BLOG | martinazand

Jan 20

Ovulation Bowl With Lentils, Leafy Greens, Soy Eggplant, And Peanut Sauce

We are talking all about ovulation this week in our #selflovejanuary sequence. Ovulation is the peak period of your cycle where you feel extremely energetic and you will want to eat in a way that nourishes your body during this energy-high. Try not to just live on coffee :-). Your estrogen is at its peak during ovulation phase and it has some fun side effects you can check it out here. We need estrogen for a healthy cycle but sadly we often have too much of it in our system a

Jan 12

Hormone-Balancing Bliss Balls

Do you know what you need to eat to balance out your hormones? Fat! Lots of it. The very thing we have been avoiding for decades worrying that it makes us fat. ⁣ ⁣ Instead, with all the fat-free diets we have created a system with imbalanced hormones, more infertility, worse mood swings, a lot more cramping, and a lot less happy women. ⁣ ⁣ So let’s get back to eating more fats. These hormone-balancing bliss balls taste yummy, make the perfect snack for every day, and help you

Aug 7, 2020

Roasted eggplant with herby mint sauce

Here is a pet peeve of mine: I follow a lot of food bloggers because - well, because I love food and love to get inspired all day long and I will always give credit to the people who inspire me. But there is nothing worse than going to a blog and making a recipe that then doesn't turn out delicious or edible. This happens to me all of the time! And it makes me sad because I think it turns people off of cooking when they think that this is what "healthy" food is supposed to ta

Apr 3, 2020

Paprika lemon soy roasted sweet potato

Yes, the combination may sound weird, but don't mock it until you've tried it! These sweet potatoes are amazingly yummy, super easy to prepare, and you can whip up a big batch that you can keep for quick lunches thrown together. Sweet potatoes are some of the things still available at the stores right now - I guess since most people don't have the patience to cook them?!? Either way, they are a super simple way to add something nutritious to your meals right now: Sweet potato

Mar 23, 2020

Spring quinoa bowl

So originally I wanted to post this recipe last week. Then I went to the grocery store and felt so sad that so many of us are having a hard time finding any food at all. So then I thought I would stop posting recipes and I checked in with you on Instagram stories. But overwhelmingly so many of you asked for ideas on what to cook at home, since many of your favorite prepared foods are no longer available. I know it is overwhelming right now - so many changes to our regular rou

Feb 8, 2020

Banana coconut chia pudding

Now that #selflovejanuary is over I am going to make some changes to the blog. It's getting a revamp so you can navigate it more easily (give me a bit of time please to get it all done - this is one huge website!). On top of that you have told me you would like more ebooks and online programs to learn chunks of information around a topic. I love that both the Everyday Detox ebook and 4 Week Health Kickstarter have been such big help to you! Creating content is really my favor

Jan 21, 2020

Immune boosting energy balls

All week long I am sharing #selflovejanuary rituals around boosting your immune system over on Instagram and Facebook stories. Today's ritual is all around switching out your afteronon snacks to support your immune system, and these energy balls are just perfect for that! Every single ingredient in this ball is a immune booster by itself and when you put them together it's like a superhero. I try not to use powders often for the recipes here, as I like to show you how you can

Jan 7, 2020

Lemon green smoothie

Have you hopped over to Instagram or Facebook yet for the daily #selflovejanuary rituals? Today I am talking all about digestion and how to make sure you don't waste all of your body's energy on digesting food. Check it out before it goes away in 24 hours! To get your mornings off to a lighter start try this yummy green smoothie. It's a little bitter with the arugula which helps amazingly with supporting your detox pathways. This makes a really big serving or two medium sized

Dec 11, 2019

Stress Less Holiday Advent Calendar

Welcome to Day 11 of the Stress Less Holiday Advent Calendar. Today we are going to cook together to nourish your body from the inside out. I know this is a busy time and cooking nourishing food often gets neglected. The easiest thing you can do is to make the same or very similar meal every day for the meals that you do have at home using some prepped ingredients. This way you can throw together a nourishing bowl in less than 10 minutes. Watch the video and cook along. All y

Nov 19, 2019

Baby Zand's banana cream birthday cake

Yes, that little number is a 4 on the side. I can't believe Baby Zand is already 4 years old!!! Where has the time gone? I can tell you where: to endless hours of cuddles in the middle of the night, time spent in the kitchen together making energy balls (these are by far her favorite), and so many moments of "I can't do this anymore" ... and then I soldier on and continue being a mother to this wonderful bundle of joy. Every year for her birthday I make a big raw cake (check

Oct 1, 2019

Kohlrabi apple salad

I have thought really long and hard about releasing this recipe, because kohlrabi is a very unique German vegetable, and can be difficult to find in other places. However, I have seen it pop up on more and more menus around the world, and if you are lucky enough to live in the East Bay then Berkeley Bowl is your go-to for this yummy vegetable. It is called a root vegetable, but actually grows above the ground and belongs to the cabbage family. If you can't find it, you can al

Aug 27, 2019

Green minty tapenade

Ok, let me be frank, I use the word tapenade very loosely here. Usually tapenade is made with black olives and capers, and processed into a smooth paste with olive oil. I leave this one much chunkier, add garlic, chili, and herbs, and most importantly - I used green olives! So it's a very distant cousin of a tapenade :-). I love this on crackers or bread as an appetizer, it goes super well as a condiment for BBQs, and you can even top salads and yummy bowls (like this beetroo

Aug 20, 2019

Chocolate mousse with aquafaba

A couple of weeks ago on Instagram I shared how we were making chocolate mousse with aquafaba. No one knew that aquafaba was, and how it turned into chocolate mousse. Get ready, because this will surprise you! It is the liquid you drain away from canned chickpeas. I know, super weird :-). Once you know about this, you will see it everywhere in health food stores and vegan cafes. It basically can be beaten like egg whites, so it is used in mayonnaise, meringues, or in mousse f

Aug 13, 2019

Chilled cucumber avocado soup

Summer days are still here, and with it the need for cooling foods that are super easy to prepare. Let me introduce you to my newest obsession: this creamy, chilled cucumber avocado soup. It's sooooo good. The texture is dreamy, exactly what you would expect from a creamy soup. The flavor is subtle yet delicious. And it fills you up without making you feel heavy and extremely full, so that you can be light on your feet this summer, and return to fun in the sun. You can prepar

Jul 16, 2019

Roasted sunchoke salad

Living in Asia means that I have come across some fun veggies and fruits over time. Buddha's hand is a citrus fruit, that is shaped more like a claw than an actual hand. Dragonfruit is still by far the most beautiful fruit to me. And then there is bitter melon, which has nothing to do with a melon, isn't sweet, and actually works really well in South East Asian curries. But then I moved to Berkeley, and who knew I could still find something fun and new to me, that I would ins

Jul 9, 2019

Green summer potatoes with parsley pumpkin seed pesto

My first potatoes are coming out of my veggie garden, and that makes me soooo happy. Even though there are never enough for a full meal, the few that I get to add to a dish like this make all the difference. To me our veggie garden is not about feeding our entire family, although we do have lettuce for the whole summer. It is about showing Baby Zand where food comes from, how long it takes to grow, and then to pick it, clean it, and prepare it. She loves watching her strawber

Apr 16, 2019

Raw carrot cupcakes with lemon vanilla frosting

Easter is almost here, so it's time for yummy carrot cake. Even though carrot cake sounds healthy - carrots are a vegetable after all, right? - most are filled with processed vegetable oils, refined sugar, and gut inflaming flours. And as you may know by now, I set out to make every holiday a little healthier because it should never just be bland, boring food for you while everyone else enjoys treats. I take this approach with my daughter, too, making sure she has access to s

Mar 18, 2019

Cherry rose jam

Persian New Year is here again! As you can see, I am clearly more obsessed with making sweets healthier with a touch of Persian New Year flavors such as cardamom and rose. In the last two years I've made cookies and chocolate. This year I made a Persian New Year inspired jam with rose water. It's light, fragrant, and a perfect addition to my morning warming oatmeals. Baby Zand loves her jam on toast, and I will also happily shove a spoonful into my mouth as a quick dessert af

Jan 22, 2019

Green chia pudding

Green is always the color of the New Year! It is the color of fresh, new nature, of cleaning up your digestive tract, and giving your body the much craved oxygen it needs to have more energy. Green smoothies are always my go to as soon as I come back from holidays. (I even have a beat the jetlag green smoothie recipe :-)), and this green chia pudding is my favorite new breakfast addition. One of the best benefits is that I can whip it up at night, and don't have to worry abou

Aug 22, 2018

Mango slaw

Summer is starting to fade, I can just tell! The sun rises later in the morning while I am exercising, in the evenings I need a sweater, and our veggie garden is starting to empty out. But summer BBQs are still abundant in our back yard, and this mango slaw is super simple to throw together for a crunchy, fresh side. You can make big portions of this, and prepare it a few hours ahead of time if you have a big party coming up. Just keep it in the fridge to let it marinate. Pre

Aug 14, 2018

Grilled Romaine lettuce and plum salad

Can you tell that I am slightly obsessed with plums at the moment? The summer tomato and plum salad is on our dinner table most nights, and every morning I top my oatmeal with plum ginger jam. Plum season is so short, as is the summer BBQ season. So let's make the most of both of them with this delicious recipe. Grilling Romaine lettuce may not seem appealing to you, because who wants to eat warm, limp lettuce, right? The difference are the herbs that you slather the lettuce