Blueberry Vanilla Faux-Yo

For all fellow fro-yo lovers out there. 

Sadly, we cannot offer sample cups like Menchies.

What you'll need:

2 frozen bananas

1/2 C blueberries

1/4 t vanilla extract

1. blend all ingredients in a food processor until chunky, scrape down the sides
2. blend for about 2 minutes more until smooth and slightly whipped, scraping sides as needed

Kale Slaw

Coleslaw is like the junkfood of salads and is totally awesome in my opinion. I'm a big fan of cabbage. This is a nice fresh tasting rendition of it using kale instead of green cabbage because kale is good for you or something.

What you'll need:

(makes about 6 servings)

Salad

1/2 head purple cabbage, cored

1 bunch kale

2-3 carrots

raw pumpkin seeds to top

Dressing

6 T vegan mayo

1/4 C fresh lemon juice

3 T tamari

2 T balsamic vinegar

pepper like cray

I make this entire salad in my food processor with the grating/slicing attachment. 

Ain't nobody got time for that chopping.

1. cut the cabbage and kale into pieces that will fit into the processor opening
2. feed the pieces into the slicing side of the attachment to slice all of the kale and cabbage, set aside
3. shred the carrots using the grating attachment 
4. mix together dressing ingredients in a salad bowl and toss with the rest of the salad mix
5. dish into bowls and top with pumpkin seeds

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):

Raw Rosemary and Sprouted Buckwheat Crust

DISCLAIMER: This recipe is not for those afraid to get their hands a wee bit dirty.

This recipe is a double batch, so you can either halve it if you are using it for a crust or make the whole thing and freeze half for later. For a cheezy rendition mix in 2-4 T of nootch* with the dry ingredients!

What you'll need:
2 C RAW pumpkin seeds
2 C RAW sunflower seeds
1 C RAW coconut flour**
4 C buckwheat sprouts
1 sprig rosemary (leaves only)
1 T EVOO***
1 T onion powder
2 t pink salt
1 t black pepper
1/3 C ground flax seed****
2/3 C water

Procedure:

1. mix flax meal and water thoroughly and let sit in your refridgerator for 15 minutes, DO NOT skip this wait time, it really makes a difference in the eggy binding power
2. grind seeds in food processor into a fine powder
3. place in mixing bowl with coconut flour, onion powder, salt and pepper; mix thoroughly and break up any clumps
4. process buckwheat sprouts, rosemary leaves and EVOO until it is  a homogenous mush
5. add buckwheat mush and flax goop to dry ingredients
6. using your hands, knead everything
   
   together until uniform and the mixture sticks together when pressed
7. take half of the dough and press onto a parchment lined dinner plate and press evenly to the edges to make your pie crust shape of your desired thinness (thicker will hold together, I make mine about 3/4cm thick)
8. if your dehydrator is like mine, you will need to cut this crust in half and place each half on either side of the center hole 
9. dehydrate at 41 C for about 2 hours until it is a darker brown and holds together firmly
10. the remainder of the dough can be frozen or dehydrated into crackers/raw bread

* nutritional yeast flakes

** make sure the coconut flour is raw (like Coconut Secret brand), most brands use pressurized steam to defat their coconut flours. Coconut heats well though, so it's not the worst thing ever.

*** extra virgin olive oil

**** you can grind your flax seed yourself or buy pre-ground flax meal, just make sure that you store ground flax seed in the freezer as it will go rancid much quicker than the whole seeds. Basically the general rule of thumb, is the better an oil is for you, the worse it is for you once heated (coconut is fine). That's why it really urks me when brands sell flax-containing baked goods or roasted nuts/seeds as 'healthy'...you might as well inject plaque straight into your arteries.

This recipe was inspired Sarafae Bedelia (possibly related to Amelia Bedelia?) and her awesome raw vegan blog: addictedtoveggies.com

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