The end of fall is always a hard time for me and this year has been no exception. Life sometimes has a way of letting you down, bringing you down, or creeping up on you. As you can tell, that is a lot of different directions to be pulled in! Often in these times when I am not feeling well emotionally I start to indulge in food and drink that does not do my body good so instantly I also do not feel well physically.

This happened in the past few weeks. I was indulging in too much whiskey, sweets, and other unsavory items. My body was feeling sluggish and I needed a reset. No one is perfect nor will they always eat perfectly but as someone who is conscious of what I am eating, I can easily recognize that it was effecting my mood and my self-esteem. Winter hadn't even started and I felt like I had packed on my winter weight.

So what do you do? You do a juice cleanse combined with raw foods, well at least that is what I do! On Sunday after gorging on pizza and cake, I came home and took our my juicer and got to work. I have a slow juicer so the juice lasts for a number of days, I made a big batch of apple and turnip green juice as well as a beet, carrot and ginger juice so that I had some variety.

Let me tell you, after the first day you feel so much lighter and remarkably better physically. This in turn provides a mental boost as well. Now, I don't want you to picture me drinking juice all day long. In the morning I have a smoothie so that I can blend in my Green Vibrance and for lunch I drink juice. Throughout the day I snack on fruit if I am still hungry and for dinner I eat a raw meal. This means that I eat vegetables uncooked and no this does not have to be boring!

The recipe here is for my Raw Collard Green Burritos that are stuffed with zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, and spices - essentially its like eating a chunky veggie filled salsa inside of your collard wrap and it is insanely delicious. The best part is that if I wanted to eat 3, I totally could! After 4 days of juicing and eating this way, I feel more like myself. I hope that you enjoy!

Raw Sprouted Lentil and Vegetable Collard Green Burritos

1 Zucchini, chopped

1/2 Onion, Chopped

1 Garlic clove, Chopped

1 Green Pepper, Chopped

1 Poblano Pepper, minced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Corn

1/2 cup Sprouted Lentils

1 tbs Cumin

1 tbs Chili Powder

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp Honey

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Large Collard Green leaves

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables, lentils and spices, stirring to combine. Taking 2 collard green leaves, remove the tough inner stem. Place them dark green side down with the stem sides overlapping in the center.

Add a heaping portion of the veggies and lentils to the center of the leaves. Tuck the short ends in and roll up burrito style. Cut in half and enjoy!

I don't know what it has been with beets lately but it seems that I cannot get enough of them, beet falafels, roasted beet hearts and now beet linguine! I can't help but love them and I sure do hope that Tom Robbins is correct in his novel Jitterbug Perfume, that beets are the fountain of youth. We all know that beets have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties but did you know that they have been shown to reduce tumors?

Personally, I love the color and the earthy sweetness and fortunately this recipe allowed me to use my Kitchenaid spiralizer attachment. I have to say that I love this attachment almost as much as the ice cream maker and that says a lot! I just adore watching it create delightful spiral noodles out of any vegetable, big or small. My hand held spiralizer is awesome for a small zucchini but unfortunately large sweet potatoes or beets where just too big and too hard for all that hand cranking. This tool spiralizes like a dream and opens up a world of options for eating vegetables in a new way.

The recipe tonight combines the earthy flavors of the beets with the saltiness of miso, zing of ginger, and tartness of lemon. I added in the collard greens for an extra boost of green alkalinity and a poached egg for that rich yolk.

The beauty of this recipe is that it is hearty but also light. I hope that you enjoy!

Miso, Lemon, & Ginger Beet Linguine with Collard Greens and Poached Eggs

Serves 2

2 medium Beets, spiralized

2 Eggs, poached

2 tbs Olive Oil

4 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 inches of Ginger, Minced

1 Lemon, juice and zest

1 tbs Miso Paste

2 tbs Water

2 cups Collard Greens, stems removed

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Spiralize the beets and place to the side. Heat the 2 tbs of olive oil over medium high heat until glistening. Add the garlic, sauteing for a minute and then the ginger, stirring to cook and combine.

In a small bowl whisk the 2 tbs of water with the miso until smooth, add the lemon zest and juice. Add the spiralized beets to your pan followed by the miso mixture. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

De-stem the collard greens, rolling them into cigars and slicing in order to chiffonade. Add the greens to the pan and cover again, steaming until bright green and noodles are cooked to the consistency of your liking.

Meanwhile, fill a small pan with water adding a splash of white vinegar, bring to a boil. Crack the eggs carefully into the pan, cooking until the whites have turned solid and the yolk is cooked to your liking, I think it is best if it is runny in this instance.

Place the beet linguine onto a plate and top with the poached egg. Sprinkle with salt, paprika and fresh parsley if so desired. Enjoy and healthy eating!