Mustard-Chive-Date Dressing

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.

Juice with Sprouts

I’m obsessed with this drink right now, so much so that I’m washing my Vita-Mix and juicer TWICE a day to have it. 

4 plum tomatoes

4 carrots

3 leaves & stalks of kale

5-6 celery stalks

1.5-2 c. sprouts (your choice what kind)

Pinch cayenne and salt

Juice the tomatoes, carrots, kale, and celery, leaving one celery stalk out for a stirrer if you’d like.  Add the rest of the ingredients and juice to your blender and process about 30 seconds, until smooth.  Delicious!

(Disclaimer:  If vegetables don’t sound good to you, don’t make this.  Try to make things you enjoy.  And eat your vegetables so your body (and tastebuds) can get used to a healthy diet!

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.

Raw Sweet Potatoes

I feel like I have been missing out on some not really top-secret information – raw sweet potatoes can be pureed in a food processor, blender/Vita-Mix!  Previously, I thought you had to use a Champion with the blank attachment.

I saw this video and couldn’t take my eyes off of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALYIi_Fd5X4

I’m very excited about this; I made a puree today with just 4 cups sweet potato, a little agave (about 3 T.), vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and ginger.  So no added fat and very simple, but I love it.

Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A and also provide calcium, potassium, iron, and vitamin C.

Parfait recipe here:  http://goneraw.com/recipes/2451-Sweet-Potato-Parfait

Ginger Dressing

Salad with spinach, arugula, carrots, and bean sprouts.

Ginger Dressing (makes about 3/4 c.)

2 T. fresh ginger

2/3 c. apple, chopped, skins on or off

1/4-1/3 c. water

2 T. Bragg’s, tamari, or nama shoyu

1 tsp. sambal oelek or other spicy sauce or fresh chilies

1 tsp. hemp oil

1 tsp. flax oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Blend in Vita-Mix or blender until smooth.

Brooklyn Pad Thai w Thai-Style Seitan

Pad Thai recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance, my favorite, with bean sprouts, chives, broccoli, green beans, carrots, cilantro, lemongrass, onions, peanuts, and garlic.  I made the Seitan O’Greatness recipe, but with chilies, ginger, coriander, lemon peel, and peanut oil.

I made my own noodles for this recipe with spelt, oat, and unbleached white w/ wheat germ flours.  The protein for the pasta alone (for 6 small servings) was 41 grams.  The seitan added 172 grams.  The person I am making these dishes for likes to eat lower fat and high in protein.

Desserts

Chocolate Cake from the Post Punk Kitchen Recipe Section (“Rich Chocolate Cake”), with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes, adapted from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World recipe.

And last, but not least, from Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombs from the same book, this time with ganache hearts!  (All shown in carrying cases for traveling tomorrow…..er, today, since it’s 2 a.m.)

Arugula & Spinach Salad with Chili Lime Tofu

Recipe for tofu here:  http://veganyumyum.com/2008/06/sweet-chili-lime-tofu-with-wok-steamed-collards-and-quinoa/

I did not fry the tofu pieces, however; I simply broiled them on parchment paper with no added oil.  The entrees I’m making generally have reduced oil, salt, and sweetener (or using a non-refined sweetener).  The desserts…..well, let’s not talk about their nutritional value or lack thereof.

The arugula and spinach have a lime dressing as well, but be careful – the greens wilt pretty fast after dressing them.  I’m told this was good! 

Corned Seitan Sandwich

 

I was all set to make rye bread to go with my seitan today.  Until I had the yeast proofed and the caraway, molasses, and cocoa powder mixed in with some spelt flour and the yeast mixture.  It was at that time that I started looking for my rye flour.  Except I didn’t have any rye flour.  Coming from someone who has almost every kind of flour there is in her cupboards, I was a little frustrated with myself for not checking first!  I went to two stores, even the Indian-Pakistani store nearby, but no rye flour.  So the bread is teff-spelt. 

The sandwich has a thousand island dressing and sauerkraut as well.  I didn’t see the need to make a cheese in addition to dressing or even to grill the bread with Earth Balance, so the bread is simply toasted.

Recipe for seitan here:  http://everydaydish.tv/Recipe%20Pages/seitan_corned_beef.html (I cut out half of the fat and used my special “hot” paprika.)

(Sorry, the seitan is so close in color to the bread, it’s hard to tell what’s what….)

The seitan is awesome and the resulting sandwich with fresh bread the same.  I had two for dinner!

One of my biggest (maybe only) gripes about my kitchen is the oven.  It’s gas, which is great, but when you press “clear” to turn off the timer, it does not turn off the timer; it, instead, turns off the oven, even though the oven temperature is not currently displayed.  Luckily, I realized this soon after starting the bread, seeing the thermostat at 250F, and quickly turned the oven back on.

Bread. Need I say more?

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5716.0

The above link and recipe has been passed around on several forums that I’ve seen homemade bread discussed.  Being home all day today, I decided to finally try it, after much procrastination.  I halved the recipe and used whole-wheat flour and refined spelt flour.

As the smell of bread filled the air of my apartment, I grew very antsy.  And hungry.  Having only eaten kale so far today plus about 10 cups of tea, I was ready for something more filling!

I threw two ice cubes into the oven when I placed the bread inside to ensure a crispy crust.

The bread is so soft and light – make it.