30 DAYS RAW: PAD THAI

A delightful recipe from "Raw on less than $10 a Day". A super raw site ( http://rawon10.blogspot.com/ ) , with a weekly menu and wonderful recipes to play with - try it, you'll like it!


If you don't have a spiralizer, just slice very thinly, or use peeler to make thin strips.


PAD THAI
In wide shallow bowl, combine:
2 med. zuchinni, spiralized
1 carrot, long thin slices with peeler
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, long thin slices
large handful fresh raw mung bean sprouts

SAUCE
Mix in small bowl:
1/4 c. raw almond butter
1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 T. Braggs, or soy sauce of choice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. agave
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cayenne (or to your personal heat index!)
dash sea salt, to your taste

Mix sauce and veggies lightly.
To serve, top with a bit of cilantro, and 2 T. coarse chopped raw cashews

The sauce is sweetly heated, nutty, delicious!

This makes a gi-normous serving for a really hungry guy, or several smaller servings for us daintier eaters. Whatever size your serving, you'll be back for seconds!

I would highly recommend this one as a dinner offering to non-rawbies, a tasty introduction to the delights of fresh raw eating - especially if they already enjoy Thai flavors!

30 DAYS RAW: Roquette Soup

If you happen to be a gardener, you probably know that "Roquette" (pronounced "rocket"!) is another label for Arugula. A somewhat spicy, warm-flavored green, that gets hotter as it matures. The baby leaves are a delight in salad or soup.

ROQUETTE SOUP (2 SERVINGS)

1 c. water

2 c. arugula (roquette)

2/3 to 1 c. fresh basil

1 avocado

3 med. or large tomatoes, orange or yellow (less acidic)

Blend all ingredients except for tomatoes. Add the tomatoes last and blend just enough to leave tomato chunks.

Taste for flavor, add pinch of sea salt if needed, or blend in 2-3 stalks celery before tomatoes.

A velvety texture, warm flavor, filling and most of all, TASTY!

I'm so glad I plunked a basil plant into a pot and brought it indoors about 2 days before our first frost. It looks a little leggy, but it gets trimmed up regularly for recipes. Wonderful to have it FRESH as the rain and hail pelts down outside the dining room window!

Even the flowers get used, as garnish or in blended soups and smoothies. Magic herb: Basil!

30 Days Raw: Unlikely Pals

OK, the apple and orange. Check. The ginger. Check. Carrot...well, OK. Beet? Hmmmmm. GARLIC??!! WHAAA....?

Come, my little chickadees, let me lead you to paradise. When you cast this lot into the magic of the VITAMIX, you have....

SPICY SUNRISE SKIES
1 orange, peeled, cut into chunks
1 apple, quartered
1 medium carrot
1 medium beet, unpeeled, trim off root and top (about 2 - 3", use the greens too, if you want - I did)
1-2" fresh ginger, peeled (more if you LOVE ginger like I do!)
1 clove medium to large clove garlic (if you love garlic, go for it!)
1 heaping tablespoon fresh ground flax seed
1 cup ice, or more as needed
Using the plunger to press the goodies into the blades, blend smooth. Add some agave if you really feel the need, but I found the concoction to be delightful as is.

Icey, spicy!

Food of the gods, folks, food of the gods. The garlic is an unexpected flavor note, but boy does it WORK!

30 DAYS RAW: Rocky Road Ice Cream

A bit of sweet treat goes a long way with a raw lifestyle. This super easy recipe is courtesy of "Rapid Raw", my little go-to recipe book when I need something FAST and EASY!

ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM

In VITAMIX blender:

2 frozen bananas, cut in pieces

1 tsp. raw cacao

1 tsp. raw carob

24 raw almonds

2-3 T. water

The water helps things get going. The VITAMIX plunger is necessary to push the mixture around until it starts to blend. Blend as smooth or chunky as you like.

Serve in a fun dessert glass. Presentation is part of the eating experience - make it special and enjoy every spoonful, S - L - O - W - L - Y.

Treating yourself well is soooo important. Remember, "important" begins with "I"!! I AM WORTH TAKING CARE OF MY HEALTH!

30 Days Raw: Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Tweaking recipes to fit what you have on hand is an art. Something to practice regularly!
A dental excursion this morning called for liquidy fare today. I had to forego my beloved chewy midday salad, and improvised this soup from a Rapid Raw recipe (I do so love that little book!)


CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Having a variety of veggies and seasonings on hand is crucial to a successful 30 days.

Ingredients for the soup:

2 c. cauliflower

2-3 celery stalks

1/3 c. raw macadamia nuts

3 T. olive oil

2 garlic cloves

2 T. tamari

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. curry powder

1 c. hot water

Blitz smooth in the VITAMIX, running long enough to warm thoroughly. Add more water for thinner soup. Adjust seasonings to taste.

A note on celery: it is one of the most heavily chemicalized veggies - ALWAYS GET ORGANICALLY GROWN CELERY.

30 Days Raw: Day 2 and the Kitchen Sink Salad

This salad is soooo satisfying! I'm loving it for my midday meal!


I think I'm going to call it the KITCHEN SINK SALAD.


First I tear up about half a bowl of baby arugula. Then I chop up 4-5 leaves of kale into about 1/2 " pieces, and add to the bowl. A quick check in the frigerator - out comes chopped red and yellow sweet peppers, scallions, parsley, sesame seeds, soaked sunflower seeds, some diced cucumber, a bit of tomato. Into the bowl they go.

Here's the magic that pulls it all together: Mellow Miso Dressing.

1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 T. mellow white miso
1 T. grated fresh ginger
1 T. turmeric grated or 1/2 tsp. powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed
sea salt to taste
Smash and whisk together with a fork.

OK, here's my version: peel and chop the ginger and garlic. Use whatever miso you have on hand (I had Shiro - light, but not white). Throw all ingredients in the VITAMIX and blitz smooth.
You may have noticed, I'm all for simplicity and fast results ;-)

Anyway, it's a scrumptious dressing for anything with kale. The oil helps "wilt" the kale making it easier to chew.

Turmeric is a spice we need to find more ways to include in our diet. It's anti-inflammatory properties alone would be good reason. But here's a link to more info on turmeric, worth a browse:

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html

(Copy and paste the link into your address bar if it doesn't work from this site)

30 DAYS RAW

What better way to start off a brand new year than to challenge yourself to 30 Days Raw?!

One of my rawbie buddies and I have dedicated this sparkling fresh month to really tuning in and tuning up our raw foods lifestyle. New recipes, old favs, local foods (doesn't get much more local than my veggie garden!), sharing our passion for healthiest eating and nourishing the spirit as well as the body.

Day one:
Breakfast is easy - green smoothie, of course (banana, apple, spinach, kale, parsley, celery).
Midday - a big 'ol mixed green salad (arugula, kale, sweet red/yellow bell peppers, scallions, tomatoes, sunflower and sesame seeds, with a tangy dressing of EVOO, lemon juice, miso, fresh ginger, garlic and turmeric - super!
Dinner - a new soup recipe - Borscht. I adapted this from "Dining in the Raw", one of my well-used volumes.

Get ready for a real dazzler - nothing like beets to put some bright pink in your bowl!

BORSCHT

This is the original recipe - I'll note what I changed.

1 lb. beets, peeled and chopped (I used 2 med. beets fresh from the garden)

1 c. fresh carrot juice (I didn't want to get the juicer out, so I just used two fresh carrots, about 5" long)

1 c. almonds (since I was cutting down the recipe, I used about 2/3 c.)

4 scallions, minced (I used 2, coarsely whacked)

1/4 c. fresh dill (no dill in the garden - I used 1 tsp. dried dill weed)

1 cucumber, peeled and diced (I used about a half)

dash cayenne

Braggs to taste

The original recipe said to make almond nut milk and strain it. I just dumped the almonds and all the rest (except cucs) in the VitaMix along with about 1 1/2 c. very warm water, and blended it all up smooth. It tasted grand!

I poured half of the batch of soup into my bowl, stirred in most of the diced cucumber, used a spoonful to garnish, along with a sprig of parsley just for fun.

This was a thicker soup than the original recipe - I do like thick soups in the winter, just seems more satisfying. I also liked it warmish, rather than the traditional chilled Borscht. I'll use the original version for a summer soup!

What a blessing, to trundle out to the back yard raised bed garden and pull some beets and carrots, nip some verdant crisp kale leaves and fluffy parsley. I'm so fortunate to live in a climate where winter veggies can hold in the ground for several months, even through frost and freezes. On the coast, we usually don't have very long bouts of freezing temps in the winter.

Kale loves it here! I grew three kinds this year. The big leaf with pinkish-purple vein/stem is called Peacock. The darker longish leaves are Lancinato (sometimes called dinosaur kale), a sweet variety that has been my fav for years. The curly-edged leaves are Winterbor, a sturdy plant that will hold up for several years. There are 4-year old plants at Don's Waterfall Nursery, still going strong in the organic beds tended by Don and Janet - good folks to know!

The kale starred in the lunch salad, well-chopped to make chewing and digestion easier. Saved a few leaves for tomorrow's green smoothie. I feel rich!

My tummy is happy, my body feels light, we're off to a tasty beginning of 30 DAYS RAW!