Raw Broccoli and Cheddar Calzone (Gluten Free and Vegan)

         Kent here. Shane came to visit me this past weekend in Vancouver! Aside from antique shopping, bookstore exploring and dollar store raiding, we managed to eat some really good food. On Saturday we went to Gorilla Food downtown (an all-raw organic and vegan kitchen). We'd both been wanting to go for a long time so we were really excited. While the food was delicious, we couldn't help but think "we could do better". And this is what we came up with:

Disclaimer: This is definitely a recipe you need to start the night before. There's a lot of parts that need to be made separately but it's worth it. 

What you'll need:

(~6 servings)

Crust
3 C sprouted buckwheat (dehydrated)

1 C sprouted quinoa (dehydrated)

1 1/2 C ground flax seed soaked in 1 C water

5 carrots, roughly chopped

2-3 T agave nectar

1 T curry powder

1 T cumon powder

1 T onion powder

1 T garlic paste

1/2 t pink salt

1. process carrots until fine
2. add sprouts and seasonings and process until smooth
3. in a separate bowl combine with soaked flax seed using a spoon (preferably a wooden one because they are significantly more legit)
4. spread onto a parchment lined dehydrator tray in a 11/2cm thick square/circle
5. dehydrate overnight, flip in the morning and dehydrate until firm but not too dry
6. refrigerate until needed

Cheddar Cheez Sauce

1/2 C cashews + 1/4 C sunflower seeds + 1/4 C pine nuts soaked in 1 C water overnight

1/2 orange capsicum

1/2 red capsicum

1 T onion powder

1/2 T Wizard's gluten free vegan worcestershire sauce

1 T sauerkraut

3 T nootch

1/2 T garlic paste

1-2 t pink salt (by taste)

1. process nuts and seeds together until smooth and clumping together
2. add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth

Spinach Sauce

1 avocado

1 1/2 C spinach

1/2 t black pepper

1 T fresh lemon juice (or 1/2 a lemon)

1. blend all ingredients together until smooth

'Roasted' Broccoli and Mushrooms

1 C chopped broccoli florets

1 C chopped mushrooms

2 T EVOO

1 T tamari

1/2 t black pepper

1. toss veggies in oil and seasonings
2. dehydrate for 2 hours until roasty looking

Marinara Sauce

2 whole roma tomatoes

1/2 C sundried tomatoes

1/4 onion

2 t dried greek oregano

2 t dried basil

1 t garlic powder

1. roughly blend ingredients together to make a chunky sauce

Assembly:

1. spread cheddar sauce on one side of the crust and spinach sauce on the other
2. distribute the roasted veggies evenly over the spinach side
3. carefully fold the cheezy side over the veggie side to form the calzone and push the crusts together
4. top with marinara sauce
5. warm in the dehydrator (optional) and serve

          Shane completed the meal by whipping this simple but delicious plum and cucumber salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (he was a mildly heartbroken he couldn't find fresh figs to put on it as well):

Vegan Cashew Sour Cream

This sour cream is slightly aged with raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar to make it a little extra funky and totally awesome.

What you'll need:

2 C raw cashews

1 1/2 C water

1/4 C raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar

1 t pink salt

1 T agave nectar

1/2 t fresh lemon juice

2 T top foam of coconut milk*

1. soak cashews in water and apple cider vinegar in a sealed container (I use a bowl with a plate over it) on top of your fridge or any warm place for 2 days
2. drain cashews, reserving liquid
3. process soaked cashews until smooth, about 2-3 minutes
4. add salt (if you stop here this is actually a pretty simple and kickass cashew parmes-almost)
5. add agave, lemon juice and coconut milk and blend 
6. pour reserved water into the whole in your food processor lid while blending until mixture is thick and smooth
7. store in an airtight container in your fridge

* When you open a can of coconut milk it is usually separated into a thick foam at the top and the coconut water at the bottom. For this recipe don't mix the coconut milk and use only the thick top foam.

Raw Carrot Linguini in Spicy Thai Almond Satay Sauce

This recipe is super quick to prep (as far as raw cuisine goes anyhoo) and you can make extra sauce as it keeps well and makes an excellent spread or dip. If you're not a fan of spice you can omit the chili flakes and it will still be super tasty. The recipe shown here does not use any water making the sauce is quite thick and dip-like, so you may find you like it slightly dilluted to make it easier to toss on the 'noodles'.

What you'll need (2 servings):

Spicy Thai Almond Satay Sauce (makes 1 cup)

1/4 C top part of unmixed coconut milk

1/4 C raw almond butter

3 pitted dates

1 t full lime juice*

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T fresh garlic paste

1 t curry masala

1 t crushed chili flakes

2 T tamari

2 green onions, roughly chopped

Pasta

~5 carrots

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red capsicum, julienned

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. blend all sauce ingredients until smooth
2. store in container in fridge until ready to use
3. with a carrot peeler, peel carrots lengthwise (I find it's easier if you pull the peeler towards you) in a spiral fashion to get extra long ribbons
4. place carrot ribbons in a large tupperware and cover with sauce and 2 T water
5. close tupperware and shake until carrots are well coated, adding more water if needed
6. let the saucy carrots sit for about 20 minutes until softened
7. add capsicum and mushrooms and shake to coat
8. dish into bowls, top with green onion and serve
   
   
   
   
    *full lime juice is what I call the product of taking an entire lime and shoving it in your juicer, it has a great full flavour from both the juice and the zest without too much pulp.
   
   
   
   This recipe was adapted from Sarafae and her awesome blog: addictedtoveggies.com !

Beach, Sandwich and RAW CASH STASH BUTTER

I think a beach day is one of the best ways to enjoy the final sunny days in Vancouver. I decided to use my raw bread to make a sandwich to bring with me for my day in the sun.

On my sandy:

• raw carrot-ginger bread
• one side cashstash butter (see recipe below)
• one side fresh garlic paste
• some spinach
• 1/3 cucumber, sliced
• 1 golden beet, shaved
• 2 big hunks of red capsicum
• pepper

This sandy was super flavourful and filling. The cashstash butter went really nicely with the sweetness of the beets and the garlic and pepper accented the spinach, cucumber and capsicum (which is just what my Kiwi roomy calls bell peppers, which I think is cool because there's like 15 different kinds of pepper and one less is just fine by me.)

           





         

RAW CASH STASH BUTTER:

what you'll need:

3/4 C cashews, soaked for ~30min (the cash)

1/4 C raw, shelled pistachios (the stash)

1T fair trade coconut oil (to help blending and prevent separation)

1/4 t cinnamon (optional)

1. drain soaked cashews

2. blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth