I love pasta but I would usually feel bloated and uncomfortable after eating it anyway due to the gluten in the wheat, so it’s not a huge sacrifice to switch to gluten free pasta made from a whole grain. I’ve tried so many different GF pastas, fancy ones, cheap ones, and I keep returning back to the only one I like — Trader Joe’s organic brown rice penne. Here is a foolproof way to cook gluten free pasta.

Here’s a really quick and delicious recipe I developed using chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. I love them so much I literally could eat them every day! Served with a whole grain rice and lentil crackers and coconut (or other) yogurt, this is a high-protein and very satisfying meal.

I used to love crab cakes and salmon cakes but since I went through treatment for cancer I’ve transitioned into a mainly vegan and gluten-free anti-inflammatory diet. I’m always looking for ways to get a lot of vegan protein in my foods without a lot of fat. Chickpeas/garbanzo beans (I use these terms interchangeably) are always a good choice for me. They have about 14.5 grams of protein in one cup (cooked) and 268 calories, plus they are high in fiber, at 12.5 grams dietary fiber per cup. I love their versatility, their creaminess when pureed. These veggie cakes feature mashed garbanzo beans and peas and are stuffed with more grated veggies. They’re nutrient dense and delicious.

Many or most of us have had their lives turned upside down in a matter of a few days, once the pandemic set in in mid-March . I find myself trying to second guess and imagine what’s going to happen in the year ahead, what our daily life will look like, what work opportunities may arise. I’m a planner and not being able to plan makes me feel anxious and ungrounded.

Now we suddenly find ourselves, across the globe, together in our isolation as we hide out from the latest enemy - the pandemic. Nothing in my lifetime has caused such a devastating upheaval as this — cancer didn’t even come close. At least cancer treatment had a finite ending and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t die. Afterwards, I thought rehabilitation and recovery would be my biggest obstacle to returning back to my “normal” life in a timely manner. But not long after I finished cancer treatments, my “normal” life was turned upside down, along with most everyone else’s.

There are so many good things about these raw vegan summer rolls, I just don’t know where to begin! Riceberry is a whole grain rice with a purplish color and it can be found in Thailand. I found these riceberry rice papers so I had to try them out, even though I’ve never successfully rolled a summer roll in rice paper. It’s a little tricky but my rolling got a little better with practice. Notice the beautiful mauve color of the rice paper. But ordinary white rice paper will work just fine too.

I’m writing this blog post while stuck in paradise — Koh Samui, Thailand. It seems like going through the cancer experience a few months ago was just practice for the pandemic that took hold shortly after I finished my treatments. It has left me longing for the simpler times when cancer was the biggest of my worries, and I didn’t have an inkling that a virus could bring life to a standstill and global economies crashing.

Rendang is a curry popular in Indonesia and Malaysia and contains lots of immune-boosting favorites like garlic, ginger, shallot, turmeric lemongrass and kaffir lime. Although it’s popular to use beef in rendang, my version is vegan and uses kabocha instead. It is anti-inflammatory, alkaline and an excellent anti-cancer dish.

KEFIR HACK: Probiotics are most effective when consumed as food —rather than in pill form. Coconut water kefir is my favorite probiotic drink and it’s easy to make here in the tropics or at home. Raw organic coconut water kefir can be prohibitively expensive when purchased at a top grade natural foods market but this hack is cheap and can be done while traveling. The probiotics that emerge with fermentation make kefir excellent for gut problems and for boosting immunity, something we all need more of during this Coronavirus scare!

I am in Ubud, Bali, on a mission to cleanse after going through chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer. In order to do a deep cleanse I am fasting, combined with juicing and a mostly raw vegan diet.

The more I looked at pictures of food while fasting, the more I could taste elements of each dish. I tried to replay any taste and texture memories of dishes I’d tried, and made a great effort imagine any dishes I saw online that I hadn’t had yet. I felt myself getting excited by this food porn journey during my fast.

I’ve met a number of interesting people here doing extended stays in Bali. And almost all of them have been healers of some sort. Bali is known as the purification center of the world and it attracts spiritual types, particularly in Ubud. I can make an educated guess that there are perhaps more healers here per square foot than any other place on the planet. And that includes Balinese healers as well as healers from all over the globe.