Gourmet Meal In a Pinch

As a bit of a continuation from my last post, here are some more ideas for quick meals. These are some simple recipes that I've thrown together in a short amount of time, using leftovers or base recipes that I already had on hand! Growing up my mom called this "chums and black looks" ! Anyone else heard this term? Strange, isn't it?

With leftover fillings and noodles from making lasagna, I quickly thew together these cannelloni.

They're simply thin strips of zucchini (done on the mandolin), sundried tomato marinara mixed with sliced mushrooms (briefly marinated in tamari, lemon juice, and olive oil), and sunflower seed cheese mixed with chopped spinach - all rolled together with more tomato mushy sauce on top, garnished with fresh basil. Mmm...

This kale salad is really easy too - I looove this stuff. You can flavour it with whatever herbs and spices you want...and as it sits a few days, the flavours develop even more. So in this case, leftovers are ideal!

Herbed Kale Salad

1 large bunch kale

1 red bell pepper

1 orange or yellow bell pepper (I used half of each)

1 handful each of fresh basil, parsley, and dill,

1 large avocado

Juice of 1 small lemon

Himalayan salt, to taste

-De-stem the kale and roughly chop. Add a bit of salt and massage the kale until it takes on a "wilty/cooked-like" texture.

-Dice the peppers, and chop the herbs. Add to the kale.

-Mash the avocado and lemon juice into the salad with your hands! :)

Sandwiches are always great in a pinch too when you have bread on hand - you can keep dehydrated crackers, breads and pizza crusts in the freezer for a long time! Makes life easy. I like to serve sammies, and pizza to guests - especially ones who have never tried raw before. They usually have a different opinion of "raw" by the end of the meal :)

Here, Russell James' delicious sundried tomato bread (my name for it - it's acutally called Mediterranean Almond Bread) is spread with seed cheese and topped with tomato, lettuce, sprouts and "caramelized" onions - also a Russell recipe - from one of his pizzas. I'm not a fan of raw onions, but decided to try 'em since they're coated in yummy things and then dehydrated - I figured that would mute the "onion-ness". Hmmm....yeah not so much. Was I kidding myself? They're still onions! I could only handle a tiny bit...attempted to pawn them off on everyone around me...and I wasn't sure the compost would like them due to the olive oil and whatnot, so they ended up in the garbage.

Here's the bread recipe - I always use less herbs than he calls for, otherwise I find it too strong.

Mediterranean Almond Bread
Makes 18 'slices'

1/2c olive oil
1c sun dried tomatoes, loosely packed
3c almond flour*
1c flax meal
3 medium courgettes (zucchini), peeled & roughly chopped
2 apples, cored and roughly chopped
3T lemon juice
1t salt
3T Herbs De Provence or herbs of your choice
2T marjoram or herbs of your choice

- Process the olive oil, sun dried toms, courgettes, apples, lemon juice, salt and dried herbs until thoroughly mixed.- Add the almond flour and process again until a batter is formed.
- In a bowl mix the batter with the flax meal by hand. The reason you do this separately (not in the processor) is that you are likely to have too much mixture for the size if the processor at this point, and when you add the flax meal it will become quite heavy and sticky and overwork your machine.
- When mixed, process the whole batter in the machine again in small batches to achieve a light fluffy texture.- Divide the mixture in 2 and place on Paraflexx sheets, on dehydrator trays.
- Use an offset spatula (aka offset palette knife or cranked palette knife) to spread the mixture evenly to all 4 sides and corners of the Paraflexx sheet. If mixture is too sticky you can wet the spatula to make things easier. With a knife score the whole thing into 9 squares.
- Dehydrate for 2 hours and then remove the Paraflexx sheets by placing another dehydrator tray and mesh on top and invert so that your original sheet of bread is upside down. That will allow you to peel the Paraflexx sheet off and continue to dehydrate the underside of the bread.
- Dehydrate for approx 8 hours more (do this overnight so you're not tempted to eat it before it's ready) or until bread feels light in your hand. If the pieces don't fully come apart where you scored, use a knife to cut them.


Dessert is always part of the dinner equation around here, whether simple, like berries with crumbled dates/nuts on top, or something more gourmet like cake or pie. Ice cream is definately a favourite of mine, and while it does take some time to prepare, you can make a big batch and keep it in the freezer for a good while. Just pull it out about 20 mins before serving to let it soften slightly. Top it with whatever you're in the mood for and you've got an ice cream sundae!

This vanilla ice cream is a combo of water, cashews, vanilla bean, and agave - I topped it with chocolate sauce (the one in my Just Desserts ebook), bananas, and brownie chunks (nuts, cacao, and dates) - simply decadent!

Another great sweet treat I've made lately is Ani Phyo's Halva Thumbprint Cookies, as seen on The Rennegade Health Show. Yumm, they're yummy, and simple to make. The only time consuming part is rolling balls and putting the thumprint into them, because they start breaking apart a little.
Ani Phyo’s Halva Chia Thumbprint Cookies
Raspberry Sauce:

1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/4 cup pitted semi-soft Medjool dates

1/4 cup agave syrup (I kept this out)

1/4 cup water
Combine well in blender. Will keep for 3 days in refrigerator or a few weeks in freezer.

Cookies:
3/4 cup sprouted chia seed powder
1/2 cup tahini
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pitted semi-soft Medjool dates -chopped
2 tablespoons Raspberry Sauce

Combine dry ingredients with tahini and mix well. Add in agave, mix well. Add in dates and mix with your hands. I also added a little water to help them stay together. Roll dough into 9-12 balls place on sheet preferably lined with parchment paper. Use your thumb or end of wooden spoon to make an indentation into the center of each cookie. Fill each with generous amount of sauce.
To serve, chill in the refrigerator for 20 min. or more to firm up. Will keep for several days or many weeks stored separately from jam. Enjoy

From Sea to Plate

Normally my non-sweet meals consist of salads and soups, but I do enjoy more complex savoury meals occasionally. Some are quick and easy to assemble while others require more preparation time, the use of more equipment, and/or dehydration.
Here are a few of what I call "extemely simple" savoury recipes I've enjoyed in the past while. Perfect for a busy person, these meals can be thrown together at the last minute, and can easily be doubled to serve a few people, or multiplied for guests.

These recipes feature a wonderful sea vegetable! Introducing...Kelp Noodles! I'm sure most of you have heard of them before, as they're becoming increasingly popular in the raw community, but if not, I'll give a quick run down. Kelp noodles are simply raw kelp and water, in the form of a soft noodle. An ideal alternative to pasta, these noodles are low in carbs and calories, and contain NO fat or gluten! In addition, a neutral flavour makes the kelp noodles really versatile - they work well in soup, salad, un-stir fry, and as pasta with any sauce or topping.

(A close up of the marinated noodles from the stir live)

Don't they sound good? As I write this, I'm thinking about having them for dinner, and how I'll prepare them...Hmmm....but back to the post...
So when you remove the noodles from the bag, you'll notice a funny smell - no worries, just rinse them really well under water. Actually, I add a little lemon juice to the water and let em sit a few minutes. Now, voila! Smell is gone!

Simple Stir Live

A mixture of veggies and noodles in a yummy Asian marinade.

While your kelp noodles are soaking few a few minutes in water, chop veggies of your choice and mix together in a bowl. I used: bok choy, red bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, and avocado. Mushrooms would be nice in this dish too!

For the sauce, I used a mixture of tamari, extra virgin sesame oil, lemon juice, minced ginger and garlic. Mix the veggies, sauce and noodles - done! The longer the dish sits, the flavours mingle for an even better taste.

Italian Sea Pasta

The sea meets Italy in this dish which combines pesto with veggies and kelp noodles.

I always keep a batch of basil walnut pesto on hand for "quickies" - usually for stuffed mushrooms, pizza, or lasagna...but this time I decided to try it with the kelp. I mixed the noodles with the pesto, diced tomatoes, chopped spinach, and red bell pepper, then sprinkled it all with hemp seeds.

Cheesey Nacho Noodles

Everything that nachos have to offer in the form of a pasta dish!

The other day I decided to add some salsa (tomato, red/green pepper, cilantro, lemon juice, Himalayan salt) to leftover spicy nacho dip (you might remember the recipe from a few posts ago), and mix the sauce with kelp noodles. I topped it all with more salsa, chopped avocado, and fresh cilantro. Wow, was it ever good!

I usually add nori to my veggie soups but sometimes I like to throw a handful of kelp noodles... and although I haven't done it yet, I'm sure you could make a fabulous unchiken noodle soup!


How do YOU enjoy kelp noodles? I'd love some new ideas!

Fun In Vancouver Land

You know I love to travel!!! I just got back from the most fabulous trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. I went to visit friends and family, but most importantly, discover any potential for moving there this Fall...

Vancouver is a beautiful West Coast city, surrounded by mountains, boasting Canada's most temperate climate. It was much warmer than home, so I took in my fair share of walks on the beach, and as an added bonus it was sunny for my whole trip! I stayed with my close friend, Netty, who showed me all around town and brought me to some great restaurants - we had such a ball together! I also took Bikram yoga classes every morning - a perfect way to start each day before heading down Robson for an afternoon of shopping, or meeting up with hometown friends for lunch. Oh, and I consumed plenty of champagne mangoes - which I love but can't buy where I currently live. Yum yum!

One afternoon, lunch with a long time friend (since we were 7!!!) turned into making plans for me to make raw dinner for her and her husband that evening. AH! How exciting - I find it hard to stay out of the kitchen while I'm on vacation - I tell ya, I always find a way in! :) After a trip to Whole Foods (one of the few in Canada) I had fun showing them how to make almond ginger nori rolls, which we had with salad, and for dessert, Strawberry Chocolate Parfaits: Puddings layered with fresh strawberries - simple, yet delish and I think something like this is good for anyone who is new to raw recipes.

Strawberry Pudding

strawberries

cashews

agave

lemon juice

Cacao Pudding

cashews

cacao powder

water

agave

Coconut Whipped Cream

young coconut flesh

part of the coconut water

cashews

lemon juice

agave

Served in wine glasses, of course! It was a fabulous time!

It was nice to visit and catch up with relatives who I don't see very often. My Aunt and I enjoyed an afternoon stroll in Stanley Park before enjoying a sunset dinner, and on another day I travelled via the train, to my Aunt/Uncle/cousins' house just outside the city.



To boot, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! Was I fortunate or what? I think they're absolutely beautiful!

Netty brought me to a restaurant I've been wanting to check out for a while - Radha Eatery, opened by the Yasodhara Ashram near Nelson, features a vegan restaurant with a seasonal menu, yoga studio, and food classes. I have been going to the Ashram with my mom since I was a little girl, and was there while plans for this restaurant were being made, about seven years ago. We skipped the main course and split this raw chocolate mousse pie.


Ah, such great times...too bad it had to come to an end....BUT, I will be returning to the coast in the September to live and work! Yipee, I am so excited!

Happy Birthday To My Loved Ones

It was recently that special time of year for both my hunny (April 18), and my mom (April 27). Another year older, another year wiser!

Last year I had a little surprise party for Darwin, full of delicious raw food, of course. Things were a bit more quiet this year, but we still had a great dinner and an out of town visitor - the perfect opportunity to try some new recipes.

When this recipe from Kristen Suzanne's newsletter arrived in my inbox last month, it immediately caught me eye so I jotted it down on my mental "to do" list. Since it's a lot like the cheddar dip that my sweetie and I like so much, but with a spicy Mexican twist, I figured this would be the perfect choice.

I'm SO glad I made this - one of my new faves for sure! It's definitely got a kick from the cayenne - perfect with cooling veggies. The only change I made was to use cashews instead of hemp seeds, but I'd like to try with the seeds next time.

CHEEZY HEMP NACHO SAUCE
By Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com

Yield approximately 1 1/2 cups

1/3 cup water

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 red bell pepper, seeded, rough chopped (approximately 1 cup)

1 cup hemp seeds

2 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

1 tablespoon chili powder*

2 teaspoons tamari, wheat-free

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. This can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

The next recipe I've made once before, without the tarragon, but I didn't like it. Wanting to serve a second dip, I decided to give it another shot, with the tarragon and extra herbs. I added extra basil, doubled the dill, a bit more lemon juice, some onion powder, and only used 1 tsp coconut oil which I think was too much and would omit it completely if I make it again. Since I wasn't sure about the quantity of one zucchini, I used about 1 cup chopped. As Kristen suggests, I thinned it into a salad dressing the next day by adding water and a bit more lemon juice.

I served the dips with crackers: black sesame sunflower crax, Everyday Raw's herbed crackers, and onion veggie bread.

Herbin' Ranch Dip

By Kristen Suzanne, Published in her June 2008 Newsletter

Yield 1 1/2 cups

This is the one of the most nutritious, delicious ways to have ranch dip, but without guilt. I love serving this dip at summer picnics with vegetable crudite or as a dressing on your favorite greens.

1/2 cup raw cashews, unsoaked

1/2 cup raw pine nuts, unsoaked

1 zucchini, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 cup fresh basil, not packed

1/4 cup fresh dill, not packed

Blend all of the ingredients, except the fresh basil and dill, until creamy and smooth. Pulse in the basil and dill. This will stay fresh for 4-5 days when stored in an airtight container (mason jar works great) in the refrigerator. This dip also freezes well.* To make this as a dressing, simply add more water until you reach the desired consistency.

Darwin doesn't have a sweet tooth, but he really loves any tangy sorbets I make, so in his Birthday honor, I made Blueberry Lime N Grape Sorbet which turned out to be a big hit!

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup fresh concorde grape juice

1/4 cup + 1 tbs lime juice

1 tsp lightly packed lime zest

1/4 cup agave

1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Chill in the fridge and then process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

We celebrated my mom's birthday a little early, since I was out of town for the actual day. The dinner menu, requested by my mom, was - dehydrated pesto stuffed mushrooms, salad, and cooked spanikopita. The highlight for me, of course, was the cake! When I had originally asked what she wanted, she wasn't sure - last year I did the chocolate mint cake/squares from my book so that flavour was out...and since she she doesn't like coconut, or banana, those flavours were ruled out too. Later, she asked about a cake with pecans (her fave nut), and chocolate (her fave food!), The two combined inspired me to make a Chocolate Turtle Cake! Probably one of my best ideas yet, it turned out fabulously! A thick layer of caramel mixed with pecans, sandwiched between two layers of chocolate cake, all covered in rich chocolate ganache, and topped with candied/regular pecans, then drizzled with more chocolate. This is truely the definition of decadent!!!!! We enjoyed it with vanilla bean ice cream, Mmmm!

As you can see in the pic, the flowers are FINALLY starting to poke through, meaning Spring is here! Oh so grateful!!! :D

Spring Has Sprung

It's official - I think Spring is finally here in my northern community where winter visits for seven months every year. During the long weekend we had temperatures up to 12C (54F)! You don't even know how great that feels after lows of -40C (also -40F) just a few months ago.

My hunny and I celebrated part of the Easter holiday with a short trip out to his camp (a cabin in the bush which is only accessible by lake) via snowmobile. It'll probably be the last time this season to drive the ski-doo on the ice - we'll be boating again before we know it, yippeee! We took a snowshoe trek through the forest and saw 2 bald eagles, enjoyed the sauna, walked on the lake (ice) in the sun and got so warm that we were down to our tee shirts! Since there is no running water out there, I prepared most of our food ahead of time - curried carrot nut pate, nori sheets, and sliced veggies for nori rolls, caesar dressing and salad items, cooked yams, and of course, raw chocolate!

On Sunday evening we had a quiet Easter dinner at home. I was in the mood for a Springy dessert so chose to make none other than my strawberry lime mousse cake, but with a slight twist. As you probably already know, this is my all time favourite cake - YES, even above a chocolate one!! Since I didn't have limes and the grocery store was closed, I decided to replace them with lemon. I didn't want toooo much lemon though, so I cut down on the zest a bit. Keeping in theme with the addition of a new flavour and to jazz things up a bit, I used segmented orange, and smashed strawberries for the topping. Normally I go with strawberry sauce, or fresh strawberries (or both), but quite enjoyed something different this time. Booyah, a new winner. If you've already tried the cake, give the lemon version a try...or even orange! I'm thinking about trying that next time. The rest of dinner was simple yet yummy - salad with tomato dressing, and sunflower seed/veggie pate with mixed crackers.

Speaking of cakes, I recently made this birthday cake for a friend. It's the tropical cake from Just Desserts, on a coconut nut crust with black berries, kiwi, and mango on top. It's another light, fruity cake - perfect for spring.

What yummies did you have for Easter? Hopefully you had a great weekend too, and it's warm wherever you are!

Finally Something Savory!

As you know I have a sweet tooth and love love love my desserts, so naturally this is what I prefer to share with you, plus they're much more fun to post about! I do eat other things too though, LOL. For example, my daily fare normally consists of green juice, raw veggie soup with seaweed, chocolate, salad, and of course, dessert. The juice is the same every day, the soup is a basic combo of any of the following: zucchini, peppers, spinach, avocado, tomato, herbs, and/or celery blended with water and seasoned with seaweed....and my salad is also similar every day, BUT I do change up the dressing every few days so I'd like to share some of my faves - the "tried and trues".

This is an adaptation of a wonderful italian dressing in the book The Complete Book of Raw Food.

Creamy Italian Dressing

1 large red pepper
1 cup water

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked

(amount before soaking)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup packed fresh basil

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

3 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs nutritional yeast

1-2 cloves garlic

2 tsp ground kelp
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy, adjust any flavours to taste.

Alissa's Italian Dressing is another of my faves because I love fresh basil so much! Let this dressing sit for a few days and the flavours intensify!

1 cup olive oil

1 cup fresh basil

1 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup dried Italian seasoning

2 scallions

2 teaspoons onion

1 lemon, juiced

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Blend & chill for at least one hour.

I have to say that my #1 fave is my caesar dressing. I just can't get enough - occasionally I go for weeks eating this on my salads and must force myself to make something different, lol. This makes a large batch, so you might want to half it. I usually do that because it has a shelf life of about 6 days max in the fridge.

Caesar Dressing

2 medium avocadoes

1/2 cup cashews

½ c water
¼ c lemon juice
¼ c olive oil
2.5 tbs acv
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1-2 tsp sea salt
1-2 tsp black pepper
2 medium cloves garlic
1 large date

Blend all ingredients until smooth, starting with the lower amount of salt and pepper. Taste, and reseason if needed.

This next dressing posted by Ingrid on Natural Living Cuisine is really nice. I like to add either some lemon juice or more apple cider vinegar as I prefer a bit of a tangier dressing.

Tomato Dressing

Try this fresh slightly spicy tomato dressing on your next salad or as a dip with fresh vegetables. The garlic and pepper give it its spicy flavor.

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

¼ cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon celtic salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked mixed pepper

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

Put all ingredients into the blender, except olive oil, and blend until mixed. While blender is still running slowly pour in olive oil, blend until mixture is creamy. Store in salad dressing bottle and refrigerate. Keeps about 5 days. Shake well before serving.Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Dill-icious Dressing

This is a dilly version of Carmi's house dressing - super delish! It's just as great without the dill too! Makes 3 cups

1/2 avocado

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup water (or until desired consistency is reached)

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 or 3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon miso (or 2 tbs Braggs)

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 cup fresh dill

Blend all ingredients except dill until smooth. Add dill and process briefly. Alternatively, you could finely chop the dill and add it by hand.

So there you have it, my top 5 salad dressings...but I'm always on the lookout for new faves - do you have some great ones to share?!

Pure Coconut

Coconut! What a wonderful food! Its versatility makes it a prefect ingredient for both sweet, and savory dishes. I use it in a lot of my desserts- dried coconut in crusts, cookies, cakes, or as a garnish...and ground, dried coconut used as flour. I love young thai coconut eaten straight up, out of its shell, in a smoothie by itself (the water/pulp blended with a bit of ice), with fruit, or combined with cacao powder and dates for a super treat! Mmm, the possibilities are endless.

(This photo was taken in Fiji when I picked and ate coconuts in total abundance...Oh how I dream of doing that again soon!...)

I've been thinking about how even though I use coconut so much, it's not usually a feature flavour - poor coco is getting taken advantage of! I mean, I use coconut oil in raw ice creams, cheesecakes, whipped cream, and cakes - not for the flavour, but rather to create a firm, yet creamy consistency. Same thing with the young coconuts...the soft pulp makes great ice cream, whipped cream, puddings, and shakes, but again, I use other ingredients to disguise this fabulous flavour.

I suppose it was this thought that recently motivated me to make a few coconut recipes. Young coconuts are hard to come by in my town, but weeks ago, my friend Denyse brought some from the city for me to play with. For the first time ever I made coconut ice cream! I seriously can't believe I've never made it before. We sure enjoyed it so much that it got eaten pretty quickly around here. With the mind of a chef, I've been conjuring up all kinds of other flavours that I think would make yummy additions, like: cacao nibs or raw chocolate chunks for coconut chip; mango, pineapple, and banana for tropical, caramel sauce for coconut caramel; berries, etc...

Coconut Ice Cream
2 cups young coconut flesh

1 cup cashews

1 1/2 cups water

1/3-1/2 cup agave

1 tbs pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil

Blend all but the coconut oil, until smooth and creamy. Add coconut oil and combine. Chill the mixture and then process through an ice cream maker. Garnish with dried coconut.

My favourite way to eat ice cream is freshly out of the ice cream maker while it's still super soft (or put into the freezer for only an hour or two to firm slightly) - you can definately tell in this pic, as it's becoming a pile of melty balls rather quickly! Another coconut recipe I've recently made is the vanilla almond macaroons from Matthew Kenney's book, Everyday Raw. Boy, are these ever delish! It combines dried coconut with almonds, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and almond extract - I thought they might be similar to the mac macs from The Raw 50, but the batter was much much more wet and they turned out to be a cookie more than a macaroon. After dehydrating for 12 hours, they're firm enough to hold, but super soft and moist on the inside - perfect for me!

Needing a little choccie with my coco, the coconut almond joy truffles from Sweet Gratitude satisfy my cravings for this combo. I've gotten so hooked that I've made them a number of times since Christmas, yet they never stay around long enough to snap a photo. The secret ingredient is coconut butter (not to be confused with coconut oil), a blend of pure raw coconut pulp. You've gotta try this stuff on it's own, it's absolutely amazing - like candy!!! I'm not sure why I waited so long to purchase my first jar of coconut butter, which was back in December, but I'm glad I did. Even though I don't use it often, (the truffles are the only thing I've used it for so far) it will be a staple in my kitchen forever. Anywho, in addition to the butter, these gems are made with dried coconut, agave, vanilla bean, sea salt, almonds (which I omitted in this batch), and a dark chocolate cover (I use the one from my Just Desserts ebook).

As I've been writing this post, a yummy coconut based smoothie from my Summer Sippers post last summer keeps coming to mind. So I headed back to the old archives, and pulled the recipe out to share again.

Chocolate Decadence

1 young coconut
(water and pulp)
large handful walnuts
cacao powder
carob powder
agave
lucuma
mesquite
maca
vanilla
ice

Blend everything together and then add ice at the end to make it frosty. This is more like the consistency of cream, rather than a thick smoothie. I add about 1 tablespoon each of the cacao and carob, and then just a bit of the other powders, and agave to taste.

If you like coconut, I'm sure you'd enjoy any of the above recipes...and if you have any great ones featuring coco, please please, share em with me! :)

You'll have to look closely to spot the guy near the top of the tree - see him?! That was in Fiji - he climbed with his bare hands and feet to get us heaps of fresh young coconuts. I was amazed!

Vanilla Cake...Let Me Count The Ways

This weekend a few people from RFC decided to make the White Chocolate Orange Cake from my book Just Desserts, for Project Raw. Since it's been ages since I've made this cake, and since we had out-of-town company, I thought it would be fun to jump on board!

I went for a bit of a different look this time, using a regular bread pan, lined with parchment paper, in place of the round spingform pan. I thought this was a fun look - I love seeing all the layers of each slice. I thought about garnishing with orange segments, but it just didn't happen as we were too eager to dive in, so it just got dusted with cacao powder.

If you've got Just Desserts, and you enjoy chocolate and orange together, give this recipe a try! I'm really not sure why I don't make it more often, like Carmi (it's her fave and she makes it about every few weeks!) I also have a similar version in the book, exchanging the orange cream for a strawberry one. It's great too, but I prefer it during the summer when strawberries are in season.

I also like using the cake from this recipe, to make other things. For example, you might remember the cupcake kick I went on a while back, where I used this vanilla cake as a base for the non-chocolate cupcakes. Mmm, I've got to make some of those again soon, they're so much fun!

Ok, so another recent project was jelly rolls! Actually, I always thought they were gross - ya know, the cooked cardboard cake kind. But I got inspiration from who-knows-where to make a raw version, hehe. Using my vanilla cake, I rolled up whipped cream, and berries for a deliciously moist roll. Yumm! These are seriously delicious!

Jelly Berry Roll

-1 Recipe vanilla cake

-1 Recipe raw whipped cream of choice
-1 large rectangle of banana leather

(pureed banana, dehydrated)

-Berries of choice, lightly mashed

Assembly:

-Spread the cake (as thick as you prefer) on the banana leather.

-Spread the chilled whipped cream evenly on top.

-Now spread the berries over the cream. Avoid spreading them all the way to far edge, or they'll squish out as you're rolling.

-Gently begin rolling (just like nori rolls), using enough pressure to keep a tight roll.

-Chill the roll for a few hours to firm the whole thing and soften the banana slightly so that it can be sliced.

-Now time to eat!

Here are a few ways with vanilla cake...what ideas do you have?

Happy Valentines!

...Or should I say Happy Belated Valentines? In any event, I hope yours was a great one, spent with that special someone(s) in your life.

I was very fortunate to get a double V-day whammy! On Friday night, Darwin and I headed an hour away to get the festivities started with good friends, Marcy and Andy. It was fondue time! Yee Haw! I brought a raw caesar salad, and we made a cheese fondue complete with all kinds of dipping items. I considered bringing cheddar cheese dip for myself, but decided to just go with the salad and "extra" dessert ...hehehe

Here's my Caesar Dressing, created quite some time ago, but it's still my fave - there's often a jar of it in my fridge! I don't often like black pepper in my food, but in this case, I think it helps to "make" it! :)

2 medium avocados

½ c cashews

½ c water

¼ c lemon juice

¼ c olive oil

2.5 tbs acv

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1-2 tsp sea salt

1-2 tsp black pepper

2 medium cloves garlic

1 large date

Blend all ingredients until smooth, starting with the lower amount of salt and pepper. Taste, and reseason if needed.

Parmesan Cheese
½ cup brazil nuts

½ cup cashews

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 small clove garlic, minced

¼- ½ tsp sea salt

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until almost ground and crumbly. I keep a jar of this stuff on hand in the freezer for easy access.

Now what would Valentines be without chocolate? I made raw chocolate fondue, and served it with: bananas, strawberries, oranges, dates, walnuts, almonds, and my raw chocolate chip cookies. Yum yum, it was fun and messy - love it!

The fondue was made out of: cacao powder, cacao butter, agave, vanilla bean, and thick cashew milk. The bananas and oranges were definately my favourite....Mmmm, just thinking about it makes me salivate, LOL.

I got the gang to sit pretty for this pic while they enjoyed choccie goodness :)

On Real Vday, I was showered with the basket of flowers (above) from my hunny :) He knows exactly the colours I like. We had a wonderfully quiet day together - MORE caesar salad for dinner with baked spaghetti squash and raw tomato sauce...and chocolate/fruit for dessert. Couldn't have asked for anything more! How did YOU spend your Valentines Day?

Lemon Berry Cheesecake

I'm proud to say that I've got yet another Cafe Gratitude dessert under my belt. Carmi and I sure put a dent in the list (and some things I've made a few times), but let me tell you, I've still got quite the number of things to make from Sweet Gratitude....Chocolate Mint Cheesecake, Cherry Pie, Hazelnut Amaretto Cups, Strawberry Brilliance Pie, Coffee Cake, White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Aloha Cake...Ummm, okay, I think I'm getting a little carried away here...Anywho, while it wasn't something that caught my eye in a serious way, I've noticed the Lemon Cheesecake recipe for a while, especially since it's in both books. Perhaps due to the fact that I was just in the tropics, I wanted to make something light, quick, and easy - something other than chocolate for a change! I decided to do a little revamp though...To switch up the presentation, I turned part of the recipe into an 8" cake, and the rest into mini cheesecakes for a party. Mixed berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspebrries, blackberries) topped it off for a Lemon Berry Cheesecake. If you like lemon - or berries, this would be the cake for you!
I made a very simple crust with almonds and dates. The filling ingredients are (sorry, I can't give the recipe, but I know most of you have the book already ;): cashews, almond mylk, lemon juice, agave, liquid vanilla, lecithin, coconut oil....and I added some lemon zest for added "oomph!". The topping was simple mixed berries, mashed up in the blender (keeping some texture), with a bit of lemon juice (just enough to bring out the flavours), and agave. Voila, easy peasy lemon squeezey!

So if you have Sweet Gratitude, pull it out and give one of their desserts a try - you'll be glad you did!