But I can still find Champagne mangoes! And no one can stop me from eating them. 
This salad has spinach, frisee, spring mix, thyme, papaya, mango, and strawberries. I love thyme in salads! The smell stays with me for a while and is very calming.
It’s massaged dino kale, red leaf lettuce, spinach, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, and a few sundried olives I still have from a long time ago. Delicious.
The new camera works great. I just haven’t had many noteworthy meals as of late. And the lighting in my kitchen in the new place is awesome for photos (except with white bowls, note to self). Thanks again for the early birthday gift, Tracy!
I groan when I see some of my older photos, or photos I chose to put up, but I’m not a professional here. The point of my search being Urban Vegan’s cookbook is out in case you missed it.
And pics of some of the recipes I tested (although other people tested FAR, far more): http://utopiankitchen.wordpress.com/?s=urban%2Bvegan
Well, just as I got out the camera and turned it on to take a pic of my salad, I realized the camera’s done. The screen doesn’t function anymore, and while I can take photos, I can’t SEE what I’m taking a photo of. I don’t know if I dropped it or someone stepped on it. Doesn’t matter. It’s good to know before something important came up, like a trip to see family!
My post was simply going to be a recommendation on a way to prepare a salad differently, to chop it up finely. I use plum tomatoes, jalapeno, minced by hand, add some garlic and lemon juice; then I let the food processor do some magic! I throw in spinach, basil, cilantro, parsley, collards, red leaf lettuce, chives. Put in a little at a time and pulse it until it’s finely chopped. VERY easy and fast! I believe the flavors can incorporate well this way, too, after you mix everything together. Your salad will look like tabouli, and you may “trick” (oh, what a negative connotation for giving a person some amino acids!) someone you love into eating collard greens raw.
This, of course, is ONLY if I’m taking a break from my Champagne mango feast.
From Professional Vegetarian Cooking
Asparagus with mango, black sesame seeds, and a strawberry-basil dressing.
From Passionate Vegetarian
I hate to give this recipe, or any recipe, a bad review, but in my opinion, this is one of the worst sauce recipes I have ever made. The recipe is called, “Terrible Delicious, Talk-of-the-Town Tofu.” Sounds great to serve to a bunch of people; right? Well, the orange rind and juice were overpowering and the sauce too thick. I think the only thing that’s making this recipe serveable is what I added to it, how I chopped it, and how I’m serving it. Oh, well.
I’m enjoying fresh orange juice and papaya before heading over to a celebration of The Vegan Twins’ birthday.
Entertaining in the Raw
I added the raw tofu to the salad. Shown here with pine-nut based parmesan and basil oil.
Kale, red & green cabbage, and carrots in a creamy nut-based dressing and topped with basil.
Entertaining in the Raw
I stopped putting these together for a bit to take a picture with the garnish, sour cream and tomato-chile sauce (thick sauce). The tamale mixture, like most raw foods I’ve found, is much more delicious than any cooked I’ve ever had. It has corn, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and lime juice.
I feel as if I made the best no-fat-added dressing I’ve ever had….so I measured tonight to post the recipe! This dressing is sweet and tangy, mostly raw except for the prepared mustard (which has negligible calories). I made a dressing with whole mustard seeds and didn’t like it as much; I don’t find any ill effects on my health from consuming prepared organic mustard. This keeps well when blended in a Vita-Mix; mine didn’t even separate after 2 days in the refrigerator!
Makes about 1.25 to 1.5 cups.
1.25 c. water
8 pitted dates (I used Medjool)
1 c. fresh chives
3 cloves garlic (or to taste)
1.5 T. mustard (Dijon or regular, whatever you prefer; I used Dijon)
1/2 tsp. Himalayan pink salt, or to taste
(Note: I’m also not a huge vinegar fan, and it’s actually a skin irritant for me when the vinegar contacts my skin, so ingestion may not be ideal, either…..another reason I probably love this dressing!)
Blend in your blender or Vita-Mix until smooth. That’s it!
I am LOVING these organic microgreens from Trader Joe’s.
A tip I thought I’d post on raw eating: It’s important to have food available for when hunger strikes, because if you are addicted to the cooked food and have no raw food around, well, you know what will probably happen.
I almost always have at least these items in my kitchen: fresh collards, kale, spinach, apples, pears, oranges, sprouts, carrots, celery, cucumber, parsley, cilantro, and romaine; frozen bananas. I keep the vegetables stored in a way that I can open the fridge and see what I have, grab it quickly, rinse it, and eat or juice/blend it. I also like to have some type of berry within my reach. If it helps you to rinse vegetables and fruits prior to storing, do that. Do whatever it takes to have fresh food around…..and no excuses on going to the grocer! Find one nearby, on your way to or from work, and visit the produce section only, picking up the above items. Spend 5-10 min. 5-10 min. if you do it fast! 
Pretend you’re a vegan ninja.
These kelp noodles seemed to be popular among raw-food circles, so I decided to give them a try. I found it amazing that they only have 6 calories per 4 oz. It seems other noodles, whether they be wheat-based, rice-based, or even mung-bean-based, have about 200 calories per 4 oz. And they have the minerals from the seaweed! Win-win. :)
I don’t count calories on a raw-food diet – I eat whatever I want — but it seems that with a noodle, a nut-based sauce would go best, so it’s nice that this is a light meal, not heavy like a cooked pasta dish would be. Yes, you can leave your buttons fastened after this one. :D
I made the sauce from sprouted almonds, garlic, pink salt, and a fresh juice (apple, parsley, cilantro, chard, and carrot – sweet and flavorful) blended in the Vita-Mix. The noodles have cucumbers mixed in and are topped with spinach and more sprouted sliced almonds. I feel like the raw sauces that I make nowadays are a drastic improvement on the salty, less-fresh ones I used to mix up. This was fabulous.
