Girls’ night out is one thing, girls’ night in is another. Whether for brunch, tea, lunch or dinner, there’s nothing like having a few of your own girl tribe over for healthy bites and even healthier conversation. There’s nothing that can’t be discussed when the rosé-fueled, girls-only conversations take place in your own home! And that’s what girls’ night in is all about – catching up and winding down for a few moments to build up the women around us in life. If rosé has a higher purpose, this is it.
For this particular girls’ night in, we gathered for golden hour with a few of our favorite friends in wellness who know how to get down in the kitchen. Our own editor, Suzanne Hall huddled up with raw chef and author, Meredith Baird, baby whisperer-slash-holistic doula, Erica Chidi Cohen of The Mama Circle, and one of our favorite wellness bloggers Lacy Phillips of Free + Native. We whipped up girl food recipes like no other at Meredith’s Venice home and took full advantage of the home’s rooftop garden for one of the last bright evenings of the season.
Make our menu at home and invite your own tribe over! Below you’ll find Meredith’s incredible coconut sushi recipe from her new book the Coconut Kitchen and Lacy’s sprouted fall grain salad with mint and pomegranate arils. We also enjoyed a few glowy bottles of rosé courtesy of Club W and gorgeous local florals from our girl crush, Finch Floral (white lilacs, anyone? Swoon.)
Here are a few notes on making these delicious hand rolls at home…
Hand-rolled sushi makes a great lunch or dinner – it’s a straightforward and uncomplicated presentation. Young coconut meat is an excellent fish substitute. Rice is not used in the following version, but this dish can definitely be served with any grain you would like; black rice offers a really nice contrast to the white coconut, and quinoa is also a great choice. Serve with a little pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce or coconut aminos. Try serving hand rolls with as many ingredients as possible and letting everyone make their own.
coconut sushi hand roll
Makes 2 – 4 servings
Ingredients:
3 sheets of nori, cut in half
1 cup shredded or julienned carrots
1 cup shredded or julienned beets
1 cucumber, deseeded and julienned
1 cup sliced young coconut meat
1 avocado, thinly sliced
a few handfuls of micro-greens
a sprinkle of sesame seeds
1 shiso leaf (optional)
Directions:
Place the nori sheet on the palm of your hand, shiny side down, and put a thin layer of sprouts or rice on the left third of the sheet. Sprouts, shredded carrots, and beets are best used as the “rice” because they are the driest ingredients. Place cucumber, coconut meat, and avocado vertically across the middle of the sprouts, beets, and carrots. Add the shiso leaf and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Flip up the bottom left corner of the nori sheet and begin folding into a cone shape. Keep rolling until the cone is formed. Put a drop of water at the bottom right corner to serve as glue and close tightly.
Autumn Sprouted Quinoa, Squash & Pomegranate Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups sprouted quinoa (to sprout, simply soak in a bowl full of water for 8 hours then rinse)
2 fall squash of choice, chopped thinly
3 sprigs of mint, chopped
1 pomegranate, arils separated
1 cup of sprouted almonds rolled in chili powder of choice
1 garlic clove, chopped thinly
2 Tbsp coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
In a sauté pan, place your squash and coconut oil and sauté until golden brown. Right before the squash is finished sautéing, drop in your garlic until they are golden. Place these sautéed veggies in a bowl to cool.
In the meantime, cover quinoa with water and bring to a boil. Drop that to a light simmer for 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through. Place this in a separate bowl to cool.
Once both bowls have cooled a bit, combined the quinoa, squash, and the rest of your ingredients. Toss well. Enjoy warm, room temperature or cool, based on your climate.
