Raw Food Potluck

Ah, today the weather is so nice. It makes my little inner hippie heart want to throw on a yellow dress and dance in the daffodils. But alas, I was stuck inside writing a paper. : P Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I held my first raw food potluck. Lovely people and lovely food. I promised to put up some pictures of the delicious food, along with some recipes. First, I made lasagna, which I’ve already posted the recipe for. This time though, I did the cheese a little bit different, so here it is:

Ingredients:

CASHEW CHEESE
1 ¾  cup cashews, soaked at least 2 hours
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 pinch celtic sea salt
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 small handful fresh or dried parsely

1 small handful fresh or dried oregano

FOR ZUCCHINI STRIPS
2 long and thick zucchini , peeled, and sliced into thin, wide strips with a peeler or mandoline
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 dash celtic salt
FOR THE MUSHROOMS
any olive oil left from the zucchini mix, and more if needed
nama shoyu
1 cup portabella mushroom caps, sliced into thin, wide and long slices
OTHER INGREDIENTS
2 big tomato, sliced into thin, wide slices
1 cup spinach, coated very lightly in any of the extra marinade from the mushrooms and chopped

Preparation:

1. To make the cashew cheez:
-Process the soaked cashews, lemon juice, lemon zest, nutritional yeast, celtic sea salt, onion, and herbs. The measurements are just approximate, so taste as you go, it should taste yummy like ravioli cheese. It should have a ricotta-cheesey texture, so add more lemon juice or water if needed.
2. To make the zucchini layers, coat the thin and wide zucchini strips with the olive oil and salt so they are coated but NOT dripping. Set aside, and reserve any extra olive oil and salt mix you have left for the mushrooms.
3. To make the mushrooms, coat the thinly sliced portabella caps in the EVOO and nama shoyu mixture, again so they are coated but NOT dripping.
4. Coat the baby spinach VERY lightly in any of the leftover marinade from the mushrooms.
5.TIME TO ASSEMBLE!! Arrange the layers like so: zucchini (slightly overlapping), cheez, tomato slices, mushrooms, spinach, and repeat. do this so its as tall as you like, and coat the top layer of zucchini with some more cheez and tomato.
6. Dehydrate at 130 degrees for an hour (this will not destroy enzymes because of the moisture content of the food at this stage), and then at 110-115 for another half hour to an hoour or so.
7. ENJOY!!!!

I also made Carrot Onion Bread that I got from http://goneraw.com/recipe/carrot-onion-bread

Ingredients:

1½ pound Carrots, whole
1½ pound Onions (Spanish, Brown), weight after prep.
¾ cup Flax Seed, soak as directed below
.33 cup Olive Oil (cold pressed, unfiltered)
½ tablespoon Salt

Directions:

Soak Flax seeds in a pint glass filed with water for 30 minutes before using.

While they’re soaking, process the Onions (quartered) in your Food Processor (FP) with the finest (smallest) slicing blade. (not the chopping/normal ‘S’ blade). Should make long thin strips/slices of onions. (Julienne) Set aside in very, very large bowl.

Change your FP blade to the finest grating blade you have and process the Carrots. Add to the bowl with the sliced Onions.

If soak time has passed. Put soaked Flax Seeds and the soak Water into your Blender. Refill the pint glass with water and add that water to blender also. Blend for just a bit, it will become a thick gel/cream with a few whole flax seeds and bits of all sizes.

Pour Flax cream blend into bowl with Onions and Carrots. Add the Olive Oil and the Salt. Stir very well with large spoon. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. While waiting cover 3 Excalibur dehydrator trays with cling film or use teflex sheets.

Divide your mixture evenly between the 3 trays and spread out evenly on each one, just less than a half inch thick. Place into Dehydrator and run until dried well on top. Flip onto normal uncovered trays and continue to dehydrate until almost crispy. It’s best to cut it about two hours after you flip it before it gets too crispy.

As an option, try stopping one tray before it dries all the way and leave those squares more flexible.

These cookies are just…yuuum.  Decadent? Yes.  Rich? Yes.  A little on the heavy side? Yes.  Overindulgent? Yes. Time consuming? Yes.  Worth it?  Yes!  So I looked over a couple of different raw “samoa” recipes and kind of combined them.  Here’s what happened:

For the cookie:

1 cup of almonds or cashews ground into a meal ( I used a coffee grinder, if you use cashews the cookie will turn out much softer, but will still be delicious)

1 cup of raisins or date, soaked

1 cup of shredded coconut, ground into a meal (I used a coffee grinder)

2 tablespoons raw agave nectar, maple syrup, or honey

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract (optional)

The topping, Part I :   (I got this “raw condensed milk” recipe from http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/ I love that blog!)

Raw Condensed Milk:

• 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 cup agave nectar
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup dried shredded coconut, ground into powder, (I use my coffee grinder)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or use vanilla seeds)

The Topping, Part II:

1 or 2 cups dried shredded coconut

Chocolate Topping(and bottom):

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

2-4 tablespoons agave nectar, depending on the sweetness you want

Directions:

So you’ll want to start with the cookie first, because it takes the longest.

The Cookie Directions:

Combine almond meal and coconut in a food processor. Add maple syrup, dates, vanilla and sea salt, and process until it forms a ball of dough.

Flatten the dough into a sheet and cut out cookie-sized circles. To maintain authenticity, you can also cut a smaller circle out of the middle to make its familiar donut-like shape (donuts? Yum! I have such a sweet-tooth. Now, I’m getting off topic). OR you can take small pieces of doll, roll into a “snake” and the join the two ends together to form a circle.  Flatten gently.

“Bake” the cookies in the dehydrator, flipping once, until crisp (I left mine in there for almost 24 hours).

The “Raw Condensed Milk” Directions:

Soak the flaxseed in the water overnight.

Blend at high speed in the blender until the mixture is ‘fluffy’ and frothy. Very, very slowly add the agave nectar. Add the sea salt, coconut, and vanilla and continue to blend until mixture is very smooth and creamy looking.

Pour mixture into a shallow dish and place in the dehydrator.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees for at least three hours, or until desired consistency is reached.

Use in recipes or continue to dehydrate to make ‘dulce de leche’

The Topping, Part II Directions:

Stir the dried coconut into the “raw condensed milk”.

Chocolate Directions:

Stir together coconut oil, cacao, and agave until smooth and melted.

Putting it all together Directions(Time for all these scrumptious desserts to get to know each other):

First, take the cookie and dip the bottom into the Chocolate dip.  Set cookies, bottom side up into the freezer for a few minutes.  The chocolate should become solid quickly.

Remove the cookies from the freezer and top each cookie generously with the coconut topping.

Drizzle remaining chocolate dip over coconut topping.

Place in freezer or fridge.  Keep in until ready to serve.  Yum!

Some other delicious dishes we had at the raw food potluck:

Raw Wraps with a “chicken” salad and veggies.  So good!

A lovely and refreshing Cucumber and Radish Dip

There were deliciiiiiious Popsicles and “fudgesicles”, but I guess we were all in such a hurry to eat them I didn’t get a picture!

I still have a lot more recipes to share.

My sister is on her 7th day of following a 100% raw diet.  She said so far, it hasn’t been as hard as she thought at all.  We talked a little bit about “detoxing” which can be anything from a headache, to stomach ache.   Maybe I’ll touch on that in a post some time.  This usually only last about a week at the most.  She hasn’t had any real symptoms so far.  : D

I’m off to talk to my wonderful hubby on webcam from Iraq!

Enjoy life!

Renee

Basic Raw Food Questions

So my sister has decided to “go raw” for at least 30 days.  As she’s started out she’s had plenty of questions for me.  Some things we talked about today:

Milk: Well by the time the milk comes from the lovely fat cow that has been given antibiotics, hormones to increase milk productions, and fed food with pesticides, the milk  itself has been processed to remove any bad bacteria.  Unfortunately this process also removes the enzymes and good bacteria present in the milk.  Even if you buy organic milk from the grocery store you would not be getting the same milk the calf lives from.  If you’re going to drink milk, I would definitely drink the raw version, just make sure to know the source you’re getting it from.  The reason laws were passed to pasteurize milk in the first place was because of “beat-you-down” bad bacteria like e. coli and salmonella.  BUT HOW WILL I GET CALCIUM???  Some high raw vegan sources of calcium include: Sesame seeds or tahini (sesame seed butter), flax seeds, almonds or almond butter, raw soybeans, dandelion greens, brazil nuts, and chia seeds.  With these foods you’ll be getting lots of other nutrients as well.  Plus, most of them are alkalizing so your body want have to rob from your bones in order to balance your pH levels.  : P

“I need the creamy texture of milk…I will die without it!  Literally.”  Ok, seesh.  Here’s your milk replacement:

1 cup nuts of choice (cashews are super creamy….sunflower seeds are cheap)

2 cups water

Blend it all together for…a while.

Run through a small mesh strainer OR a nut milk bag.  The liquid is the milk- you can sweeten it if you like, add it to smoothies, and raw cacao powder to it.  The “pulp” that’s left over can be used for “pates” or cookies, or dehydrated and ground into a meal or flour.

Sprouts? What are they?  Why sprout?  What can you sprout?

Basically sprouts are a seed, nut or grain in a certain stage of its growth period.  And you decide to interrupt that stage….by chomping into it.  Meanie.  We sprout because it releases enzymes, nutrients, and vitamins.  The little guys are high in protein too.  Some of my favorite things to sprout are mung beans and lentils.  These also happen to be two of the easiest.  Go here for directions on how to sprout lentils. http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/print/lentils.html super easy and the site has plenty of info on sprouting.  It’s not really necessary to buy a bunch of gadgets for sprouting, a mason jar should do the trick.  What to do with your sprouts?  Well, depending on what you sprouted you might want to throw them on top of a salad, in a lettuce “wrap”, in a raw sandwich,  in some raw soup, or whatever else you feel like!

Another point to make while talking about sprouting is soaking.  If you’re not sprouting your nuts and seeds, it’s best to at least soak them for 2 or more hours.  This allows enzyme inhibitors  (things keeping you from digesting that nut or seed easily) to be released from the nut.  Just remember: “Soaking the nut is better for the gut.”  <—- Ok that’s a ridiculous line.

My sister also brought up the question: How do you eat sushi?  It has rice on it so it’s not raw.  Weeeell, as ridiculous as it may seem, if my only option is a sushi roll (maki)….I pick off the rice.  Of course I could always just order sashimi.  Bottom line is, I really don’t eat sushi that often, and when I do I order it with raw cucumber and avocado and remove all the rice.  I actually removed the rice BEFORE eating a high raw food diet simply because it’s so starchy.

What’s xylitol?  Is it raw?  Xylitol is the alien captain come from Zeebus to bring peace to all earthly beings.  K not really.  It  is a sweetener sourced from fruit.  It’s not raw, it has to go through a long and treacherous process to get to us at the health food store, in the sugar-free gum, and the “healthy” ice cream at the grocery store.  It’s sweeter than sugar and contains sugar alcohols, so it doesn’t raise blood sugar levels as quickly.  Other than that, it has no real nutritive value.  It does have calories, but less than table sugar.

What’s stevia?  Stevia is a green plant that looks like this guy:

It’s waaaaaaaaaaay sweeter than sugar.  You can literally take a pieces of the leaf and start chewing it.  It’s very sweet….I know because I recently acquired a stevia plant and this is the first thing I did.  Just to make sure it was true.  : P   So in it’s purest form you would take the stevia leaves and grind them up.  I think once mine starts growing I will dehyrdate the leaves at a low temp and then grind them up into a powder.  Yes this will mean there is a green tint to anything I make that’s sweet and uses stevia.  Shrug.  At the moment I’ve been using white stevia in small quantities.  It’s not raw, but it only takes a very small amount to sweeten something.  The best part is it’ s zero calories and zero impact on blood sugar.  High five mister stevia, high five.

And last but not least my sister asked about olive oil.  Is it raw?  Yes you CAN buy it raw, but it’s not easily available.  Fats and oils are touchy subjects for some raw foodies.  The point of a raw food diet, to me, is to incorporate as many healthy living foods into my diet as possible.  Do I shutter from using a tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil in a recipe?  No.  Should someone else avoid it?  If they feel that’s best for them then of course!  We each have to learn what works for us to be the healthiest and happiest.

Check out my sister’s blog as she “goes raw” for 30 days.  : )

http://myrawfood30.blogspot.com/

Peace,

Renee

Strawberriiiiies

It seems like we skipped spring and went straight to summer.  Today was in the high 80s, but that’s how Georgia does it eh?  I’m not complaining, I absolutely loooooove the warm weather.  Nothing stopping me from being outside.  Easter was lovely spent at Callaway Gardens.  I need to go back when their organic veggie garden is open for business!

Strawberries are in season and cheeeeap!  Right now I’m sipping on a strawberry smoothie and it would be morally wrong not to share.  It’s pretty simple :

1 cup water

1 overflowing cup frozen strawberries

1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)

1 tablespoon agave or honey OR 1/2 teaspoon stevia

A splash of natural vanilla extract

Blend everything together and BAM: springtime in your mouth.  You could of course use raw nut milk for a creamier, richer, more decadent shake.

I vow to try this smoothie by http://www.rawfamily.com/recipes.htm someday simply because of the awesome name.  I want a party in my mouth….who doesn’t?  Really?

Party in Your Mouth Green Smoothie

Sergei Boutenko
1 small pineapple, cored
1 large mango, peeled
½ head romaine lettuce
½ inch fresh ginger root
Yields 2 quarts

Lunch was simple cabbage and carrots.  Kind of like a cole-slaw.  As simple as it sounds I’ve been loooovin it lately.  I love tart so throwing some Apple Cider Vinegar on it makes it just right for me.

Dinner?  This wonderful raw lasagna recipe I found on http://goneraw.com/node/4974 by elizabethh.  I’ll write out the recipe since I messed with it a bit.  I have a beautiful picture I took of it, but can’t get it on here right now.

Raw “Lasagna”:  

1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked at least 1 hour

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh finely chopped basil

1/2 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic

1 long and thick zucchini , peeled, and sliced into thin, wide strips with a peeler or mandoline

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 dash celtic salt

portabella mushroom caps, sliced into thin, wide and long slices

1 big tomato, sliced into thin, wide slices (make sure it’s a juicy one)

1 cup spinach spinach, chopped

What to do:

Whirl the cashews, lemon juice, yeast, salt, pepper, basil, and garlic all together in a blender or food processor.  You won’t it to be pretty smooth, but it’s ok if it has some cashew chunks to give it more of a ricotta texture.

Rub the olive oil into the zucchini slices. Set aside.

Rub the leftover olive oil into the mushrooms and spinach.  You can add additional sea salt if you like.

Create layers: Zucchini, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach.  Repeat until you’ve used everything.

Dehydrate at 130 for an hour.  Don’t leave it at 130 longer for an hour as this would cause the food to actually reach that temperature and defeat the entire purpose of eating it raw in order to keep the enzymes.  After an hour at 130 reduce to 110 for 30-1 hour.

If I didn’t have a dehydrator I would definitely consider making this by wrapping Aluminum foil on top and setting it outside.  Sounds crazy but I think it’s hot enough.  : D

I’m going to make this for my raw potluck, as well as some other goodies like raw samoas.  I also have to share my raw chocolate recipe!  If you’re lucky!

Off to conquer the night,

Renee