What I eat for breakfast most days creates controversy wherever I go.

Many people think it looks awful (and say so), and among the few who have tasted it, some didn’t like it at all. Nonetheless, it’s what I’ve craved when it’s time for my first meal of the day, since about 1990, and I find it energizing, nourishing and slimming. I also noticed that my facial skin began looking smoother soon after I started eating spirulina regularly. So, on the off-chance that you, too, are a weirdo that likes spirulina smoothie bowls, here’s my recipe:

I like to prepare a large quantity of the powder ahead of time, and then use a 1/4 cup scoopful each morning. If you can’t find beet powder or stevia powder in your local natural foods store, they are easy to find online.

2 pounds protein powder (your choice of source)
8 ounces Hawaiian spirulina (for carotene, GLA, and a host of other nutrients)
8 ounces beet root powder (for iron, and to aesthetically counteract the green of the spirulina)
8 ounces roasted carob powder (to flavor it and further add to the illusion of chocolate-ness instead of algae-ness)
8 ounces stevia leaf powder (to sweeten it without carbs)
8 ounces lecithin granules (a brain food that makes the smoothie creamy)

Sift the first five ingredients through a sieve into a large bowl or pot, so there won’t be hard lumps in the smoothie. Beet root powder is particularly prone to this. Just keep stirring the powder and lumps around in the sieve with a wooden spoon, and after a while it will all go through. Last add the lecithin unsifted, as it will only gum up your sieve.

Stir the stuff until it is all the same light cocoa powder color. Lift the powder from the bottom of the bowl as you stir.

Store it in an airtight glass or food grade plastic container. When I am traveling, it’s usually in a Ziploc gallon freezer zipper bag, inside another plastic bag. It’s handy to have a low carb breakfast with me on the road.

My actual breakfast starts with a serving of fresh fruit, then the smoothie powder mixed with enough pure water to give it the texture and look of chocolate pudding. Sometimes I mix it with yogurt (I like vegan yogurt, of course) so that I get the health benefits of the lactobacillis. The baroque versions include a dash of vanilla extract, and unsweetened vegan milk instead of yogurt or water. You can blend it in a blender, but it mixes up easily with just a bowl and spoon (with which you’ll eat it, anyway, saving you the hassle of washing a blender afterwards.)

Beet greens disintegrate more quickly that other greens in the refrigerator, so time is of the essence for making them into a tasty dish. The beet roots themselves (minus the stems and leaves) can last for months in a cold dry storage, and at least a couple of weeks in a refrigerator.

Cut the stems from the tops of four to six beet roots, and carefully rinse the leaves and stems in cold running pure water, discarding any portions that are broken, bruised, yellowed or limp. Cut the clean, healthy leaves and stems into sections one inch long. Peel and cut one large yellow onion into pieces less than an inch wide or long. Peel and finely chop one large or two small cloves of garlic.

In a large saucepan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil until it sizzles if a tiny drop of water is dropped into the pan. Add the garlic and stir until golden brown. Add the onion and stir until translucent and soft. Add one quarter of the beet leaves and stems and stir until they have wilted. Add another quarter of the beet leaves and steam and stir until they, too, have wilted. Continue with the two remaining quarters of the beets tops. Stir over a medium flame for another five minutes, then remove the sauteed vegetables into a bowl. Spray on and stir in a little Bragg’s Liquid Aminos. I like to top this dish with babaganoush (roasted eggplant and sesame tahini dip), but it’s equally wonderful atop a nest of brown rice.

Steamed Vegetables with Tempeh

This is my absolute favorite recipe using tempeh (Indonesian style cultured soy). Somehow this particular combination of vegetables, seasonings and cooking method do something special with the taste and texture of tempeh.

Cut into bite-sized pieces: broccoli, red cabbage, (or substitute halved Brussels sprouts for these) peeled carrots, peeled beets, (optionally add cubed red potatoes and/or parsnips), peeled yellow onions, cubed tempeh. Proportions are not too important. Steam them all together over pure water until soft enough that a fork easily pierces everything. Turn the vegetables and tempeh out into a large bowl and toss with olive oil and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or organic tamari, or Himalayan salt, or no salty anthing) to taste. Optionally, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Save the bright magenta cooking water to drink. It really is delicious! I am not kidding.

This is a staple of my diet—brilliant in color, rich in flavor and abundant in body-benefitting nutrients. For each person, wash, spin dry and tear into bite size pieces, five leaves of a dark green organically grown lettuce, or use two cups of organic cafe salading (baby greens). Peel and grate a carrot and a small beet, and thinly slice some red cabbage and peeled red onion, add some of each to your lettuce. Dress with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (the mysterious soy sauce without salt), or ground Himalayan salt, and ground black pepper to taste.

This recipe can be multiplied for any size gathering. In that case, I prefer to grate the carrots, beets and cabbage in a food processor or the Champion juicer without the juice screen under the grinder.

Sometimes I make it into a one-dish meal by adding protein: cubed tofu, cooked garbanzo beans, cubed cold cooked chicken or turkey, toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds, grated or cubed cheese, or not-quite-hard-boiled eggs (boil for 7 minutes only, then cool in ice water). The beets will dye all of these an indistinguishable magenta.

If I’m having company, I might offer additional, optional flavors: avocado slices, pitted black olives, or marinated artichoke hearts. If I’m NOT having company, I like to crush a clove of garlic into the olive oil before adding it to the salad.

Recipe for pumpkin/carrot/ginger soup

Bright orange, creamy, rich, pungent, this is a superbly warming soup for cold weather, and one of my most requested recipes.

One large, or two small butternut squashes, or a kabocha pumpkin, with stem cut away, seeds saved separately and toasted on a tray in an oven or toaster-oven (they pop!), and the rest cut into chunks about 3 inches across.

Four large carrots, or an equivalent amount of smaller ones, peeled and cut into 1 inch sections

Two large or three smaller yellow onions, peeled and quartered

A ginger root, about the same size as a large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch sections

Ten garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

Steam all of the vegetables in a steamer basket in a large pot over a quart of pure or purified water, until soft enough that a fork easily pierces all of them. Let the vegetables cool until you can handle the chunks of pumpkin or squash. Spoon these out of their shells into a food processor bowl. Add the other vegetables and the cooking water. Blend until silky smooth. You’ll probably have to do this step in three or four small batches, depending on the capacity of the food processor. Collect all of the batches in one large bowl and stir in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, and 3 tablespoons of organic tamari soy sauce. Stir until completely homogenized.

Serve immediately, or store in a refrigerated airtight container and gently reheat before serving. Garnish, if you like, with fresh cilantro leaves and popped pumpkin seeds.