Roast Veggie and Goat “Cheese” Wrap, and Two Announcements

Wow. Thank you all so much for the amazing response to my post on coping with unwanted body commentary. One of my main goals for Choosing Raw in 2010 is to have many more conversations about body image, self-perception, self-acceptance, and life with and after disordered eating. I was amazed by the quality of discourse in the comments section after my post (I always am), and I thank you for it.  I hope you’ll keep doing that as I ruminate on these topics, starting provocative conversations with each other and with me.

I thought I’d take a little interlude from body and self-acceptance talk to talk about something far less deep: yesterday’s lunch. Remember my raw, vegan spin on roast beet and goat cheese salad?

I made it, you may recall, because I had a beautiful hunk of fermented macadamia cheese handy, and because roast beet and goat cheese salad was my very favorite goat cheese dish in my pre-vegan days. My second favorite dish was roast vegetable and goat cheese sandwich creations (the finest one of these, I thought, was served at Craftbar here in the city). Yesterday, as I packed my work lunch, I realized that I had an abundance of three things: 1) leftover fermented mac cheese, 2) leftover roast beets, and 3) a big ‘ole tub of my raw, marinated veggies, which I’d also dehydrated for a few hours to soften (making them akin to a raw version of “roast” veggies). Lucky me, I also had some collard greens, so it seemed like a no brainer that my lunch would have to be a high raw, all vegan spin on a roast vegetable and goat cheese wrap.

When lunchtime rolled around at work, I simply layered my marinated veggies, my roast beets, and my “cheese”:

And wrapped it all up. In the end, it looked like this:

Avec salade, it fed body and soul better than any wrap I remember. Hooray for innovative work lunches! I sometimes say that I’m not a fan of leftovers, but every time I do something like this with them, I change my tune.

Before I sign off, I have two big announcements:

1) Tickets for the 2010 Healthy Living Summit go on sale tomorrow at 9 p.m.! For a recap of last year’s summit, you can read my review here; this year, I’ll be in attendance not as a guest, but as a speaker! Caitlin and I will be hosting a panel on body image and self-acceptance that we call “Stop Staring Over Your Shoulder: How to Avoid the Self Comparison Trap.” Our goal will be to analyze the negative effects of comparing yourself to others (specifically, comparing your body and lifestyle habits to others peoples’). I’ll be talking about the proliferation of healthy eating “trends,” the dangers of eating in a way that’s out of step with your needs, and the rise of orthorexia (a term I still have mixed feelings about). Caitlin will talk about the anxiety created in the media by photoshopping and unrealistic portrayals of the female body, and competitive fitness routines. We hope it’ll be a provocative and inspiring conversation, and we’ll want lots of participation. Which means I’d love to have to have some of my CR readers in the audience! If you’re interested in traveling to the Summit, information on registration will go up on the website tomorrow, so please check in.

2) Since we’re all enjoying these conversations about body image, I wanted to give you a head’s up that I’ll have a guest post up sometime tomorrow and/or Thursday on Kate’s blog, Eat the Damn Cake. The blog, which has been up and running for a few months, is full of daring conversations about body image, food, feminism, and beauty. The post I’m contributing is one of the more intimate ones I’ve ever written on my own relationship with my body, so I’ll be giving you all an invitation to check it out when it goes up. Hope you’ll take a peek!

On that note, I’m off to work and then sleep. But I wanted to let you know that I got through this morning’s workout with my customary friendly exchange with Gina (no hard feelings), and little thought given to my hulky, muscled, strapping lower body 😉

I also had my first physical therapy appointment, which left me momentarily sore, but my pain is a little better tonight. Fingers crossed for some real recovery!

xo

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Categories: Uncategorized
Ingredients: Beets
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free

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    19 Comments
  1. How cool that you’ll be a speaker at HLS! Now I want to attend even more:)

  2. Gena, how long could you store the fermented macadamia nut cheese once it’s been made?

  3. You have totally inspired me. I’m buying some macadamia nuts today to start the cheese. The rest of the salad will have to wait until tomorrow, when the cheese is done.

    thanks!!!

  4. Gena, hope your injury heals soon. Groin muscle right? So painful, but it will get better!

    Oh my gosh, I am loving goat cheese these days, and I can’t believe you have come up with a raw version of one of the best salad combos ever! You are truly brilliant!

  5. That’s so exciting that you’ll be speaking! I wish I could go, but that’s when we’ll be in Honduras. I’ll miss it again!

  6. That wrap looks AMAZING! What a great idea. You know Gena, I love how simple and hearty your meals are. They look so do-able but delicious at the same time.

    I can’t wait to read more of your thoughts on body image and body love. Keep it coming!

  7. I just sent you an email about your announcement. I was really resisting going to Chicago in August. Grr…

  8. That wrap looks amazing! I can’t wait to have a go at making the fermented mac cheese.

  9. to be honest (and super geeky) i can’t wait to read this guest post. the wrap is an excellent idea.

  10. I am so excited to listen to your presentation!!! I’ve been curious about what defines orthorexia since I had read about it on Jezebel.com; often it’s such a fine line between healthful habits and obsession. Anyways, can’t wait to see you in August!

    -Lin

  11. I so wish I could see you at the HLS, but I can’t go this year. Ah, drat. Next year!

  12. I hope you feel 100% soon! This recipe sounds incredible, and I fully intend to make it in the next week or so (I’ll let you know when I do). Until then, though, let me just say that I am planning on buying a ticket to the Healthy Living Summit as of right now to hear you speak. Looking forward to it ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. Love the wrap!! And yay for speaking, wish we could come. Both Caitlin and you are such inspirational ladies and would be a honor to hear you both!

  14. Very exciting that you’ll be speaking at the Summit!! I wish I could go!! ๐Ÿ™ The dates just don’t work for me.

  15. You are fab! I love your blog. Keep up the amazing work. The world needs more people like you.