what the hell _does_ a vegan eat anyway?: Raw Food Wednesday

Showing posts with label Raw Food Wednesday. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Corn Polenta with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Asparagus, Mixed Green Salad & Tomatoes, Strawberry Tart

Raw Food Wednesday 7/09

Corn Polenta with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Asparagus
(adapted from Ani Phyo)

Mixed Green Salad & Tomatoes

Dessert

Strawberry Tart

When it's corn season...

...and when it's strawberry season...

...just let it flow.

Raw Food Wednesday: Pizza

Raw Food Wednesday Lunch 7/09

Pizza

We made these a pizza shells a couple of weeks ago and keep them in a sealed container -- they'll last a very long time, which is a good thing.

You start out by soaking the buckwheat groats, and then sprout them for 2-3 days

When they're ready, they're pureed in the vita-mix along with the other ingredients (recipe below), and dehydrated.

then it just a question of what you want on your pizza, in this case it was cashew cheese...

walnut filling...

lettuce and tomato

Raw Pizza Shells

1 cup of buckwheat, sprouted
1/2 cup of pumpkin/sunflower/almond (whatever you like)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked
1 small tomato
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. jalepeño
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. nama shoyu

Process the sprouted buckwheat in a vita-mix with at least a 1/4 cup of water, put in a large mixing bowl. Process the nuts/seed with 1/4 cup of water until smooth. Add to the buckwheat. Process the rest of the ingredients, add to the bowl, mix thoroughly. It should be somewhat thick and spreadable.

Spread out on a dehydrator sheet about 1/4" thick. Dehydrate at 105F for 4-6 hours, flip and go another 4 hours.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Mushroom Medallions with Cherry Sauce, Avocado Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 7/02

Mushroom Medallions with Cherry Sauce

Avocado Salad

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Zucchini Noodles with Pesto, Grape and Tarragon Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 6/18

Zucchini Noodles with Pesto

Grape and Tarragon Salad

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Pad Thai

Raw Food Wednesday 6/11

Raw Pad Thai

The ol' standby Charlie Trotter/Roxanne Klein recipe. It's good to go back to basics every once in a while -- especially when you have a bunch of young coconuts ;)

The little balls are zucchini, shaped with a 20mm parisian scoop, still looking for a #10, locally...

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Jerk Pineapple, Papaya and Mango

Raw Food Wednesday 5/07

Jerk Pineapple, Papaya and Mango

Spiral Cut Daikon, Avocado and Lime Zest on a bed of Napa Cabbage

We liked the jerk sauce so much from last night that we decided to make a raw version and put over some tropical fruit...

The pineapple, papya and mango were portioned into roughly 2" X 2" by 3/8" slabs, coated with jerk sauce, and put into the dehydrator -- 6 hours @ 105F.

The jerk sauce was ground allspice, thyme, black pepper, garlic, ginger, scallion, cilantro, habanero pepper, olive oil and lime juice all pureed together and -- wow! -- it was spicy!

The daikon, avocado, napa cabbage were there to counteract the heat -- which they did... to a point. ;)

The general consensus was the pineapple came out the best, followed closely by the papaya. The mango wasn't great to start with and didn't improve much in the interim.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Eggplant Ravioli, Asparagus Tips, Salad with Sliced Asparagus and Roma Tomatoes

Raw Food Wednesday 4/30

Eggplant Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce
(recipe below)

Asparagus Tips

Salad with Sliced Asparagus and Roma Tomatoes

The asparagus have been outstanding lately, and tonight was no exception -- the tips were marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and nama shoyu and dehydrated for about an hour at 105F. The rest of the asparagus stalks were sliced on the bias, very thinly, and marinated as well with olive oil, lemon juice and nama shoyu, but not dehydrated. They were sprinkled on the salad at the very end.

You've seen the eggplant ravioli before, but I finally remembered to take a shot of the mandoline -- mind the blades!

Eggplant Ravioli

1 small globe eggplant, peeled
sea salt

Peel the eggplant and slice into 1/8" thick rounds on the mandoline -- the top half has less seeds, but is usually smaller in diameter -- about 1 inch down from the top is the sweet spot...

You'll need about 16 pieces at the eggplant, but a couple extra pieces for back-up isn't a bad idea. This will only use about 2-3 inches of the eggplant, so you might want to think about a second recipe and using it in the next day or so.

Salt the eggplant for about 30 minutes to break down the cell walls. Rinse the salt off of the eggplant, pat dry, and place it in a large non-reactive dish in a single layer if possible (overlapping slightly is fine).

marinade

1 tbs. olive oil
3 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. garlic, minced

Whisk together all of the ingredients and pour over the eggplant. We like to put a smaller non-reactive dish on top to weigh it down slightly. Marinate for 1 hour, flipping the eggplant over half way through.

filling

1 cup walnut
2 tbs. parsley chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. cayenne
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. nama shoyu
1 tbs. olive oil

While the eggplant is marinating, add all of the ingredients into the vita-mix and pulse until the walnuts have broken down into very small pieces and have begun to stick together. Check the seasoning and try to not eat all of the filling at this moment. ;)

assembly

Remove the eggplant slices and pat dry. Lay an eggplant round in front of you and add about 1-2 tsp. of the filling in the center, being careful to not overfill. Fold the top of the eggplant over the filling and press down firmly on the edges to seal the ravioli.

Add the ravioli to the dehydrator tray and process about 6-7 hours at 105F -- flipping about halfway through. The edges should be crisp, but the filling moist inside...

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup cashews, soaked
1/2 cup pine nuts, soaked
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbs. of lemon juice
water
sea salt to taste

Soak the nuts in water for an hour. Drain and add to the vita mix with the garlic and lemon juice. Add just enough water to process the nuts until they're very smooth. Check for salt. Put the sauce in a a squeeze bottle and add to the ravioli.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Arrabbiata Sauce on a bed of Wilted Kale

Raw Food Wednesday 4/23

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Arrabbiata Sauce on a bed of Wilted Kale

Raw Arrabbiata Sauce

2 cloves of garlic
1 tbs. shallots minced
1/2 cup cherry tomato, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato (soaked for 30 minutes)
1 serrano chile, minced
1 tsp. nama shoyu
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. parsley
black pepper to taste
olive oil

Put all the ingredients (except the olive oil) into the vita-mix and puree. Slowly drizzle enough olive oil (depends on how juicy the tomatoes are) until creamy. Check for seasoning, and it should be pretty spicy.

For assembly: Place the arrabbiata sauce in a small bowl. Spiral cut the zucchini into long strands. Twirl the pasta around with a small fork, and dip into the sauce. Turn the fork to coat with the sauce -- it's best to turn it along the edge of the bowl as this helps pull extra sauce off.

The meatballs: portobello mushroom, almond, sunflower, cashew, red bell pepper, oregano, pepper ground together and rolled in seasoned flax seed, the dehydrated for 8 hours @ 105F

For the base, chiffonade the kale, and mix with garlic, shallots, nama and olive oil and dehydrated for 30 minutes @ 105F.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Chiles Rellenos with Mole Sauce, Cheese Enchiladas

Dinner 4/09

Chile Rellenos

Cheese Enchiladas

Chiles Relenos (makes 6 pieces)

2 red bell peppers

Cut each pepper into three or four sections, depending on the pepper, for a total of six pieces. Try to keep the stem on, but clean out all of the seeds and trim any extra white sections inside. Save any leftover pieces of pepper for the mole, below.

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
6 mushroom stems
(small) carrot, diced
1/2 japapeno, minced,
1 tbs. nama shoyu,
1/2 tsp. cumin seed,
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup water

Soak the pumpkin and sunflower seeds for 30 minutes, drain and add the rest of the ingredients in the vita-mix and puree until well blended. You made need a little extra water, but the consistency should be fairly spreadable. Check for seasoning. Spoon the puree into the red peppers and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula or the back of the spoon. Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105F. Serve topped with Mole Sauce (below).

Mole Sauce

1 tbs. raw cacao nibs
1 tbs. pumpkin seeds
1 tbs. flax seeds
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander

1 red bell pepper
1 tsp. jalapeno (or more if you like the heat)
1 tsp. agave
1 tbs. nama shoyu

Grind the dry ingredients, add to the peppers, agave and nama shoyu and puree in a vita-mix. Check for seasoning. Pour over the rellenos and serve.

The spring produce is starting roll in (ramps!) -- so we grabbed this local lettuce that was so soft you could use it as a pillow. Macadamia Nacho Cheese (from Ani Phyo) with jalapeno, shallot and cherry tomatoes.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Broccoli Quiche, Daikon Noodle Soup, Spinach Salad with Radishes and Pumpkin Seeds

Raw Food Wednesday 4/2

Broccoli Quiche

Daikon Noodle Soup
(adapted from RAWvolution)

Spinach Salad with Radishes and Pumpkin Seeds

We had made the sprouted buckwheat shells a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of this meal. With raw foods, it's never to early to plan ahead! ;)

The broccoli, mushroom (broken down into less than 1/2" pieces), garlic and shallot were tossed with a little olive oil and nama shoyu and dehydrated for about 45 minutes. That was mixed the cashew cheese and stuffed into the shells and dehydrated for 8 hours at 105F. Finally topped with the cherry tomatoes.

The soup is one our faves from RAWvolution -- daikon are juiced, mixed with water, lemon juice and salt -- filled with spiral sliced zucchini and parsley.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Parsnip and Collard Green Rolls, Mashed Cauliflower with Miso Gravy, Daikon Noodle Soup

Raw Food Wednesday 3/26

Parsnip and Collard Green Rolls

Mashed Cauliflower with Miso Gravy
(from Juliano's "Raw")

Daikon Noodle Soup
(from RAWvolution)

Now that's it spring (in name only here in Ohio) we need to make room for the peas, ramps and asparagus -- so tonight was a clean-out-the-fridge sort of meal featuring lots of "white" food -- parsnips, cauliflower and daikon radishes.

The collard green rolls were stuffed with the Trotter/Klein dolmas mixture -- shredded parsnip, onion, lemon juice, dill, pine nuts, garlic, salt, mint and parsley.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Zucchini Pasta Puttanesca, Fennel Salad With Radishes

Raw Food Wednesday 3/12

Zucchini Pasta Puttanesca

Fennel Salad With Radishes
(adapted from Juliano)

After helping our son to make the puttanesca last night, we decide to make a raw version tonight -- onion, garlic, jalapeno, nama shoyu, olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes combined in the vita-mix, the combined with crushed walnuts, oregano and rosemary. It was topped off with dehydrated baby portobello mushrooms (olive oil/nama shoyu/pepper) on a bed of zucchini noodles cut with a vegetable peeler.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Gobi Manchurian, Collard Green Salad Rolls

Dinner 3/05

Gobi Manchurian

Collard Green Salad Rolls

After making the cooked version of this last week, we wanted to try a raw version -- and the result was great!

The basic concept was to make a tempura-like batter to coat the cauliflower, so instead of a flour/cornstarch base, we used ground flax seed along with cumin seed and red pepper flake.

Raw Gobi Manchurian

1/2 head cauliflower, "flaked" (see below)

for the garlic/ginger paste

6 cloves garlic
1" piece peeled fresh ginger, grated (a microplane works best)
2 tbs. water

for the batter

1/2 cup flax seeds, finely ground
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, finely ground
1/2 tsp. red pepper flake
sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
half of the garlic ginger paste
1 tsp. nama shoyu
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup water

for the sauce

1/2 small red onions, minced
1 Thai chile (or jalepeno), thinly sliced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (soaked 30 minutes)
2 or 3 cherry tomatoes
1 tbs. cold-pressed sesame oil (or olive oil)
remaining garlic/ginger paste
sea salt & pepper to taste

for the garnish

2 scallions, thinly sliced
cilantro leaves

1. "Flake" the cauliflower by first dividing it into small florets, and then using your fingers work around the bottom of the floret and stem, and snap off small sections about the size of "popped" popcorn. I won't lie, it's tedious. You could also use a pairing knife, but it works faster with your fingers once you get the hang of it. Set aside.

2. With a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and ginger and a pinch of sea salt until well combined and add 2 tbs. of water to make a wet paste. You could use a blender, but there isn't enough volume to break the garlic and ginger down the way a mortar and pestle does.

3. Grind the flax seed, red pepper flake, cumin seed, salt, and pepper together and place in a medium bowl. Stir in half the garlic paste, 1 tsp. nama shoyu, and about 1/2 cup water to make a batter. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. Dip the cauliflower pieces in batter and place on a teflex sheet at 105F 6-8 hours, turning occasionally. You can remove it from the teflex and place it directly on the rack about halfway through.

(Now, at this point you can do one of two things -- about an hour into the dehydrating time, we removed half of the cauliflower and rolled them a dry mixture of 1/4 cup flax seed, 1/2 tsp. cumin seed, sea salt and pepper, coating them for a second time. The batter was still sticky enough to accept the coating, and did so perfectly. The other half we left alone to see what the difference would be. We decided we like the extra bit of crunch/flavor from the second coating, but either way would still be good)

4. For the sauce: in a vita-mix combine the onions, chiles and remaining garlic/ginger paste with sun-dried tomatoes, tomato, nama shoyu, cold-pressed sesame oil and about 2 tbs. water -- it should be about the consistency of ketchup. If you like you could dehydrate for 1 hour in a glass small bowl to thicken it slightly.

5. Place the cauliflower in a bowl and top with the sauce, stir to combine. Garnish with remaining scallions and cilantro.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Frittata, Mashed Cauliflower with Gravy, Borscht

Raw Food Wednesday 2/20

Frittata

Mashed Cauliflower with Gravy
(adapted from Juliano's "Raw")

Borscht
(beet, carrot, orange juice with dill)

This meal is for those of you who think that "round" is funny... ;)

The frittata was a riff on Isa's brunch book test recipe from the other day -- next time we'll double the collard greens, but the flavor profile was spot on -- the collards were lightly dehydrated for about an hour with a combo of olive oil, nama shoyu, shallots, garlic, fresh ground mustard seed, herbes de provence, black pepper then combined with the cashew cheese. Then they were formed using a ring mold, and dehydrated for about 8 hours at 105F.

For the mashed cauliflower, it was a nice combination of a small cauliflower which was not watery at all. Binding it with the cashews (plus lemon juice, salt and pepper) made for a great consistency and mouthfeel.

We used a ice cream scoop for the shape...

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Pierogi, Borscht

Raw Food Wednesday 2/13

Pierogi

Borscht

The pierogi are a work-in-progress, but still turned out very well. I want to play around with the cabbage/nut/flax ratio a little bit before posting numbers.

The "dough" is soaked sunflower, macadamia, napa cabbage (the inner white parts), dill seeds (from our garden), olive oil, sea salt, pepper and ground flax seed. Processed in the vita-mix with about a 1/2 cup of water, it was put in the dehydrator for about 3 1/2 hours at 105F, flipped and assembled with the filling inside, and dehydrated for another 2 hours.

There were two fillings -- a lightly dehydrated combo of napa cabbage, shiitake mushroom, shallot, dill seed, olive oil, nama shoyu and pepper, as well as a straight cashew cheese version.

The batteries ran out while trying to get a shot of the borscht, just pretend it looked a lot like this one ;)

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Shish Kabobs with BBQ Sauce, Cucumber and Carrot Salad, Banana Doughnut Holes with Coconut

Raw Food Wednesday 2/06

Shish Kabobs with BBQ Sauce
(recipe below)

Cucumber and Carrot Salad

Dessert

Banana Doughnut Holes with Coconut
(from Ani Phyo in VegNews)

The kabobs are cantaloupe, red onion, red bell pepper, (small) button mushrooms and grape tomatoes. They were skewered and marinated with olive oil, nama shoyu, garlic and pepper. They were dehydrated for 3 hours @ 105F, and then brushed with the BBQ Sauce below.

There are a million raw BBQ sauces in the naked city.... this is our story.

Raw BBQ Sauce

12 grape tomatoes
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hr.
1/2 of medium red onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbs. tamarind, soaked for 1 hr.
2 dates
1 tsp. cumin seed, ground
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
1 tbs. nama shoyu
1 tbs. olive oil
black pepper to taste

Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of water for at least 1 hr. Break the tamarind pulp up with your fingers and push it through a fine mesh strainer into the vita-mix along with all of the other ingredients. Puree and check for seasoning.

Brush over your kabobs and dehydrate at 105F for 2 hours, turning once and re-applying the sauce.

We made 16 total, but wished we had twice as many.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Chiles Rellenos with Mole Sauce, Jicama Empanadas, Guacamole with Red Onion Chips, Mexican Style Temaki Roll in Collard Greens

Raw Food Wednesday 1/30

Chiles Rellenos with Mole Sauce
(mole sauce recipe)

Jicama Empanadas

Guacamole with Red Onion Chips
(flax seed, pumpkin seed, black pepper, mexican oregano, red onion, olive oil, nama shoyu)

Mexican Style Temaki Roll in Collard Greens

Dessert

Blue Balls
(you heard me...)

We wanted to play around with the temaki rolls using collard greens, so we just made a spicy Mexican style salad to put inside the rolls and tied it with a carrot strip... turned out very nicely. The rolls were brushed with a lime juice/olive oil/salt/pepper mixture before adding the filling.

The temaki roll had julienned jicama, yellow bell pepper, carrot, daikon radish, scallion, red cabbage, along with minced garlic, ginger, jalapeno and cilantro. The dressing was cashew, tamarind, agave, lime juice, jalapeno, nama shoyu, garlic, olive oil in the vita-mix.

The jicama empanadas were cut very thinly on a mandoline, marinated with lime juice, olive oil, cayenne, cumin and then filled with mixture of 1/2 cup ground walnut, 1 tsp. cumin seed, 1 tsp. coriander seed, 1/2 a small jalapeno, diced, 1 tsp. mexican oregano, 1 tsp. nama shoyu all combined in the vita-mix.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Eggplant Cannoli with Basil and Pine Nut Ricotta topped with Marinara Sauce

Raw Food Wednesday 1/23

Eggplant Cannoli with Basil and Pine Nut Ricotta topped with Marinara Sauce

yes, we did it again -- the whole time we were making the cooked version last weekend, I kept thinking about how do a raw version. ;)

Eggplant Cannoli

The eggplant was cut into 6" long, 1/8" thick rectangular strips on the mandoline.

Then they were salted for 30 minutes, rinsed and patted dry.

The strips were marinated in 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 2 tbs. of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and 2 cloves of minced garlic for approximately 2 hours. During the marinating, we placed a glass casserole dish on top of the eggplants to weigh them down -- this helped the marinade soak in completely.

After removing the eggplant from the marinade, we gently ran a rolling pin over the slices to thin them out further.

Next, only one side of the eggplant was dipped in a mixture of 1/4 cup ground flax seed and 1/4 cup ground sunflower seed mixed with 1 tsp. ground fennel seed, 1 tsp. red pepper flake, 1 tsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. oregano, and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.

Then the eggplant were wrapped as tightly as possible around the cannoli tubes and place in the dehydrated @105F for 4 hours.

The cannoli forms were removed and the eggplant were dehydrated for another two hours on their own.

Finally filled with a pine nut and basil ricotta cheese. Topped with a marinara (tomato, sun-dried tomato, dates, jalapeno, shallot, garlic, olive oil, sea salt)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Pizza and a Salad

Raw Food Wednesday 1/16

Pizza
(buckwheat shells, cashew cheese, walnut filling, cherry tomato)

Mixed Green Salad
(in an edible buckwheat bowl)

Sort of a slow Raw Food Wednesday... had some time in the morning after making the pizza shells, so I made the edible bowls using a mini-loaf pan. They turned out very well, and gave the salad with the mixed greens, tomato and creamy garlic dressing (macadamia, garlic, shallots, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper) a nice little upgrade.

The pizza's were, as always, excellent -- crunchy crust, creamy cheese, spicy topping -- you can't go wrong with these.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Yellow Beet Ravioli, Collard Green Salad Rolls, Watermelon Radish Carpaccio, Celeriac and Green Apple Soup

Raw Food Wednesday 1/09

Yellow Beet Ravioli

Collard Green Salad Rolls

Watermelon Radish Carpaccio

Celeriac and Green Apple Soup

Back in the, er... saddle? (NOT VEGAN!)

Easing into Raw Food Wednesday with the familiar Yellow Beet Ravioli, stuffed with cashew cheese. As an experiment, I used a small cookie cutter to cut out the discs of dehydrated cheese, which made for a more uniform look, and the top piece of marinated beet sealed more easily as a result. Next time, maybe I'll try two pieces of cheese and with something else placed between the two discs.

The salad rolls were wonderful, with the collard greens as soft as little pillows. The filling was red bell pepper, carrot, scallion, celery, arugula tossed with a slightly spicy dressing of (cold pressed) sesame oil, lemon juice, garlic, shallots, dates, almonds, cashews, salt and pepper.

The beautiful carpaccio was a last minute decision, as the mandoline was already out for the beets. It was dressed simply with lemon juice, oilve oil, salt and pepper.

The Celeriac and Green Apple soup is from "Raw Food Real World" -- it makes all the difference in the world to strain the celeriac and macadamia nut mixture, which makes for a silky smooth soup.

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