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.

Green & Red Cabbage with Kale Slaw

Kale, red & green cabbage, and carrots in a creamy nut-based dressing and topped with basil.

Raw Tamales

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.

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).

Strawberry Brilliance Pie

Sweet Gratitude

(Edited later to add this photo and comment:  You ever notice how the first piece of pie is usually the messiest?  Well, I knew I was going to cut this pie further down into 16 pieces, so I figured I might as well get a picture tonight.  It looks great!  I hope it travels well.)

Without topping.

and with:

You can’t really tell its goodness yet; I’ll try to get an inside shot!

Cucumber Noodles

Cucumber, tomatoes, and basil = one of my favorite combos ever!

I know I have a lot of noodly stuff going on here.  Perhaps I noticed how lonely my mandoline was, underneath all of the sugars and baking items I rarely use. 

Cucumbers are another good fruit to spiralize or turn into pasta shapes.  The tomato-based sauce has sun-dried tomatoes (soaked an hour), fresh tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic, basil, pink salt, and a touch of agave. 

I think if a person has a child who is used to cooked food, these would be a great addition…..and you wouldn’t have that rush of energy that you get after eating cooked pasta.  You know….where you find the whole family at naptime? 

Zucchini Noodles w/ Parsley Sauce

So I wanted my zucchini noodles with a basil sauce, but the store nearby didn’t have fresh, so I chose Italian, flat-leaf parsley instead.  I did find local grape tomatoes, which was nice! 

The sauce has parsley, tomato, and a little mango juice; whole parsley; garlic; a date; and pink salt.  Very easy, very spunky!  It’s not rich, as there is no oil.  You can add sun-dried tomatoes, too, if you like.

FYI, zucchini noodles do get watery as they sit, and combined with a sauce even more.  I’ll take that hydration, though. 

You can make the noodles by using a mandoline, spiralizer, peeler, or knife.

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.

Kelp Noodles w/ Green Sprouted Almond Sauce

http://www.kelpnoodles.com/

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.

Salads

A microgreen salad with Russian kale, collards, red cabbage, purple kohlrabi, purple radish, and beet greens; spinach salad; and also a spring mix.  Topped with cucumber, jalapeno, and a black mustard seed-chive dressing.

Mmm!