A little piece of heaven...

Last night I had one of the best meals I've ever eaten. I'm hard to please, too. I like my food to be healthy and taste good. And, it must be gluten free, of course. With all of those requirements, I can be a pretty tough critic. But last night, I had a wonderful experience and meal at a restaurant that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I met a friend at Cru in Silverlake - www.crusilverlake.com Cru is an organic vegan restaurant with a menu that is 100% gluten free (bonus!) and mostly raw. How can THAT be good, you might ask? Yes, it's true, raw food CAN taste good. There are plenty of raw food restaurants out there that don't do a very good job and unfortunately, they give the other ones a bad rap. However, at Cru, you really wouldn't even know that you are eating raw food. Yes, that is just how good it is! I had the pesto ravioli. The ravioli is made out of thinly sliced jicama and is filled with a "cheese" made form cashews. It was topped with a wonderful pesto and served with an arugula salad. I ate every bite! And, to top it off, I just had to try some dessert. They have a very nice dessert menu and I decided to go with the chocolate brownie a la mode. The brownie and ice cream are both raw, gluten free, non dairy and do not contain refined sugar - perfect! It was amazing... again, I ate every bite!

The funny thing is, though, that while I ate everything served to me, I was not full. I was satisfied and felt great, but not overly full. I tend to feel this way after a good raw vegan meal. The portions are not big and all of the ingredients are organic and natural - the way a proper meal should be.

So, if you are looking for a good meal that is healthy (and gluten free, to boot!), you must give Cru a try. Even if you are not a raw vegan (hey, I'm not!), I would still highly recommend it. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Purely Delicious

I have a new obsession - Purely Delicious magazine. The name says it all... healthy recipes that are SO good! This magazine is dedicated to the raw food lifestyle. But don't let that scare you - or fool you. Even if you are not a raw foodist, you will enjoy this magazine and the recipes it has to offer. And of course, most of the recipes are gluten free, otherwise I wouldn't be so excited about it!

Here's one of my favorite recipes.
With blueberry season coming up, I just had to share this Purely Delicious recipe. Not only does it taste good, but blueberries are full of antioxidants, vitamin C and fiber. And this recipe contains no refined sugar, but trust me, you won't even miss it. So go ahead, have a slice... or two!

Fresh Blueberry Pie

Crust
2 cups almonds
1/2 cup dates, seeds removed
pinch of sea salt

Filling
5 cups fresh blueberries
2 bananas
1 1/2 Tbsp honey

Preparation:
For the crust, in a food processor, grind the almonds until fine. Add the dates and salt and blend until the mixture binds together between your fingers when pinched. Press into 9" glass pie pan and set to one side.

For the filling, in a food processor, combine four cups of the berries, bananas, and honey. Blend until smooth. Remove from processor bowl and stir in remaining berries. Pour into the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least three hours. Serve and enjoy.


For more info, click here -

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I don’t eat sweets often, but I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is flourless chocolate cake. I love going to a restaurant and finding out that they have flourless chocolate cake on the dessert menu. After all, as a Celiac, it is rare to be able to eat dessert out at a restaurant. But if I’m going to splurge on dessert, I want it to be a good one. There are definitely good flourless chocolate cakes and bad ones. I can’t tell you how many I’ve had that are super dry or heavy or way too dense and rich. Since I like to think of myself as a flourless chocolate cake “expert” :-), I’ve compiled a list of my favorites in the Los Angeles area.

But, please keep the following in mind when ordering:

Remind the server and chef that you have Celiac or are gluten intolerant and that you CANNOT have any gluten.

Just because it is flourless does not mean it is free of gluten. DOUBLE CHECK!

So here it is… the best of the best! Enjoy!

Le Petit Four
(8654 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, http://www.lepetitfour.net/)
Yummy! This was the first flourless chocolate cake that I fell in love with! It’s not heavy like most of them are and it’s so moist and tasty. They also serve excellent food. I LOVE the salads. They are really good about checking ingredients, talking to the chef and modifying dishes, too.

Clafoutis
(8630 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood)
I was planning on going to Le Petit Four for lunch with a friend, but we got there before they opened. So, we went a couple doors down to Clafoutis. I was very excited when I saw they had flourless chocolate cake. I ordered it, not thinking it could be as good as Le Petit Four’s. I was pleasantly surprised! It’s lighter, but oh so good! Again, they also have really good food for lunch and dinner.

Soleil
(1386 Westwood Blvd in Westwood, http://www.soleilwestwood.com/)
Someone had told me about how good the flourless chocolate cake is here and they were right! My husband and I went here for dinner before a movie (the food is excellent, by the way!) We were running short on time since we had to get to the movie but, I was determined to try that flourless chocolate cake! The server packed it up in a little box and we took it with us. What a treat at the movie theater to sink my fork into a very delectable dessert. It’s light, but not too rich – one of my new favorites!

A flourless chocolate cake lover? Add your favorite in the comments section!