Thank you, Maria!!!

I heart Indian fudge.

Do you see this picture of me smiling? That’s because this picture was (one) taken on my birthday, (two) I was in India, (three) India is like, my most favorite place ever, (four) I was with a group of international yoga friends for a super fun party and (five) we were eating Indian fudge. This was no ordinary fudge… it was the best Indian Fudge EVER.

I didn’t even know that Indian fudge existed until I was actually IN India. I mean, you don’t exactly equate Indian culture with gooey chocolate goodness, right? But I happen to be a health conscious foodie, so I’m open to almost any gastronomic surprise (as long as it’s healthy and vegan-ish. Especially if it involves chocolate!

Even though I’m an Ayurvedic practitioner, and incredibly committed to health, I still love fudge. I mean, you’ve got to let yourself have fun in life. Am I right or right? : )

Anyway, back to the story of how I encountered the Indian fudge that became by birthday cake… Last winter, I was on my way from Mumbai to the international home of Iyengar yoga in Pune. I stopped for a few days in Matheran – a beautiful “hill station” nestled between these two metropolitan cities. Matheran is famous for having no cars, clean air, lots of monkeys and really good chikki. Chikki is a classic Indian sweet made from nuts or seeds, ghee (clarified butter) and jaggery (a truly delicious Indian sugar). Matheran was the perfect place to recover from jet lag and get reacquainted with my beloved India.

Since I was staying with a family in Pune, I wanted to bring them a gift – homemade chikki seemed perfect. So I bought some with the last of my money before I arrived in Pune, I also bought a small package of chikki for myself.

As it turns out, the hype is for real – homemade chikki is AMAZING. I couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving Matheran without more. But I had spent all my money and it was my last night in Matheran. I knew what I had to do.

At 9pm, I trekked over to the town’s only ATM. As I approached, I heard – and then saw – a frightening growl. It belonged a dog who appeared to be guarding the ATM. There was no way around him and no way I was going to get any money out of that ATM as long as he had something to say about it. My last minute late-night chikki mission was a bust! I arrived in Pune chikki-less (although I did still give my host family their chikki)!

It wasn’t too long before the universe stepped in, as it always does! I shared my chikki story with a sweet, modern Indian couple who, upon meeting me in line at a local restaurant, took me out to lunch AND invited me to their wedding – I’m telling you. How can you not love India?!

They told me that the BEST chikki actually came from a nearby town called Lonavla (he grew up there!) and that it was just a train ride away. I dutifully boarded the train the following day (it was only 4 hours roundtrip), found the store most renowned for their sweets –  a place called Cooper’s and there it was… the fudge! I forgot about the chikki at that point. I had a new love to tend to.

By the way… so that you know I’m not making this up, I recently discovered a Facebook group called the “Coopers Fudge Fan Club”)!!!

The rest is history. I bought the fudge. I ate it standing in the pouring rain. I loved it. I cherished it. I shared it with friends… and then I shaped it into a letter “T” and made it my birthday cake. The end… The recipe I’m sharing with you today is NOT fudge – but it is fudgy and delicious. Try it! And check out that Cooper’s Fudge Fan Club page on Facebook – it’s pretty awesome!

Rosemary-Infused Brownies – Gluten-Free!

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Yield: About 16 brownies

Once they have cooled to room temperature (if you can wait that long to taste them!), these brownies are bites of moist chocolate goodness imbibed with the savory kick of rosemary – an advantageous herb in winter for its ability to strengthen circulation, metabolism and elimination.

I adapted this recipe from one I found in “Bob’s Red Mill Baking Book”. Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite source for all types of grains, especially all-purpose, gluten-free baking flour. I always keep some on hand so that when the mood strikes for a batch of cookies or brownies, I’m ready!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

5 ounces Dark or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips*

2 Eggs (at room temperature)

1 teaspoon Rosemary Extract or Vanilla Extract

1 cup All-Purpose, Gluten-Free Baking Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 cup Organic Sugar

2 teaspoons Fresh, Chopped Rosemary Leaves or 1 teaspoon Crushed, Dried Rosemary Leaves

Pinch of Salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan with coconut oil.

Set up a double boiler method on your stove over medium heat. Melt the coconut oil and the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat.

In a small separate bowl with a wire whisk or fork, beat the eggs and then whisk them into the chocolate/oil mixture. Beat in the rosemary extract and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, rosemary and salt. Beat in the chocolate mixture until smooth, then spread the brownie mixture into your greased pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before digging in

*In lieu of using chocolate chips, consider breaking a couple of high quality, dark chocolate bars into chip-sized pieces. Brands like “Alter Eco”, “Green and Blacks” and “Divine” taste especially… well, divine.

Thank God For Yoga

My name is Talya and this is my blog. Sometimes I wonder if the contribution I make to the world is really enough. Is it really enough to show up at the local gym and teach people how to correctly position their shoulders over their wrists? Is it enough to teach cooking classes and turn people onto Ume Plum Vinegar and Green Superfoods? Am I good enough? Rejection does this. It makes me ask if I’m loveable, if I’m worthy, if I’m even really here. So… am I?

I took a walk on West Cliff Drive today with a woman I love and admire. She assured me that, yes, I am here. And she reminded me of the power of being your own best friend. Of looking these feelings in the eyes (grief, anger, devastation, hurt, sadness, vengeance, jealousy… the dark side, essentially) and saying: “That’s right, girl. That’s how you are feeling right now! You have every right to feel that way!” And you don’t have to make up a story about why you feel it. You can just let it be.

Love yourself.
Feel it.
Love yourself.
Feel it.
Maybe take a nap.
Go to yoga again.
Allow your super-awesome friend to bring you soup and watch you eat it.
Make raw brownies.
Feel it.
Love yourself.

Martha Graham says, “the body never lies”. Its core essence only wants to communicate truth to you – through you – the truth of how beautiful you are in your humanness. So… I’ll just be real. I lost something I really loved. There’s part of me that wants to be a victim, but there’s a bigger part of me that wants to heal this… And so I will. I’m learning to let go. I’m learning to trust that the Universe loves me, that God knows me better than I know myself and that – gosh darnit – people like me (and God LOVES me). So, now… I’m going to do the sensible thing and make Sweet Potato Fries with Raw Ranch Dressing for lunch. It’s the loving (and super delicious) thing to do. Take that, ex-boyfriend!!!!

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:
2 medium/large sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 4 inch long, 1/2 inch thick fries
2 to 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil or ghee (or olive oil if that’s all you have around)
1 teaspoon coarse ground Himalayan salt or Celtic sea salt or Real Salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coconut sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon whole coriander seed (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Toss the sweet potatoes with the oil, salt, cumin, sugar and coriander so the fries are well coated.
Spread a single layer of fries out onto a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn the fries over, maybe move them to the top rack in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the fries are golden brown and slightly crisp. Serve with Raw Ranch Dressing.

Raw Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soaked raw cashews
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional)
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (optional)

Directions:
Place everything in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Add an extra tablespoon of water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with Sweet Potato Fries.

Let’s see if you can listen to the Talya’s Kitchen Jingle… (does it work?)

World, please stay tuned… I promise there is more to come soon (including a cooking class in the South Bay Area on May 21st and an 8 Day Cleanse in Santa Cruz that begins on May 13th with me and Dr. Tonya Fleck D’Andrea.) Want to play? Sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get all the juicy details.

Happiness for spring's warm arrival

Love, Talya

Ghee is considered one of the “super-foods” of Ayurvedic nutrition. Overflowing with abundant health benefits, ghee, also known as clarified butter, is clean, sweet and light to the taste. It is one of the most beneficial forms of fat for the body and when taken with medicinal herbs, ghee helps transport an herb’s nutritional properties to all seven tissue layers of the body.

Click on the images below to follow along:

This recipe is featured in Public Television Station KTEH’s “KTEH COOKS WITH GARLIC” Cookbook! To purchase Talya’s Kitchen Ayurvedic Cookbook click here.

Allow 15 – 20 minutes preparation time.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Raw Cashew Pieces
• 1 ½ Cups Cold Water
• 1 ½ Tbs. Raw Garlic, Peeled & Minced (about 4 cloves)
• 1 Tbs. Miso Paste
• 2 Tbs. Very Hot Water
• 1 Tbs. Fresh Lemon Juice
• ½ tsp. Mineralized Salt
• ¼ tsp. Coriander Powder
• ¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tsp. Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp. Dried Dill Weed
• 2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary (optional)
• 1/8 Cup Fresh or Dried Pomegranate Seeds (optional)

*Variation…

For a thicker sauce, or to use this recipe as a vegan spread, reduce Cold Water to 1 Cup and reduce Miso Paste by ½ Tbs.  When serving this sauce over the holidays (for extreme beauty and delight), garnish with Fresh Rosemary and Fresh Pomegranate Seeds.  So Delicious!

Directions:

To make the Cashew Cream… Place Cashews and Cold Water in a blender.  Process on high speed for 1 minute.  Pause and scrape down the sides with a soft spatula.  Process for another full minute – until your Cashew Cream sauce is smooth.  Set aside.

Peel and finely mince garlic cloves.  Set aside.

In a small glass or ceramic bowl, combine Miso paste with Hot water (recently boiled water is fine) until the miso paste has dissolved.  Add Lemon Juice, Salt & Coriander Pepper.  Stir again and set aside.

Place Coconut Oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 Tbs. of Raw Garlic into the pan and sautee for one minute.  The garlic will feel a little sticky but that’s O.K.  Add the Miso mixture and the Cashew Cream. Stir well. Lower heat to simmer and stir for another 2 – 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining garlic, dill and… Voila!