Tender Greens Salad Nicoise

I could not believe that I was ignorant of the healthy California chain restaurant Tender Greens before two weeks ago.  It turns out that there’s a Tender Greens restaurant in Walnut Creek, just 15 minutes from my home. How could I not have known?

After all, it’s my kind of restaurant. The primary ingredients come from local, organic California farms and small food producers. When I read about Tender Greens online, it was in an LA Times article that included two recipes for items in their Happy Vegan Salad, a beet quinoa pilaf and a green hummus that’s made with arugula and spinach.

Within days, I headed to the restaurant for lunch. I ordered the Happy Vegan Salad and sat down to enjoy it. Although the flavors were amazing, I was disappointed on several counts. For one, the lettuce contained a fair amount of sand, which I unhappily crunched as I ate. Second, the quinoa salad was a too wet in either vinegar or lemon juice and the cucumber in it was soggy. Third, of the four sides which accompanied the greens, three were grains and one was a legume (hummus). In my opinion this weighed too heavily toward grains. Fourth, two of the three grain sides were wheat – farro pilaf and tabouli. As far as I was concerned, this was way too much wheat in an era when many individuals try to avoid gluten-containing grains as much as possible.

For several days, I tweeted my complaints, every single one of them. Much to my chagrin, I received no response from Tender Greens. Then, I tweeted my request for recognition. Finally Eric of Tender Greens in L.A. responded and asked me to phone him. Whew, I was relieved to have received a response! I phoned Eric to voice my complaints and suggestions for change. He respectfully listened and agreed with my recommendations. He said that he would be in the Walnut Creek restaurant this week to rework the Happy Vegan Salad, including replace the tabouli- probably with a legume salad. Wow, I’m pleased that Tender Greens responded to my complaints and suggestions! Such is life in the Twitter era. I cannot wait to re-try the Happy Vegan Salad.

Filed under: Eco-friendly Living, Gluten-free, Grains, Leafy greens, Salad, Vegan, greens | No Comments »

While there’s still a chill in the air, an easy vegetarian soup is a great meal option for warming the bones and satisfying the belly. Filled with flavor, this satisfying Tuscan white bean soup with kale is a mainstay of Italian country cooking. Tender beans give it creaminess without fat, and olive oil, garlic, leeks, and kale add healthy-promoting benefits as well as great taste.

Another plus is that this white bean soup recipe is easy to make. Just remember to soak the beans overnight or for 8 hours and then drain the water before you begin cooking. This is very important! By doing this, you will eliminate or greatly reduce the flatulence, or gassiness, of this easy vegetarian soup.

I believe that this white bean soup recipe tastes delicious, as is. However, for those who prefer to add grated cheese to their soup, that is certainly an individual option.

Ingredients-
1 pound dried white navy beans
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium leeks, white and tender green parts, washed well and chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 carrots, scrubbed and diced
5 cups good-quality vegetable broth, such as Imagine organic or Trader Joe’s low-sodium organic
2-in piece of kombu or wakami sea vegetable (to speed cooking time of the beans and add iron, calcium, and minerals to the soup)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon

To do-
1. Soak beans in water overnight, then drain and rinse well.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot and add leeks. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until leeks begin to soften. Add celery, garlic, and carrots and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add stock, rinsed navy beans, herbs, salt, and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer over low heat for 1 hour.
3. Puree 3 cups of soup in a blender (to make the beans creamy) and pour back into the pot. Add lemon juice, and more self and pepper if needed.
4. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top each portion with some of the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with cheese, if desired.

Serves 6

Buon appetito!

Check out another delicious Pursuing Health soup recipe: Moroccan chick pea soup.
Check out this intriguing recipe for green hummus from the healthy California restaurant chain Tender Greens,

Filed under: Legumes, Soup/stew, Vegan, Vegetarian | No Comments »

After almost two years on the road, Southern California food truck Seabirds is hoping to bring its vegan meals  to a sit-down location—and is turning to community-fundraising platform Kickstarter for help, according to a March 29, 2012 article in Veg News.

The organic eatery, which sources its produce from local Orange County farms, is hoping to raise $100,000 by April 30 in order to cover the cost of converting a Santa Ana shoe shop into a restaurant. Though the Seabirds Truck has seen success as a mobile operation—the truck has won several awards and was featured on the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race — founder Stephanie Morgan says a restaurant space will enable her to elevate the eatery’s popular menu and provide customers with a more stable and comfortable dining experience.

Although I have yet to try the healthy vegan fare of Seabirds, the menu lists such lip-smacking choices as kale salad (kale, bosc pears, peanuts, currants, and sesame ginger vinaigrette), yellow curry (broccoli & carrots, organic tofu, and cilantro over brown rice), and grilled beets and beet greens. These vegan dishes certainly appear to be foods for energy! I cannot wait to take  road trip south… hopefully soon.

Filed under: Foods for energy, Vegan | No Comments »

Wellness programs are increasingly becoming a part of workplace culture. Confirmation from research studies that healthy nutrition, physical activity, and stress management have a positive impact on our health, as well as national healthcare reform and the pressure to contain healthcare costs, are all accelerating this development.

According to David Hunnicutt, PhD., Director of the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA, welcoa.org), there are two distinct paths in the design of worksite wellness programs; they are either activity-centered or results-oriented.

Activity-centered workplace wellness programs are those that make “activities” the central focus of their initiative. In fact, many workplace wellness practitioners incorporate a variety of simple activities into their company’s annual schedule of wellness events.

When it comes to long-term success, Hunnicutt favors results-oriented programs, those that focus not on simply offering a “program of the month”, but on impacting the organization’s bottom line through improved employee health and increased productivity.

What if you are a strategic planner for a worksite wellness program that is currently activity-focused? Hunnicutt says it is challenging but doable to transition from an activity-centered wellness program to a results-oriented one. WELCOA’s Seven Benchmarking System offers that direction by transforming wellness programs into initiatives that attain measurable results.

Filed under: Worksite wellness | No Comments »

This artichoke hearts recipe is dedicated to my Charlotte, NC, friends Nancy and Uli – two fellow artichoke heart fiends.

A bag of  Trader Joe’s artichokes in my freezer and a pot of fresh herbs, also from Trader Joe’s, inspired this dish. If you cannot buy Trader Joe’s or another brand of frozen artichokes, then simply substitute 2 cans of artichoke heart halves and use less lemon juice. The reason I like the frozen artichoke hearts is that ascorbic acid rather than citric acid is used as a preservative, resulting in much less of a pickled taste.

If you’re really pressed for time (who isn’t?), you can also substitute roasted red peppers in a jar from the supermarket. But as far as I’m concerned, their taste does not come close to that of a fresh-roasted red pepper.

Ingredients:
1 bag of Trader Joe’s artichoke hearts, defrosted
1 red pepper, roasted and chopped
1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 Tablespoons minced red onion
1 minced garlic clove
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of vegetable glycerine or agave nectar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Roast the red pepper: Cut the red pepper in half lengthwise, cut out seeds and white membrane. Lay each red pepper half face down on an oiled pan and position under a broiler for 10-15 minutes or until the skin turns black. Put the two red pepper halves into a brown bag and close the top. Leave the red pepper in the brown bag for at least 15 minutes and then rub off the charred skin, discarding them. Cut one of the halves into strip slices and chop into pieces.
2. Put the artichoke hearts in a mixing bowl. Add the roasted red pepper strips, minced onion, minced garlic, chopped fresh oregano, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and vegetable glycerine or agave nectar.
3. Gently toss mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Adjust lemon juice and glycerine to taste.
4. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Filed under: Gluten-free, Herbs, Vegan | No Comments »