Food Frenzy!

I know, I know. It's been awhile, friends. 

Charissa's counting down the days to baby numero dos's arrival, and I am just laying low, a little busy with family stuff and a little blog-lazy. However, I have a remedy! It occurred to me that I had a lot of recipes and food pics not yet posted on my camera.

Some of them go back over a year, so I'm a little hazy on all the right ingredients and exact recipes.  

Bear with me as I try to recall and/or send you the links to similar concoctions. 

Veggie/Nut Burgers

There are so many variations to raw veggie/nut burgers, and you don't have to tie yourself down to one recipe if you don't have all the ingredients. The secret's in the herbs/seasonings, so be sure to google search the ingredients you do have and try to make it work. 

I have a weakness for mustard and horseradish...so the burgers often get topped with either/or. 

Zucchini Pizza (with or without goat cheese)

Crust: Pie crust or tortilla of your choosing

toppings: tomato sauce, onion, zucchini, basil, goat cheese, sea salt and pepper

Bake crust (350F) till just golden brown, about 15 minutes. 

Add toppings. Eat raw or put in oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

These are our garden's zucchini yield. Yummo!

Lentil Loaf

With mixed greens and mashed sweet potatoes. This meatless loaf is quite possibly one of the tastiest I've ever made. The ketchup just seals it makes it taste like good home cookin', because, well, it is.  

Asian Quinoa Salad w/ Pineapples and Chick Peas (not in recipe)

Love Pie (or cupcake, as it were)

Orange Pineapple Smoothie

(That's it. Add 2 peeled oranges, 2 cups pineapple and ice if desired, but no extra water. Blend)

Bananas and Date Sauce

Training for race? This will get you fueled and fired up. 

Veggie Lasagna

(Lacto-vegetarian recipe)

Chocolate Lara Bar

Chocolate Rawspberry Tarts

(Basically the larabar recipe molded into mini cupcake tins and topped with a raspberry)

If this wasn't directly helpful, maybe it whet your appetites and/or gave you some ideas for future meals.

Salud!

Chocolate Hazelnut "Cheesecake"

Let's not waste time, shall we? 

Luscious, creamy, chocolatey, hazelnutty and decadent...need we say more? 

Crust:
3/4 cups almonds
1/4 cup pitted, packed dates
Cacao powder
1-2 teaspoons water

Grind the almonds in a food processor.
Add the dates and continue to process into a doughy texture.
Add cacao powder, to taste. Add a little water, if necessary to ensure the dough holds together when pressed.
Press into the bottom of an 8" spring form pan. Set aside while making the filling.

Filling:
3/4 cup irish moss gel*
1 cup water
3/4 cup cashews

3/4 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cacao powder
6 drops stevia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon himalayan salt
4 1/2 tablespoons melted cacao butter
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Combine all ingredients but the butter and oil, until smooth and creamy.
Add the final two ingredients and blend to incorporate.
Pour the mixture over the crust and chill in the fridge until firm, at least 6-8 hours.

*If the gel is already chilled, pack it into the cup.

Chocolate Coconut Butter Topping:

1/4 cup Coconut Butter

1 TBS Coconut Oil

1 TBS Cacao Powder

Melt Butter and Oil and combine with Cacao powder in a small tupperware till fully mixed. Put in freezer till solid. When cheesecake is ready to serve, take the chocolate coconut butter block out of the freezer and tupperware and grate all over cheesecake to your liking. 

Apple Carrot Date Bites

If you were in my seventh grade Spanish class, or had the very same text book, the sentence "Tengo una cita con Anita," would bring back memories, yes? 

It was the very first Spanish sentence we learned, and, if I didn't know better, it was also probably the general demise of society as we know it.

I mean, who teaches a seventh grader to have a date with Anita? 

All kidding aside, that awkward introduction reminded me of my lapse of judgment in having dates, too.

 As in, the food variety

 ...of dates 

...in case you weren't following the transition. 

But seriously, pitted dates are an excellent natural sweetener to any snack. Rich in calcium, manganese, copper, iron, fiber, potassium B complex vitamins and other cofactor nutritents, dates pack a healthy punch as anti-inflammatory and cancer preventative, as well as an energy booster.

We haven't given them enough limelight, methinks. And there are soooo many uses like in the date-nut crusts for pies and raw fruit energy bars.  

Plus, after Halloween, who doesn't need a good transitional recipe to wean off the the toxic refined sugars?   

***HANDS RAISED AND FLAPPING NOT AS VIGOROUSLY DUE TO SUGAR BLUES***

Just look at these little snacks.  They might not seem uber glamorous, but they are soooo tasty. And easy, which is right up my and the whole planet's alley.  

Apple Carrot Date Bites

Four ingredients: 

Carrots, pitted dates, apples, cinnamon

You'll need a food processor. 

Put a cup or so of carrots in food processor and pulse till chopped small. 

Add about 5-10 dates (depending on your desired sweetness) and a teaspoon of cinnamon to the carrots.

Pulse till nicely incorporated into a chunky meal. 

Slice apples into circular discs. You can leave the seeds or poke them out if desired.  

Spoon out the carrot-date mixture onto apple slice and build sandwiches to however many layers you like.

You can slice the sandwiches in half, but it is recommended to actually slice them into quarters so you can simply pop the sandwich into your mouth without smooshing the filling out as you bite into it.

But, you do what you want. I went halvesies as you can see. 

If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think! 

I swooned. Especially since I just threw out our Halloween candy and was looking for something sweet and healthy to make.

This is great for kid snacks and dessert-lets (I made that word up, but you know what I mean?) at parties.  

This was taken from Youtube recipe video if you want to see the step by step process. 

Salud con citas! 

("Citas" is not the proper Spanish rendering of the food word "dates" ...BUT, it could also be read by adults as "To your health with dates" as in, your love life, or general ability to socialize with the opposite sex in an appropriate manner. That, my friends, is just merely more awkward wordplay for your enjoyment.)

Chow-Daaah!

Charissa and I are from New England. Our coastal culture is a source of pride and affinity toward all sea creatures. Meaning, eating them.  If it swims, crawls and wiggles, it's fair game.

We've grown up noshing on fish, quahogs, squid, shrimp, crabs, lobster, clam cakes, clam boils, seafood casseroles and bisques.  

So it should be no surprise that we sorta had chowder running through our veins, too. 

Which is also partly why we were overweight, obese and sick. Not so much from the seafood itself, (though maybe) but from the butter, heavy creams and breading that often married the cuisine. 

One day, as often happens here, I had no idea what to make for dinner. 

I had a bunch of odds and end ingredients that I couldn't configure into a meal. Potatoes, corn, onions and green onions. And cashews. 

But then it came to me.

I'd read somewhere about how to use nut creams as bases in soups and decided to give this a go as a chowder recipe.

Ingredients:

4-5 medium red potatoes, washed & unpeeled and cubed

1 yellow or white onion, diced.

4 stalks green onion, sliced

frozen or canned sweet corn

sea salt, pepper, cracked red pepper

Heat 4 cups of water on high to a boil. 

Add potatoes and onions for about five minutes

Turn down to medium high heat, add green onions then let simmer till potatoes are soft. 

Add corn, cashew cream & stir.

Add sea salt, black and red crushed pepper to taste.

Cashew Cream:

2 cups soaked cashews (for 1 hour)

4 cups water

Place ingredients in Vitamix and blend till creamy smooth. Put in a sealed refrigerator safe container. Cashew cream keeps for up to 3 weeks.  

++++

My husband was just as pleasantly surprised as I was. The cashew cream gave this chowder the creaminess it needed, and tasted great. The pepper, salt and cream added to the soft potato texture, and is just like I remember it back home in New England. 

As my relatives would say, "That's some wicked good chow-dahh!"

Lemon Honey Cheesecake

You all just as well surrender. SURRENDER!

Life is preeeetty darn good over here in the nutrient dense corner. 

Ya know, with all the suffering and deprivation and stuff . . .pffft.

Yes, folks, this Lemon Honey Cheesecake looks as good as it tastes. 

Strike that. 

It tastes even better than it looks . . .and the finished product/presentation is quite lovely, you must admit. I mean, for an amateur like me.

C'mon, your salivary glands are piqued and running just looking at those limes, imagining the sour citrus and sweet honey creaminess of the filling.  

They should be. This dessert's 'Da Bomb!'  Just a little last summer sweet 'hurrah' before Fall kicks into high gear.

Oh, and guess what's on top? 

Sweetened. Frozen. Mango. 

I'll give you a minute to pick up the pieces of your craniums, as I'm sure many minds have just now been blown.

. . .

Okay, you ready to hear how this RAW recipe goes? 

Prep:

Know when you're gonna wanna serve this. Unless you go the vegan route (using non raw nuts, soaked for just an hour) which you can prepare in a couple of hours, you will need at least 1 day in advance to get the ingredients ready.

The night before: 

1. Soak 3 cups raw cashews in water overnight.

2. Peel and slice 3 ripened mangoes. Place in freezer bag. Put in freezer overnight.

3. Make 2 cups Irish Moss Gel (Or, if you don't have Irish Moss, just soak 3.5 cups of cashews)

The Day Of:

Make crust:

2 cups almonds (or macadamia nuts)

1 cup pitted dates

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 TBS Honey

Food process nuts for about a minute until it becomes a course meal texture. Add rest of ingredients and  process till the mixture becomes sticky. Add a tsp water if not sticky, then process.

Take crust mixture out and mold onto 9 inch springform pan. (See picture above) Set in freezer.

The Filling: 

3 cups of soaked and drained cashews
4 peeled lemons
1.5 cup raw honey (or agave nectar)
1x tsp vanilla essence

2 cups Irish moss gel

Place all ingredients in blender for at least 1 minute and until creamy smooth.

Spoon mixture out and onto the crust. Spread it across to the edges of the springform pan nice a flat and put in freezer to set. (At least 30 minutes before adding topping)

Okay, now the topping!

Take the frozen mangoes out of the freezer and place in blender.

You can add stevia or some honey to kick it up a notch. Or not, if the mangoes are naturally sweet and ripe.

Blend till creamy smooth.

Ladle out onto the top of the set cheesecake filling. Put back in the freezer for about an hour then serve.

Be sure cheesecake is not frozen, but nicely set so you can cut slices. 

Like so . . .

. . .and like so. 

Oh! Add a little lemon or lime zest to the topping, if you like, with a citrus fruit decor of your choice. It will be sure to tantalize the eyes and make your guests think you're a gourmet chef. Look out, Gordon Ramsey.

This cheesecake will serve up to 8-10. 

This recipe was inspired by Alison Andrew's version on her site.

Avocado Reubens

Okay, you can laugh at me. 

Wait, I haven't told you for what yet. 

So these first two pictures are of the first sandwich I made, and the last two are of the second. 

Can you tell the difference?

The second one's a little sturdier, toastier and, perhaps, more photogenic. 

A photogenic sandwich. Wow. That's what our blog posts have come to. 

But you know what I mean, right? 

Okay, NOW you can laugh . . .

Here's the recipe for this absolutely delicious lunch that serves 2.

Ingredients

4 slices good quality rye bread

Thousand Island Dressing (see recipe below)

1 firm avocado, halved, pitted, removed from skin and thinly sliced

Sea salt and ground pepper

1/2 cup sauerkraut

1 firm tomato, thinly sliced and patted dry with paper towel

Directions

Lightly toast bread and spread all slices with dressing. Place sauerkraut on bottom slices. Distribute avocado slices evenly on top of sauerkraut. Season avocado with salt and pepper. Top avocado with tomato and bread. Cut sandwich diagonally and serve with extra dressing on the side.

Thousand Island Dressing 

1 cup vegan mayo

1/2 cup ketchup

3/4 cup dill pickles diced

Pepper

1/4 cup pickle juice

(Mix all ingredients in a container. Serve.)

Recipe credit: Roberto Martin, "Vegan Cooking for Carnivores." 2012

Frozen C.B.A. Dessert

Hello!

Don't mind if you do, right?

C.B.A. (or at least C.B.) is a staple in our house. See Son below.

C.B. stands for Chocolate Banana.

Adding the A is because we had extra avocados lying around. 

Yup. Avocado. There's the A.

But just look at this fresh treat. You'd never even know there was avocado in there.

And the taste? 

Very sweet, smooth and chocolatey.

A sure crowd pleaser.

So let's get to it, shall we?

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup cacao (or cocoa) powder

2 tsp stevia (or other sweetener)

1/4 cup almond milk (optional--no almond milk makes dessert stiffer for longer)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Pack all those ingredients into your high speed blender. 

Side view above.

Aerial view below.

Then BLEND, using a tamper to get all chunks smooth but not too loose. 

This batch may be too loose because of the almond milk. 

Since I have piping tools, I decided to get fancy and put the CBA in a piping bag and swirl it around in a cute dessert cup.  

But you don't have to. It certainly will taste the same right out of the blender and into your mouth. (In case bowls and cups and motivation are scarce.)

If you do happen to find motivation, toppings are always a nice way to dress up the dessert. Especially if you're having guests over. 

I chose chopped walnuts. Shredded coconut, cacao nibs, sprinkles . . .you name it and/or have it, do it.

Eat up before it turns into a milkshake.

Or don't. That's good, too. 

This recipe serves 2. 

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are such a delightful treat around here. You can stuff the wrap with whatever your heart's desire. Then add a little dipping sauce and this can be an appetizer or main course. 

Rice wrappers are one of the most unique food inventions I've ever come across. These buggers will wrap and stick like glue with just the littlest bit of water.  

Odd, they say each package holds "approximately" 12 wrappers.
 I've never had one with less than 15!

I've found pie dishes with about a cup of water work best to soak the wrapper for about 5-10 seconds before stuffing it.

Place the damp wrapper on a cutting board or dry surface . . .

. . .and stuff it!

Since we try to eat lighter and raw as often as possible, I stuffed the rice wrappers today with whatever veggies I had in the fridge: avocado, green pepper, red onion, shredded carrots, celery, and cilantro.

Then you wrap it up like a burrito...the bottom part folds over the veggies, then bring up the sides and roll it away from you nice and secure. 

You'll see what I mean about how easy it is as it sticks together.

I had enough veggies for about 9 wraps 

(Hmmm, I spy only 7. Someone dove in early!).

Oh, wait, that was me. 

Then I made the dipping sauce.

Here's what I threw in the blender:

1 TBS lemon juice and lime juice

1 cup liquid aminos (or whatever kind of soy sauce you use)

1/2 cup water

2 cloves garlic

A small nob of ginger, peeled

1/2 cup cilantro

A squirt of sriracha, as desired

2 TBS organic peanut butter

I tell you what, this dipping sauce really highlighted the celery in the spring rolls for me. It was so savory, tangy and fresh. 

In the past I've added hemp seeds, almond butter (a little more filling) and cabbage. The sky's the limit. You can add meat and even fry these bad boys up.

This recipe took me all of about 20 minutes; to cut the veggies up, wrap 'em, and blend the sauce. 

Not bad.  

Yup, somebody had a bite or two too.