Raw Soup & Wraps – Fun no-recipe preparations

To make things easier, when I feel like throwing something together without a recipe, I first wash all of the vegetables, fruit – good combos below of non-sweet fruit – and sprouts (I even rinse items such as avocado because you cut into the skin, thus taking anything on the skin into the flesh of the fruit).

For the soup, I juiced 3 carrots, 3 celery, 1/2 of a large cucumber, and half of a lemon.  I added this juice to my Vita-Mix along with my three-seaweed garnish blend, 1 cup of spinach, 1 whole avocado, 2 T. red bell pepper, 2 T. grape tomatoes, 1 c. parsley, and 2 T. basil.  After blending, I poured this into the bowl and then rinsed the Vita-Mix with a tad of water and a few more cherry tomatoes to get more of that good green stuff out, then poured this orange mixture in a pattern around the soup.  The soup is garnished with more grape tomatoes, cucumber & zucchini sticks, chopped red bell pepper, celery, frisee, and mixed sprouts.  I tasted for salt and added a tad of Himalayan pink salt.  

Do check on the nutritional info of parsley if you get a chance; it’s a great source of many vitamins and minerals, including iron.

The wraps have chard as the wrapper.  I washed the chard, then dipped and rubbed it in a fresh lemon juice and flax oil mixture to soften the leaves a bit.  The avocado paste inside is so flavorful, with one avocado, chard stem juice, lemon juice, garlic juice (normally, I don’t eat garlic but the juice was fine for tonight only), 3 T. basil leaves, 1 c. parsley leaves, and a tad of pink salt.  Then the wrap also has grape tomatoes, zucchini, red bell pepper, frisee, and sprouts.  They are so delicious, and I love eating with my hands!

Horizons Valentine’s Dinner

Orlando and I went to Horizons last night for the Valentine’s Day menu, with them happily accommodating a raw meal for me. 

I didn’t take any photographs, but I wanted to note for any raw fooders or raw-inclined people who read my blog that the raw menu that Horizons does is spectacular.  I don’t remember the names of everything, but it was all light, fresh tasting, low or no oil, no dehydration, including a beet salad; a celery, radicchio, lettuce salad; a tomato-fennel soup; carrot risotto with cumin and cilantro; avocado jicama ravioli with tomatoes; and for dessert, grapes with mint, tangerines (or some orange citrus?), and pears with a pomegranate balsamic reduction.

Definitely go there, but call ahead so they know to have raw ingredients available!

Thanksliving Spread

The first tray has carrots, cucumbers; zucchini pasta with Brazil nut pesto; marinated & dehydrated mushrooms; celery; red and yellow marinated and softened bell peppers; guacamole; and leaf lettuce.

This pan has tomato & red bell pepper dehydrated wraps; spicy walnut filling; red bell pepper macadamia hummus; salsa; sprouts; sun-dried tomato and basil macadamia hummus; and sun-dried tomato and olive pate.  The tomato & basil hummus reaffirmed my belief that raw hummuses are the greatest!  Love the bell pepper one, too. 

We are also having a kale salad, a mixed green salad, and the raw pecan turtle cheesecake.  There will be cooked vegan food, too.

Hope to have more pictures tomorow!

Urban Vegan’s Creamy Avocado Dressing

Before I knew it, I ate a whole avocado in one sitting like it was nothing!  But it was easy with this dressing, the raw nori, sprouts, carrots, and kale.  I sealed the handrolls shut with lime juice. 

I’ll have you know I took about 35 photographs and felt none did the concoction justice, but you CAN see how creamy and smooth the dressing is, at least.  It does have one non-raw ingredient.  100% rawness aside, it was definitely worth it and I enjoyed this snack.

Veggie Wraps

I saw this link on someone’s blog the other day and thought it was a great idea to make raw wraps with all vegetables and no added oil:  http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=117  I used 10 plum tomatoes, 2.5 red bell peppers, 1/2 juiced lemon, 1/2 tsp. salt, one avocado, and 1.5 T. of psyllium husk powder.  And instead of onions and garlic, which are too strong for me now, I used 1.5 green onions.  Also made an awesome raw hummus with macadamias.  I love raw hummus!  The directions say to flip the wraps after 4 hours of dehydrating; however, mine took about 8-9 hours of dehydrating, some longer, before I could flip them or they would have fallen apart.  Maybe mine have more water content. 

Either way, they are delicious, healthy, and easy to make!  Shown here with kale and hummus.

Quintessence NYC

www.raw-q.com

Mexican Platter with garlic & scallion wild rice, tortilla chips, burrito, and a taco.  Served with salsa and a chipotle red pepper sauce.  Very good except the wild rice would cake a bit to your teeth after chewing.  Awesome flavors.

I know this isn’t the best picture, but I loved this dish.  Sara got it – it’s the Thai coconut noodles with greens in a spicy sauce.  Unique and a real treat for our raw excursion!

Besides the “hot” cacao drink and a pear juice, this was our appetizer:  The Italian sausage pizza.  I’d challenge anyone open-minded to get this slice instead of cooked pizza and not enjoy it.  The crust, sauces, and nut meat were perfect.  We were impressed with the seasonings.

The dessert platter!!!    We shared this:  tiramisu, chia seed pudding, strawberry ice cream, and banana coconut cream pie.  All were a joy…..what was my favorite?  Well, the tiramisu, of course!  Sara liked the uniqueness of the chia seed pudding, being almost tapioca-like, and I loved the cinnamon on top of it.  The strawberry ice cream was a little icy but very good.  The pie was excellent.  I have a weakness for chocolate, in case no one has noticed. 

Raw Corn-Spelt Tostada

Living Cuisine by Underkoffler

First a disclaimer that I used the Corn-Buckwheat Tortilla recipe from the above book but modified it to make rectangular shapes and also used whole spelt instead of buckwheat, since I knew I would be having buckwheat pizza crust and wanted to vary my food types.  I admit that I am having difficulty with the notion of dehydrating a tortilla, such as how to get it so thin and flexible.  Any pointers?

Anyway, this is a great recipe with cumin and coriander, fresh cilantro and parsley, which goes well with pico de gallo and guacamole.  I made them into tostadas for ease of preparation, but I wouldn’t preclude trying to make an actual raw tortilla in the future, with a little help, perhaps. 

The tostadas are topped with romaine leaves, guacamole (avocado, chile pepper, tomatoes, lime juice), and then a tomato mixture with cilantro, cucumber, and chile pepper.  You might notice that I don’t use garlic or onion in my food anymore; the flavors are too strong for me nowadays and I don’t like to smell them seeping from my pores.  What’s awesome is that the chile peppers are in my freezer and from my friend Sara’s garden from last year.  I take them out and they defrost in about 15 min. and it’s so great to use local food made with love.  :p

I would definitely make these again!  And might make the rest into crackers or chips.

Endive Cups with Avocado, Corn, Tomatoes, and Cilantro

This is a great mix of avocado, corn, grape tomatoes, lemon juice, cilantro, a chile pepper, and Szechuan peppercorns.  All fresh, raw, and delicious!  Makes a filling meal with the mixture of grains, fruit, and herbs.

Horizons Visit w/ Sisters

Lavender Cheesecake with White Chocolate Caramel and Strawberries…..sisters say it was delightful and creamy!

Sauteed Exotic Mushrooms.  Dawn really loved these.

This is my usual setup at Horizons, a glass of Chardonnay, water, and my camera at my side.  And two spinach salads and the green salad.  Yes, three (or four) salads in one meal!  Dawn got the spinach salad as well, saying it’s the best spinach salad she has ever had.  Tracy got the grilled seitan, something she had gotten before, and she was craving the spinach and mashed potatoes.

Horizons Visit with Sue

Unfortunately, many of the pictures of the great meal I shared with Sue did not come out great; they were all taken with a camera phone.

I got my usual, the green salad as an appetizer and spinach salad (Yucatan salad) as my entree.  Not all raw but mostly raw.

Sue got the vegetable sampler tasting menu, which was really cool.  It came with a beet salad to start, then a tomato soup with spinach and asparagus, then a heart of palm cake with horseradish sauce and guacamole, an exotic mushroom dish with a parsnip ravioli, and then a dessert sampler with brulee, cheesecake, and biscotti.  Sue said everything was great except for the biscotti. 

Pictures are of the heart of palm cake, the spinach salad, and the beet salad.