Spouting and Dehydrating

It's a snow day and I'm busy in the kitchen. I've started my first experiment in sprouting (millet and quinoa). I've also got my first batch of crackers in the dehydrator, can't wait for them to get crunchy! I'm trying a recipe from Victoria Boutenko: Igor's Crackers. I really love snacking, so these should hit the spot. I also can't wait to try Yvonne's Honion Rings; I'llbe going to the store this afternoon to get some Vidalias to make these babies.

I think my body is starting to respond to my new eating routine. I find I can turn down somethings that I may have splurged on pretty easily. This weekend I had a bite of this fancy decadent cake at birthday party. I found myself saying in my head "Mmm this is nice, a really great cake, but I'm not craving anymore of it". I really do think my body is craving things that are more nutritionally dense as opposed to the junk it used to. This is a good thing.

I had a latte yesterday, something I "thought" in my head I really wanted. Hec, not so long ago (just a month or two ago) this was a serious addition of mine. I could sip on them all day, not uncommon for me to have 2 or 3 in a day. I'm not sure if it was the caffeine from the espresso or the pasteurized/homogonized milk (and it was organic even!)...but I felt sooo sick! While it is good in a way I'm no longer in the grip of the latte addition, in a way I'm kinda sad. I miss the feeling...I want to feel the feeling of warmth and joy like I used to when I got a "fix". I'm sure I'll eventually find something new. Maybe I'll go make myself a cup of green tea, I know I'll get the warmth at least.

Vegetable Pakora with Tomato Sauce

Submitted by sweetpea to Gone Raw
Serves 2-4.

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini
2 large carrots
½ onion
1 cup snow peas
BATTER
½ cup flaxseed
½ cup buckwheat
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp turmeric
one strand saffron
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups water

Preparation:
Grate the zucchini and carrots and place in a bowl. Slice the onion thinly and add to the vegetables. Process or chop the peas and add to the vegetables. Combine the batter ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. Stir in about a cupful of the batter into the vegetables to coat evenly. Take 1 tablespoons of the pakora mixture at a time and place on lined teflex sheets. Dehydrate @145F for 2 hours turning over when the top side is dry. Continue drying until crispy on the outside and still moist on the inside. Serve with warmed tomato sauce as a dip.

Tomato Sauce
2 tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 handful fresh basil leaves or coriander
dash cayenne pepper
¼ tsp sea salt
1 cup water

Blend the above into a smooth sauce. Serve warm with the pakora.

Raw Overload

My body is telling me yesterday's raw extravaganza was just too much. I haven't pinpointed the culprit... I think it may either be too many nuts or just too many hard vegetables for me in a day. I'm loving the raw food, but I know I just need to take it easy.

Day of the Raw Food Swap

Today's the day. I'm excited to see what everyone in our little group has been making. Here's what I'm bringing:

Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta

Photo and Recipe from The Raw Chef

Salsa Finta
1c sun Dried Tomatoes
2c fresh Tomatoes
1 soft date
1 clove garlic
1T lemon juice
3T olive oil
5 large basil leaves
¼c water {Cindy omitted this}

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender.

Almond Polpetta
1c almonds, soaked
2T nutritional yeast
½t salt
2t lemon juice
¼c salsa finta
3T fresh, chopped parsley
1T Italian herbs {Cindy used 1/2 T Herbs de Provence - dry}
¼c onion

1. Grind the almonds to crumbs, in a food processor.
2. Add remaining ingredients and process again until thoroughly mixed.
3. Form into small balls and dehydrate for 6 hours or until they are slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
   
   {note from Cindy - makes 19 nut-meatballs using a "cookie scoop" and packing them in.}
   

To serve
Take a couple of handfuls of mixed leaves per person (a mix of rocket & chard is great), and mix with strips of courgette (zucchini) pasta. To make enough courgette pasta for 4 people, use the following recipe:

4 medium courgette
¼c olive oil
2t salt

1. Cut the courgette length-wise in a mandoline. Lay the strips on top of each other and, using a knife, cut them length-wise into fettuccini-style strips.
2. Mix the strips with the olive oil and salt in a large bowl and allow to soften for a couple of minutes.
3. Mix the polpetta with the salsa, and place even amounts on top of each courgette salad (the pasta strips and leaves, mixed) that you have arranged on the plates.

Serves 4

Cranberry Almond Slaw

Sweet, tangy, and crunchy. This recipe is from The Raw Table.

Ingredients:
1/4 of a green cabbage, chopped
1 cup cilantro
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1/4 cup almonds
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons flax oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
1 large avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces {Cindy didn't use...this ingredient is optional}

How to proceed:
Place all ingredients, except for the avocado, into a large food processor and pulse-chop until everything is cut up to desired size. Pour out into serving bowl and garnish with avocados. (This picture is missing the avocado, but don’t forget it as it adds great flavor and texture to this dish).
Serves 4.

Spinach Flatbread

(Rhio's)

One recipe of Creamed Spinach (see below)
1) Prepare the Creamed Spinach
2) Divide the mixture into generous 1/2 cup portions. Pour each portion onto a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray and spread out into a circle to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. Dehydrate at 95 degrees for 24 to 36 hours. About 3/4 of the way through, peel the bread off the sheet, turn over and lay directly onto the dehydrator's mesh screen. Continue dehydrating until dry but pliable. Yield 6.

CREAMED SPINACH
1 bunch spinach chopped, @ 4-5 cups
1 medium tomato, quartered
1/2 medium onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh dill
1 avacado
1 cup sprouted pine nuts
1/2 lime, juiced
1 TB. Bragg's liquid aminos

Put all ingredients into a food processor and using the "S" blade, process until smooth.
Serves 4. Keeps for 2 days in the fridge.

Broccoli w/ Chedda Sauce

(Rhio)

3 cups finely chopped broccoli
1 cup Chedda Sauce (see recipe below)

Marinade:
1 TBS. olive oil
1 lemon juiced
1-2 TBS. Braggs liquid aminos

1) Toss the broccoli with the marinade until is it well coated. Cover and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator. The marinade ingredients help to "cold cook" the broccoli, which tames down some of the raw flavor.
2) Next day, drain out the marinade (save for use in salad dressings or sauces) and mix the broccoli with some of the Chedda Sauce.

Serves 2. Keeps for 2 days or longer. This recipe can also be dehydrated for 2-4 hours at 95 degrees for those who still balk at eating broccoli raw.

Chedda Sauce
3/4 cup pine nuts, soaked
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
1 large red bell pepper
1/2 lemon juiced
1 1/2 TBS. nutritional yeast flakes
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. Braggs

1) Soak the pine nuts overnight in filtered water. Do the same with the sunflower seeds.
2) Cut the red bell pepper into small pieces and put into the blender first. The bell pepper releases liquid so you won't have to add any liquid to the recipe. Rinse the pine nuts and sunflower seeds and add to the blender. Add the other ingredients and blend well.

Getting Cultured

I've been playing around with fermenting my foods trying to incorporating more "culture" (aka probiotics) into my diet. I got some Water Kefir babies Saturday and made some "ginger beer" this week. Turned out OK... had my first serving last night. I've also made yogurt, kefir, and currently have some sauerkraut ripening in my pantry. I'm liking this stuff and I think it is the next logical step in my ever evolving eating plan.

Sunday I'll be doing a raw food swap and trying some new recipes. After the swap I'll let you know how they turned out...