Once upon a time, there was a woman named Eve, who, unable to resist the luring temptation of a fragrant orchard, took a bite of forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Perhaps Eve was bored. Perhaps she was ovulating and had a desperate craving for something sweet. Perhaps life in the little garden was becoming stressful or claustrophobic. Perhaps she felt out of control or lacked passion in her life and in order to numb her emotions or soothe herself from Adam's lack of attention or his ambivalence in starting a family, she chose to indulge. Perhaps Eve was an emotional eater. But as Eve soon discovered, neither the bite, nor the whole fruit fulfilled her as she had hoped. Not only did she realize she was naked but that she had contempt for the way she looked. Perhaps Eve suffered with body dismorphia. Eve tried to stop eating the forbidden fruit and eventually avoided eating altogether but that didn't work and she ended up eating until she could no longer breathe. The point of this is that Eve lost her intuitive ability to nourish herself. She no longer had balance in her life and was willing to do any and everything to get that back.
Maybe Eve didn't exist. Maybe the stories that were told are not as important as the stories we tell ourselves.
This blog is dedicated to creating new stories based on the philosophies of whole body nutrition, self-love, intuition, fitness and yoga.
In my journey I have sought to uncover the knowledge and balance which have brought me to a greater awareness of health and this is what I wish to share with you.
About Me
I am a holistic nutritionist, certified yoga instructor, athlete, healthy living chef, and published writer. I have spent the last four years of my life rebuilding all aspects of myself after recovering from an eating disorder. Follow me as I continue to eat clean, train hard, and discover balance mind, body and spirit. zainsaraswatijamal.com
Sunwarrior has featured another one of my revamped recipes on their Facebook and website today! This time it’s an old Fall classic made with a healthy, clean twist: my Raw Pecan Pie.
In just 3 steps, you can remake this once dirty indulgence into a sugar free, gluten free, raw, and vegan pie that is full of flavor and completely guilt-free.
This is one of the most delicious recipes ever!! Not to mention, it is an athlete’s best friend. Easy to pack and store, quick to grab, nutrient dense and ooooohhh so delicious, they don’t call them kisses for nothing.
I made a few adjustments to the original recipe.
Although I love the original recipe, I am a huge fan of the combination of strawberries and peanut butter so instead of using the dried cranberries that the recipe calls for, I dried my own strawberries. These are easy to do in a dehydrator or by thinly slicing the strawberries with a mandolin slicer and leaving them on parchment paper in the sun for 1-2 days.
I also piped my own raw, unsweetened chocolate chips for this recipe using coconut oil and cacao powder.
Click here to see how I tweaked this recipe to make a batch of Almond Butter Backpack Kisses
My substitutions are marked with an **
Ingredients:
½ cup (120 ml) old-fashioned rolled oats **I used uncontaminated oats (gluten-free)
¼ cup (60 ml) vegan unsweetened protein powder, as natural as possible **I used brown rice protein powder + 1/8 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp (30 ml) hulled hemp seeds
2 Tbsp (30 ml) flaxseed, cracked
¼ cup (60 ml) unsweetened dried cranberries **I used my own dehydrated strawberries
¼ cup (60 ml) vegan semisweet natural chocolate chips **I piped my own raw chocolate chips using 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil + 1/4 cup Cacao
Pinch sea salt *I used Himalayan Crystal Salt
1 cup (240 ml) all-natural peanut butter, sugar and salt free
2 Tbsp (30 ml) brown-rice syrup, yacon syrup or pure honey **I used raw honey
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together oats, protein powder, hemp seeds, flaxseed, dried cranberries, chocolate chips and sea salt.
2, Add peanut butter and syrup or honey and mix together.
3. Using your hands, knead mixture together thoroughly.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto a baking sheet, or use a mini ice-cream scoop. Using your hands, roll into balls.
5. Wrap kisses in squares of aluminum foil, twisting tops to seal, or store them unwrapped in an airtight container.
Chill Out
Store in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to one month.
I love this salad!! Preparing this recipe taught me so much about the tastes and texture of citrus fruits. I am not one to opt for citrus fruits if there are strawberries and blueberries or tropical fruits around but this salad made me realize what I have been missing, thanks Tosca!
Packed with vitamins and enzymes the combination of all of these fruits together with the mint was such a refreshing palate cleanser and brought life and colour to my table of foods.
Due to the fact that citrus fruits are seasonal, I had to adapt my salad a little. Rather than using a ugli, I substituted with a pomello, a citrus fruit that looks similar to the Jamaican tangelo in size and shape but with a yellow rind. I also added a little of my own flair with a pinch of red chilli powder and it was magnificent.
Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook: Tri-Color Pasta with Tuna, Spinach and Artichoke Hearts
This fresh and wholesome dish can be easily adapted to suit a variety of audiences. Sub in brown rice pasta to make it gluten free or try tri-colored bowties to give it a fun twist for the kids (what a great way to get them to eat their spinach!).
I love this recipe! I love that it can be easily adapted for vegans and vegetarians alike by substituting the tuna for tofu or seitan. Full of whole-grain carbs and rich in protein and fiber-rich vegetables, this is the perfect post-workout meal!
There were a few amendements that I made to the original recipe, see my notes below and check out my YouTube Channel for a video on how I prepared this awesome recipe!
Ingredients:
12 oz (340 g) tri-color pasta (such as farfalle, penne or shells) *I used linguini and rainbow ravioli
15 oz (425 g) no-salt-added solid white albacore tuna in water, drained *I used freshly seared tuna and also made a version with pan-fried tofu
8 cups (1.9 L) fresh baby spinach
1 x 13- to 14-oz (385 to 414 ml) BPA-free can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1½ cups (360 ml) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
½ cup (120 ml) chopped pepperoncini *I used orange habaneros
½ cup (120 ml) chopped fresh basil
¼ cup (60 ml) chopped fresh dill
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 Tbsp (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp (2.5 ml) each sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil, add the pasta and stir. Cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain, reserving ¼ cup (60 ml) of the cooking water. Transfer pasta to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Add reserved cooking water, and toss to combine. Can be served warm, at room temperature or cold.
Chill Out This dish will keep in the refrigerator for up to two days.
On the GO
This dish travels well! Why not double the recipe and have planned leftovers?
**If you will recall, my teammate and friend Theresa was also recently featured on Tosca’s blog and she put together a fantastic recipe round up where the Tri-Colour Pasta was featured! Check out here post, here.
I am so excited and honoured to be featured today on Tosca Reno’s blog! I would love for you to check out my personal feature.
As you may know, Tosca is one of my mentors. Her personal transformation to a fit and fabulous woman, as well as all of the incredible resources that she has created and shared over the years including her Eat Clean Diet Series of books, has been a guiding light to me on my path to greater health and wellness and has been one of the inspirations for me to create my own clean recipes which I am so excited to share with you here on my blog and on my website:
A few months ago, I was gifted Tosca’s brand new book (thank you once again Tosca!), the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook (which, as a vegetarian, was hoping she would create for year) and have been posting some the incredible images from the recipes that I have made from this book.
In honour of Tosca Reno, the late, great Robert Kennedy, and this wonderful opportunity to be featured on Tosca’s blog, I prepared a luncheon (featured in this video) with some of my favourite recipes from the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook to give some of my friends and loved ones a chance to same a few of Tosca’s incredible recipes.
Here’s What Was On The Menu:
Red Pepper Cheesecake with Apricot Peach Compote
Kale-Wrapped Leek and Sweet Potato Mini Quiches
Seven Citrus Salad with Mint
Butternut Squash, Portobello Mushroom, Caramelized Onion and Hazelnut Pizza
Smoked Paprika Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Tricolour Pasta with Tuna, Spinach and Artichoke Hearts
Fresh Strawberries with Chocolate-Orange Avocado Mousse
Peanut Butter Chocolate Backpack Kisses
My friends who attended this luncheon come from all courses and walks of life. Some are vegan, others vegetarian whilst others thrive on an omniverous diet. It was wonderful to share and experience these delicious recipes and even shift the perception of how satisfying and delicious a plant-based diet can be.
For more images and information of the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian luncheon, click here.
Over the next few weeks, I will be posting four incredible recipes from the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook with the first recipe coming later today!
This is the perfect clean eating accompaniment to any meal, warm, slightly sweet and soulfully satisfying especially on a rainy afternoon.
I have been loving roasted butternut squash lately and Tosca has created some gorgeous recipes using this versatile starchy vegetable in the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook. Check out my Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Special Features Page for more!
This particular recipe is lush as it combines the richness of squash thickened with folate-rich white beans and enhances the flavour and spice with fresh nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. I added a personal touch to this recipe by adding 1/4 cup of soaked organic walnuts for a delicious little crunch.
This soul-warming soup is hearty, complex in flavours and is definitely one I plan to make again and again.
All I have to say about this recipe is flu-ffy. If fluffy pancakes are your thing, this is the recipe for you. Tosca writes how her father used to make her griddlecakes as a child, well, I definitely had a similar upbringing. My dad would usually make breakfast on weekends so that mom could sleep in and he made the most amazing griddlecakes so I have many fond memories of this food.
This was a great treat for my Saturday morning and an awesome change from my usual pancake recipe. Packed with protein rich cottage cheese, the fragrance of freshly grated nutmeg and lemon zest offset with the softness of vanilla made this a divine combination. I topped mine with my homemade wild berry jam and some sugar-free syrup.
The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook has some really incredible and simple breakfast recipes. Whether you are vegetarian or not, the book will give you tons of inspiration to keep your clean eating fresh and innovative.
So I have to be honest here, I am never quite sure how to feel about Indian recipes when i see them in cookbooks just because I am totally spoiled when it comes to Indian food after having grown up with my grandmother and mother’s amazing, authentic cooking.
But…seeing as how this is Tosca Reno we are talking about, I had to give one of my favourite Indian dishes, Chana Dal, a try. The verdict? Super delicious. This IS the traditional recipe if it were written down (most of the time it is just passed down generation to generation and involves pinches of this or that)! I would definitely make this for mom along side Zain’s Basmati Rice Pilaf.
The Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook is filled with authentic recipes from all over the world, including some of my favourite Indian recipes and between you and I, this recipe could rival mom’s.
This evening, we enjoyed it with some home made millet flour rotis and fresh Greek yogurt raita with a huge fresh salad!
Butternut Squash, Portobello Mushroom, Caramelized Onion and Hazelnut Pizza
All I can say about this recipe is wow. It was earthy, sweet and complex. I never would have thought to use butternut squash puree used as the base of the pizza but it tasted incredible combined with fresh herbes de Provence. What made this even more delicious and of course nutrient dense and protein-rich, was the homemade cheese, hearty immune strengthening portobello mushroom and crunchy hazelnut topping.
Rather than one large pizza as the recipe calls, I made four mini pizzas on gluten-free homemade crust; however, Tosca provides a wonderful whole wheat pizza dough recipe in the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook that can be prepared up to two days in advance so all you have to do is assemble the toppings and bake.
This recipe really expanded my horizons and made me look at pizza in a whole new light. Thanks Tosca for another divine recipe!
Once upon a time, there was a woman named Eve, who, unable to resist the luring temptation of a fragrant orchard, took a bite of forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Perhaps Eve was bored. Perhaps she was ovulating and had a desperate craving for something sweet. Perhaps life in the little garden was becoming stressful or claustrophobic. Perhaps she felt out of control or lacked passion in her life and in order to numb her emotions or soothe herself from Adam's lack of attention or his ambivalence in starting a family, she chose to indulge. Perhaps Eve was an emotional eater. But as Eve soon discovered, neither the bite, nor the whole fruit fulfilled her as she had hoped. Not only did she realize she was naked but that she had contempt for the way she looked. Perhaps Eve suffered with body dismorphia. Eve tried to stop eating the forbidden fruit and eventually avoided eating altogether but that didn't work and she ended up eating until she could no longer breathe. The point of this is that Eve lost her intuitive ability to nourish herself. She no longer had balance in her life and was willing to do any and everything to get that back. 
