Mexican-Style Slaw and Other Raw Selections

Another long absence, but these things do happen. I have a new recipe to share in a few, but I want to start by showing a raw items I made during a food prep spree I went on last week.

First was a recipe straight off my friend Amber's website, Almost Vegan. I originally was going to make plain coconut butter from her book, but given the sheer number of strawberries this time of year, I instead opted for Strawberry Coconut Butter. I had been saving an empty coconut oil jar for just the occasion, but the pink stuff inside is all sweet, delicious spread that goes with damn near everything. Also in the photo to the left is my own Banana Carrot Bread.

Also from the mind of Amber (and from her fantastic raw cook book, Practically Raw, that came out earlier this year) are the Naked Kale Chips. I substituted coconut oil for the olive oil in the recipe, and also added a couple cloves of garlic. The result was a crispy treat that tastes great on its own or dipped in hummus. Amber has several hummus variations in her book, but I opted to make my own. Here is the massaged kale laid out on a dehydrator tray, ready to get to work:

And here is is all shiny and crisp, post dehydration:

A few select kale chips:

 I also dehydrated some zucchini into chips:

Now onto the recipe. We had tacos for dinner last week, and I wanted a light side dish that didn't involve heating up the stove, as the summer heat makes cooking a little less fun. I came up with this simple Mexican-style slaw using pre-packaged shredded broccoli. For even more Mexican flavor, use cilantro instead of the parsley (which I used to accommodate the aversion to cilantro the oldest spawn has). After dinner, we had about half the slaw leftover, so the next day I added a can of black beans (drained and rinsed) to make it a meal of it's own.

Mexican-Style Slaw

Ingredients:

1/4 small red onion, minced

2 green onions, minced

1 tbs spicy mustard

zest and juice from 1 lime

1/4 c olive oil

hot sauce, to taste

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 bag broccoli slaw (about 2 cups)

1/4 red bell pepper, diced

kernels from 1 ear of corn

1/4 c parsley, chopped

Directions:

Whisk together onions, mustard, lime juice and zest, oil, hot sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Toss the dressing with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving to allow the flavors to meld. 

To the right, you can see the slaw alongside our tacos of Morning Star Chick'n, homemade salsa, and avocado.

Below is the slaw with black beans added.

Veg-uary minipost: Bar Fare

Who says you can't dine in vegetarian style at a bar? Here's my veggie wrap with seasoned fries from Cronin's Bar & Grill. It's stuffed full of mushrooms, green peppers, onion, jalapeño, and cheese. I got salsa and sour cream, as well. Yum! It's the perfect accompaniment for my Boulevard Irish Ale.

Veguary minipost - Raw Tacos

I just found out there's an app to post to this site (how'd I not know?). I'm going to use this to post my eating out Veguary-capades.

Here's a test post to show my meal thus far. Last week I made the fixin's for raw tacos and snapped a photo at work (shown below). I had the rest of my tacos last night.

The "meat" is walnut filling made with walnuts (duh), sun-dried tomato, serrano pepper, and spices. The tortillas are zucchini-avocado based. I topped them with homemade salsa, avocado, and goat cheese. I need to work on the walnut filling, but these were still super-tasty!

Dong Gu Dau-Fu Pan (or Shiitake and Tofu Stir-Fry)

Welcome to Veg-uary (explained here)! I admit to having a certain amount of trepidation eschewing meat (and especially fish) for the next 28 days, but I remain excited and committed to expanding my culinary (anti-) skills. Plus, as the oldest spawn has decided she wants to follow a vegetarian diet, I have a certain amount of obligation to accommodate her nutritive wishes. I will be documenting here our vegetarian exploits, so expect lots of food porn over the next four weeks!

This is the last week for the Door to Door Organics contest, so for my first recipe of Veg-uary I've butchered another one of their recipes. Their "omnivore" option this week is Moo Goo Gai Pan, an Americanized version of a Cantonese stir-fry. I've transformed it into a vegetarian/vegan friendly meal by switching the "gai" (chicken) for "dau-fu" (tofu), and using augmented vegetable stock instead of the poultry-based counterpart. Shiitake mushrooms were on sale, so I went that route instead of the typical button mushrooms.

I'm no Cantonese linguist, but as far as I can determine through limited Google research, here is the break-down of the vocabulary used in the title of this dish:

Mu Gu = button mushrooms, which I opted to switch with shiitake mushrooms (dong gu).

Gai = Chicken, which I've substituted in favor of tofu (dau-fu).

Pan = Slices (well, at least I left one part unadulterated!).

You can visit the link above for the original recipe (which inexplicably neglects to tell when to add the mushrooms....weird). My version is below.

Dong Gu Dau-Fu Pan

Ingredients:
1 12oz block of firm tofu, drained and pressed
3 tbs peanut oil
salt and pepper
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lb (about 2 cups) baby bok choy, sliced
1 c vegetable stock*
1 tsp arrowroot powder
2 tablespoons nama shoyu or tamari, if desired (I used this in favor of additional salt)
4 c prepared rice or oriental noodles, as desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Slice the pressed tofu into strips about 1/2" thick. Using about a teaspoon of the oil, coat the tofum sprinkle with salt, and place on a baking sheet. Flipping halfway

through, bake for 30 minutes (or until tofu is golden).

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat in a large wok. Add onions and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and sauté another 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add bok choy, and stir-fry an additional 5 minutes.

Combine arrowroot with 2 tablespoons of the broth and set aside. Pour the remaining broth into the wok and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes, then stir in the arrowroot mixture. Allow sauce to thicken over medium-low heat, adding nama shoyu (if desired) and adjusting seasoning to taste. Serve over prepared rice or noodles of choice. As you can see in the photos, we had ours with noodles. Makes 4 2-cup servings.

*Regarding the vegetable stock: To impart more umami flavor to the stock, I simmered the mushroom stems, onion peel, a few peppercorns, and one whole allspice berry in the broth for about 20 minutes, then strained the broth before using. This extra step isn't necessary, but it's an easy way to kick up the mushroom flavor of the finished dish.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

For some reason, I cannot seem to get enough soup lately. Usually, I'd blame the cold weather, but Kansas City has had an absurdly mild winter so far. This recipe, as the previous, is inspired by a featured recipe on Door to Door Organics for their Good Food Made Simple Contest. As always, I put my own spin on it. First, I opted to make this soup vegan. I've been experimenting with using more whole foods, which lead to the second big change: Eliminating pre-made stock. So far, I've been pleased with my stock/broth-free adaptations. Additional bonus? Less salt in the final product!

The soup is yummy topped with croutons, cheese, or additional basil. We went with a twist on the traditional and had it with basil grilled cheese.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

2 large red bell peppers, cored and cut into fourths
1 lb tomatoes, cut into fourths
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
2 medium carrots, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 stalk celery, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into fourths
4 tbs light olive oil
1/2 tbs salt
5 c water
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 large bay leaves
1/2 c fresh basil, chopped
1 can lite coconut milk
additional salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F.

Place peppers, tomatoes, garlic, carrots, celery,and onion in a large baking dish (I used a 10x13x3 lasagna pan). Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat. Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables start to brown.

Transfer the roasted veggies and the liquid in the bottom of the baking pan to a large stock pot. Add the water, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the thyme stems (if any leaves remain attached to the stem, strip them off and return to the stock pot). Remove bay leaves. Add chopped basil and coconut milk; purée the until smooth. Return the soup to stock pot over medium-low heat for another 10 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Makes about 8 servings.

Estimated Nutritional Info: 217kcal, 19g fat, no cholesterol, 615mg sodium, 425mg potassium, 12g total carbs, 2.7g fiber, and 3g protein. Bonus: It's really high in vitamins A and C!

Pork Spring Rolls with Chili-Hoisin Sauce and Spicy Cucumbers

Here I have a couple of Chinese-inspired recipes for you. The first is a spring roll stuffed with pork and cabbage and served with a chili-hoisin dipping sauce. The second is my answer to an overwhelming number of cucumbers thanks to my organic produce deliveries the past few weeks. I do love cucumbers, but I swear if I see one more slice in a salad I'm going to go on a mad rampage.

Or not. I mean, cucumbers are pretty tasty.

Anyway, the spicy cucumbers get a near-pickled treatment from being sautéed in the tamari "brine." I like to eat them on their own, but they would also be a nice change of pace as a salad topping.

The spring rolls are fairly traditional, save for not being deep fried. Obviously if you prefer the crunchy wrapper to the fresh, you can fry them. For the vegetarians out there, soy crumbles can be used instead of the pork with similar results. For an even more authentic flavor, add 1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro to the cabbage mixture when preparing the spring rolls. I skipped it, since the oldest spawn can't stand it.

Pork Spring Rolls with Chili-Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 c hoisin sauce
1/4 c tamari
2 tbs garlic-chili sauce
1 tbs honey
1/4 c water
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
4 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
1 tbs peanut oil
1 lb ground pork
1 1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
12 rice paper wrappers

Directions:
Whisk together the hoisin, tamari, garlic-chili sauce, honey, and water in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage and green onion. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Brown the pork until no pink remains. Add the ginger and sauté for one minute. Pour about half the chili-hoisin sauce over the pork and sauté another three to five minutes, or until most the moisture has evaporated out. Transfer the pork to the bowl with the cabbage and toss to combine.

Soak the spring roll wrappers according to package directions. One at a time, lay a soaked spring roll wrapper on a flat surface and arrange one-half cup of the pork filling on the rice paper, about two inches from the edge closest to you. Roll the wrapper tightly around the filling, tucking the ends on the left and right toward the center as you go. Repeat until each wrapper has been filled.
Serve the rolls with remaining chili-hoisin sauce for dipping.


Spicy Cucumbers

Ingredients:
1 tbs tamari
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbs peanut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
2 tsp garlic-chili sauce
2 cucumbers, halved, seeded, and sliced into 1" pieces

Directions:
Whisk together tamari, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil over med-high heat. Sauté garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds, then quickly whisk in the garlic-chili sauce. Add the cucumbers, tossing to coat, and sauté for three minutes. Add tamari mixture sauté another 3-5 minutes, or until cucumbers just start to soften. Remove from heat. Can be served immediately, at room temperature, or after chilling in the fridge (the latter is my favorite!).

Dandelion Pesto and Roasted Beets

I love receiving boxes from Door to Door Organics, but sometimes the substitute feature can get the best of me. Some items will never be allowed to deliver (like raspberries....ick), but other times I waffle between the items I know and items I've never tried. Imagine my dilemma when my Friday morning email announced that there would be dandelion greens in my box.

"Weeds?" I thought, rather taken aback. What on earth was I supposed to do with weeds?

I could've easily substituted the item out for an innocuous lime, or maybe a few bananas; instead, I chose to boldly go where no--well, me--had gone before. I was going to anti-chef the hell out of these weeds.

First, let's go over how they taste. They taste like bitter grass, of all things. Pretty much how I had figured weeds would taste. The bitterness was a little more nuanced, though, with an almost almond finish. Very unique. I opted to go the easy route and turn the dandelion greens into pesto. So I did.

The thing about dandelion leaves is the bitterness increases exponentially as they are chopped and processed. In the batch I came up with, the pesto bordered on too bitter for human consumption alone. Paired with a four-cheese ravioli, however, it was perfect. It also made an excellent smear for bagels, as well as the perfect compliment to an over-easy egg.

I think for more general use, I'd prefer to use half dandelion greens and half basil. For a first attempt, though, I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

For my second feat, I had also received a batch of beets in my organic box. These were much easier to prepare, as you'll see below. Roasted beets have a flavor somewhere between potatoes and carrots, which makes them very easy on the palate. Plus, they are pretty!

Dandelion Pesto:

Ingredients:
2 c dandelion leaves, washed and cut into 1" pieces
1/4 c lemon thyme
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 c olive oil, additional to achieve smooth texture if needed
1/2 c macademia nuts
2 tsp light agave nectar
1 tsp lemon zest
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

Place about of the dandelion greens, thyme, garlic, and the 1/2 c olive oil into the food processor. Pulse chop for about a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the remaining greens and continue to pulse until finely chopped up.

Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth, drizzling in additional olive oil if necessary. Makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto. Store tightly covered in the fridge for up to a week.

Roasted Beets with Herbs

Ingredients:
4 large beets, tops removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 springs fresh rosemary, stems discarded and leaves minced
2 tbs fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 tbs light olive oil
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Peel beets and cut into 1 1/2" cubes. In an 8x8 glass dish, toss beets with garlic, herbs, and oil until thoroughly coated. Cover with foil and roaste in oven for 45 minutes. Uncover, stir, and roast (uncovered) an additional 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Just before serving, toss with lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 4 side dish servings. Can be served hot or cold!

Raw Chocolate and/or Mango Pudding

I think it's time for a dessert post, don't you? How about a dessert that you'd feel comfortable having for breakfast? Well, here it is! These two puddings are very similar, and a great way to use up extra produce (I know, I know, "extra avocados" are scarce around my house, too!).

For show I layered the chocolate and the mango pudding, then tossed a few chocolate chips on top as garnish. The kids loved these! The tangy mango is the perfect compliment to the rich dark chocolate.

After the recipes, continue reading for an idea on using leftover mango pudding for breakfast!

Raw Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1/8 cup raw cocoa
2-3 tsp honey, to taste
1-2 tbs pineapple juice, to achieve desired thickness (if necessary)


Directions:
Place all the ingredients into a food processor/blender and purée until well combined. If needed, add juice 1/2 tablespoon at a time until pudding is the desired texture. Spoon into serving dishes and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes 3-4 half cup servings.


Raw Mango Pudding

Ingredients:
2 ripe yellow mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
1 ripe banana, peeled
1/4 c raw macademia nuts, soaked and drained
1-2 tsp honey, to taste
1-2 tbs pineapple juice, to achieve desired thickness (if necessary)


Directions:
Place all the ingredients into a food processor/blender and purée until well combined. If needed, add juice 1/2 tablespoon at a time until pudding is the desired texture. Spoon into serving dishes and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes 3-4 half cup servings.

An additional use for the mango pudding is to use as a dessert topping or to place it in crêpes. The following morning, I made the crêpes pictured here for breakfast. I used my basic recipe for crêpes, substituting pineapple juice for the orange since it's what I had on hand. For the filling, I combined about a quarter cup of mango pudding with a quarter cup of Greek yogurt. I also grilled some pineapple to add to the breakfast and topped the crêpes with slivered almonds. Very tasty, and very filling!

Raw January Day 25 /26: Spicy Winter Veggie Soup

Mmmm....soup. I have to say, steamy soups and slow-stewed veggies are what I've missed the most during this experimental month. I mean, what was I thinking going raw in the month of January?

The good news is this has sparked my creativity more and forced me to come up with alternate ways to get that warm feeling in my belly. This soup is one of them. I had decided after butchering a kabocha square that came in my organic box that the silly thing wasn't worth it. There was a lot of hacking and chopping and at the end all I had was barely a cup of usable flesh. Originally this was going to be a squash/mango soup; however, I was discouraged. My eyes turned to the half a head of cauliflower, and I thought, "Why the hell not?" Into my dear, sweet Cuisinart it went with the rest of the ingredients I had assembled. A few taste-tests later, and

here you have it.

I imagine any winter squash would do....butternut comes to mind, of course. The heat from the serrano does a nice job of giving the feeling of warmth without over-powering the soup. I think this would also make a nice take on bruschetta (but hey, I think everything is better on bread!).

In other news, my new toy arrived today. I have two more nights at the job (and a desperate need to rearrange the kitchen) before I can use it, but needless to say I am very excited to set it up (right angles, people....right angles!).

Winter Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 kabocha squash, seeds removed, peeled, cut into 1" cubes (or about 1 cup of your favorite, easier to butcher squash)

1/2 cauliflower, cored, cut into 1" cubes

1 mango, peeled, core removed, cut into 1" cubes

1 serrano pepper, stem removed, seeds intact

8 fresh basil leaves

juice of 1/2 a lime

1/2 tbs dried lemongrass

1/4 tsp salt (adjust to taste)

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbs almond milk

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the squash and cauliflower until the ingredients are finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process until puréed. The soup will have the consistency of cream of wheat cereal; if necessary add a tablespoon or so of water to achieve this texture (I didn't need it). Chill for at least two hours, then serve. Makes about eight 1-cup servings.

Raw January Day 15-24: Greek Broccoli and Raw Blondies

OK, OK, so I haven't been eating only broccoli and blondies for the past nine days. I had misplaced my camera, and I have an aversion to posting recipes without accompanying photos. As it turns out, my camera was simply hiding out in the box of foodstuffs I had taken over to Amber's for our night of raw fooding. I made gazpacho with tomatoes, squash, yellow bells, red onion, and some other ingredients while she tackled some absolutely delicious chocolate pudding made from banana, Irish moss, and--I'm assuming--cocoa powder. Add a couple of glasses of wine and there really was no way to not have a good time!

This past weekend, I made sure the "mostly" status of "mostly raw" was intact, as I made bison burgers for dinner. Hey, they were on-sale. Plus, I was craving some free-range protein. Don't even try to tell me that almonds are free-range!

Anyway, even though I had (cooked) bison for dinner, I made sure the accoutrement were raw. I'm going to start by bragging on Amber's raw, vegan, 5-minute blondie. Super-simple, super-tasty, and super-quick are just a few of the superlatives I can lavish on this dessert. Her recipe makes a single, normal-sized muffin cup full of goodness. I doubled it and got nine mini-muffins (probably would've been ten had the offspring and I not taste-tested it so much). Go check out Amber's site for the blondie recipe. I made a couple of easy garnishes for the blondie. On top is a simple vanilla/banana/basil ice cream, below is a blackberry coulis (recipes below).

The other side dish that I'm quite proud of is a raw Greek-inspired broccoli with macademia cheese crumbles. The broccoli is marinated in a vinaigrette with Greek spices. Bitterness from the sun-dried olives (which I've spent three weeks reconstituting in white vinegar) add a nice contrast with the acid and salt in the marinade, and the "cheese" has a flavor somewhere between Parmesan and feta that helps reinforce the vinegar. This makes for great finger-food!

Before I get to the recipes, I have to share my new purchase (photo courtesy of Amazon.com):

It's a TSM Harvest Food Dehydrator! Eeee! Ten trays, adjustable thermostat from 84º - 155ºF, and square. Yay! I can't wait to make some raw bread or crackers with nice right angles. Can you tell I'm excited?

Enough squealing for now....recipe time!

Raw Banana Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas, frozen (peel on to preserve color)

4 tbs almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh basil, minced (optional--about 1 small leaf)

Directions:

Remove peel from banana. Combine all ingredients in a small food processor. Blend until smooth. Freeze half an hour before serving. Makes two half-cup servings. To highlight the blondies, I just added a mini scoop.

Raw Blackberry Coulis

Ingredients:

1/2 c blackberries

1/2 tbs chia seeds

2 tsp agave nectar, or to taste

1/4 c water

Directions:

Purée all ingredients. Allow to rest 30 minutes to thicken. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Raw Greek-Infused Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 c olive oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1/2 tsp mustard seeds, ground

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

4 raw olives, pitted* and diced

dash sesame oil

1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size florets

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the broccoli. Add broccoli and toss to coat. Let marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature (if marinating longer than overnight, refrigerate). If desired, add additional salt and pepper and top with macadamia feta (recipe below); serve. Makes 8 half-cup servings.

Macadamia Cheese Crumbles

Ingredients:

1 c raw macadamia nuts, soaked

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tbs nutritional yeast

1 tbs shallot, minced

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Place in single layer on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for about 4 hours. Makes 1.5 cups of macadamia cheese crumbles. Use as you would Parmesan cheese.

*Note: To easily pit olives (or cherries!), place on a cutting board and smash with the flat side of a knive (similar to how you'd loosen garlic peel). The pits are a cinch to remove post-smash.

Raw January Day 12 - 14: Butternut Squash Tacos with Cilantro Cilantro Cheese

Since I'm almost the only one partaking of the raw food-ness in my house, I've been living off of leftovers quite a bit. I plan to do a fair amount of raw experimentation this weekend, so hopefully I will have more recipes soon! Until then, you'll have to settle for a taco recipe I played with tonight....more on that later.

Tonight's raw prep included making almond milk and juicing oranges. I changed out the vinegar I'm using to reconstitute some raw sun-dried olives (I received a case for free, and the darn things are entirely too bitter to eat as is).

I also cataloged the leftovers I had in the fridge to make sure I wasn't wasting anything. Happily, there wasn't much to worry about. Speaking of leftovers, remember my Marinara Sauce from earlier this week? I enjoyed that at work over kelp noodles and dehydrated baby bellas. It was quite tasty. This pic--taken on my phone--doesn't do it justice, so just trust me.

Without further adieu, I give you squash tacos! My friend Amie sent me a recipe to try out. Her version used walnut taco meat, but frankly I'm scared of anything that uses the words "nut" and "meat" in the same sentence. Childish? Most likely, but it still squicks me out. I'm working on changing my opinions on that....

Butternut Squash Tacos

Ingredients:

Cilantro Cashew Cheese (shown right):

2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 c raw cashews, soaked and rinsedjuice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 c packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 green onion stalk, sliced
water sufficient for processing (I used about 3 tbs)

Southwest Butternut Squash:
1/2 butternut squash, sliced into thin ribbons
1/2 tbs ground cumin1/2 tbs ground coriander

1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Nama Shoyu

juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 chipotle pepper, minced (optional)
sea salt to taste

Other Ingredients:
8 small-to-medium romaine leaves
1/2 c pico de gallo
additional toppings, as desired (avocado, cilantro, etc)

Directions:

Southwest Butternut Squash:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, massaging the spices into the squash. Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving.

Cashew Cheese:

Place garlic and salt in a food processor and chop into small pieces. Add cashews and process into paste. Add lemon juice, cilantro and water; purée until smooth. (see close up photo, right)

To Make Tacos:

Spread each lettuce leaf with 2 tablespoons of the cashew cheese. Add 1/4 cup of the squash and top as desired. Serves 4.

This "cheese" is, quite frankly, amazing. The zesty garlic, hints of acid, and cilantro give it the perfect balance to go with the earthy flavors of the marinated squash. While I listed the servings at four in the recipe, I think you'd be hard-pressed to feed more than two. I scarfed down 4 tacos on my own without a second thought.

One last look....

Raw January Days 2 through 5 -- Mushroom Shiro, Cinnamon-Coconut Cream, and more

I'm in the working half of my week, which means I need to consolodate. Fortunately I made enough food in the first half to get me through! That's the funny thing about food prep....it takes the same amount of time to make one serving as it does to make six the majority of the time.

On Day 2 I had a fruit bowl topped with cinnamon coconut cream (recipe below!) and hemp seed for breakfast; lunch was leftover Cucumber Soup; for dinner I made--get this--mushroom shiro! It's only my favorite Ethiopian dish from Blue Nile! While my version isn't as good as the real, it's a decent approximation of the stewed original.

Shiro is ground chickpea powder, which is combined with berbere in this very delicious stew. Instead of chickpea powder, I used ground macademia nuts. Dehydrating the veggies gave them a cooked feel that is absolutely necessary when dealing with dishes that are traditionally cooked over a long period of time. In the absence of injera, I used lettuce leaves. See below for the recipe!

Day 3 was met with a breakfast smoothie of aloe, wheatgrass, ginger root, peaches, and beet greens (which are actually red--go figure).For lunch I had more of Day 2's mushroom shiro. As I had an absurd amount of carrots, I went with this carrot linguine dish by Russell James (see photo, right). Naturally, I had to make a few adjustments. I followed the linguine recipe to a T, aside from using all carrots rather than the carrot/parsnip split. I managed to amass 6 pounds of carrots from the organic co-op, and I thought carrot linguine seemed a fitting way to diminish the bounty. The only change I made to the macademia mozzarella was to add a clove of garlic to the purée. It tasted very much like Alfredo sauce and helped cut the sweetness of the carrots. The red pepper sauce had more augmentation, as I found the original to be a little....I don't want to say bland, but I felt it needed a little boost. Four rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and half a tablespoon of chili-infused olive oil found its way into the red pepper puree. Adding a few cracks of black pepper completed this dish that I am pleased to say went over very nicely with the spawn.

Day 4 I was back at work, so it was filled with leftovers. I failed miserably at the raw cinnamon rolls I had attempted to make, so instead the "dough" got dehydrated into sweet bread (I'll make my second attempt when I'm off work again!). Another fruit bowl for breakfast, followed by mushroom shiro for lunch and a hefty salad for dinner. I also put the "mostly" in "mostly raw" by having a baked potato at work. Hey, a girl's gotta eat!

Today is Day 5, and I'm planning on having another salad for dinner, and as soon as I finish here I'm going to whip up a smoothie with buckwheat, spinach, chia seeds, and blueberries. I think for lunch I'll just do a fruit salad with the sweet bread that was salvaged from the cinnamon roll attempt.

Anyway, on with the recipes!

Cinnamon Coconut Cream

Ingredients:

1 c fresh coconut meat

2 tsp agave nectar

2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1 cup of thick cream. This is great with fruit or blended into a smoothie. My youngest daughter thought it was yogurt and was quite happy to eat it with a spoon!

Raw Mushroom Shiro

Ingredients:

2 c assorted mushrooms, chopped

16 grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbs nama shoyu

1 tbs + 1 tsp berbere spice blend

1 tbs lemon juice

1 c macademia nuts, soaked and dried

2 cloves garlic

1 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1/4 c tomato juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 large lettuce leaves

Directions:

Toss mushrooms, tomatoes, and onion in oil, nama shoyu, one teaspoon of the berbere, and one teaspoon of the lemon juice. Spread on dehydrator sheet and dehydrate 2 hours at 105F.

In a blender, pulse the nuts until finely ground. Add the garlic and remaining berbere and lemon juice. Pulse again to chop the garlic. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

After dehydrating, coarsely chop the onion. Stir mushrooms, tomatos, and onion into the macademia sauce. Serve with lettuce leaves substituting for the injera. Alternatively, serve over parsnip rice.

Raw January Day 1 -- Cucumber Cilantro Soup

I started my raw food experiment yesterday, the second of January. As I had some very tasty Indian leftovers from New Year's, I couldn't very well start on the first ;).

Yesterday and today have been filled with prep work. I made a half-gallon batch of almond milk, juiced a ton of oranges, and started some cashew cheese (we'll see how that turns out in a few days). I also gutted a few young coconuts. Today I'm going to use the almond pulp from the milk to attempt to make some raw bread (again, we'll see how that works out!), marinate and dehydrate some veggies for future use, and attempt to make an Ethiopian inspired dish for dinner tonight. More will be forth-coming on that endeavor! I'm also going to play with a batch of raw sun-dried olives and see what I can come up with.

My meals yesterday consisted of:

• Breakfast: A smoothie made from almond milk, pineapple, and hemp seed
• Lunch: Asian kelp salad and cucumber soup (recipe below!)
• Dinner: A very tasty meal at Sushi Gin of sashemi and seaweed salad (see photos)

Not too bad, if you ask me! Snacking through the day consisted of flax crackers and my first attempt at raw hummus (which needs some tweaking), tomato slices, and a pear.

So far, I'm finding that planning is absurdly essential when it comes to raw fooding. Also, I need a bigger kitchen. I see some rearranging in my very near future....but for now, my latest recipe--

raw, vegan, super-quick, and very refreshing!

Cucumber Cilantro Soup

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers, cut into 1" pieces

2 tbs lemon juice

1" peel of lemon (or 1 tsp of zest)

1 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp salt, to taste

2 tbs tahini

2 tbs coconut milk

2 green onion, chopped

jalapeno, to taste (I used a 1" piece)

water, if necessary to thin soup (add a tablespoon at a time)

4 tbs fresh cilantro

Directions:

Blend together all ingredients except the cilantro until smooth. Add cilantro and pulse until well combined. If desired, garnish with extra pepper slices and cilantro. I also splashed a little Chipotle Tabasco on my bowl (not raw, but it's damn tasty!). Serves 2.

Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad

The ying and the yang, good v. evil, each action has a corresponding reaction, every rose has its thorn...we live in a world of opposites.

Remember my Hot Massaged Kale? Not to be outdone by Newton's third law, I developed a complimentary salad to answer to the spicy kick of the chipotle in the first recipe. Enter the Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad. Where the "Hot" was, well, hot, the "Cool Ranch" is not. The herbs in this salad give a feel of spring, despite the December air. I recommend making double the dressing so you have extra to dip crudités into!

Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 head kale, destemmed and torn into bite size pieces

1/2 tbs salt

2 tbs olive oil

1 avocado

1/2 tbs honey

2 tbs fresh parsley

2 tsp fresh dill weed

1/8 wedge from a small yellow onion

1 small clove garlic

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbs lemon juice

1-2 tbs almond milk, as needed

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 c carrots, thinly sliced

1 tbs sunflower seeds

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine kale, salt, and half the olive oil. Massage the kale until the leaves start to take on a shiny, wilted appearance.

In a blender, puree the rest of the oil with avocado, honey, herbs, onion, garlic, pepper, and lemon juice until smooth, using the almond milk to thin as necessary. Toss the remaining ingredients and the dressing with the kale to combine. Serves 2.

A Vegetarian Baby Shower - Part II - Avocado Sandwiches, Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers, and Rum Runner Punch

It's part deux of the baby shower goodies that graced my sister's party! Here we have miniature avocado sandwiches with tomato pesto, sweet peppers stuffed with Indian-flavored quinoa and served warm, and the non-alcoholic punch meant to mimic a rum runner. Enjoy!

Avocado Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced thinly

1/4 c fresh lime juice

30 slices whole wheat cocktail bread, toasted

1/2 c prepared sun-dried tomato pesto

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 c broccoli sprouts

Directions:

Toss the avocado slices with lime juice. Spread 15 slices of bread with pesto. Top the pesto-covered bread with avocado, onion, and sprouts. Top with remaining slices of bread and secure with a toothpick. Makes 15 mini-sandwiches.

Quinoa-Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/4 lb (about 15) sweet peppers

1 tbs peanut oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c carrot, finely shredded

1/2 cup spinach, washed patted dry and roughly chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs pine nuts

Directions:

To prepare the peppers, cut a slit in the pepper lengthwise from the stem to the tip. Gently open the pepper and pull out the seeds and ribs.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté about a minute (don't allow to brown!). Add remaining vegetables and sauté until the spinach is wilted down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala. Add the quinoa and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stuff each pepper with the quinoa mixture and place on a baking sheet, cut side up. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes. Serves 4-6 (I doubled the recipe for the party).

Rum Runner Party Punch

Ingredients:

2 c pineapple juice

2 c orange juice

2 c blackberry juice

1 c pomegranate juice

4 tbs rum extract (1 oz)

2 tbs coconut flavoring

2 bottles sparkling white grape juice

1 liter club soda

Orange and lime slices

Directions:

Chill all juices and the soda before making. Combine all liquids in a large punch bowl and garnish with fruit. Makes about 20 1-cup servings.

Hot Massaged Kale Salad

Here's another raw recipe--this one adapted from The Raw Chef's recipe. By the way, I highly recommend signing up for his e-zine. It's entertaining and has great recipes! I first heard of this individual from my friend, Amber (of Almost Vegan), who had Russell James as an instructor at raw culinary school. I likes his site, so I signed up. So far, it's been a great (free) investment!

Anyway, this salad is great for the cold weather that's hit all of a sudden. Despite being uncooked, it's extremely warming with the spicy chipotle doing what it does best. Chipotle peppers are obviously not raw, but raw Nazis (rawzis?) could sub in cayenne or a fresh serrano for the heat. Kale is typically a pretty rough leaf to tackle, but massaging it with salt and oil causes the fibers to break down a little; this gives the kale more of a blanched texture. Plus, who doesn't love salt and oil?

Just saying the name of this salad raises my temperature a little....imagine a room lit only by candlelight....a little Barry White wafting through the speakers....and then someone says to you, "Hey baby, wanna have some hot massaged kale?" Aw yeah....

Ahem. Or it's just a healthy, easy to prepare salad. After all, who wants a relationship with a bunch of leaves? Now excuse me as I casually walk away from the awkward silence.

Hot Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 head kale, destemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1/2 tbs salt

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs grapefruit juice

1/4 tsp grapefruit zest

1 tbs tahini

1/2 chipotle pepper

1/2 tbs agave

1/2 grapefruit, segmented

1/4 c red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 c sunflower seeds

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine kale, salt, and half the olive oil. Massage into kale until the leaves start to take on a shiny, wilted appearance.

In a blender, combine the remaining oil with the juice, zest, tahini, pepper, and agave. Toss the remaining ingredients and the dressing with the kale to combine. Serves 2.

Raw Asian Noodles (and very rare steak)

I received my first box of raw goodies the other day....just some hemp seeds, seaweed, sun-dried olives, and liquid aminos. The offspring had their curiosity sparked by the kelp noodles and asked me to make something with them.

Hell, I thought....why not? Let's see what this raw-anti-chef-to-be can come up with!

I threw together some standard ingredients and ended up with this raw noodle salad....Asian-style. Because I had it in the fridge, I also did a quick pan-sear on a steak and served it with the noodles. The kids dug it, as did I. Not too shabby for a first try, I don't think!

Raw Asian Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

2 tbs liquid aminos or tamari

1 tbs sesame oil

1/2 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1/4 tsp black pepper

5 pearl onions, peeled and thinly sliced

4 oz lobster mushrooms, julienned

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced

1 12oz package kelp noodles

Directions:

Whisk together aminos, oil, ginger, and pepper. Toss dressing with remaining ingredients and allow to sit a few minutes to allow the kelp noodles to soften. Serves 4.

A Vegetarian Baby Shower - Part I - Mushroom Tartlets, Tofu Skewers, and Pineapple Cake

Is December really almost half over? I find it hard to believe that it is already almost the new year, and yet here we are.

While some may say debate that it's the most wonderful time of the year, I think everyone can agree that it's the most BUSY time of the year. Your own personal anti-chef has been busy, too. There's the job and the kids, as well as planning my next adventure in food. What may that be?

Starting January 1st, I'm going to embark on a mostly raw diet. My friend, Amber (of Almost Vegan), has been attending raw culinary school, which has pushed me from just pondering it to making the commitment in my head to do this. So I've been deep in the planning stages of this experiment of sorts. I bought a few new kitchen toys and signed up for a local co-op home delivery service for organic fruit and veggies (oh, the sacrifices I must make!). I've already given my first raw recipe a trial run, which I'll post about at a later date.

And now for the main event du jour: Recipes from my sister's baby shower! My sister is a

vegetarian, so the food naturally followed suit. I am splitting them into two posts for the sake of keeping my blog readable. On the menu were mushroom tartlets (recipe below), quinoa-stuffed sweet peppers, hummus (recipe HERE) and crudités, avocado sandwiches, tofu skewers (recipe below), a variety of flavored nuts, fruit bowl, and--of course--a virgin rum-runner punch.

First I want to show off the cake I made. My

sister's theme was pirates, so I created this rather messy-looking skull with sparkly blue eyes and the cutest pacifier ever. Can you read what it says? The cake was pineapple cake with coconut-

cream cheese frosting (recipe below--spoiler, I used cake mix). This recipe is totally a cheat, but after all I'm not the anti-pastry chef!

Now on to the recipes!

Mushroom Shallot Tartlets

Ingredients:

3 tbs peanut oil

2 c fresh mushrooms of choice, diced (I used shiitake, oyster, and baby portabellas)

4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 tbs fresh sage, minced
1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs vegetable stock

2 15-count packages of frozen mini fillo shells

1/4 c goat cheese of choice (I used Humboldt Fog)

3 oz enoki-dake mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms and shallots for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms start to soften. Add the herbs, pepper, salt, and stock; stirring frequently, cook another 10 minutes or until most the liquid is cooked off.

Arrange the fillo shells on two baking sheets. Divide the goat cheese evenly among the shells. Do the same with the cooked mushrooms and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. If desired, garnish with enoki-dake mushrooms (as you can see in the photo, I ran out of time....the poor enokis were left in the fridge!). Serve immediately. Makes 30 tartlets.

Crispy Tofu Skewers

Ingredients:

1/4 c peanut oil

18 oz extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1 1/4" cubes

1 tsp salt

1/4 c tamari

12 pearl onions

12 cherry tomatoes

1/2 zucchini, cut lengthwise into quarters and then cut into thirds to make 1" wedges

12 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 10 minutes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Salt the tofu cubes, then add in a single layer to the hot oil. Allow to fry for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom of the tofu is a golden-brown. Gently flip each cube and fry the opposite side for 5 more minutes. Depending on the height of the oil in the pan, the sides of the tofu may also need to receive contact with the cooking surface. The goal is the have all six sides golden-brown. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. When ready to assemble skewers, toss the tofu cubes with the tamari.

On each bamboo skewer place one pearl onion, one tomato, one cube of tofu, and one zucchini wedge. Arrange on a baking sheet and heat in oven 15 minutes. Make 12 tofu skewers.

Pineapple Cake and Coconut Cream Cheese Icing--for the lazy!

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 box pineapple cake mix

2 15oz cans crushed pineapple, undrained

1 canister of cream cheese icing

1 tbs coconut flavoring

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cake mix and the pineapple and beat on low speed until just combined. Pour into the greased baking p an of choice and bake in the preheated oven according to the recommendations on the box for the cake pan you chose. Obviously I went with a skull-shaped pan....

For the icing, simply heat the icing in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it's easy to stir. Mix in the coconut flavoring, and it's ready!

I was pretty pressed for time when cake-decorating came around, but that didn't affect the flavor negatively. For posterity, I also made chocolate cupcakes for those who weren't feeling the pineapple vibe.