Sweet Potato Soup (raw)

Another no-recipe creation, with 3 c. sweet potato, 1.25 c. carrot juice, .75 c. apple juice, 1 T. agave nectar, sprinkle of pink salt, cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, coriander, cloves, and nutmeg, blended thoroughly, and then topped with yacon syrup and cinnamon.

You can imagine the nutritional profile of this soup as far as vitamin A is high…..in the 939% of the RDA range, but it also is a good source of vitamins B6, C, E, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, sodium, thiamin, zinc, and protein.

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

Pumpkin Seeds, Dehydrated & Buckwheat Pizza Crust

I made some awesome pumpkin seeds yesterday.  1 cup was eaten in about 2 min.!  What I did was I soaked 2 cups of raw pumpkin seeds in fresh water for 6 hours (you can do 4 hours).  I drained them and then added about 1 T. nama shoyu/Bragg’s, 1 T. agave nectar, 1/4 tsp. cayenne, and 1 1/2 tsp. each thyme and rosemary.  I then dehydrated the seeds at 110 F. for 11 hours, re-arranging here and there and removing the parchment paper (I use unbleached) after 5 hours or so.  I didn’t realize until now how great dehydrating would be, and now it makes sense to me why the company that sells soaked & dehydrated nut butters is called “Better than Roasted.”  Yum…..

I made the Buckwheat pizza crust from Raw Gourmet by Nomi Shannon.  It was a good experience to keep experimenting with textures of foods and crusts that you dry and how wet the batter should be.  I also appreciate that combining a fruit (buckwheat) with a fruit (sun-dried tomato sauce) makes for better digestion than combining with other types of foods, such as flaxseeds.  However, the crust had a very strong buckwheat flavor by itself.  I didn’t dislike it.  The texture was great and it was fairly easy to make.  I also recognize the nutritional value of buckwheat groats.  I think if I make a pizza crust in the future, though, I will use a combination of flaxseeds and buckwheat or at least add more basil to the crust mixture.  I didn’t take a picture, because what I made is similar to the flaxseed crust I posted a few weeks ago.

Pumpkin Cake w/ Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

I found this recipe online and am not sure if I can/will recommend it yet….the batter was so thick that I was worried the cake wouldn’t turn out at all.  I feel a little bit better about it now, but we’ll see after the celebration of a friend’s birthday tonight!  I did modify the recipe slightly, using all ground maple sugar instead of any other refined sugars.  However, as you can see, there is quite a bit of frosting, sweetened not only with maple syrup but also with some powdered sugar (organic and fair-trade!).

I do NOT mess around when making candy- or sugar-coated nuts.  These are coated with not only maple syrup but also maple sugar.  It’s like pouring a gallon of the syrup down your throat, only more sophisticated and with extra protein and minerals.  There are candy-coated ground and whole cashews in the middle layer as well.

White Bean & Sweet Potato Soup w/ Cranberry Coulis

 

1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes

The recipes in this book that appeal to me are the ones that are more vegetable- and legume-based; I find that there are a lot of cheesy and uninspired recipes, but with so many to choose from, it’s hard to NOT find one that you want to try.

This soup has white beans, sweet potatoes, and a Granny Smith apple, all pureed and then topped with the swirl of cranberry sauce.  I’ll say this – it’s one of the most simple soups I’ve ever eaten, with no added fat, but it’s also one of the tastiest!  I really like it a lot.

Sweet Potato Scones w/ Maple Glaze

 

While this is a tester recipe, I have made it many times, as the scones are so good!  I’ve even made them lower in fat, but they do taste best when you use the original recipe.

These are going to be a part of the Thanksliving potluck dinner tonight.  I hope to get some good pictures of the rest of the food!

VeganMoFo – Beta Carrotene Bisque

150 Vegan Favorites

A spoonfully good soup with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic.  Spiced with ground coriander and curry.  I never take my immersion blender for granted, per se, but it’s on days like this that I appreciate it that much more.

I am still trying to figure out what my favorite vegetable is! 

VeganMoFo – Pumpkin Oatmeal

A Rare Breakfast Post!

Makes one large bowl or two smaller-size bowls

2 cups water

3/4 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. cubed pumpkin or sweet potato (fresh or frozen) or pureed pumpkin or sweet potato

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

Non-dairy milk and brown sugar, to taste

Heat the first seven ingredients in a pan until simmering, then lower the heat and continue to cook, stirring here and there, for 4-5 minutes.  That’s it!

VeganMoFo – Veganomicon, Potato Rolls & Squash

Veganomicon

Butternut Squash with Carmelized Onions, Chestnuts, and Sage Breadcrumbs

(I added sweet potatoes and left out white beans)

I found this dish to melt in my mouth!  I admit to being a bit nervous when I first smelled these baking.  It seemed that there was too much thyme.  But then, after everything was baked and the flavors melded, I found my fear was put to rest!  The onions were perfect. 

Note:  I don’t know if I’m hugely fond of chestnuts.  I like crispy nuts better! 

Potato Rolls

I saw a picture of these a month ago or so and wanted to eat my screen!  With white poppy seeds on top.  They were really good and could go well with margarine or jam.  I even used part whole-grain flour.

[huge pile of] Hot & Sweet Seitan (no cookbook)

This is just something that I made up, just wanting to make a simple seitan sauce that didn’t require 20 ingredients or much thought.  The seitan is pan-fried in peanut oil, then glazed with a mixture of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), ginger juice, and hot sauce (in this case, Frank’s).  I like the flavor, resembling a sweet barbeque.

Sweet Potatoes v. Kale

I don’t mean to pit two vegetables against one another, and certainly, they could go well together, but I wanted to address something that was new information to me a few months ago, when I purchased the book Calciyum! 

While I knew that plant-based foods were a superior source of calcium, I had no idea that sweet potatoes were within that category!  I contemplated making today a sweet potato-apricot dish with curried hempseeds from Hempnut Cookbook, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  Why, you might ask.  I love the things just plain baked, with all of their sweet, moist flesh inside, waiting to be pierced with my seemingly peaceful fork.

Sweet potato nutritional info:  http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20h1.html

Kale nutritional info:  http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20di.html