Bone broth is all the rage these days. It’s an incredibly nourishing and healing food that can be sipped on alone or used to elevate basic soups and cook whole grains. It’s really an every day staple especially during the cold, flu heavy winter months. Bone broth is especially healing because the simmering process allows the bones to release lots of amazing healing nutrients like collagen, glycine, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and amino acids. (These bones must be from super high-quality grass fed animals.)

Some vegans even make an exception and drink bone broth to help nourish their bodies and to help ensure they are getting all the nutrients they need. For those of you looking for a vegan bone broth recipe (or just aren’t ready to have a big pot of bones simmering away on your stove), I’ve come up with the recipe below. There aren’t any actual bones, but vegetables have tons of minerals that will release while simmering and the wakame is a veggie superstar. This recipe is super flexible so feel free to add in any other veggies or herbs you have on hand. In fact, I like to keep a bag of veggie scraps in my freezer to boil away each Sunday. Each broth has it’s own unique, delicious flavor and the combination below is one of my favorites!

I was standing in the check-out line at Erewhon’s in West Hollywood and the lady in front of me had at least 7 bags of this mysterious green herbal popcorn. (I now know it was Azzizah’s)! She was totally addicted and convinced me it was the best thing ever, so naturally I ended up getting about 7 as well. It’s so amazing I had to come up with my own to munch on while I’m on the East Coast.

This good-for-you snack has spirulina (a ton of it actually), which is known to be rather strong tasting. I usually recommend starting with a small amount to start, but was shocked by how much I could add to this recipe without throwing the flavor. And the more spirulina the better – it’s made from algae and is over 60% complete protein. It’s great for strengthening the immune system, improving the digestive system, helping the body to absorb minerals, lowering cholesterol, and lots of other great things!

Every dish I had at Gjelina was packed with flavor – perfectly balancing sweet and sour notes. Their thumbelina carrot dish was a favorite with the sweetness of the almost caramelized carrots and the tangy-ness of the yogurt. I’ve adapted the original recipe to bring you a slightly simpler, dairy free version. The original recipe can be found here.

I love this raw salad for winter. The base is composed of massaged veggies (yes, you can massage brussels sprouts, too!), which makes it an easier-to-digest salad during the colder months. I can grab most of the ingredients at my local farmer’s market, and quickly pull together a tangy dressing using tamari and Sir Kensington’s dijon mustard.