find out more! Start a group in your city. 

(Native Foods Cafe California, Native Foods Cafe Chicago)

 

 

5 Reasons to Vegan this Week!

by Chef Tanya Petrovna Native Foods Cafe 1. Ellen DeGeneres makes it cool to learn about being vegan with a new vegan blog.    2. Ask Dr. Hu! One of the researchers on the new Harvard study that says replacing meat proteins (like hot dogs!) with plant proteins reduce the risk of Type II diabetes. You won't find any hot dogs at Native Foods Cafe in Chicago!  But try our amazing Chicago Dip Au Jus! 3.Gucci makes a slick vegan moccasin for men now, thanks for sharing Joshua from the Discerning Brute blog!  4.A delicious vegan graham cracker thanks to Sweet and Sara. Don't forget the vegan marshmallows they make to go with them and I know you have chocolate at home. Mash all 3 up in some vegan vanilla ice cream and see if you are missing anything eating a vegan dessert. 5.Rawtella! My fave part of growing up and eating in Europe was slathering the Nutella. Hazelnuts express feeling and flavor like no other nut. If you can't find at your local natural market you can always shop www.veganstore.com for some.