Flourless (Raw) Brownies

Raw Brownies

Temperature's rising outside, it's a good time for raw desserts which don't require turning on the oven. I've explored raw food desserts as a way to eat a healthy and delicious treat without flour, butter, sugar, or eggs. Technically, nothing on a raw food diet is heated above 118 degrees; foods are either raw, dried without preservatives, sprouted or dehydrated.If you don't have a dehydrator, don't worry, you can "dry" foods by placing them on a piece of clean screen in your oven set to a low temp (no more than 200 degrees)and leave the door open a crack. Of course this requires turning on the oven which is what we are trying to avoid. This recipe can be eaten without dehydrating, the brownies will just be more moist.

In your food processor pulse 1 cup pecans or walnuts (raw unsalted) into a meal. Add 1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates* and pulse until dates are pulverized and mixed into the nuts. Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder), 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt. Process until the mixture starts forming a ball (dough). 

Gather the dough and press into a square on a piece of waxed paper or parchment. It should be about 1/2 inch thick. Score the dough into 16 small brownies; I use a pizza wheel for this. Press a piece of pecan or walnut into each brownie. Dehydrate for several hours until desired dryness is reached OR refrigerate until firm. Eat!

*Medjool dates are soft dates and work better for raw desserts than the smaller, harder types.

Variations 

Add shredded unsweetened coconut.

Add chopped dried cherries.

Add 1/4 tsp chili powder.

Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Frost with a puree of avocado, agave, cocoa powder. 

Nori Wraps

Nori Wrap

 Want a really simple way to get raw stuff and sea vegetables in your day? Nori Wraps are a quick, delicious, high nutrient-low fat meal that can be made with whatever you have on hand. The one pictured here was my dinner from last night and had cucumber, tomato, apple slices, romaine, avocado, 1/4 cup brown rice, hemp seeds, a torn basil leaf and a piece of umeboshi plum . Lay the full piece of nori on a plate, place the rice in the center and add slices of each veg, basil, hemp seeds. Roll into a cone, dab a little water on the edges of the cone to "glue" it down. Voila! So much easier than making sushi!!! Seriously, sushi is fun to make but is so involved, it is something I only do once in a while. Nori wraps could be an every-week meal!

Here are some other ideas for what to stuff in your nori wrap: any combination of pea shoots, cilantro, fresh mint, apple or mango, brown rice or quinoa, cucumber, radish, tomato, avocado, hemp seeds, kimchi , leftover 100% buckwheat soba noodles, baby spinach, julienne carrot, baked tofu. I'm sure you'll come up with even more ideas (let me know!!). The main idea here is to keep it simple and use what you have on hand.

For those of you who are interested in the nutrition info as well as the tastiness of your food, each sheet of nori provides 1g fiber, 1g protein, 0g fat, 5 calories, and 70% of your daily iodine requirement. 

Nori and other sea vegetables keep for a long time in the cabinet so its easy to have some on hand.Make some today and don't forget to let me know what's your fav filling! Happy wrapping!

One Lucky Duck Raw Vegan

We ate lunch at One Lucky Duck Chelsea Market on Sunday. Had the Spicy Thai Lettuce Wraps (delish!) & Spicy Sesame Salad (YUM!), chocolate ganache tart & a raw lemon bar. All food is raw, organic, vegan. The desserts are very rich and the prices are very very rich too but all was incredibly delicious and held our appetites for hours. The main restaurant is  Pure Food and Wine , also raw organic vegan. Looking forward to eating there some day.

Chia: It's Not Just for Pets Anymore

Remember Chia Pets, those little clay pots with seeds that you watered and then became "hair" on the "pet"? Well, now you can skip the clay pot, the water and the pet and just eat the chia seeds directly. Known botanically as Salvia Hispanica L., chia seeds pack a lot of nutrition in a small portion. 2 Tbsp chia provides about 6.6g fat, 9g carbohydrate, 8g fiber (wow!!!) & 3.3g protein. Each Tbsp boasts about 70mg calcium! and over 4000 mg of Omega-3 fatty acid. Just to get an idea of how amazing those little seeds are, 25-40 g fiber is recommended for good health so 2 Tbsp chia gets you about a third of the way there, and 140mg calcium in 2 Tbsp chia represents approximately 14% of the recommended 1000mgs calcium per day without dairy products! Chia seeds are sold whole such as this Shiloh Farms package, or under the brand name Salba (hulled chia seeds).

Another way to eat chia is in this raw, gluten-free cereal called Ruth's Chia Goodness, a combination of hemp seed, chia seed, and raw sprouted buckwheat. Chia seeds absorb twice their weight in water, forming a gel which can be used to replace eggs in recipes (used as a binder, not as a leavening). Sprinkle chia on salads, in your morning hot cereal, over yogurt or fruit, add to smoothies, or make this chia pudding.

Chia Pudding

Place 3 Tbsp chia seeds in a bowl and cover with 1/3-1/2 cup almond milk. Stir in 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract and stevia or agave to taste. Use a small whisk to mix in the cocoa, and be patient as it doesn't take to the cold liquid very well. Once fully mixed, wait 10-15 min until it is pudding-like in texture. Enjoy!

Chia Seeds

 

Thanksgiving Wild Rice and French Lentil Stuffed Kabocha Squash

My family is very excited to celebrate another vegan Thanksgiving this year. Coming up with a menu is lots of fun and we've got our favorite sides like everyone else. The main dish is what seems to change every year. Having a stuffed something seems an appropriate idea so we are going to try a wild rice and lentil stuffed kabocha squash. Kabocha squash is actually a pumpkin (eaten in Japan)so if you can't find the kabocha, a cooking pumpkin would work too.

Many of you have asked me to post the recipe for this dish, but the truth is I'm going to be "winging" it (pun intended). I've never made it before but I am happy to tell you what I'm going to do.

Starting with cooking the pumpkin.Cut the top out the way you would if you were making a Jack-O-Lantern. Scoop out the seeds and rub the inside with olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a smashed garlic clove. Place the squash in a large roasting pan with about 1/2 inch water in the bottom and cover with foil. Bake 375 for about 45 min or until it can be pierced with a fork.

The filling: I'm going to combine cooked wild rice (1/2 c dry), cooked quinoa (1/2 c dry) and cooked French lentils (1/2 c dry) with sauteed onion or leek, celery, garlic, herbs like sage or rosemary, toasted pine nuts, and probably mushrooms. If it doesn't hold together I'll put some in the food processor and pulse to get it to stick together and then add this back to the bowl. If I must, I may add some gluten-free bread crumbs or bread but I want to try to make this without bread.

The plan will then be to stuff this mixture into my baked kabocha shells, cover with foil so it doesn't burn, and bake 1/2 hour or longer. Bake with the squash top NEXT to the shell, not on top....the squash will change shape as it bakes and you may lose your top inside the pumpkin. Any extra stuffing can be baked in a separate dish.

I plan to make the stuffing either today or tomorrow, prebake the squash tomorrow and then on Thanksgiving I just have to stuff the filling into the squash and bake the last 1/2 hr.

Wishing everyone a joyful day surrounded by loving friends and family.
Melissa







          

Salad of the Week 1

I love to have a big salad for lunch most days but my salads have to be hearty enough to fill me and keep me going. Often the ingredients include items that need to be used up combined with items from the pantry. This week's salad used up some green cabbage I had, and satisfied my craving for artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes.
Sorry no picture, I ate it up before realizing I didn't photograph it. :)

Slice half a small green cabbage into ribbons. Saute cabbage ribbons in olive oil until wilted, sprinkling with a pinch of sea salt.
Place cabbage in a bowl and add: 1 can drained and rinsed white beans, 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (not marinated in oil), 1/2 can artichoke hearts cut into 1/8's, a few Kalamata olives sliced.
Dressing is 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, a small garlic clove crushed, pinch of sea salt. Toss with salad.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

These are delicious gluten and dairy free sweet potato biscuits.
Start with a 16 oz can of pureed sweet potato (2 cups). Add 3 Tbsp melted Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and 1 Tbsp brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, and 1/2 cup sorghum flour. Stir with a wire whisk. Add 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder.
Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
Grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scoop  about 2-3 Tbsp of dough into your hand and shape into a small disk, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Place on baking sheet. Should make about 15.
Melt another 1-2 Tbsp Earth Balance and brush this over the biscuits before baking.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.