Sun Cafe:

#JaneUnChained LIVE with famed vegan Chef Ron Russell of the award winning Sun Cafe in Studio City, CA! A must visit restaurant near Universal Studios! Antoinette Westcott reports!

Chef Russell made a refreshing watermelon salad. He explains how to make an amazing variety of vinaigrettes using an acid, oil, and sweetener as the building blocks. You can make anything from Italian, fruit, curry, to Thai vinaigrette adding different ingredients.

Chef Russell offers cooking classes which we could probably all benefit from! Also check out his cookbook which should be available soon as well as a video series he is currently working on. He promises he has over 300 easy healthy recipes to share and teach everyone to make. We should all be health-conscience when we decide what to eat because our health is directly correlated to our diets!

He emphasizes the importance of eating to preserve and promote health. A vegan diet reduces cholesterol and helps prevent heart disease. Eating this way keeps you healthy, which was reinforced when he went to the doctor after not going for 20 years and the doctor was baffled by his pristine blood test results. The doctor even said he had the health of someone 20 years younger than his age! He swears by a vegan diet and advocates for its ability to cure and prevent disease. So eat your veggies, especially the leafy green ones!

Video shot by Eric Faison

Check out Suncafe’s Website for more information:

suncafe.com

Recipes:

Watermelon Salad:

About 1 Cup Mixed Greens ( like Spinach or Arugula)

1 1/2 Cup of Watermelon chopped

1/2 a Cucumber chopped into quarters

little bit of sliced Red Onion for flavor

Vinaigrette:

1 Tsp. Olive oil

2 Tbsp.

Little bit of Apple Cider Vinegar

A dash of salt

Green Leaf Stevia to taste

Cilantro to taste

You can use 6 parts vinaigrette to 1 part oil to make it healthier!

And if it’s not sweet enough, add some chopped dates, because according to Chef Russell they help reverse heart disease! Delicious and healthy!

Antoinette Westcott and Chef Russell posing with the final product!      Photo : Eric Faison

Chef Russel prepped to make the salad.
Photo: Eric Faison

Chef Russell means business when it comes to chopping salads! Haha!
Photo: Eric Faison

The vibrant fresh watermelon salad… Makes your mouth water looking at it! Yum!
Photo: Eric Faison