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

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!

Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Creme

With Christmas hard on the heels of Thanksgiving, this colorful, velvety soup is a great candidate for holiday dining. I took it to the family Thanksgiving potluck, and plan on a repeat performance at Christmas. It is delish! Easy and cheap, seasonal and satisfying. The Garlic Creme can turn it from Really Good to GRREEEEAT with a five-second garnish trick.l

Ingredients: medium butternut squash, carrots, apples, fresh herbs, and some seasoning.

Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Creme (4 servings)

In processor (not blender) fine chop:

4 c. peeled, cubed butternut squash (one smallish squash; peel with veg peeler, split in two, scoop seeds and cube squash meat)

3 med. carrots

Transfer to highspeed blender (VitaMix) for smoothest soup. Or continue in processor. Add:

2 med. chopped apples, cored, UNPEELED

1 T. miso (0pt)

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, mashed

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. fresh rosemary (1 tsp. dry)

1 tsp. fresh thyme (1/2 tsp. dry)

1 tsp. fresh sage (1/2 tsp. dry OR use poultry seasoning)

Blend smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.

If you want warmed soup, pour into a quart jar with screw-on lid; submerge jar in very warm water until soup is warm to touch. Can also be gently warmed in pot over low heat, or in double boiler; just don't overheat.

Garlic Creme

Blend smooth:

1 c. soaked raw cashews (soak at least 30 min., drain)

2 med. cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 c. water

Transfer into squeeze bottle.

To serve:

Pour soup into wide bowls (warm bowls first if desired). Squeeze Garlic Creme from bottle in 2 or 3 concentric circles on surface of soup. Using a toothpick or chopstick, draw lines from center of circles through rings to edge of bowl, forming a "webbed" pattern.

Sprinkle with a few pumpkin seeds.

Enjoy!

World Peace, one vegetable at a time

A short time ago, I fell into a stew. I stewed about why I was slowly gaining weight, after a long struggle to discard the danged baggage. I stewed about the time I was NOT getting to research and read the plethora of raw food info wafting about the ethernet. I stewed about not getting out to walk as much as I needed to (5,000 steps USED to be an average, not a dream...sigh). I stewed about the chilly soil causing my little seeds to shiver and huddle. I stewed.


Then - I found STEW. Raw stew, no less. Really truely raw and rambunctious stew, stew that brought clarity, satisfied my longings, solved problems (I think even world peace is on the list of benefits), and SAVED TIME. Now how sweet is THAT!!

Savory Veggie Stew. SVS. Closely related to the previous Curry post. In fact, the precursor to the curry. I bow to Roger Haeske (get your very own copy of his ebook at http://savorystews.rogerhaeske.com/ ) Here's a fast version:

In blender: 3-4 large plum tomatoes, quartered

1-2 stalks celery, chunked

Blend on low, tamp down as needed (use a celery stalk if you don't have a Vitamix and tamper), increasing speed just to liquify.

Blend in: 2 scallions, quartered

fresh herbs of choice, i.e. parsley, basil, dill, etc.

tiny bit of fresh ginger or hot pepper if you like some zip

dulse or kelp - you need those micro nutrients, and you'll never taste the seaweed...

* about 2 tsp. agave or honey NOTE: sweet note is KEY INGREDIENT

big handful spinach (preferably adult, has more nutrients) or other leafy green (kale, etc.)

Blend well, at lowest speed that will do the job.

Pour into favorite happy bowl. (Makes about a quart, so invite someone special to share a luscious lunch or daring dinner!)

Then stir in toppings: chopped/diced tomatoes, cucumber, zuchinni, celery, sprouts, sweet peppers, avocado, okra, apple - whatever floats your boat.

Garnish with more colorful veggies, sprinkle of purple dulse, grated carrot, whatever makes it pretty. "Pretty" is pretty important when it comes to food presentation. The stew pictured above was topped with sweet crunchy sprouts of beans and seeds, and a handful of micro greens snipped from the windowsill garden. Below - well, I almost forgot to take a picture, I was enjoying it so...

My meals seem to be mostly green smoothies or savory stews or curries. I have regained clarity of mind. I have energy to walk more. And time to do it, since this whole process takes about 5 minutes, with some practice (I chop a couple day's worth of various toppings at a time, which is a wonderful time saver and speedy meal prep). I now have a few more minutes a day to research and gather. I'm sleeping better. My energy level is high. I think my vision might be improving? That would be the carrots...

I have looser clothes, and have shooed away some adipose.

Not too bad, armed with only a blender and some lowly vegetables.

I am now going to work on world peace...

Sweet 'n Zippy Lentil Soup

Warmer soups are on the calender now - it's freezing at night, and barely in the 4os during the day. Getting a nice warm soup together quickly can be a life-saver after getting chilled to the bone.

Prepping the veggies and other ingredients properly can make a big difference in time and nutrition. The food processor becomes my good friend, by quickly turning chunks of hard veggies into fine dice - and they don't have to be done singly, just pitch them all in together and blitz! They will cook through with little heat, a priority for my preferred way of eating.

By using a low-heat method, the vegetables, even though in small pieces, don't turn to mush, as can be seen in the photo below. Low-heat just means bringing the pot barely to a boil, then turning off the heat. The remaining heat finishes the cooking process, the veggies maintain their shape and color. Beautiful!

A soup doesn't have to be cooked for hours, to warm you up, as this one proves. One of my favorite pre-raw soups has always been Sweet and Sour, and this is a good stand-in until I re-work my S & S recipe...


About noon the day before you want the soup, start by soaking a cup of brown lentils for about 8 hours. Then, drain and rinse, and let them set until the next afternoon, about 4 PM. They will have started to sprout, which is what we want. Sprouted grains and seeds need less heat to become soft, thereby preserving nutrients and enzymes, plus putting the phytates out of commission.


Using your processor, blitz to small dice:
1 large carrot
1 parsnip
1 onion
Put into a 2 quart pot. Add:
1 diced, seeded jalapeno pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
the sprouted lentils
Cover about 2" with water. Bring just barely to a boil, then immediately turn off heat and put the lid on the pot. Let set until the veggies and lentils are tender, about 5 minutes or so.

Stir in:
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
2 T. chopped cilantro
1 - 2 T. pure maple syrup (or agave or honey)
1- 2 T. tamari or fermented soy sauce (ie Kikomans)
Adjust the seasonings to your taste - more or less sweet, more or less salty, more or less heat from the jalapeno and chili powder.

Soups are very forgiving.



And delectably beautiful! See those litte pieces of green jalapeno, the red peppers, the orange carrots...this method of low-heat cooking allows the veggies to keep not only their nutrients, but their inviting colors, too.



I LOVE SOUPS!!!

Five-minute soup...

There is no "soup season" in my kitchen - I adore soups, crave them more than chocolate (yes, it's true!), and consume them year round with much appreciation for whomever first dropped a hot rock into a bark-cauldron of water and weeds.
A friend recently queried, with eating mostly raw now how was I going to enjoy hot soup this fall and winter? I had been asking myself the same question, and doing some recipe browsing. No worries, I figure between me and my trusty Vita-Mix we will manage just fine.
Today, when a hunger twinge niggled at the appropriate time, my first thought was, what do I have to make some soup?
There was a lonesome yam in the basket, I had some cashews already soaked and waiting in the frig for inspiration, and a few last fresh sage leaves were needing used. AHA! A fall soup I had made in my not-so-raw life popped into memory, and I proceeded to wing it from taste-bud memory.

A SAGE FALL SOUP
Into a Vita-Mix:
1/4 c. soaked raw cashews
1/2 c. warm water
Blitz almost smooth. Add:
about 1/2 - 3/4 c. grated raw yam or sweet potato or winter squash
sage - one 3"-fresh leaf, or 1/2 tsp. dried
1 T. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. sea salt
cayenne - depending on your heat tolerance, anything from a dash up to a whole Thai red pepper!
1/2 tsp. onion powder or 2 T. fresh chopped onion
1 - 2 c. very warm water
Blend 2-3 minutes until very smooth and warmed. Serve with sprinkle of chopped hemp seed.

NOTE: this can probably be done in a regular blender, by soaking the grated squash/yam in the hot water for at least 10 minutes, to soften and make it easier to blend. Definately worth a try, if you don't yet have your Vita-Mix!

A velvety, creamy, luscious blend of lively taste and warmth.

A soup doesn't have to be steaming, to warm the cockles of your heart - or your taste buds!

Hot day = cold soup

Big thunder storm last night. Several downpours throughout the evening and night. Soaked ground. Overcast. Hot. Adds up to HUMIDITY. Wisconsin "stupidity", as my son-in-law calls it. Sheesh. It is 90 some degrees and about 99 percent humidity.

Ice cold watermelon, blueberries, a couple of strawberries, some almond milk. Whizzed in the Vita. Perfect breakfast.

It's so uncomfortably warm and sticky, that the thought of food, even vegetables and fruit, is just not appealing. Enter the COLD SOUP.

A scan of the fridge revealed all the makings. Just needed a quick trip to the garden for some dill. Caught some young zuchinni on the way back, before they grew into teenage zuchinni (I like them at toddler stage). Into the Vita-mix went: about 2 cups of baby spinach, a tender young zuchinni cut in chunks, a couple cloves of garlic, a dollop of tahini, a glug of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, a handful of dill, the last tablespoon of sunflower seeds, about 1/2 cup of water. It took a couple stops to push everything down to where the action was, but in about 90 seconds I had this velvety, soothingly green soup. A quick chill in the freezer, then into a bowl.
The garnish is a sprig of right-out-of-the-garden dill, AND some crumbles of my freshly made goat chevre with chives and dill.

NOTE: this chevre is made with only an initial warming of the milk to 86 degrees. The culture does the rest. I call that raw.

A cold soup on a hot day is a lifesaver.

I'm loving this raw stuff!!

Day 1 - what's in the fridge?

To start the day, I cut up some watermelon and snacked on that as I puttered around getting my morning underway. Drank my usual glass of water and apple cider vinegar, and got the daily quart of nettle/dandelion/plaintain infusion going to drink throughout the day. Threw in some mullein at the last minute, that hadn't quite dried completely from the batch I took out of the dehydrators earlier this morning.

Again, it just felt like I was doing the "right thing", in pursuing this way of eating. It was what my body needed for now. For lunch, I chose one of several recipes I had tagged in Dining in the Raw, and after a quick jaunt through the garden I made Zuchinni Carrot soup. I'll be putting together some raspberry-banana frozen dessert after awhile, the berries and 'nanners are working on getting frozen so I can throw them in the Vita- mix.

Here's how the soup goes together: Blend 1/2 c. tahini (or in my case, lacking tahini at the moment, the last of my raw cashew butter), a cup of water, some Bragg's Liquid Aminos, some garlic and green onion. Grate a medium zuchinni, a carrot, add half to the blender. Blend smooth. Pour into a bowl, stir in the rest of the grated veggies, some chopped cilantro, sliced green onion, and more Bragg's to taste. After a taste test, I also stirred in 1/2 tsp. lemon juice. Chill, letting flavors blend.

This chilled soup is creamy but textured, fresh and crunchy and filling. I really enjoyed it, and will put it on my "make again" list.

Dinner. Hmmmm. Dinner. Well, I have some couscous in the pantry, and a ton more veggies waiting in the wings. We'll see what they decide to waltz across the stage.

Well, now! They didn't do too bad for a bunch of amateurs! They chose to present Garam Coucous.

Here we have couscous (bring water to boil, stir in couscous 1/1 ratio, take off heat, lid, and let set 5 minutes - wahlah!) in the pot, with some garam masala spice stirred in (one of my FAV spice blends); diced red pepper, grated carrot, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, a couple of olives (escaped from their can), toasted ground cumin seed, with some Bragg's Liquid Aminos and Udo's Oil Blend to provide flavor, nutrition and moisture to marry the cast as a harmonious and delicious family.

Plated, it looks like they made a successful production! I could eat that. And with the spoon of veggie raita left from our Indian feast the other evening, it was perfect! The flavors are multi-layered, the textures varied for interest, and the warm couscous had a perfect counterpoint in the cold raita (cucs, onion, tomato, plain yogurt, ground toasted cumin seed).
There was plenty of coucous and veggies left to combine with the Bragg's and Udo oil and more ground cumin seed, for a lunch bowl I can look forward to tomorrow.

There's still dessert to come. The frozen banana-raspberry-goat milk icecream is divided into 1/2 cup dessert cups, safely stashed in the freezer for those moments of bliss we all need in our food.

My tummy is happy. My heart is happy. I would call this a good start.