Raw Banana Cannoli with Choco-cado Filling

I'm sure you've had the problem of too many bananas ripening all at the same time. It happens more during warm months. Often I freeze peeled ripe bananas for later use in smoothies or baked goodies. But last week I had 6 ripe bananas and decided to try this raw treat using my dehydrator. Here are the steps and ingredients with photos.  

1. puree 6 ripe bananas and spread on a dehydrator screen covered with non-stick sheet.You may want to oil this with some melted coconut oil

2. Dehydrate at 95 degrees for about 18 hrs until it can be peeled from the non-stick sheet. It should be the consistency of a fruit leather

3. Score the banana leather into 6 pieces

4. For the filling, process 1 ripe avocado, 1/3c Medjool dates, 1-2 Tbsp agave, 1/3 c raw cacao powder, pinch sea salt, small splash vanilla. Process until smooth.

5. Divide the filling evenly between the 6 cannolis. 

6. Fold the sides of the cannoli.

7. Cashew cream: process or blend 1/2 cup raw cashews that have been soaked for 2-3 hrs. Add water to create a creamy consistency. Add a splash vanilla and 1 tsp lemon juice. Add 1-2 Tbsp agave to taste.

8. Pipe the cashew cream on the cannolis.

9. Enjoy!

10. Store leftovers for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.                                                                                           

 

Gluten Free and Vegan in New Haven

On a recent trip to New Haven to spend time with a friend (it is somewhat halfway between our two towns) I had a chance to explore some veg and gluten-free menus. We had lunch at Claire's Corner Copia, a vegetarian cafe right across from the Yale campus which caters to vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free diets. The menu is posted on an enormous blackboard with everything clearly labeled and options for making your dish vegan and/or GF. There were so many choices it was actually hard to decide. I had the Avocado Plus Salad with spicy buffalo soy chicken which seemed to be a homemade seitan (not GF) deliciously spiced. Their bakery case displayed yummy-looking vegan cupcakes and other treats, unfortunately not vegan and GF. There is a cookbook, Claires Corner Copia Cookbook, which I had never heard of but my friend tells me has been around for a long time.

 In my quest for vegan-GF eats in New Haven I also came across a pizza placeCafe Romeo which offers vegan cheese and a personal-sized GF pizza; check out their menu.

And we walked by Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant offering vegan and vegetarian menu items. Be aware that injera, the Ethiopian sourdough bread served with the meal instead of utensils, is made from teff (gluten-free) but can have other non-GF flours as well.

My husband the architect gave us a lovely walking tour of Yale architecture, including the three on-campus museums designed by famous architects like Louis Kahn, and we enjoyed walking through the many Georgian courtyards. Definitely worth a day trip, easily accessed from Route 95, and not very far off the highway to parking which is only blocks away from the Yale campus (and Claire's!!!).

Chopped Salad

"Everything Salads" have a way of evolving out of whatever is available in the refrigerator and pantry. This one was especially delicious. All the vegetables are chopped to bite-size. 

Ingredients: arugula, romaine, red cabbage, Belgian endive, baby carrot, red radish, tomato, fresh dill, chickpeas, artichoke hearts (packed in water), really good olives (Kalamata, oil-cured, Nicoise...).

Dressing: 1-2 tsp EV olive oil, 1-2 Tbsp red wine or champagne vinegar, 1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar, 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard.

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