We woke up to quite a sight this morning!
The crazy powerful wind storm last night blew down the beautiful tree in our front yard! I’m so hoping the gardeners can replant it – I love it!
We barely get any rain in Saudi, and even more rarely do we have thunder or lightning. But what we do have an abundance of is shamals! A shamal is a very powerful sandstorm created by feroicous winds. The shamal last night was intense, and apparently strong enough to knock down our tree.
Breakfast
Breakfast was a glorious green juice! I’ve mentioned before how impossible it is to find organic produce or items here in Saudi Arabia. Well, not anymore! A new superstore called Lulu Hypermarket has just opened up in the town next to us, and they have the best selection of organic treats and fresh produce I’ve seen here yet. It’s not even half as good as the average grocery store in the states, but still. It’s a start and it made me very happy.
So, this green juice was extra special because it was made with organic spinach and apples! It also had celery, zucchini, mint, and tons of ginger. The more ginger in my green juices the better!
Lunch
What a fantastic lunch I had! These are the Save the Tuna Pate wraps from Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen. They are incredible! I’m always happy with vegan sushi of any kind because I adore seaweed, but this was something special. The filling is made out of sunflower seeds and veggies, and it had the most ridiculously good flavor. The dip is her garlic cashew aioli, which is just as yummy as it sounds.
Dinner
You know me and my love for all things snacky! This dinner definitely lived up to my snack obsession.
I made a yummy pizza, with a crust of organic cashews, organic flax seeds, and chickpeas, and topped it with store bought organic tomato artichoke sauce, organic spinach, bell peppers and tons of garlic. I baked it in the oven until it was nice and crispy. I also had some crackers and hummus on the side.
But the star of the show, for me, was the organic sauerkraut (which quickly got piled onto my pizza) and organic olives. I love suerkraut but haven’t really eaten it in a very long time because the only kind we can get here comes in cans, has no flavor, and is extremely salty. This gorgeous batch reminded me just how good it can be. But nothing can compare to those olives! Olives are so near and dear to my heart, but again, if they aren’t fresh and good quality they are usually bland and overly salty, so they are another rare treat. These were phenomenal! Marinated in oil, lemon juice, and cilantro and mint, they were fresh and floral and just perfect. Yum!
Raw Chocolate Ganache Cake
Yes, you can have the recipe and make this too! These pictures are actually from earlier this week when I made this delicious cake for a customer who wanted to donate money to my Help Haiti fundraiser. But I’m about to head into the kitchen to make one for us so we can have a gorgeous dessert this evening. I can’t wait!
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Sorry to hear about the shamal. One of my parent’s trees recently got destroyed too due to huge amounts of snow falling off the roof
Wow, that looks like awesome raw food galore! I’d love a bite both from the pizza and the cake.
I don’t know where u get your patience and skill for your food creations! Cute title – reminds me of “Chicken Little”….hope the thunder is kind to u!
Your pizza looks great! I’ve been trying different pizza crusts lately but I haven’t found one that I’m happy with. The organic cashews, organic flax seeds, and chickpeas sound like such a good combination…can you share the recipe?
It was a can of chickpeas and a cup each of cashews and flax seed, plus 1/4 cup olive oil. I also added lots of salt and pepper, turmeric, and mixed green herbs. It was very tasty!
thanks! i can’t wait to try it
YAY for new health food store with organic produce!! Juice looks good! Oh and we love raw sauerkraut, have it about everyday!!
Oh and we could do some damage on that cake…YUM!
Sauerkraut is the best, isn’t it? I had almost forgotten how good it can be.
Wow– that must have been quite the windstorm!!
That chocolate cake is so beautiful!
holy woman those sushi wraps looks sooo good. i have that book- how have i not made this recipe!!?
Hello! I would like to order some of your choco cupcakes and ginger biscuits.YUM!
Because we are both in Saudi Arabia, I am hoping to enjoy your treats;-) Do you deliver to Riyadh? and How can I make an order?
Thank’s.
XOXO
I wish I could deliver them to Riyadh, but I only do deliveries here in Dhahran. So sorry!
Your food is gorgeous. But you knew that.
I do hope they can replant your tree! I get very upset when anything happens to trees – I always feel like they have something akin to personhood. I know that sounds hokey, but maybe you know what I mean.
Yes! I feel exactly the same way! I feel such a personal connection to trees, I hate it when anything happens to them.
Whoa, sorry about the tree! We get crazy dust storms in AZ summers (monsoons) that destroy 100s of city trees.
great food! can you post the recipe for your pizza crust? it looks awesome!
Sorry about your tree! We had a horrible windstorm (affectionately dubbed Hurricane Elvis) back in 2004 and hundreds of ancient Memphis trees were downed. It was so sad. We didn’t have power for over a week because trees knocked down the power lines. A tree even fell on my car!
Your pizza crust sounds really neat. And that pie — oh my!
Awww all those trees! I’ve always felt a weird love for trees, they seem so noble and unchanging. They’ve seen so much! I’m really always so upset when they are chopped down or torn up.
Sorry about the tree! But the cake looks like a perfect way to end the day, mmmmm!
eeks! never heard of a shamal before, whoa! that cake looks jaw-droppingly tasty!
you’re such a tease with the cake. oh that’s like dangling crack on a stick to a choco holic like myself
Save the Tuna Pate. Have seen that in ani’s book but never made it b/c i just dont care that much about nut pates. But being that you’re saying it’s something spesh, I am noting that in my brain to make some day.
But the pizza. Did you just wing it w/ the crust and such? I confess i am scared of raw crackers, crusts, breads. They are not my thing and i dont know where to begin other than read recipes. I am a winger on desserts but not on crackers/breads.
Thx for your comment re Cody vs. You and your whole vegan status. That was so interesting to me!
xoxo
I did wing it with the crust, but after making several similar ones from the Thrive book I knew what consistency to look for. It was really great!
You should definitely make that cake, it is SO worth it!
that cake looks sooo amazing, and so do all your eats! ive told you that you make me think being vegan would be fun haha b ut you really do!
Thanks Shelley! Veganism IS fun, and very, very tasty.
Great to see your blog! I love to see vegans enjoying and spreading the word
Would love to meet up if you’re ever in Bahrain. Let me know
that’s one strong shamal, Tasha. wow!
the raw chocolate ganache cake looks fantastic, and i’m loving the pizza and wraps, too! here i thought i was the only one who enjoys a little sauerkraut on my pizza. it’s my favorite! hooray for organics, too. maybe the store will offer more as time goes on – but that rocks on the organic spinach and apples. yay!
Thanks Jessy! We are definitely hoping the store keeps offering more organic goodies. When I was there I asked to speak to the manager and RAVED to him about how awesome it was, AND I filled out a form that will get sent to their main office and RAVED about it some more. Stores around here do not do a good job keeping regular inventory, but I’m hoping this one is different!
thanks for enjoying my nori rolls, they look yummy in your photo. my next book, Ani’s Raw Food ESSENTIALS, will be avail everywhere on April 1st. it’s my first hard cover, and has over 250 easy, stripped down, basic recipes. i hope you’ll enjoy that too. thanks for the post. ani
Thanks Ani! I can’t wait for your new book. I just ordered your dessert book, and I can’t wait for it to get here. Your recipes are the best!
Ohmy, all of that looks so goood! Especially that cake! Every time I read your blog and see all the pictures of your awesome creations I get inspired to try cooking/baking something.
That’s so cool that you finally got an organic supermarket nearby now. I know something like that would make me ecstatic!
I’m so glad the tree didn’t fall on you guys! And the sauerkraut sounds absolutely delicious on pizza–I’m going to have to try that soon
I really hope the tree can be replanted, it would be sad if this was the end of it’s life!
And yummy looking sushi, I love Ani’s book, I need to order the dessert one as well!
They did replant it…after cutting off all of its branches. We’ll see if it survives. Fingers crossed!
Oh your poor tree! I hope it’s gonna be alright.
All your food looks so amazing that Sushi looks and sounds soooo good. I’ve never tried sushi because it just never appealed to me before I started seeing it on peoples blogs. That photo of yours has made my mind up to try some pretty darn soon.
Yum! What delicious eats…now I want to recreate your dinner tonight!
Oh yum, those sushi rolls look a lot like the ones we make at the restuarant! They’re one of our best sellers, we can never roll enough!
poor tree. i am sure it lived a long life. hope you can use the wood for something.
love all your raw eats. did you make the sauerkraut?
No, but it was organic which made me very happy! Organic is a hard thing to find around here.
Hope the tree can be salvaged – that must have been an awful storm. Beautiful food photos though! I’ll have to try the sushi from Ani Phyo’s book, as it looks wonderful, but I’ve never found vegan sushi I didn’t love
Everything about that pizza, especially the crust, sounds fab too…I’m happy to see someone else likes to put sauerkraut on pizza!
The yard looks very different now. And Twilah is still moderately concerned with the whole situation. It was funny watching her investigate the tree after it fell.
So much color in this post! You had me at the green olives…
Sorry about your tree. Rotten wind.