It's definitely starting to look like Spring around here. All the unmistakable signs are there: more sunshine, warmer temps, melting snow and longer days. Hee-hah! Bring it on, babe!
My enthusiasm for raw food prep has also returned. No doubt that the goodies coming my way in the past week or so has got something to do with it too. For one thing, our neighbors were kind enough to bring us fresh young coconuts from the big city. (Bless their hearts!) And after many a week of patiently waiting, there's also been the arrival of my orders from Really Raw Food and Caromacs, both of which had somehow been misplaced. Oh, and let's not forget raw nuts from Oh Nuts! (including shelled pistachios - Heavenly!) that got delivered at the wrong address! (Gee, maybe I should stay away from ordering on line! lol)
In any case, we've enjoyed LOTS of delicious foods since my last report, many of which were entirely new creations. Here are the highlights...
I love changes and breaks of continuity; we so easily get stuck in a rut, be it in regards to food or countless other aspects of our lives. After almost a year and a half of daily green smoothies, we've been finding ourselves enjoying fruit salads or beverages with a nut/seed milk base. For instance, this morning's brew was sesame milk, bananas, blueberries, cacao powder, carob powder, maca, vanilla and dates. Delish!
We scored on lovely, ripe pineapples - a rare treat - during our last trip to town, so have been feasting on those too. Have you ever noticed how sometimes your tongue kinda hurts afterwards? Well, this time, it seems that I overdid it, as the whole underneath of my tongue was so painful that I had to stay away from acidic stuff for several days. A little trick someone gave me on Raw Freedom Community (aren't forums awesome?) was to put a bit of soda on the afflicted areas. Sure seems to have helped.
I also thought it would be fun to have a brunch once in a while. You know, so we get a chance to try some of the raw breakfast recipes floating around. I decided to make Ani Phyo's Breakfast Cakes, which I served with blueberry sauce, banana slices and chopped walnuts. The main ingredients for the cakes being flax seeds, I must say that I had my suspicions that the result would turn into a gooey mass. To my surprise, it wasn't the case at all. Although the taste and texture were interesting, I found the cakes a little too sweet and heavy for me.
Soupwise, I made a few old favorites such as The Pilgrim Soup which I recently was sharing with you, my famous Spinach Soup (Ooops - I had jotted down the recipe somewhere, but can't find it just now) and the Cream of Leek. I also wanted to try again the Creamy Thai Coconut Soup that Manu created a few weeks ago, especially since it got some rave reviews.
Some of the main courses we enjoyed include Cherie Soria's delicious Mushroom Stroganoff, my Spinach & Cream Pasta Casserole, and crackers with the Raw Deviled Egg-less "Egg" Spread and another simple but tasty spread made with cashews, garlic, lemon juice, salt and thyme.
I also made Raw Food Real World's Thai Wraps once again. As I didn't have tamarind, Manu came up with the following dipping sauce instead. We all thought it was delish and that it would also make a fantastic dressing.
Coconut Dipping Sauce or Dressing
1 cup dry coconut
2 stalks celery
6 leaves basil
Small garlic clove
1 tsp red pepper flakes, ground
1 tbs sesame seeds, ground
3 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs honey
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lecithin
Blend in high speed blender until smooth. Strain and serve.
Speaking of Manu, he went a little wild in the kitchen yesterday and whipped up our entire dinner. First came the best tomato soup I've tasted so far. He didn't keep track of the exact amounts, but the ingredients were tomatoes, avocados, cucumber, red pepper, celery, green onion, garlic, honey, salt and a touch of apple cider vinegar. The soup was topped with a thick, savory cream consisting of cashews, lemon juice, garlic, salt, thyme and nutmeg. Yummo!
He also made an outstanding dressing which will be featured as my Recipe of the Week. Amazing stuff! And the 'pieces de resistance'... Pizzas! These were incredibly tasty! Few ingredients, yet astounding flavors in the spirit of Italian cuisine.
Viva Italia Pizzas
Pizza crust of choice (we used this veggie crust)
Cashew Cheese
Bruschetta Style Tomato Topping
Black olives, slivered
Basil, finely slivered
Cashew Cheese
Inspired by Chad Sarno's recipe here
2 cups cashews, soaked 12-14 hours
¾ teaspoon probiotics dissolved in 1/2 cup fresh rejuvelac
2 tbs nutritional yeast, small flake
½ tbs onion powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 ½ tsp sea salt
In high speed blender, blend the soaked cashews with probiotics and rejuvelac, until smooth. Pour mixture in a bowl lined with cheese cloth, cover with a towel and leave in warm place for 14-16 hours to culture.
When finished culturing, mix in the remaining cheese ingredients by hand; nutritional yeast, onion powder, nutmeg and sea salt.
Bruschetta Style Tomato Topping
2 large tomatoes, seeded, skinned, and cut into cubes
1 1/4 tsp finely chopped onion
1/8 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbs olive oil
Cut tomatoes in quarters and de-seed them. Pass a very sharp knife against the edge in order to remove the skin. Cut tomato flesh into small uniform cubes. (Should yield about 1 1/4 cups)
Form garlic, salt and thyme into a paste. Mix with other ingredients.
To assemble the pizzas:
Spread a generous layer of Cashew Cheese on the crusts, followed by the Tomato Topping.
Warm up in the dehydrator at 110 degrees for 1 hour.
Just before serving, top with slivers of black olives and basil.
And lastly, we certainly got our share of scrumptious desserts in the last week or so...
Russell James' yummy Cacao Pistachio Florentine & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich
Don goes to me: "This is your best cake yet!" This line is starting to get a little old, but what can I say? They indeed seem to be getting better and better!
Phfew! We've been busier than I thought. I can feel another cracker n' spread week coming up. ;-) Actually, I just found out that I'll be going away to a meditation retreat for a little while. A forced vacation from uncooking I guess. *sigh* Oh well. The kitchen will still be there when I get back.)
Talk again soon...
My enthusiasm for raw food prep has also returned. No doubt that the goodies coming my way in the past week or so has got something to do with it too. For one thing, our neighbors were kind enough to bring us fresh young coconuts from the big city. (Bless their hearts!) And after many a week of patiently waiting, there's also been the arrival of my orders from Really Raw Food and Caromacs, both of which had somehow been misplaced. Oh, and let's not forget raw nuts from Oh Nuts! (including shelled pistachios - Heavenly!) that got delivered at the wrong address! (Gee, maybe I should stay away from ordering on line! lol)
In any case, we've enjoyed LOTS of delicious foods since my last report, many of which were entirely new creations. Here are the highlights...
I love changes and breaks of continuity; we so easily get stuck in a rut, be it in regards to food or countless other aspects of our lives. After almost a year and a half of daily green smoothies, we've been finding ourselves enjoying fruit salads or beverages with a nut/seed milk base. For instance, this morning's brew was sesame milk, bananas, blueberries, cacao powder, carob powder, maca, vanilla and dates. Delish!We scored on lovely, ripe pineapples - a rare treat - during our last trip to town, so have been feasting on those too. Have you ever noticed how sometimes your tongue kinda hurts afterwards? Well, this time, it seems that I overdid it, as the whole underneath of my tongue was so painful that I had to stay away from acidic stuff for several days. A little trick someone gave me on Raw Freedom Community (aren't forums awesome?) was to put a bit of soda on the afflicted areas. Sure seems to have helped.
I also thought it would be fun to have a brunch once in a while. You know, so we get a chance to try some of the raw breakfast recipes floating around. I decided to make Ani Phyo's Breakfast Cakes, which I served with blueberry sauce, banana slices and chopped walnuts. The main ingredients for the cakes being flax seeds, I must say that I had my suspicions that the result would turn into a gooey mass. To my surprise, it wasn't the case at all. Although the taste and texture were interesting, I found the cakes a little too sweet and heavy for me.
Soupwise, I made a few old favorites such as The Pilgrim Soup which I recently was sharing with you, my famous Spinach Soup (Ooops - I had jotted down the recipe somewhere, but can't find it just now) and the Cream of Leek. I also wanted to try again the Creamy Thai Coconut Soup that Manu created a few weeks ago, especially since it got some rave reviews.
Some of the main courses we enjoyed include Cherie Soria's delicious Mushroom Stroganoff, my Spinach & Cream Pasta Casserole, and crackers with the Raw Deviled Egg-less "Egg" Spread and another simple but tasty spread made with cashews, garlic, lemon juice, salt and thyme.I also made Raw Food Real World's Thai Wraps once again. As I didn't have tamarind, Manu came up with the following dipping sauce instead. We all thought it was delish and that it would also make a fantastic dressing.
Coconut Dipping Sauce or Dressing
1 cup dry coconut
2 stalks celery
6 leaves basil
Small garlic clove
1 tsp red pepper flakes, ground
1 tbs sesame seeds, ground
3 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs honey
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lecithin
Blend in high speed blender until smooth. Strain and serve.
Speaking of Manu, he went a little wild in the kitchen yesterday and whipped up our entire dinner. First came the best tomato soup I've tasted so far. He didn't keep track of the exact amounts, but the ingredients were tomatoes, avocados, cucumber, red pepper, celery, green onion, garlic, honey, salt and a touch of apple cider vinegar. The soup was topped with a thick, savory cream consisting of cashews, lemon juice, garlic, salt, thyme and nutmeg. Yummo!He also made an outstanding dressing which will be featured as my Recipe of the Week. Amazing stuff! And the 'pieces de resistance'... Pizzas! These were incredibly tasty! Few ingredients, yet astounding flavors in the spirit of Italian cuisine.
Viva Italia Pizzas
Pizza crust of choice (we used this veggie crust)
Cashew Cheese
Bruschetta Style Tomato Topping
Black olives, slivered
Basil, finely slivered
Cashew Cheese
Inspired by Chad Sarno's recipe here
2 cups cashews, soaked 12-14 hours
¾ teaspoon probiotics dissolved in 1/2 cup fresh rejuvelac
2 tbs nutritional yeast, small flake
½ tbs onion powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 ½ tsp sea salt
In high speed blender, blend the soaked cashews with probiotics and rejuvelac, until smooth. Pour mixture in a bowl lined with cheese cloth, cover with a towel and leave in warm place for 14-16 hours to culture.
When finished culturing, mix in the remaining cheese ingredients by hand; nutritional yeast, onion powder, nutmeg and sea salt.
Bruschetta Style Tomato Topping
2 large tomatoes, seeded, skinned, and cut into cubes
1 1/4 tsp finely chopped onion
1/8 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbs olive oil
Cut tomatoes in quarters and de-seed them. Pass a very sharp knife against the edge in order to remove the skin. Cut tomato flesh into small uniform cubes. (Should yield about 1 1/4 cups)
Form garlic, salt and thyme into a paste. Mix with other ingredients.
To assemble the pizzas:
Spread a generous layer of Cashew Cheese on the crusts, followed by the Tomato Topping.
Warm up in the dehydrator at 110 degrees for 1 hour.
Just before serving, top with slivers of black olives and basil.
And lastly, we certainly got our share of scrumptious desserts in the last week or so...
Cafe Gratitude's Coconut Cream Pie, which I've been meaning to try for ages. Yummo! (Man, how I love this book!!! Simply excellent!)
Heathy's deliciously exotic Blueberry Cardamom Ice Cream which she shared in a recent blogpost.
Russell James' yummy Cacao Pistachio Florentine & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich
Don goes to me: "This is your best cake yet!" This line is starting to get a little old, but what can I say? They indeed seem to be getting better and better!
Here's a closer shot... Have I said it was absolutely decadent?
Phfew! We've been busier than I thought. I can feel another cracker n' spread week coming up. ;-) Actually, I just found out that I'll be going away to a meditation retreat for a little while. A forced vacation from uncooking I guess. *sigh* Oh well. The kitchen will still be there when I get back.)
Talk again soon...
Your cakes look so amazing :-)
ReplyDeleteYour cakes look so amazing :-)
ReplyDeleteAmazing stuff! Everything looks so great.
ReplyDeleteDear Carmi, as usual everything looks so good. I'm particularly attracted to you luscious looking your Delight-ful Chocolate Blueberry Cake as well as Russell James Cacao Pistachio Florentine & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich - oh my!
ReplyDeleteRelax, unwind and enjoy your time at the retreat!