What's been (un)cookin'

So I've made myself very busy this week trying out all sorts of new gourmet raw foods. You can only live on soups, hummus and veggies, and smoothies for so long. (Well, I would probably be happy living on green smoothies for life, but I have a hungry husband who needs more substance in his food. Not that smoothies lack substance, but rather "bite." Anyways...) It helps a TON that we just recently got an Excalibur Dehyrator which I have been running non stop! It was time to get past simple dried apple rings and mango slices though, and get on with it. I opened Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Cookbook and took on my first challenge: raw burgers. Ok this was a challenge. (Real) burgers are Michael's favorite food and I made the mistake of telling him that my creation was a mock-version. He looked at me like I was insane. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing beats a big, juicy, Red Robin burger on the perfect bun." I felt defeated. "Well you have to at least try it." I had worked hard, making the "meat" out of flax meal, celery, sunflower seeds, and all sorts of spices (for the record, I thought that, for it containing absolutely no meat product, it tasted pretty dang meaty), the bread was more of a flax cracker, with homemade ketchup out of roma tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, 1 dried date, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I was pretty dang proud of my meal. Michael wasn't a huge fan.
Next was my banana-flax crepes. Now those were a hit. I dolled them up all nice with blueberries, strawberries, and homemade raw orange marmelade. (Sorry, no pictures for my first two big meals.) That was a success with the hubby, and I could feel my momentum building. Time for even bigger better things. PIZZA.

Now I do realize this is sad looking pizza, but trust me when I say it tasted spectacular! It was a sundried tomatoe-flaxseed crust that was perfectly pliable (chewy, not crunchy. Not like bread bread, but like a very thin crusted bread) with a marinara sauce, thinly slices tomatoes underneath the cashew cheeze (cashews, water, garlic, salt). It was the most perfect margarita pizza I've ever had. I'm a little biased of course, but Michael enjoyed it as well. The whole thing was gone in less than 10 minutes.

Next was a moist, thick, rich chocolate cherry cake! I had bought some California cherries a couple days before and had no idea what to do with them! They were calling my name at the grocery store, but when I brought them home, I remembered I don't even like cherries. I tried one anyways; turns out I love cherries! I've either never had a good one before, or my palate is seriously changing (or both). 

This double-decker cake was made mostly in my food processor. You can use any nuts you like (I used a combo of brazil and hazelnuts), mash them up to a powder, add lots and lots of dates (until its sticky) and some raw cocoa powder and thats about it. I molded the rounds out by hand, and then created my sauces. The cherry jam filling was just cherries with dates and water, the kream was cashews, vanilla, dates, and a pinch of salt. (note: you can substitute agave for dates at any point in the recipe). Layer, decorate, and dig in!! Gluten-free, vegan friendly, flourless, sugar-less guilt free cake! Just don't eat the whole thing in one sitting. 

Here is just some of my almond milk that I've made. I've experimented with chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla flavorings. I prefer mine plain, but you really can't go wrong. It's SO easy. Just soak your raw almonds overnight, take off the skins if you want less "pulp," blend for 1 min. with 4:1 water:almond ratio, strain if you prefer silky smooth texture, and enjoy! We've been drinking ours with buckwheat cereal and dried fruit in the mornings (soak buckwheat groats overnight, dry in a dehydrator 3-4 hours, and store. Has the airy-crunchy texture of rice krispie cereal, but much better for you). 

One thing I've gotten very excited about is sprouting! I got tons of organic sprouts from Agi when she had her huge sale, but I'm just now starting to grow them. First of all, there is something about growing something, creating life, that gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment. I did this. (No, the sun did, but I like to take credit.) Then, being able to enjoy it and feast on it, its amazing. Not to mention, I paid pennies for the alfalfa that you see here, when I usually would pay over $2 for half the amount I grew. I literally put barely enough seeds in to cover the bottom of the jar, and they quadrupled in volume after the first day! It was incredible to watch. It only took 5 days to grow almost a half gallon of sprouts! I can't even eat that many in that short a time. Michael was impressed as well, and we have been adding them to all sorts of dishes, soupls, salads, sandwiches, everything. 

Ok, take two on the raw pizza. This time it was a pepper crust with alfredo sauce (macadamia, basil, lemon, garlic, salt) and dehydrated zucchini as the "pepperoni." All around, Michael and I liked the taste, but I did over dehydrate the crust by accident, so instead of it being pliable, it was crunchy and breaking. Still tasted good though.

Lastly, this is a dish that is for everyone, not just the raw-food enthusiast like me. It is literally one ingredient: frozen honeydew. (the blueberries were used as a garnish for the photo). Blend it up with a tad bit of water in a high speed blender, and you've got yourself the perfect summer treat. It also works well with canteloupe or watermelon that's been in the fridge as a nice cocktail. You really can't go wrong with raw food. There are so many options, so many more than what you might initially think of (carrot sticks, celery, apples.) And it really is so much easier than cooking...it's all about preparing (cutting, peeling, chopping) and combining the right foods. The three must-haves are a high speed blender, cutting board, knives, and food processor, and a dehydrator if you're really serious about it. Much much more to come next week!