Happy Mother’s Day! I send love to all mothers out there...I hope you felt special and fab today. I know one day is not enough for your recognition but take it all in and celebrate your day!

I’ve been absent from this blog for three weeks now. It’s been quite busy for me. Part of this was a trip to New York City. The Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I'm training to become a holistic health coach held a Live Conference last week and I'm so thankful that I was able to attend. I will be sharing about the conference on next week's post.

In the meantime, I am very excited to talk about my favourite season - spring. If you live in Toronto like me, it’s been a long time coming. This week the spring blooms are finally out, the trees are no longer just branches and skeletons... their leaves are back. How exciting to see the cycle of life moving on!

Part of spring is a different way of eating as with the new season come different harvest of foods: leafy greens, sprouts or microgreens and berries. For me personally, my body crave for salads and green smoothies...no longer the soups and stews of winter.

Here is a favourite salad that we enjoy a lot at our home: zucchini pasta or noodles...UNCOOKED. Yes you can definitely eat it raw and those days when you crave some starchy pasta, this baby is an awesome sub. If you're familiar with raw food restaurants, this is one of their most popular dishes. You can definitely make it at home without having to pay $14/order. It will be just as good! The zucchini can be spiralized by the use of this machine. However, for budget conscious people like me, you can use this simple gadget called julienne peeler and it will do the job just the same. Please make sure that you pick out organic zucchinis since it is now on the list of produce with high pesticide residue (please check this list).

The dressing is my version of “Rose Sauce.” No cream necessary. The simple creaminess here comes from hemp hearts mixed with organic sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil microgreens, lemon and a bit of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Hemp hearts are shelled hemp seeds, bursting with proteins (10 g/3 T.), essential fats, vitamins and minerals (please check out this link). What’s really great is that Canada is a big producer of hemp hearts...check this out.

Zucchini Noodles With Rose Sauce

Ingredients: (Preferably Organic)

For the salad:
4-5 pieces zucchini, washed, peeled and spiralized or julienned
microgreens for toppings ( I used radish)

For the dressing:
1/3 c. hemp hearts
3 Tbsp. sliced sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 20 mins. in 1/4 c. of filtered water
1/4 c. basil microgreens or 6 leaves of regular basil
1 clove of garlic, pressed and chopped
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
1/2 - 3/4 c. filtered water

Method:

1. Wash, peel (very lightly) and spiralize or julienne the zucchinis. Set aside.
2. Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a blender including the soaking water from the sun-dried tomato. Blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust the taste accordingly...you may want the mixture more tart or a bit thinner so you can just add more lemon or water as you like it. Salt or oil is not necessary as the mixture is perfect as is. There will be some leftover of this dressing and it can be stored in a jar at the fridge. It should be good for 2-3 days and can be used as a dressing for other kinds of salads (I love it on romaine salad) or even as dipping sauce for veggies.
3. Before serving, mix some sauce with the zucchini pasta and top with your own choice of microgreens.

Note: It is preferable to add the sauce just before serving as you do not want the zucchini to become watery. Please feel free to add any toppings of your choice. Enjoy!

I really hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day celebration. My family went out for dinner with my mother-in-law yesterday and we also enjoyed the beautiful flowers of spring in Toronto. My mom passed away 11 years ago in the Philippines and I do miss her on this special occasion. She was an avid gardener and her orchids are still around to this day being enjoyed by everyone. The pretty blooms remind me of her. She was a very special mother to all of her 7 children and as a wife to my 89-year old father. I miss you Mamang!

Warmly,

Lina

Zucchini Noodles With Rose Sauce + Happy Mother's Day

Lina Liwag, CHHP
Certified Raw/Plant-based Chef and Health Coach

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