ARE YOU 100% RAW (AND OTHER Q?)
I am often asked if I am 100% raw. Although I am not 100% raw, and have many weeks where I am 100%, my goal is to put a plant-based diet on my plate, and others'. Once I discovered Raw, my whole body and soul tingled with excitement and I wanted to share this with people. It's been a joy to create things that light up people's eyes and see them come back for more.
When I go out to eat, I check online for a menu, or request a Vegan Meal ahead of time (if I/we know we'll be dining there). Buffets often have a salad bar. Sometimes I carry a few sheets of nori and make sushi out of the veggies and avocados from the buffet. People coming back from the buffet ask, "Where'd you get tha-a-at?" I bring out a piece of nori and offer them one. Lettuce at the bottom of a crudité display can be used as a wrap too.
It's not a sin to bring a few items in a small bag to a buffet that's already been paid for; at receptions, fundraisers. These days, more veggie selections can be found. A squeeze of lemon or lime from the buffet line and some black pepper will do, if dressings aren't vegan. I'll pass on the breads and lavosh. You get to know what various restaurants offer, and if fresh and vegan's scant, I'll eat before going, or bring some onion bread or flax crackers to go with a salad that'll fill me up nutritionally.
We've been vegans since January 1, 2004 after Pete's heart attack, and raw/vegan since 2005. Licious Dishes started May 1, 2007 at Dole Cannery. Today, Greens & Vines exists because I know what a struggle it is to find or make gourmet-tasting vegan foods every day from scratch. I started the business so people wouldn't have to re-create the wheel.
In 2011 when Licious Dishes received an Ilima award, and wasn't even a restaurant, Pete said, "Okay, I guess your food is good enough to pair with wines (figuring that food sales wouldn't be enough to keep the business afloat). You can open up a restaurant."
He was right and the timing perfect (as we could've "eaten it" in the 2008 stock market crash). In seven years of business, the price of organic items from wholesalers, Nature's Best, United Natural Foods, Inc. and freight charges has gone up 3-5 times. In the beginning, it was hard to make the minimum purchases for delivery. Now it's hard to keep it down. But we cannot raise our prices as often as food costs rise. Our $15-$16 entrées are priced in step with Hawaii's restaurants. Our salads are priced in the $8.50-$9 range except for the Baby Romaine Caesar Salad at $11.50. Considering that we make EVERYTHING from scratch and know what's in the food, you're getting terrific value. Labor costs are expensive! We could not continue to sell our foods wholesale like before. Plus, we don't get any subsidies from the Feds that are given to the big corn, soy, and meat industries to keep the prices low.
All the seeds and practically all grocery items we use are organic. A few items are sometime organic or not, if we run out of things and need to run to the store but I read the labels. A label on balsamic vinegar from Italy at Costco in small print said that it may have been made in lead casks. Yikes. That's why I buy organic small bottles through Nature's Best.
GMO: I was aware of soy, corn, wheat, and papayas being GMO. I didn't realize zucchini was until a customer asked if it was non-GMO. Since it was from a local farm and the owners had been accused of treating their Thai workers like slaves, I guessed they would've been GMO and told her so. The next day I called around to all the organic farmers on Oahu and some off-island, if they grew or would grow non-GMO zucchini. I even offered to help them buy seeds. I walked around the Farmers' Markets and low and behold; found two farmers who grow non-GMO zucchini (one got seeds from Japan). I get organic from Down To Earth to make up the shortfall (we use about 200 pounds a week). But, it's hard to retract word that goes around that my food is GMO.
When Dave Chinen passed away, there was a big hole (where his truck with non-GMO papayas were) at the KCC market. I remembered him saying his farm was in Kahuku, and there was another farmer there growing non-GMO. So I started buying Kahuku Farms papayas, only to find out the strawberry papayas were GMO. Then I bought "Organic, non-GMO labeled" strawberry papayas from Down To Earth, but someone argued all strawberry papayas were GMO (though I also heard Sunrise Papayas existed in Hawaii before GMO). I found the Kahuku farmers Chinen had mentioned at the Kakaako Farmers' Market. So we are 100% non-GMO. Please pass the word.
We already changed our miso to chickpea miso, but use Ohsawa brand (from Japan) Organic Un-pasteurized Gluten-Free Tamari. The Deguchi family has been fermenting their Gluten-Free Tamari (soy sauce) in cedar kegs like fine wine for over 150 years. That is not cheap!!! It IS like buying wine (retails for close to $30/bottle), but I won't buy their less expensive Nama Shoyu since there are so many Gluten intolerant people. Also soy allergies abound, due to the reliance on soy as an alternative to meat proteins. Soy sauce is the only soy product we use.
How much nuts and oil do we use? We use zucchini, not cashews (in our Bisque, and our Caesar Salad Dressing to make it creamy. In fact, we use more seeds in our meals than nuts, and more veggies than nuts and seeds combined. Locally grown raw Macadamia Nuts are used in the Lasagna "Ricotta," our "Alfredo," and our Not-Tuna Salad instead of using a "Mayonnaise." When nuts are used, no need oil, and we often substitute tahini for oil, and salted cashews for peanuts (always on the side). Cashews are used in "Sour Kreme" (a little is used on our Chia Caviar, and our Tri-Layer Dip), in our "Mayonnaise", and our Date Mustard which we add mayonnaise to calm the heat of the organic brown mustard seeds. It's on the side of our Burger, so you can leave it out. Our Falafel is made with Almonds instead of Chickpeas. Chickpeas required too much oil to make it smooth. We use Zucchini, Sesame Seeds, and Tahini to make our Hummus. And, just in case you're wondering, no, our Garden Burger doesn't have nuts.
I have incorporated the "eat a rainbow" of colored veggies (because different anti-oxidants are found in the various color pigments of the veggies) into each recipe. You'll see the work involved to prep all those veggies in the recipe book I'll be working to complete (as soon as I stop getting involved with all these fundraisers, weddings, etc.). Hah...
Wine Class Sunday, June 29th-1 PM
Led by Roberto Viernes, Master Sommelier
6 White Wines of the World ~ Gourmet Tapas
$80 Pre-Paid Reservations only: 536-9680
Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc,
Riesling, Vouvray, Chenin Blanc
Don't know if you'll like anything other than Chardonnay?
This Class will expose your palate to a WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE.
Never would I have imagined that I'd be seeking out the grassiest Sauvignon Blanc from Marlboro, New Zealand! Now, I'm LOVING IT!
NEW WINES ON OUR LIST FOR A CAUSE:
- Jazz Saxophonist DAVE KOZ's PINOT NOIR AND CHARDONNAY from Central California have been added to our list. "Koz wines is proud to support Starlight Children's Foundation." (davekoz.com)
- In addition, we carry, JEAN-LUC COLUMBO's LES ABEILLES, from Cotes du Rhone, a Classic Rhone Blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre). "JLC and Palm Bay support the UC Davis Department of Entomology in their ongoing research to restore and protect the Honeybee colonies, now in jeopardy.
- A Great Mahalo to (Ed Treschuk of) Young's Market for their generous donation of 4 cases of the KOZ wines used at the past KEEP LIVE JAZZ ALIVE FUNDRAISER! What a fitting donation to our Cause too!
- Another Great Mahalo to Marvin Chang of R. Fields (at Foodland) for contributing 2 cases of French Wines, too!
- Of course SUPER GREAT MAHALO TO THE MUSICIANS FOR THEIR PRECIOUS TIME AND TALENT that made that beautiful day, just WONDERFUL!!! JIMMY BORGES, ROCKFORD HOLMES, DEAN TABA, JIM HOWARD AND PETER FACTORA!
SHOUT OUTS!
Congratulations to David Cressman for passing the exams and obtaining both the Introductory Sommelier and Certified Sommelier Pins. He's already putting his imprint on the Food & Wine Menus re-organizing and making wines easy to find, etc.
Our Behind-The-Scenes Wizard: Alexandra "Lexi" Hada. Her "no scay-y-ed'" creativity has helped me generate many new dishes I had listed as "Must Makes," from escargots to unagi, and the unbelievable tri-layer "cheesecake" this past Cinco de Mayo has come to be a must stay-on-the-menu item. Lexi makes it all so pleasurable in the after-hours when the first kitchen shift is gone after 4pm, and we get to spread out on the big kitchen counter... and create, create, create. We are so attuned with each other. I may have mentioned to her about wanting to make a Green Papaya Salad. I thought of putting fresh sliced coconut into the salad so I bought 3 coconuts from Frankies Farm, (Lexi came in with one; ha ha, you see?) and I got a couple of huge Asian Papayas from Ma'o Organic Farms. They looked like un-husked coconuts, so I by-passed them at first. Lucky the girl from Ma'o asked if I could use some green papayas. Yeaaah..I said. You must be reading my mind! So here's a picture of the finished product. WOW IT TASTES GREAT AND NO OIL!
Here's a Banana Lumpia made with a Banana "Skin" a sweet raw Apple Banana, Vanilla Bean Sauce, Crush Maple Pecans.
Wedding Cakes & All Time Cakes
Raw Vegan Gourmet Now Available!
Lexi's Tri-Layer all-time-cake...
