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Raw Apple Pie #1

12 Feb

I get a little weird about how much nuts are used in raw recipes. Though I didn’t notice any weight gain from eating high raw, I was mindful of this when I selected my recipes. Then I found out about buckwheat groats. Turns out you can use them for crusts instead of nuts! For my 1st raw apple pie attempt, I didn’t exclusively use groats (just in case!), but at least they were only about a third of the bulk of the crust. I used 1 1/4 c. of groats, but 1 c. would have sufficed so that’s what I jotted down below for you. I just didn’t want to have a 1/4 c. laying around. : )

Next I will probably try some kind of raw cacao banana pie!

Raw Apple Pie #1

1 c. buckwheat groats
1/2 c. raw almonds
4 dates
2 tbsp. of raisins
1 tsp. oil, I used light olive oil
1.5 tbsp. raw agave
2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground ginger
small pinch of salt

1 apple, cut into chunks
1 ripe banana, broken in half or quartered
2 tbsp. raisins
1 tsp. of cinnamon

1 apple, thinly sliced for topping

Directions:

1. Add buckwheat groats and almonds to a food processor and grind down to a sandy texture. Add dates, raisins, oil, agave and spices, and pulse until well combined. Press firmly into a pie plate with a rubber spatula.

2. Add apple, banana, raisins and cinnamon to processor and blend until smooth. Scrape out with spatula and spread onto crust.

3. Arrange apple slices in a pinwheel pattern to completely cover pie. Sprinkle with cinnamon and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

This slices up best when left to set in the fridge overnight!

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Raw Vegan Nachos

25 Jan

So maybe seeing raw vegan nachos on Greenwave’s menu stuck with me, or maybe it’s just that I really love nachos… either way, I had raw vegan nachos on the brain. After reading a few recipes for sauces, I figured I had some pretty good ideas of my own to try, and took to the Vitamix. I think the secret to this sauce is really the smoked paprika. A nod to what makes Bang, Bang Cafe in Seattle’s vegan mac so good. I put a bit more turmeric, smoked paprika and cayenne than what’s listed below, but that’s a good place to start, and then you can customize it to your palette.

I really love the flexibility and creativity I’m feeling with raw food. It’s great to have so many fresh ingredients on hand and just use what I’m in the mood for, or what needs to be used up. For the nachos, I cut up the last three pieces of raw onion bread I picked up Saturday at Greenwave. They were starting to get crispy from sitting in the fridge, so they really worked well. For toppings I used the last of some romaine I had, a big handful of chopped cilantro, a seeded, chopped tomato, and a few sliced kalamata olives. Then I drizzled it all with this raw vegan nacho cheese sauce. I didn’t use any additional water because I liked the thick consistency, so I started with about 1.5 cups worth, and used about 1/2 cup of it. I saved the rest for another use.

This is obviously a limitless recipe of possibilities, and I must say… the sauce came out AWESOME! :)

Raw Vegan Nacho Cheese
makes 1.5-2 cups, depending on consistency

1 c. of raw cashews

1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/4 c. of water, plus more if you want it a little thinner
~1/2 tsp. olive oil
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 a small shallot or a little bit of onion
~ 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (or more)
~ 1/2 tsp. turmeric (or more)
2 pinches of salt
cayenne pepper, optional

Directions:

1. Put dry cashews in a high powered blender or food processor and chop until they’re a fine powder.

2. Add all other ingredients, and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings and thin with additional water as desired. If using a vitamix, you can blend a bit longer to warm mixture a bit. I just held the carafe to monitor the temp.

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High Raw, Week Two: Kale Salad & Thai Wraps

22 Jan

So this week we continued on our raw journey, though it wasn’t full raw; we added in some grains. Thomas had some grits for breakfast a few days this week, and we had that brown rice. We also ate a whole loaf of sprouted grain bread, most often toasted.

After I made the brown rice to go with the beet burgers on Monday, I ate the leftovers for lunch Tuesday with some sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, and dijon mixed in. It was tasty and filling, but it felt heavy after all my raw food eating, and all I craved for the rest of the day was a kale salad, in the worst way! So for dinner I came home and made a BIG kale salad adapted from The 30 Minute Vegan‘s Rainbow Kale Salad, pg. 138 (amongst other things, I added a pear for some sweetness),  and a whole lot of Thai Wraps adapted from RAW FOOD real world. This made so much that we were able to eat this yumminess for days (the latter is actually an appetizer recipe for 12), a major plus.

Kale Salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped into tiny pieces
1 half green cabbage, shredded and chopped
1 grated carrot
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped finely
1 green pear, finely chopped

Dressing:

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. evoo
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. braggs
pinch of cayenne

Directions: Combine salad ingredients in a very large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients and massage dressing into salad with clean hands. Let it sit in the fridge or out for a little while to let the flavors absorb, and the kale soften slightly.

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I made a lot of adjustments to the  Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps, RFRW pg. 143. I cut the oil in half for the chopped raw cashew mixture, which worked just fine. I used green instead of savoy cabbage, and for the almond butter sauce, I halved the recipe, and had more than enough sauce to coat it completely. I also used a combination of lemon and lime juice, and instead of a red chile,  a little cayenne and red pepper flakes. My bean sprouts went bad, so sadly they were also left out. Also, I ran out of basil, so I just used a little more cilantro and mint. I didn’t bother at all with the tamarind dipping sauce, since they were plenty tasty on their own. So I ended up with…

Thai Wraps

1/2 c. raw cashews, chopped
1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
couple pinches of sea salt

1/2 green cabbage, shredded

2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbps. lime juice
2″ piece of ginger, chopped
pinch of cayenne
pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 tbsp. braggs
1/2 c. almond butter

1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and cut down the middle into two halves
2 small carrrots, cut into matchsticks
1 ripe mango, cut into thin strips
large handful of cilantro, finely chopped
large handful of mint, finely chopped

raw cashews, sesame oil, sea salt, mixed in a small bowl

maple syrup, lemon juice, chopped ginger, cayenne, crushed red pepper flakes, braggs, and almond butter blended in blender and tossed into green cabbage

ready to assemble

take the stem out of the collard leaf and use half for each wrap

fill and roll

I ended up with 10 beautiful wraps. 12 if you don't have any halves you don't like.

Results:

The leaves were really sturdy and thus, made these keep really well. So we were able to eat these delicious and fresh tasting wraps for days. The flavors complemented each other well, all the different textures were nice together, and provided a lot of crunch. Once they were all assembled, I thought they would’ve looked like pretty little Thai enchiladas if I had drizzled them with some tamarind dipping sauce, but I was already ready to be out of the kitchen and eating at that point, so I didn’t bother! ; )

Vegan Blue Cheese & Fruit Crunch Kale Salad

5 Jan

While flipping through Raw Food Real World, I spotted a meyer lemon dressing made from lemons, honey, olive oil, and salt & pepper. I had a bag of lemons in my fridge, two bunches of kale on the counter, and that brand new brick of vegan blue cheese I was dying to use, and came up with this. If you don’t have a fancy high powered blender you can just use lemon juice instead.

Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

4 small lemons, ends removed and peeled leaving a little pith
raw agave and/or maple syrup, to taste
drizzle of oil
salt & pepper

Vegan Blue Cheese & Fruit Crunch Kale Salad

2 bunches of kale, washed, ribs removed, and finely chopped
1 pear, shaved into salad with peeler
1 apple, finely chopped
3-4 ounces of vegan blue cheese, crumbled
a few handfuls of raisins
handful of dried cranberries
handful of chopped walnuts
handful of sunflower seeds

Directions:

1. Add lemons to blender and turn up to high speed to pulverize seeds and pith. With blender running, drizzle in olive oil to desired consistency. Sweeten with agave and/or maple syrup, and add a pinch of salt and a little fresh ground pepper, to taste.

2. In a very large bowl add all ingredients and drizzle with about half of the dressing. Toss salad by massaging with clean hands until all ingredients are well distributed. Top with additional dressing, raisins, seeds or nuts as desired.

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And here was my lovely green smoothie lunch today! It feels good to eat clean again.

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Apricot Quinoa Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Marinated Tofu

3 Jan

So this meal was inspired by the lovely little acorn squashes I picked up on my shopping trip this week… and a couple of other recipes as well. When I made the Veganomicon Chickpea Pilaf the other day, another recipe caught my eye, the Israeli Couscous with pistachios and apricots. The quinoa here incorporates that pairing of apricot and grain, and also makes use of the yummy acorn squash seeds. The marinated tofu is just a slight adaptation of the one from the Angelica Home Kitchen cookbook.

The tofu and squash cook together for the same time to keep it simple. I put them both on the middle rack of the oven and switched them halfway. The quinoa comes together quickly and easily on the stove top. If you’re making the quinoa without the squash, you can substitute slivered almonds for the seeds, or some other seed or nut of your liking. Some steamed or sauteed greens would make a really nice addition.

Apricot Quinoa Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Marinated Tofu
Serves 4

2 acorn squash (preferably organic), scrubbed, halved, and seeds removed & reserved

Marinated Tofu

1 block of firm or extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into desired shapes (I used the pre-pressed kind and cut into 9 blocks)

Juice of one lemon
2 tbsp. Bragg’s (or shoyu or tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil
few grinds of pepper
pinch of poultry seasoning, optional
pinch of rosemary, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare a cookie sheet for roasting acorn squash and place all 4 halves cut side down onto sheet.

2. Whisk all tofu marinade ingredients. Place tofu pieces into a 9×13″ baking pan in a single layer, and drizzle marinade evenly over all the pieces.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until squash is easily pierced with a fork.

Apricot Quinoa

olive oil for misting pot, or use a little water
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. of rinsed quinoa
a little less than 2 c. of water or broth
1 tsp. cumin
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of garam masala
pinch of cayenne pepper
a few grinds of pepper

1/2 c. of finely chopped dried apricot
juice of one lemon, strained

1/2 c. of toasted seeds or nuts (or toasted, salted seeds of 2 acorn squash)

nutritionaly yeast, for topping, optional

Directions:

1. To toast the raw squash seeds, heat in a small non-stick skillet with a pinch of salt over low-medium heat until they are dry and golden. Set aside.

2. Mist a medium pot with olive oil and heat to low-medium. Add shallot and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add rinsed quinoa and keep stirring until it dries a bit, a couple of minutes. Add water and spices, and bring up to a boil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in apricots, lemon juice, and toasted seeds*. Cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until all water is absorbed. Fluff with fork. (*If you want crunchier seeds, don’t stir them in until the end.)

3. To serve, spoon the quinoa into the acorn squash half and plate with tofu. Enjoy!

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Biscuits & Tofu Scrambles

2 Jan

I’ve definitely been on a biscuit and tofu scramble kick the last couple of weekends. I’ve also cut down the 4 tbsp. of shortening I usually use, to 3 tbsp. to make the biscuits a little less guilt inducing. In addition, I’ve started throwing in a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten for extra protein too. Last weekend I made a buttermilk batch, and yesterday an Italian herb batch. I love the herb variation because they’re so fragrant, and even though they’re more savory, you can still eat them with butter and jam! I’ve been using silken tofu for my scrambles and used a mix of red bell pepper and poblano peppers to spice things up. You can get both of these recipes anytime up in the My Recipes tab, but here are the links:

Drop Biscuits (with variations)

My basic tofu scramble recipe

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Thomas makes Veganomicon Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf

31 Dec

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After all the holiday stuff settled down, I realized we were pretty low on ingredients. I was trying to think of what we could make that was delicious and based around quinoa and chickpeas when I remembered this tasty Veganomicon recipe that I made a while back. Thomas offered to make this easy recipe for us, and made a killer dinner. My edits to the recipe are to cut the oil way down or just mist the pot, used ground coriander instead of crushed coriander seeds and water + a bouillon cube for the broth. Easy, quick, satisfying. OH! If you want to serve this as a dinner (it’s actually a side dish) make sure to double the recipe. Otherwise it’s really only two dinner servings, and the next day when you’re craving it, you will be completely out of luck!

Every time I open this book I always wonder why I don’t cook from it more. It’s HUGE and has SO many amazing recipes. I always see something new that I want to try.

Cheeseburger Calzones (Vegan)

15 Dec

It was time to use up my thawed & proofed pizza dough! (Whenever I order pizza from our local pizzaria I always order a dough ball too, wrap it in plastic wrap, and throw it in a bag in the freezer for another use.) Since the pizza rolls I made last time broke my pizza stone with their awesomeness, I made these on prepped cookie sheets this time. The tofu ricotta recipe here is similar to the one I use in my lasagna recipe. I used silken tofu, because that’s what I had on hand, and it worked great, and I adjusted the seasonings by taste. These were super delicious and filling! : )

Vegan Cheeseburger Calzones

1 large ball of pizza dough
pizza sauce
1 recipe tofu ricotta, below
2 burger patties, thawed, drained & crumbled (I used Gardein!)
Additional toppings (I used sliced kalamata olives)
vegan cheese (I used Daiya cheddar & mozzarella)

Tofu Ricotta

1 package firm or extra firm regular or silken tofu, lighty pressed & crumbled
1 tbsp. lemon juice
~1/2 c. nutritional yeast
2 tbsp. vegan parm, optional
Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste (crushed red pepper flakes would be good too, I just realized!)
~2/3 c. frozen, chopped spinach or greens, optional

Directions: Using a fork, combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl, and set aside.

Directions: Preheat oven to 425*F and prepare cookie sheets.

1. Knead dough lightly to squeeze out any air bubbles and divide into 4 pieces with a sharp knife. Roll out into circular shapes about 8″ in diameter.

2. You can either spread a thin layer of pizza sauce or not, up to you. If you do, make sure to leave about 2cm-1″ of space at the edge for sealing when you’re done.  Place about 1/4 of ricotta mixture on one half of the circle. Top with about 1/4 of crumbled burger. Add additional toppings and cover with shredded cheese. Fold plain half over and roll the edge to seal, crimping with your fingers. Cut 2-3 vent holes in the top.

3. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I had to use both oven racks, so I switched the cookie sheets half-way through for an even bake. Let cool slightly and enjoy! Serve with additional pizza sauce for topping and/or dipping! : )

Peppermint Crunch 4 Layer Cake

13 Dec

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Several things happened when I got this month’s Williams-Sonoma catalog. I fell in love with all the gadgets and gizmos that I WON’T be buying before our move to Seattle, as usual. I made a mental list of all the things I WILL be buying when we get to Seattle, kitchen space providing. Then I got to the food pages. Sure, the first part is mainly meat items. Flip, flip, flip. (Though the mini beef wellingtons just made me crave the pastry encased Field Roast!) Then I got to the sweets & treats. Now I’m not normally a sweets person, but this really got to me. Gingerbread men coated in dark chocolate and sandwiching marshmallows, PEPPERMINT BARK! and this cake. A $100 peppermint crunch cake that I just HAD to make. (I really wanted to make peppermint bark too, but having to special order vegan white chocolate chips turned me off to the idea.)

This resulted in one shopping trip to Whole Foods where I bought an obscene amount of vegan sweets…

Also… the resolve to make my own version of said cake. I decided to go with what I know. So I pulled out my copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I used the basic chocolate cupcake recipe and Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa, only with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 of mint extract. I used 1 recipe for each 9″ cake pan, and they were baked in 25 minutes, 2 at a time. I would love to tell you that I baked all 4 at one time or in advance, but that’s not really how it went. For some reason I thought this was going to give me a thick enough layer to halve, but I was wrong. I baked the first two the night before, and then the other two after assembling the first two layers!

I also used the basic buttercream for both of my frostings, again using 1 tsp. of vanilla extract & 1 tsp. of mint, and adding 1/2 c. of crushed candy canes for the peppermint crunch frosting. For the outer smooth peppermint frosting I added probably close to 4 tsp. of mint extract, and it was still fairly subtle.

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I also went by BB&B today with one of those 20% coupons and got myself the BIGGEST cake dome/carrier of all time. (It has trays to also tote 2 dozen cupcakes wherever you please.) As I neared the registers I got sucked in to the Christmas section and picked up some pre-lit garland. We didn’t feel like fussing with a whole tree this year, and Thomas came up with a marvelous substitute! (Pic below!)

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Results: According to Thomas it’s really awesome. : ) I think it’s pretty good. It slices really well, and holds all the layers from cake to plate, no problem. The only other time I made a layer cake was for Thomas’ birthday back in September, and it only had two layers, so I was pretty satisfied with how this came out. It did have an ugly side, but the peppermint crunchies on the side helped to conceal it. I’m thinking an AMAZING variation would be a mocha cookies ‘n’ cream number using this recipe as a guideline.

How to bake Tofu

7 Dec

This is my favorite way to prepare tofu for my recipes. Since I found Nasoya’s pre-pressed sprouted tofu, it’s even easier. If you don’t have pre-pressed tofu, make sure you press for at least 30 minutes, but an hour is better. There are many ways to do this; google it! I’m totally spoiled now by the convenience of the ready to go tofu, just cube and bake if you have a sauce, feel free to marinade the cubes before baking and/or rub them with spices! : )

1 package of firm or extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed
oil for greasing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450*F, and lightly grease a cookie sheet with oil. Bake for 25 minutes. Ta-da! Nicely textured tofu with toasty edges.

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