Marinated Tomato Salad

Entertaining in the Raw

I added the raw tofu to the salad.  Shown here with pine-nut based parmesan and basil oil.

Raw Tofu

Entertaining in the Raw

I know it’s not the best presentation, but everything is going to be eaten tomorrow after traveling, so I’m not sure how many pictures I’m going to be able to get.  I wanted to show this, though; it’s so cool!  Just five ingredients.

I’m serving it with a cherry/grape tomato salad with basil oil and parmesan cheese (yes, all raw).

Pic of the Raw Lemon Strawberry Pie

Sweet Gratitude

As it turns out, the strawberries are perfectly sweet to balance the tartness of the lemon, and look how colorful it is!  The crust comes out of the glass pie pan fine, but the lemon part separates a little from the crust.

Also, the strawberry parfait keeps for only 2-3 days.  I’m glad I’m sharing this!  I guess Irish Moss doesn’t take to the freezer well.  Desserts….well, all food is better fresh, anyway.  :)

Raw Lemon Meringue Pie….oh, well. :)

Sweet Gratitude

This is the beginning of the raw lemon meringue pie.  It has a macadamia-cashew-coconut-date crust.  This was my first time working with Irish Moss as a thickening agent.  It was a bit of work but turned out great; I imagine this makes it so you can use less coconut oil or coconut butter, thus adding less fat and more varied nutrients.  

So I got my two coconuts ready to make the meringue, cut one open and realized the water smelled. Then I tasted it.  Immediately spat it out.  This coconut was bad; let’s try the next one.  Same thing!  And I didn’t want to run to the store just to get the same thing over again, so I figured I’d improvise.

I had already bought 2 lbs. of strawberries today, had vanilla beans and cashews soaking for the meringue, so I chose the strawberry parfait to top the pie.  I also had some left over that I just put in dessert dishes/ramekins.  The strawberry mixture smells great!  I didn’t test the final result because I’m doing no added fat for 3 days a week and this day is one of them.  Without the coconut butter (which is made using whole coconut, as opposed to just the fat), it was divine!  No seaweed taste.  :)

Let’s hope the strawberry parfait and lemon pie go well together.  If not, there’s always cooked chocolate cupcakes for the cooked food eaters!

Electrolyte Superfood Smoothie

Some people refer to certain supplements and powders as superfoods.  I prefer to get my super-charged nutrition from fresh fruits and vegetables, mostly.  Tonight I had a smoothie with the following:

water from 1 young coconut (fresh)

2 kiwi

1 banana

1 c. strawberries

1/2 c. raspberries

1 pomegranated, seeded

ice as desired

 

I liked it but there was still some coconut water flavor remaining.  For whatever reason, I don’t like the taste.    Either way, what a nutrition boost!

Chocolate Raspberry Cake (raw)

Sweet Gratitude

This is my second dessert from the Sweet Gratitude cookbook.  The batter, mostly comprised of coconut oil, ground nuts, and dates, didn’t seem as smooth and light as the book described, but I think it will still taste great and the frosting is absolutely delicious!  I’ll try to get an inside shot.

Verdict:  Very sweet, delicious.  Minor problem of the nuts not being ground enough but otherwise, the batter/cake part seems great!

Raw Pecan Turtle Cheesecake Slice

Sweet Gratitude

This dessert was excellent, very rich and chocolately!

Pecan Turtle Cheesecake

Sweet Gratitude (a raw food dessert recipe book)

This is going to be so good!  I didn’t want to take it out of the pan yet, since I will be traveling in a vehicle to share this with friends tomorrow, so I hope to get an inside shot then.  If you’re a raw foodie who loves making desserts, I would get this book – everything sounds so awesome and creative.

The bottom layer/crust is chocolate with pecans; the filling is both a chocolate and a caramel cheesecake swirled together, and the top is a caramel sauce with cacao nibs, pecans/macadamias, and yacon syrup.

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 Mango Cobbler

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen

I have read reviews that this cobbler is better than cooked, and this is not surprising to me, because I have found many raw food dishes to be much better, tastier, purer, lighter than their cooked counterparts.

The crust and topping is amazing; the filling that the mangoes are tossed with is so simple but perfect.  Probably the easiest and most flavorful cobbler anyone could make!