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Archive for the ‘dinner’ Category

Summer Pizza and Pesto!

August 24th, 2011

I love the bounty of summertime and basil is one of the tops for me. First of all, I think it is such a beautiful plant. The green of the leaves, the delicious aroma and the possibilities in the kitchen that are endless. It is part of the mint family nd in Greek, basil means “King”. It is high in Vitamin A, beta-carotene, magnesium and potassium. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is used for skin ailments as well as cold, headache, reducing fever and digestive aid. Medicinally, not only the leaves but the seed and oil of the plant are used for treating various ailments.

Basil is fairly easy to grow especially in the garden. It will also do well as a potted plant. Since it likes humidity and lots of sunshine, it is easier to grow in the summer than indoors in the colder months but it can be done and is quite worth the efffort. If you pinch back the plant, it will bush out a bit creating more and longer growth. Use the leaves as they are picked. Keep those stems! When mincing up basil for use in sauces or making pesto, use those stems.

Oooooo, speaking of pesto, what a treat it is to have in the summer! It is so fresh and makes you feel incredibly alive. I swear I get a jolt of energy when I eat the stuff. It is so easy to make and I recommend making a lot, I mean a hge batch so you can store the goodness away for the middle of winter as well.

Pesto!

2 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 medium sized cloves of garlic
salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse until well blended.

Now, the great thing about making pesto is it lends itself to a lot of variation. Instead of pine nuts, you can use walnuts or a comination of the two. I like to use a bit less oil while making the pesto when I am going to be storing it. To do this, make the pesto minus a little oil. Fill an ice cube tray wwith eh pesto. Then, here is the little trick, top the pesto cubes with a little more oil. That helps seal in the color and it will brown less. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and store in the freezer in a container until you are ready to use it. The otehr reason I like to use less oil is so I have more flexibility withe the cubes. In winter, it is lovely to pull out a pesto cube, add some coconut milk and serve over veggies.

Let’s not rush things though. After all, it is still summer and we have plenty of sunny basil picking days ahead of us. Pesto is a great way to dress up a plate of veggies or add some fresh basil to your homemade salad dressing. A perfect appetizer or main meal for two is summer pizza. Using your favorite raw bread or cracker recipe, make one large or a couple smaller rounds and dehydrate. My new favorite is a cheezy cracker recipe. It is made with cashew and sunflower seeds as the base. Added in are tomatoes and red pepper. It is the loveliest orange color and really tastes like cheezy crackers. It compliments the color of the pesto superbly. Top your pizza with pesto and fresh sliced tomatoes. Rigth now there are a lot of great Heirloom tomatoes available in your garden or at local farmers markets and stands. The pizza takes only five minutes to make if you have preparred pizza flats stored away and is filling, full flavored and a divine treat!

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Ready, set, go!

January 12th, 2011

What am I going to eat? Do you ever say this? I feel like I say this a lot unless…..

I plan a day to make lots of goodies. We are quite a mixed bunch in this house. My husband eats whatever I make at home and thoroughly enjoys the variety and surprise of what might adorn the table. My 10 year old has unique tastes that always surprise me and I can never seem to know if he will love it or hate it. he loves spicy and things that frankly, are notso pleasing to me such as sardines! My six year old is in the pickier phase of food choices and says, "I don’t like it" before even trying it. He loves mashed potatoes and noodles with marinara sauce and don’t mess with changin’ it up! On the flip side, same said six year old loves raw mediterranean dolmas, kale salad, kale chips with lots of nutritional yeast on them and salad. Go figure! Then there is me. I have horrible self control when I bring junk food in the house or sweets. So, I have a plan!!

I have days of mass food prep for raw foods so when I feel not much like making raw foods for me and still cook for the family, I don’t have to. Here is what I do. Figure out what I am in the mood for and peruse my recipes and cupboards. Next, I lay out all those recipes and start the process. I start soaking anything that needs it and look over what order I need to make things in. If anything is for the dehydrator, I make sure I have enough going in that will fill it. Moore bang for your buck doing it this way. This is all done in the afternoon or early evening.

Fast forward to the next day. Everything is soaked and the recipes are out and I am in the kitchen ready to rumble. The recipes I am making today are Mediterranean dolmas out of Ani Phio’s book that are just fantastic. I make them all at once calling in Gatlin, the six year old to do the rolling. When I first started making these, he didn’t like them. After the I don’t know how many times later, and having participated in making them several times, he started to try them again and now loves them. Having them all rolled, I keep them in the fridge and it is quick to grab one for a snack, send with hubby to work or pack up and bring for us for lunch.

Next in the line up is the classic Cashew Mayo. Everyone in the house loves this dip and it is quick, easy and filling to serve for lunch with cut up veggies, smear on a romaine leaf topped with tomato and any other toppings around like shredded carrot, eggplant bacon or some seaweed. It is a perfect appetizer for hungry bellies while dinner cooks or a good pack and go when heading out for a playdate.

One of my favorites and more on the heartier side are some burgers. The base is walnuts and they have a little spice from a jalapeno thrown in. These will go in the dehydrator and then can be a substantial lunch or accompany an evening meal. The kids aren’t fans but Dan and I are.

A new recipe to me are rosemary flax crackers from a recipe put out by Carmella at the Sunny Raw Kitchen. Those will help to fill the dehydrator trays and be the crunchy item on the menu for the week. I may get ambitious and make some Walnut Hemp crackers but time will determine that.

Rounding it all out are Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I got the recipe from Renegade Health but am going to make some changes and switch out the peanut butter for almond butter. The whole family loves these! They stay in the freezer and are perfect when we have a hankerin’ for chocolate.

So, there you have it. Lots of choices for me this week that are nice and varried and qwill keep me smiling!

So, go soak your nuts!!

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Free Thanksgiving Ebook

November 21st, 2010

This is amazing!!

Heidi and Justin over at Raw Food Right Now sent a most gracious email with an offering you will truly be Thankful for this Thanksgiving!

I love that Heidi and Justin are truly real people trying to survive eating raw in a not so raw food society. They always have great tips and have the most delish recipes. Definately check out their site.

Now on to the good stuff. Here is the email I recieved and morning free to share!! Thank you Heidi and Justin!!

Please make sure to mention Crunchybits when you email Heidi to get your FREE Thanksgiving book. I already recieved mine and can’t wait to make the Cranberry Relish recipe. Christmas holds no worries either with their Christmas Ebook. I am most excited about drinking the ‘egg’nog and making sugar cookies for Santa with the kids and OOooo, don’t forget the chocolate coins which was always the best to get when I woke on Christmas Morning!!

——————————————————————————–

Raw Food Right Now
Thanksgiving 2010 Issue

Inside This Issue:
How to Get Your Own F’ree Raw Thanksgiving ebook!

Get More Holiday Recipes with Our RFRN Christmas eBook!

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Hellooo from snowy Minnesota! Justin and I are all curled up near the modern “fireplace” …our computers.

We had over 12 inches of snow…and more is on the way! We are looking forward to having some nice hot tea and warming soups this winter in addition to all our raw favorites.

I just can’t believe how fast this year has been – it will already be Thanksgiving in one week! Amazing!

Justin and I are working hard on a few upcoming “secret raw food projects”. I have been sworn to secrecy so I can’t say anything specific…but all I can say right now is be on the lookout in your inbox – I’ll email you with the news because we are going to tell you first!!!

I hope that no matter where you are right now in the world that as the end of the year…the end of a decade rolls near…that you are able to find time to take care of yourself!
XOXO,
~ Heidi & JS

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How to Get Your Own F’REE Copy of Our Insanely Popular Raw Thanksgiving eBook!

As much as we love all of our international friends reading this right now (from 37 countries!!!), our American holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us.

We love you Canadians too – hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving this year!

You may be a long time raw foodie, or this may be your first Thanksgiving raw.

But did you know that Justin and I wrote our first book, “Raw Thanksgiving ebook” over 4 years ago?!

We originally offered the ebook for f’ree in November 2006…and the response was so huge I couldn’t leave my computer for a week!!

Nowadays the ebook “Raw Thanksgiving Recipes” sells year-round for 12 dollars. Hundreds of people have purchased our Thanksgiving ebook, and we are thankful for their support to help keep RawFoodRightNow.com alive.

Keep in mind the f’ree ebook promotion expired over four years ago…but we have decided to offer one final special for the Thanksgiving ebook…

…we are offering YOU your own very f’ree copy of the book!

HOW TO GET YOUR F’REE RAW THANKSGIVING EBOOK

All you have to do…. is email us a quick nice little note to me before 11/25/2010 to:

rawfoodrightnow@gmail.com

Make sure to introduce yourself and ask nicely for the Thanksgiving book!

It’s that simple!

Keep in mind that we haven’t set up some crazy delivery system for doing this… so when you email me I will be emailing you personally!

Please be patient if I don’t email you immediately…but I promise if you email me I’ll send you the book for f’ree within 24-48 hours.

I’m so excited for you to try my Goji Berry Cranberry Sauce! And the Raw Stuffing — mmm!!

FYI my most popular recipe EVER is inside the Raw Thanksgiving ebook – for Raw Devilled “Egg-less” Egg Spread!

Get Your Copy Today – Email Heidi now!!

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Get More Recipes with Our Raw Christmas Ebook – ON SALE! One Week Only!!

And if you want extra holiday recipes…our second book, Raw Christmas, is going on sale today for one week only!

Normally we sell copies of this gem for $15 each, but we’ve slashed the price all the way down to less than 10 dollars…you can get 14 more holiday recipes for only 9.97!!

Just look at all the Yummy Christmas recipes:

Spiced Apple Cider
Instant Egg Nog
Christmas Wreath Salad
Red Berry Vinaigrette
Flax seed Crackers
Mango Cranberry Chutney
Macadamia White Cheddar Cheese Ball
Meaty Nut Loaf.
Marinara Sauce
Dark Chocolate Coins
Rich Chocolate Fudge
Creamy Rice Pudding
Raspberry Jam
Sugar Cookies

Just think: Two books filled with holiday recipes for 9.97 is a great deal – especially because hundreds of raw foodies know these recipes actually work!

You can see pictures of all the recipes on the official Christmas ebook web page:

http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com/rawchristmas.html

Grab your copy today and get ready for all the upcoming holiday parties!!

Buy Raw Christmas Right Now!!

And if you already have the books or don’t need them this year and still want to support us, feel free to send over a “donation” by buying a copy. We appreciate it!

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Heidi’s Famous Caramel Apple Dip

You may already have my secret recipe for Raw Carmel Apple Dip…but I have been getting many requests for it from people claiming they can’t find their copy of the recipe.
Raw Carmel Apple Dip is one of the recipes included in the Raw Thanksgiving ebook that I am sending out for F’ree – this week only!!! so if you haven’t already gotten a copy of the Thanksgiving ebook…email Heidi now!!
Raw Carmel Apple Dip
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups Medjool dates, chopped and soaked for one hour in a mixture of water with the juice of one small lemon (drain the dates, and leave the soaking water aside)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
juice of one half small lemon
1 teaspoon salt

Blend in a high powered blender, and using the plunger tool, keep moving the mixture as the blender might struggle a bit. Blend until creamy. Serve the dip with apples or pears.

Tips:

1. The dates get a much better “bite” of flavor when soaked in the water/lemon juice mixture
2. Maple syrup gives a better caramel flavor than agave nectar. Or, if you are opposed to maple syrup, you can choose to use the clear agave nectar (the ONLY kind to use) instead.
3. the vanilla extract helps give the mixture the color and the flavor of caramel. Without the vanilla extract the dip has a much lighter brown color and the date flavor comes through.

Good news! If you store the dip in an airtight container, this caramel apple dip will last for approximately three days.

If you want more awesome recipes like this for the Holiday season, make sure to check out our Raw Christmas ebook!

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What is Raw Food Right Now?

Raw Food Right Now is a raw food company dedicated to helping you go raw in your world. We are here to help you learn about raw food and make the raw food diet work for you.

Raw Food Right Now is the creation of Heidi and JS Ohlander; a happy loving couple who went raw together back in 2004. Since that time they have studied every aspect of raw food, and are here to share their extensive knowledge with others.

Their popular blog, rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com is revered as one of the best raw food blogs on the Internet. It’s frequent content is full of raw food news, articles, tips, tricks, recipes and inspiration on how to make raw food quick and easy and fun.

Raw Food Right Now means eating food that feels right to you, feels right for your body, and makes you feel good. Raw Food Right Now means making raw food preparation as quick and easy as possible so you can eat raw food and get on with the other important things in your life. And Raw Food Right Now means the latest news and information to keep you up to date in the raw food world!

For more information, check out the blog:
http://rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com

To make sure you stay up to date on all the news and information we bring you on RFRN, make sure you are signed up to our RSS Feed and get our posts in your inbox using Feedburner!

Get RFRN blog posts in your inbox today!

That’s it for this issue!
Talk to you soon!

~ Heidi and JS

——————————————————————————–

Want to Share the Fun that we call Raw Food Right Now?

Go for it!! Feel free to forward any parts of this newsletter to whoever you think would benefit from our information…even someone who isn’t raw! Here’s how you can spread the word:

Heidi & JS Ohlander are the creators of Raw Food, Right Now!, a website dedicated to making the raw food diet fun and easy for everyone. Heidi & JS help bring raw food to your world by offering tips, news, and information on integrating raw foods into your daily life.

Visit their site athttp://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

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Fall Harvest Squash Rice

September 28th, 2010

Happy Autumn everyone!!
I love this time of year for so many reasons. I love the crisp fall air and the surprise flashback to summer warm days. The leaves change their colors to magnificent reds, yellows, oranges and even purples. Even though I grew up in New England and have seen many fall seasons, the changes that come with fall never cease to amaze me.

Apples, pumpkins and winter squash, oh my!! The food, oh the food of fall is not to be underestimated. The bounty that comes with this season is so different than summer and yet just as abundant!

My boys and I went to a dear friends house last night to celebrate the arrival of fall. Cornhusk dolls were part of the festivities and they were so much fun to make. A friends daughter came over to sit by me and helped teach me how to put angel wings on my doll and then she made a crown for my doll. So sweet!! Her doll still came out way better than mine, of course.

After the crafts and outside celebrations, we all went inside to share a meal together. I brought one of favorite recipes that really celebrates the fall harvest from Ani Phyo’s Ani’s Raw Food Kithcen recipe book. She titles it Walnut Cranberry Squash “Rice”. It is really yummy, but I was blown away by how well received this dish was by everyone including some who have dabbled in raw foods before and some like the “bat fairie” from My Everyday Magic that are a little more wary of raw foods. A couple people made sure I knew, several times, they want the recipe, like pronto! So, here’s to you!!!

Fall Harvest Squash Rice

1 small butternut squash, about 1 lb peeled, seeded and cut into 2 inch cubes
1/2 small yellow onion
1 TBS cumin seeds
1TBS corriander powder
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts, crushed
2 tsp salt

Put small batches of cubed butternut squash in a food processor and process into small pieces
Put procesed squash in a large bowl and add remaining ingredients
mix well
will keep in fridge for a couple days

Seriously, this recipe is so easy to make. I didn’t have cumin seeds on hand, so I just used poedered cumin. I also add a bit more cilantro as I just love it! This is definately a recipe to double! Also, it is the type of recipe that is very forgiving with measurements and lends well to adding in your own personal touch. Keep this one for your next harvest party or to liven up your Thanksgiving table. Enjoy!!

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Power Slaw

June 13th, 2010

Wow! I am so impressed with the salad I am going to share with you today. It is called Wakame Hemp Power Slaw and it is a knockout! I am still on my kick of using my recipe books at home. I like to call my raw books recipe books because well, they aren’t really “cook”books. I have also changed my lingo in conversation to making or preparing food rather than cooking it since I am not applying heat to the dishes. Anyway, back to the point. This salad blew me away and is another new favorite. I am so grateful to Ani Phyo and her book Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen for all the new salads I have been exploring through her book. They are so varied and different than your typical salad so now I have almost enough salads in my repertoire for every mood I am in!

Wakame Hemp Power Slaw was so easy to prepare and will last 3-4 days in the fridge. Mine didn’t last but two. Proud to say, my hubby even took some to work the next day he liked it so much. I also brought some to share with Sioux to get her review. So, my kids didn’t like it so much but I think they would after a few exposures. I read the other day it can take 15 exposures to a new food before taking to it. So, one down, 14 to go because mamma will be making this one again with all it’s flavor and creamy goodness.

I think we have all heard of the wonderful benefits of kale but what about wakame? Sea veggies are powerhouses. Wakame is high in calcium, protein and chlorophyll. Sea vegetables add essential nutrients and minerals to our diets. They are very versatile and are great in salads and soups. Nori is a common seaweed used as the wrapper for sushi. Dulse is a great salt substitute as is kelp granules. Here is a yummy to add more of these treasures from the sea into your diet.

Wakame Hemp Power Slaw

slaw:

1/2 head kale, ribs removed and torn into bite sized pieces
1/4 head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
2 scallions (I used chives from the garden)
1/2 c dry wakame
1/2 c hemp seeds

power dressing

3/4 c brazil nuts (I was out so I used some almonds and cashews)
2 cloves garlic
1 TBS grated ginger (I didn’t measure and just threw about a 1 inch hunk in)
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 c hemp oil (I used olive oil but hemp or flax would be delish!)
juice of 1 lime, about 2 TBS
1/4 c water

For slaw, tear kale into bite sized pieces and put in a bowl with the thinly sliced cabbage, scallions or chives and wakame.
To make the dressing, use food processor to process nuts, garlic, ginger and salt. Add remaining dressing ingredients and process until smooth. I just put it all in the Vitamix and whizzed it up until smooth.
Pour or scoop dressing into bowl with slaw and toss until well incorporated.
Top with hemp seeds

The slaw does have very interesting flavors. The lime and ginger in the dressing combined with the creaminess hold up very well to all the flavors of the kale cabbage and wakame. This salad doesn’t need to stand off to be labeled a side dish but is a perfect meal type salad and can hold it’s own in the spotlight. Enjoy!

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festive fajitas

May 12th, 2010

For this weekend’s raw potluck, I decided to try something I’ve been wanting to attempt for a while now but thought would be too much work. Boy was I wrong! Especially when you have an adorable, clever helper!

Lucia and I worked in the kitchen together — I read the recipe, and she carried out all the tasks to make the corn chowder from The Raw Transformation. We added a few personal touches — after blending the soup and adding the corn, we also put in some chopped red pepper, chunks of the other half of the avocado, and chives she picked in the garden. We used frozen corn, and the next time around I would probably add more raw garlic (surprise surprise) and maybe some more spices, but I really can’t wait to try making corn chowder with fresh corn. I liked the soup, but something was missing, and since there’s no comparison between fresh and frozen corn, I’m hoping that using corn just cut from the cob will do the trick.

Then we made the fajitas, based on a recipe posted by Joz on Raw Freedom Community. I changed it up a little bit, and have posted my recipe below. While she was waiting for me to rinse out the blender carafe and tidy the counter, Lucia grabbed the washed veggies and made Fajita man. Poor Fajita man. She snacked on some of the skin off his mushroom face. Maybe he’s sad due to his lack of arms. Who knows? Without a mouth, he’ll never be able to tell us.

Festive Fajitas

4 portobello mushrooms
2 red peppers
1 sweet onion
2 zucchini

Marinade

juice of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup tamari
1/3 cup olive oil
4 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup onion
Tbsp umeboshi plum vinegar

Thinly slice vegetables, place in bowl, set aside.
Blend all marinade ingredients together until smooth. Pour over veggies and toss to coat evenly.
Let sit at least 4 hours. Serve with collard, romaine, kale or cabbage leaves as a wrapper. Top with fresh salsa, cashew cream sauce, guacamole, etc.

The limes were a bit dry this week, otherwise I probably would have used more. But I have to say, this came out to be really tasty. Oh, and I would also add fresh cilantro in heavy doses if you have it. I used the leftovers on top of mesclun mix, and used the marinade to dress the salad. Delish! I served it cold, but would also try dehydrating it a bit for the warmth and to see the effect on the texture. This is a lovely party dish since it can be made ahead of time, as much as a day or two, leaving you free for more important day of party tasks that always seem to rear their ugly heads at the last minute.

Sorry for the soft focus on the pics — I touched the lens with an oily finger and need to get some lens cleaner paper but haven’t had the chance.

Happy dining!

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cinco de mayo spanish rice

May 10th, 2010

At this weekend’s raw potluck, the theme was Cinco de Mayo and delicious dishes were everywhere, including (at the time I took the picture — a salad with sprouts and some desserts appeared later, but I was too busy eating and forgot to snap a picture):

* gazpacho — a creamy, blended version, with chopped tomato, cuke and cilantro for garnish

* corn chowder

* Ani Phy’s walnut cranberry butternut squash rice

* Spanish rice with mockamole

* chunky chili

* almond pulp cheese with crackers

* fajitas

* green salad with sprouts, pecans and mesclun mix

* mango pie

* chocolate coconut macaroons

One of the guests, who has a severe allergy to avocados, found a delicious alternative — peas! She recommends fresh if you can get them, but says you can use frozen. Measure the frozen peas out and let them sit in cold water until they’ve begun to thaw but are still slightly frozen. Drain and “blend the heck out of them” until they have a smooth, even consistency. She used about 1 cup of peas to replace 1 avocado in the Spanish rice recipe, and said that her avocado-loving husband was devouring the avocado mixture, surprised that it wasn’t made with avocados.

Spanish Rice

1 head shredded cauliflower
1 red peppers, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
5 green onions, sliced thinly
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 recipe of Spanish Avo Mix

Spanish Avo Mix

1 avocado, mashed
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbs sweetener
crushed red pepper, finely chopped, to taste
sea salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Mix Avo mixture in a separate bowl, the add it to bowl with veggies and stir to coat.

This was tasty and light, and I will definitely give the avo mix recipe a try with the peas as a dip, or try replacing avocados in a recipe when I don’t have a ripe one on hand. Thanks for the recipe and the idea for an avocado replacement!

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dinner, potluck, salad, soup

our class raw potluck

May 6th, 2010

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was the last day of the raw class we taught at Greenspring. It was a fantastic 12 weeks and we received lots of positive feedback which we are ever so grateful for!!

For the last class, we had a raw potluck to share a couple of our favorite dishes and give the students a chance to spread their wings and bring in a raw recipe and dish to share with the class. What a beautiful display!! We were so happy to see how everyone really took on the challenge and made some remarkable dishes. We’ve left the pictures really big, so if you click on them, you can see the dishes better.

There was so much variety:

* a beautiful garden salad with homegrown sprouts with a citrus dill vinaigrette – nice and light and the dressing had a fabulous tang.

* an Italian salad of simply cut oranges with red pepper flakes, onions and oil and vinegar was a flavorful and colorful dish

* guacamole beautifully dressed up with red pepper left nice and chunky

* one student got so excited she just couldn’t stop the creative juices from flowing and brought three dishes in! One was a balsamic dressing served over tomato and avocado. The lemon bars were superb with strawberries and chocolate sauce. Her last dish, black bean brownies, demonstrated nutritious cooked options. They were rich, fudgy and all gone!

* dehydrated pear and peaches looked pretty and were a light, sweet chip.

*crudites were served with a pumpkin seed pate which was a lovely light green color that really felt like spring. This same student brought in a dessert – chocolate coconut balls.

* another student who is obviously an artist in the kitchen brought in a version of the coconut white cake in the form of cupcakes with filling in the middle, cashew cream frosting and elegant decor of slivered almond atop. She made a chocolate version, and an alternative made with almond butter instead of tahini as well. They looked stunning.

* a big bowl bursting with nutrient packed homegrown sunflower sprouts with velvety white cream sauce was a hit among the little ones as they went back for seconds and thirds. I heard Lucia say, “I could eat these every night for dinner if I wanted to ya know!” I loved it!!

* fruit salad was also gobbled up by the littles with big smiles on their faces

* Pad Thai seemed to be a hit and I happily recited the ingredients to many who said, ” I must have that recipe.”

One of the best parts of getting together with others in this way is everyone brings such a unique quality to the experience. I love sharing my favorite dishes and trying others creations. It is a wonderful way to sample recipes you may have not come across yet or ones that include flavors you do not typically use in your kitchen. You go with one recipe and come away with so many more and you now know how they taste. Potlucks are a great way to quickly expand your repertoire.

It is also important to have community. Going to a raw potluck or hosting one does just that. It is a good way to connect with others and discuss successes and challenges, get feedback and share experiences.

So, here’s to you, our raw class participants and friends!! We so enjoyed the experience and hope you did as well!

In gratitude!!

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satisfying sprouts

April 28th, 2010

We have been enjoying the process (and taste!) of growing sprouts at our house. We are all amazed at how quickly changes happen with our plant babies, and my babies love to devour our tender greens. We have been growing 4 trays, and find that it just about gives us a week’s worth of yum until our next trays come on board. We’re still refining the process, as the peas grow faster at first, though the buckwheat catches up pretty quickly, and sunflowers lag behind. Next week I’ll try staggering their starts, but for now I’m still starting the soak at the same time.

I snapped a shot of all four of the trays that we showed the planting process so that you can see what they looked like when we took the covers off. In retrospect, I would have left the covers on the sunflower a little longer, as these sleepy sprouts took a long time to cast off their little black caps and come out to play in the sunshine. But even so, they managed nicely and are now ready for the table.

First up, we have the buckwheat.

You can see the yellowish color, no green since I’d just taken the lid off and they’d been in total darkness until now. You can also see the white fuzzy roots that are often mistaken for mold — I had read about this, so while I watched it carefully, I was not quick to give up on them, and as it turns out, the book was right! These are just the tiny hairs on the roots, and not some nasty fungus that doomed my little crop.

They greened up pretty quickly, but I didn’t snap a picture until a few days later, when most of them had cast off their seed hull of their own accord and peeked out over the sides of the tray.

I love the way this picture shows our buckwheat babies emerging from the sunlight in their sunny southern window. This reminds me of something I read once about plants, about eating plants is like eating sunlight. I still am agog at the fact that plants convert sunlight into tangible energy. Just think what we could do for our energy crisis if we could figure that one out! Anyway, what I’d come across was something to the effect of that: plants covert sunlight into plant matter, so by eating raw, unadulterated plants we are in a way eating sunlight. Now back to our regularly scheduled program…

The other two seeds we’d started that day were sunflower and peas — here they are the day I took the cover off:

Sunflowers on the left, probably could have used another day or so in the dark. Peas on the right have 2 inch or so shoots that are ready to green up. Lucia pointed out that the pea shoots grow up out of the pea, which stays on the soil surface. The buckwheat and sunflowers grow different, carrying their seed coats up with them until the shoot is strong enough to cast them off.

Here’s a shot of the pea shoots one day after the above pic — look how much greener and taller:

I haven’t captured a “final stage” pic of the sprouts yet, guess I’m too busy eating them! But you can get a sense of what the pea and sunflower sprouts look like in our dinner from last night. We’ve talked about incorporating more raw foods into your diet by just adding one meal a day (usually starting with breakfast, choosing a smoothie or fruit instead of bagel or cereal), then two, and then having more raw food as sides at dinner. Last night’s dinner is a good example of this. I was trying out some relatively new dishes, so I defrosted some lentil soup and heated that up, knowing that Dante and Lucia would at the very least eat that.

So I got out some collards, destemmed and cut them in half, and whipped up some tangy carrot salad, or a variation thereof. This has been a favorite recently — it’s quick to come together and can be made from stuff I usually have on hand, leaving out what I don’t and adding in what I do. I chop the nuts and leave them separate so that they aren’t soggy in the leftovers. I put these out as a little craft project at the dinner table — and Dante at a whole carrot-salad-filled collard wrap as part of his dinner. The first few times I made this salad, he ate a bite and said he didn’t like it. Granted, each time I’ve made it I’ve had different things on hand, but this time he ate it. So there’s something to be said for continuing to serve things and waiting for appreciation to come after many tries.

I’d made the cream sauce for the sprouts before I shredded the carrots in the food processor, and since Lucia wanted to try the sauce I gave her a bowl of carrot shreds with some sauce drizzled on it. I added an extra clove of garlic to the sauce (who’s surprised? anyone? anyone?) so it was packin some heat, but both she and her brother ended up eating a small bowl of this as part of their dinner.

And in addition to carrot wraps and lentil soup, I served a big bed of pea and sunflower sprouts with velvety smooth cream sauce. Oh my. It was delicious! Lucia at first asked for a bowl of plain sprouts, but after finishing her carrots, she asked for cream sauce on them as well. And in fact, I just drizzled some on since I knew she found the sauce to be spicy, and she demanded more — nearly double! I loved the texture and flavor of this dish, but we all agreed that we felt slightly rabbit-like, sucking a forkful of sprouts in as we chewed, so next time I will probably chop the sprouts up a bit before serving, or serve them with a knife so people can chop their own.

Can’t rave enough about the sprouts — and they’re soo kid-friendly too on many levels. Definitely consider giving them a try so that by next winter you’re comfortable with the process and are ready to have fresh, local greens all winter long!

Happy sprouting!

Comments ( 3 )

Velvety Smooth Cream Sauce

April 3rd, 2010

We are a family divided. My husband, Dan and River tend to like white sauces like cream sauce or Alfredo where Gatlin and I tend to like marinara. Ok, to be honest, I could go either way and actually like half marinara and half white sauce over my noodles. I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out!

A few months ago, I made dinner for our date night and was thrilled with the results of this dish. Kudos to Carmella at Raw Freedom Community for this one. The sauce is part of her Spinach and Cream Pasta Casserole. It is so quick and super yummy. The sauce is a great addition to your recipe box as a sauce for zucchini or carrot noodles or on top of fresh green beans, pea pods or sprout salads.

Cream Sauce

1 c. cashews and/or macadamias
1/2 to 3/4 c. water
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt

Put the nuts in your blender and grind them up until as fine as possible.
Add the other ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
Add water slowly so you end up with a desired thickness.
Pour over your noodles or dish you are serving it and that is it.

I like the creaminess of cashews and tend to use just those. Feel free to add more garlic if that’s the way you like it. It stays beautiful white in color, but you could easily adapt this sauce by adding some sun-dried tomatoes or mushrooms for a new flavor.

This one is a sure favorite. You can add some marinated mushrooms or spinach marinated in salt and olive oil for a special touch!