Hello Berkeley NE peeps!

Hello sheeple and peeps! Ok, I stole that from Stephen Colbert, but it seems appropriate seeing as I am about to fly off to DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity! Yipee! I am writing into the vast number of NE readers to say please come by the restaurant tonight and give me your best sign ideas! Please introduce yourself and jot down your best line for the sign. Then you can say you knew me when….that is pre-restored sanity days….and I am sure that Jacob will be happy to make you your favorite sandwich this evening and we can really keep the night hopping! Also, come and see what’s new with the remodeling of our store. If you can’t make it in this evening for food and great conversation, I will be in all week Tues-Thurs, working the day shift and staying dedicated to the vegan masses before I fly!! Looking forward to your company! Over and out, Mary Rose

Food Waste…70 times more than the BP oil spill for Americans in one year! Yikes!

Food Waste…70 times more than the BP oil spill for Americans in one year! Yikes!

I ran across this link via a friend of mine on Facebook. This is incredible. If you have 9 minutes to spare, click here and press the play on the audio strip.

I am so glad Nature’s Express already gets this….Really, very little goes to waste in our store and at the end of the day our employees take whatever fries and quinoa macaroni noodles are left over (which is minimal due to proper planning) to gobble up at home! I used to get the benefit of soup leftovers too, but Joel, our chef, figured out a way to finish off the day with NO soup leftovers!! Boo Hoo for me.

VegFest and Meeting Dr. Myers

As a relatively new employee of Nature’s Express, it was so exciting to have been invited to work at VegFest in San Francisco over the weekend. I was also looking forward to the day because I was finally going to meet our founder and owner Dr. Carl Myers. The day did not disappoint! The morning started off with Molly and I arriving and setting up the Nature’s Express booth among all the other incredible displays and vegan enthusiasts. Soon Dr. Myers arrived and greeted us warmly. He was scheduled to give and hour long talk on the benefits of the vegan lifestyle and diet. I was impressed by his and his wife’s open and loving demeanor. Molly attended Dr. Myers talk and then returned to watch the booth so I could attend a talk given by John Robbins.

John Robbin’s eloquence and style pulled his audience into a wonderful sort of warm cocoon. I was inspired and felt an immediate sense of community in the room. It made me realize that our true equity is, now more than ever, sharing that sense of community by exchanging ideas, supporting healthy choices for the body and the environment, and doing it with ease and tenderness for one another. As you may be able to tell, I left the auditorium beaming. I was smiling because I realized how lucky I was to be working with other vegan food enthusiasts and people who shared similar values and goals; that of sustainable living, making the healthiest dietary choices and generating positive, smiling vibrations.

Finally today, when I was back in the restaurant, Dr. Myers came in to visit and see how all of us were doing in Berkeley. Many of our customers had the chance to meet and talk with Dr. Myers since he made himself available throughout the entire lunch hour rush. I observed many happy conversations and new bonds being made here in our local health conscious community, where by the way….all are welcome vegan or not.

I for one, look forward to hearing from all of you and sharing the incredible experience that is Nature’s Express; Fresh, organic, tasty vegan food prepared by a new breed of business people empowered by shared humanistic goals and values!!

Pickling Day!

We like to make things at Nature's Express.

Being in the kitchen, creating new tastes and textures for a range of palates is what we do. Trial and error occurs on a daily basis.

Our drive is to nourish people with fresh, real,tasty food.

We make our own mayo, ketchup, soft serve, sauerkraut, pickled ginger, desserts, burgers......

It was time to take on pickles and we did!

We can now add house-made dill pickles to our repertoire - and believe me when I tell you - they are amazing! Come in and ask for a sample and taste for yourself!

Pickling day

Cucumbers and brine

Danny, our fermentation master

Soon to be yummy pickles!

"fermentation station"

Let the fermentation begin!

A tip about quinoa noodles that we accidentally stumbled upon in our kitchen

If you're allergic to wheat or just want to try a different kind of pasta then quinoa pasta should be on your grocery list.

It's gluten free, it's an alkaline food and it scores low on the Glycemic index. On top of that, it has a delicious natural buttery flavor and a great texture. It's easy to cook, whether you're making spaghetti or a baked casserole. We do have a tip about cooking with quinoa noodles that we accidentally found out about a couple of weeks ago.

We use quinoa noodles for our Mac & Cheese so when chef Joel decided to introduce a macaroni salad to our menu he naturally went for the quinoa noodles that we already had on our shelf.

He made a batch of macaroni salad, we taste tested it and it got the round of approval.

The next day we tested it to see how the flavors melded over night.We were surprised to find that the noodles were crunchy!

Joel had an idea to turn the crunchy macaroni salad (which was not a typical creamy mac salad but more of a Greek style with kalamata olives, olive oil, artichoke hearts, etc..) into a warm pasta primavera dish. As soon as the quinoa noodles were heated up again they became soft and delicious as if we just cooked them! We offered the primavera as a special that day and it was a hit.

So, if you're going to make a cold salad with quionoa noodles be sure to either eat it all in one day or make the recipe suitable so that you can re-heat the leftovers :)

Happy eating everyone!

Happy Birthday Joel!!!

We're late on this but here's a big belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to most awesome kitchen manager, Joel! He brings humor, calm and balance to our kitchen.

Joel, you are a pleasure to work with and to know!

!

Simple and healthy recipe

1 cup brown rice

1 sweet potato, grated
1 bunch collard greens, chopped
Frozen Edamame

I used a rice cooker to cook the rice. Put in 1 cup water, 1 cup rice and 1 tsp. olive oil. It should take about 1/2 hour to cook.
Meanwhile, grate the sweet potato and add it to a lightly oiled, hot skillet (I'm a fan of grape seed oil)
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, place the Edamame in a pan with a couple inches of water. Cook for about 10 minutes, drain with cold water and set aside.
When sweet potatoes are soft, add the chard and cook until the chard is just wilted; season with salt and pepper.
When the rice is cooked add it to a plate along witht the sweet potato/chard mixture and the edamame beans.
When I eat low fat, high fiber, nutrient dense dishes like this one, my body literally feels happy.