Happy Friday, Bare Beauties!  Today, my friend Callie Baxter of the Organic Giraffe is guest blogging.  Until I met Callie, I didn’t know that hot girls could be foodies or that foodies could be hot girls.  Callie is both, and she is one of those easy-going souls you feel like you’ve known your whole life.  She started her culinary career as a pastry chef.  (You should have seen the American flag-cake-jello-shots she brought to our Fourth of July party one year.  They were so beautiful you didn’t want to eat, er, shoot, them.)  About a year ago, she tried a raw food cleanse and it not only changed her mind about how she wanted to eat, it sent her business plan in a whole new direction.  Hopefully, Charleston will soon have a not-just-another-juice-bar, but also a complete health food restaurant.  Our city has become a foodie’s mecca, but let’s be real.  We locals cannot eat pork belly and grits every day if we want to be healthy and fit.  I asked Callie to create a day’s worth of recipes that are okay to eat during my cleanse, but that are delicious enough to want to eat anytime.  This is good stuff, people.  Enjoy!

The O.G. on Detox:

Try mentioning that you are “detoxing” the next time you are out in public and you’re bound to get a reaction out of most people.  Some people think it’s a fad or trendy, while others swear by it getting them back into their skinny jeans.  For me, detoxing is more than just a number on the scale.  It’s a way of giving back to my body and showing gratitude for everything it has done for me, despite how I have mistreated it over the years! Beyond that, detoxing can literally change your life & the lives of those around you. No joke. I did my first detox of solely raw fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds almost exactly one year ago today. The benefits I reaped, both physically & mentally, lit a spark in me that led me to Bali to get certified as a raw food chef and detox coach. Despite all the incredible changes I have noticed in myself since my initial detox, I can honestly say the most gratifying part of this past year has been observing the positive impact my healthy lifestyle change has had on those around me. That’s what drives me. That’s what brings me here to this very post I am typing. It’s crazy if I sit back & think about it.  If you are thinking of trying a detox, there are a lot of different options out there. Just remember, detoxing should be a healing process, not a harmful one. I encourage you to try choosing a plan that nourishes both your body & your soul!

Detox Recipes:

 I. Breakfast: Green Ginger Detox Smoothie (serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 1 large handful spinach
• 1 inch piece of ginger (peeled)
• 2 small bananas (frozen)
• 2 dates (to taste)
• 1 cup coconut h20
• ½ lemon (juiced)

Instructions: Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Note: This is a great smoothie base but feel free to adjust ingredients and their amounts to your liking! This smoothie can be kicked up a notch by adding fresh herbs, cucumber, avocado, hemp seeds, or maca powder if you’ve got them in the kitchen!

 II.  Lunch: Vegan Caesar Salad w/Roasted Chickpeas & Garlic (serves 2-4)

Vegan Caesar Dressing

Ingredients:

• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup avocado oil
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
• ½ cup raw walnuts (soaked for 10 minutes)
• 3 cloves roasted garlic
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

Instructions: Place all ingredients in high-speed blender or food processor and process until creamy. Yields a little over a cup. Store dressing in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Lacinato Kale Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of lacinato kale (washed, de-stemmed & torn)
• 1 can chickpeas (roasted)
• 1 head roasted garlic (minus 3 cloves used in dressing)

Instructions: Toss kale in a large bowl with desired amount of the dressing, gently massaging to tenderize the leaves. Serve with roasted chickpeas and garlic.

Notes: Roasting chickpeas is as easy as rinsing, draining, tossing them in olive oil, seasoning, and popping them in the oven.  For this particular salad I made salt and vinegar chickpeas by first boiling the chickpeas in apple cider vinegar, then tossing in olive oil, sea salt and pepper and roasting at 450 for 30 minutes.

III. Dinner: Zucchini Pasta w/Raw Marinara & Capers (serves 4)

Ingredients:

Raw Marinara:

• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in 2 cups water for >15 min)
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/8 cup evoo
• ½ white onion (chopped)
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 handful fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp cracked black pepper

Instructions: Place all ingredients, including water from soaked tomatoes, in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.

Zucchini Pasta:

• 4 large zucchini
• ½ cup julienne sun-dried tomatoes
• 2-3 tablespoons capers
• evoo (tt)
• fresh lemon juice (tt)
• sea salt (tt)
• fresh cracked pepper (tt)

Instructions: Using a spiralizer, julienne vegetable peeler, or mandolin, start shredding your zucchini noodles. If using a peeler or mandolin, once you approach the seeds, turn the zucchini and begin shredding another side. (The seeds will prevent the noodles from holding together.)  Place zucchini noodles, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers in a large bowl and gently toss with olive oil (or oil of choice), lemon, sea salt & pepper.

To serve, either gently toss zucchini pasta with raw marinara or place zucchini pasta into serving bowls and top with marinara. Garnish with fresh herbs.

Note: News flash: zucchini sweats! (A lot!) For this reason I like to either serve immediately or allow zucchini to “sweat” in a colander until ready to serve. You can also squeeze extra moisture out by placing noodles between paper towels and applying gentle pressure.

Snack: Basic Chia Pudding (serves 1)

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Instructions: Stir chia seeds with almond milk (or milk of choice) and cover. Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Top chia pudding with your favorite fruits, nuts and seeds.

Note: I prefer to make my chia pudding the night before, giving the seeds plenty of time to plump up. For added sweetness, puree dates or fresh fruit into the almond milk before mixing with the chia seeds.

There you have it.  If this doesn’t motivate you to get into the kitchen, nothing will!  I am so excited to make all of these recipes.  Thank you, Callie!!!

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