I know it’s been a quiet week here on TY. I was away in Northern California for the long weekend, for our women’s empowerment retreat RISE and it’s actually taken me more than a few days for me to come down from it all. Wow! What a weekend. I am still riding high on the incredible energy and vibes from the beautiful women that I had the pleasure of sharing space with for those 4 days. I plan to write up a whole post in review of the weekend, sharing photos, thanking brands and all of that good stuff, so look for that some time next week. For now, I am still buzzing and processing all of the amazingness that happened and slowly getting back into the routines of my regular living. Gosh this has actually been quite a challenge, this retreat changed me and it’s been hard to just jump back into life, as if nothing has happened.

Since I have returned I have slowly been getting back into my everyday routines, yoga, exploring recipes in the kitchen and I am actually finding more time for myself. I am making more time to write and to meditate and using the extra hours in the day to read and just unplug, as much as I can.

Wednesday of this week, our organic produce box from Beachgreens arrived at our front door, loaded with organic produce – it was like Christmas morning to me. Nothing fills me up the way cooking in my own kitchen does. After two weeks of traveling and lots of going, I was happy to see my own personal stash of goodies. This is the stuff that gets me excited to eat and keeps me going. I sincerely adore vegetables and most meals in our home are based solely around what vegetable I want to cook with. These beautiful Shanghai Bok Choy immediately had me excited. I typically go with Asian-inspired flavors, making stir-fries or serving alongside a ginger soy-glazed fish of some sort.

This time I wanted to create a different flavor profile for the bok choy and admittedly I wanted an excuse to create one last cashew cream sauce, since I won’t be consuming any nuts for the next month. Starting this Monday I am embarking on a 30-day healing journey of sorts. I am starting an Autoimmune / Leaky Gut Protocol. I am basically looking to overhaul my diet for a minimum of these 30 days to finally bring healing to my gut. These past few months I have been dealing with many digestive issues and constant stomach aches, bloating, gas and other issues, I was hoping to find some relief with the elimination diet I’ve been on since February and the various supplements and herbs I am taking and I just didn’t. If anything, with all the travel and how busy life is, my digestion is the worst it’s been in a while. I will be going more in depth into the details all of this next week, but, for those curious, the main plan I am following is similar to this. Though I will continue to not eat meat, as it is currently removed from my diet to give my kidneys a break, but I will be eating small amounts of wild caught fish and shellfish.

Basically I will be eating loads of veggies (minus nightshades), limited amounts of fruit, sustainable wild-caught seafood and shellfish, bone broth and lots of healthy fats. But, I have to say, I am certain I will miss things like cashews and hemp seeds, chia seeds and seed based spices. OK and chocolate, oh gosh no chocolate at all for 30 days?! What have I gotten myself into. But, I am going to do the best I can, right now taking control of my health and feeling better is more important to me than any foods, so I am committing myself and stepping up to the challenge.

I kept it somewhat simple for my last (for a while) cashew cream sauce. Just simply bright and flavorful lemon and garlic, these classic flavors are so complimentary of the flavorful roasted bok choy. Roasting the bok choy, as it is for roasting most other vegetables, brings out the inherent sweetness in it’s caramelization. What I especially love about roasted bok choy is how the core/stems get nice and tender and the leaves get super crispy, similar to kale chips. There is a delicate flavor to the bok choy that really lends itself well to a variety of different flavors and spices.

This essentially was our lunch. Best eaten with a fork and a knife. Pour on as much or as little cashew cream as you would like. We had a little leftover, but in this house, it never lasts long. It was gone by dinner, it made the perfect dipping sauce for the roasted sweet potatoes I made.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe as much as I do.

[print_this]Roasted Baby Bok Choy with Lemon Garlic Cashew Cream
serves 2-4

• 3-4 heads baby bok choy, trimmed and cut in half*
• 2 tablespoons Terra Delyssa Organic Olive Oil
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Lemon Garlic Cashew Cream

• 1 cup cashews, soaked at least 4 hours, drained and rinsed
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• juice and zest from 2 lemon (reserve a small amount of zest for serving)
• 1/2 cup water (you may need a little more or less)
• 1 tablespoon Terra Delyssa Organic Olive Oil
• sea salt, to taste

*I used Shanghai Bok Choi, but any variation will do

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Toss the halved bok choy with the olive oil, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, if using. Place cut side down on the parchment line baking pan and roast for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the bok choy over, cut side is now up and roast another 5 minutes.

While the bok choy is roasting, make the cashew cream. Add the drained, soaked cashews to your high speed blender, add the garlic, lemon juice and zest, reserving a small amount of zest for serving, water, olive oil and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.

When the bok choy is tender with crisp leaves and a small amount of caramelization, remove from the oven. Serve with the Lemon Garlic Cashew Cream drizzled over top and a sprinkle of lemon zest. Salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy. [/print_this]

 

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