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.

Tags: eggplant, walnuts, parsley, cashews, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, asparagus, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666