Thursday, October 15, 2009

~ Dandelion Healing Salad ~

Dandelion greens is one of my most favorite green to add to a salad. I never would have thought this a year ago, but now I faithfully eat these highly detoxing greens every week. One salad usually will last me at most two days. Most of the time I will eat the whole salad through out the day.




I usually make this salad ahead of time and let it sit overnight. Dandelion greens are bitter and letting them sit in the lemon juice and olive oil softens them. I add other ingredients to balance the bitterness with some sweetness. Believe it or not, red onion actually tastes sweet if you let it sit in the salad for at least twelve hours.


Salads on their own do not satisfy you so adding some healthy fat and vegan protein can completely satisfy your hunger.



Tuesday, October 13, 2009

~ Thanksgiving 2009 ~

This thanksgiving was the first year to celebrate with a couple of raw foods. The most important one would be the raw pumpkin pie. The other new food was some cheezy kale chips. My parents words were that the kale chips were addictive, and the pumpkin pie tasted just as if it were cooked. I was surpised when my mother used the kale chips in place of traditional stuffing. I put a pile of kale chips on my plate as well. I allowed myself to eat traditional thanskgiving dinner and really enjoyed it. I especially love the turkey, mashed potatoes with loads of gravy and sea salt. It was always my favorite meal. Now that I am a raw foodist, I really notice the difference between cooked veggies and raw fresh ones. I much prefer raw ones because you can tell the life has been taken out of cooked food.


My parents both loved these new foods. Here below is a picture of my mom and my son.


I went out to take a look at her garden and found a red cabbage. I was amazed at the vibrant colors. I have never noticed how beautiful this plant was....


I also noticed there was fresh parsley growing everywhere. Parsely is really good for you because it contains a spectrum of vitamins and minerals. It is considered a natural multi -vitamin in itself.


I was excited to see zucchini flowers and thought the color was so appropriate for Thanksgiving.
These flowers can be used as an edible garnish on salads, but I just used it as a decoration this time.
I never noticed how beautiful these were....





I thought the colors of orange and navy blue went really well together. This was a very attractive place setting for the occasion.


Sunday, October 11, 2009

~ Raw Pumpkin Pie ~


This particular pie is very special and has had a lot of thought put into it. This is one of my best recipes and I will be saving it for my book. It is made with a nut crust just like all standard raw pies.



I have come up with some secret ingredients I am looking forward to sharing with you in the near future.


It smells and tastes just like cooked pumpkin pie !!




I love using carrot flowers as a garnish, but I think next time I will use less because to me it looks a little too crowded.


Mmmmmm.....(:



~ Raw Cream Cheese ~

Another new recipe and this one was a hit !!

I decided to try a different kind of nut and used macadamia nuts to make my cream cheese. I wasn't so sure what to expect and it was a nice surprise to taste this creation. Wow this really tastes just like cream cheese....

Before I began making this recipe, I soaked my nuts for about eight hours to cause the enzyme inhibitors to be removed. This made these macadamia nuts more nutritious and more digestable.


Once the nuts were blended I added about half a cup of filtered water. I then added all my other ingredients. First was the fresh lemon juice. I find lemon juice helps the flavours of the individual ingredients to blend together.


I then added onion, garlic, sea salt, nutritional yeast, Herbmare and other seasonings....



To offset the smokey flavour I then added some red bell pepper which really worked well....



This is what it looked like after I had processed all the ingredients. I decided to put the cheese in the fridge overnight to let the flavour really set in.










What a great meal this is. It's very filling so I wouldn't recommend eating this before going for a work out. I say this because I was planning on going to the gym this morning and now I need to wait a few hours. The best food to have before going to the gym is a glass of green juice which is light on your stomach and will give you loads of energy.


Next time I am off to the gym I will bring some cream cheese and celery sticks . After doing heavy weights it is good to eat something that has a combination of protien, fat and carbs.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

~ Not Meat Balls in Marinara Sauce ~


Not Meat Balls make the raw pasta dish a lot more filling. I got this recipe from Jennifer Cornbleet's book. I have adjusted it to my taste.

Walnuts are the base for these and I just love them for many reasons. I discovered a couple years back that they contain melatonin .
This chemical, which induces sleep, naturally occurs in the brain. I have suffered with insomnia along with fibromyalgia for most of my life. I like to try to find natural ways to encourage healthy sleep patterns. They also contain omega three's which is good for the brain, tissues and joints.


I find preparing ahead and letting these meat balls set overnight will allow the seasonings to intensify and give it that right flavour.

There are some good recipes for not meat balls out there. I love Jennifer Cornbleet's recipe, but found it a little bland and came up with a recipe that tastes similar to the real italian meatballs.
Marinara Sauce
Recipe

2 tomatoes
1/2 red pepper
sea salt,
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup homemade sun dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
fresh basil leaves





I think next time I will add more sundried tomatoes and less of the fresh tomato because it was runnier than I had hoped. It was still good though....




I love the contrast of the different green colours in the raw zucchini noodles.






I have so much fun with decorating and adding garnishes to my dishes. I would say that sprouts are my signiture, but I didn't have any yesterday so fresh herbs had to be the next best thing.


I covered the pasta with the marinara sauce and then drizzled extra on top of my not meat balls.






I would say two of these meatless balls is enough to fill me because I ate three and was stuffed.