ZUCCHINI PASTA WITH AVOCADO MISO DRESSING

If you tried my Kelp Noodles with Avocado Miso Dressing, then you are sure to love this one as well.   This dish is very flavorful it really is satisfying on so many levels.  I love how the red and orange of the tomatoes and orange bell peppers stand out against the green.   I am making it again tonight for me an my hubby.

ZUCCHINI PASTA 

For the noodles and garnish
3 zucchini peeled and sliced noodle thin
2 cups of spinach shredded or chopped thin
Diced tomatoes and orange bell pepper
Sesame seeds

AVOCADO MISO DRESSING

For the dressing
1 medium ripe avocado
2 tablespoons miso
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, juice of
1 clove garlic
(If you do not want to use miso, you can leave it out and substitute it with some sea salt to taste.)

For the dressing, add all the ingredients for the dressing into the food processor and process until mixed smooth.

Put the zucchini noodles and spinach in a medium bowl and add the dressing little by little  to your desired amount and massage and toss by hand to coat the noodles.

Plate the noodles and then garnish with the tomatoes, orange bell pepper and sesame ~ and then eat with chopsticks if you so desire.   Super, super tasty.

Bon Appetit!

RAW BANANA CREAM PARFAIT WITH MACADAMIA NUT CRUMBLE

Seriously... I mean seriously!  When I went to a raw food party my friend had with Stacy Stowers we devoured a raw banana cream pie that we so delicious.  Way better than any I had before I went mostly plant based and raw.  I mean, you can just taste the creaminess and the freshness of the dessert.  I also had a friend at work taste test this who is neither vegan nor raw, but she does eat both occasionally and she LOVED it!  Next time I will make this into a pie or cheese cake form, but for now, these were delicious and easy to put together.  Raw desserts are really my absolute favorite thing.

Some people have commented to me that there are too many nuts in raw desserts, but if you take a look at the measurements, there really is not much more than you would use in many other regular desserts.  The ingredients are fresh with no processed sugar added.  Pure love, if you ask me.  This dessert is a must! 

RAW BANANA CREAM PARFAIT WITH MACADAMIA NUT CRUMBLE

Crumble

1 cup macadamia nuts

1 cup dried, shredded coconut

8 medjool dates, room tempurature, pitted

Filling

1-1/2 cup cashews, soaked 8-12 hours, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup raw agave or liquid sweetener of choice

1/2 cup coconut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup coconut water from a young Thai coconut

1 cup packed coconut meat from a young Thai coconut

1 medium bananas, sliced (approximately 3 cups)

1 lemon, juice of

For the crumble, put the macadamia nuts and coconut into the food processor and process until it resembles crumbs.  Then add in the dates and process until the dates are well combined into the nut mixture and crumbly.  

For the filling, place all the ingredients except the bananas and lemon juice into a high speed blender.  Blend until smooth.  You will need to use the plunger or spoon and a little patience to get the mixture moving but it's well worth the effort... Transfer the mixture into a bowl.

Slice the bananas and toss them with the lemon juice and drain, then fold them into the banana cream mixture.

To assemble, place a layer of the crumble in the bottom of the glass, then the cream mixture, then more crumble.  Top with more shredded coconut and nuts and and a little sweet syrup, if you so desire.  I only used one layer of cream since the glasses I used were on the larger size, but if you use skinny glasses you can definitely construct several layers to build your parfait.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Bon Apetit!

 

HAPPY SHAKE FOR A HAPPY MONDAY ... SUPER GREEN SMOOTIHIE

Happy Monday!  I had a fabulous weekend and I hope you did too.  A few months ago a read an article on The Chalboard Mag about a Raw  Food Nanny named Stacy Stowers.  I thought, what a great job she has!  She travels to families' homes to help them learn the basic of raw cuisine.  Fast forward 5-6 months later, I get a chance to meet her!  Jean-Marie met her through a friend and Stacy came out to Jean-Marie's for a one week stay and we had a raw food party Friday night.  So much fun!

I want to share with you her amazing Happy Shake.  It's perfect for this month of January when many of us are doing a 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge with Simple Green Smoothies. It's the ultimate green smoothie if you ask me.

Here's a copy of the recipe she shares on her site.

HAPPY SHAKE

Step # 1 Liquid Base. Melody starts with 1/2 cup water. Step # 2 4 cups of loosely packed spinach.....save the kale for a nice kale salad. Step # 3 A Good FAT. You need the good fat for metabolizing the spinach and keeping you satisfied for hours. You may choose from 1 Tbs. coconut oil, 1 Tbs. hemp seed or 1 raw egg. (you may want to start with a bit less water if using an egg) Step # 4 THE HAPPY PART........1 Tbs. Maca for stamina, endurance and mental clarity. 1 Tbs. Raw Cacao for that HAPPY BLISS feeling. ~ with Melody Miles. A great option for some additional alkalizing GREENS.....add 1 Tbs. Vitamineral Green Step # 5 DO NOT add fruit yet...... Blend all ingredients into your "green sludge". Step # 6. Now add 2 cups frozen fruit (1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries & 1/2 cup frozen banana pictured here) to your "green sludge". BLUEberries+GREEN "sludge" = Chocolate BROWN! A NOTE on Super Foods ... Super Foods like Maca and Cacao are very powerful foods. These foods border medicine. This is a good time to do your own research on these two amazing foods. Start in small doses and listen to your body.

You may be wondering where you can get these ingredients.  I found these at my local Whole Foods Store.

And finally, here are some some Instagram pics of the raw cooking 101 session and raw food party where we were showing off our tastings of the Happy Shake.

Christine, Jean-Marie, Me and Stacy

When you have a chance, please try the Happy Shake.  You will feel energized!  It's oh so good!



Have a great Monday!

Join the discussion!

Do you have a favorite green smoothie recipe? We would love to hear what it is! Share it in the comments below. Links are welcome.

THE MATTHEW KENNEY ACADEMY, SANTA MONICA, CA

 

 

I can't stress enough how good I feel when I eat raw cuisine.  I know a lot of you are with me on this one.   It's hard to explain until you try it and feel the effects that raw natural food has on your body.  I try the best I can to eat raw as much as possible.  It's not always easy, but the effort is so worth it. 

 

I am fairly new to raw cuisine, but I love so much what it does for me, my friends and family.  I have small group of friends who have are on this same quest and it's been such a great experience so far.  I have been able to connect with so many great people in this community, it's been truly wonderful.   So, you can imagine my excitement when I realilzed I had the opportunity to take The Matthew Kenney Academy's first Weekend Intensive course.  Ever since I found out Matthey Kenney came to Los Angeles and opened his restaurant M.A.K.E. and his culinary academy, I have been jealous over those who were able to take the one month long cooking courses he offers.  My circumstances won't allow me currently to take those, but when he came out with a 2 day weekend intensive course  I was thrilled.

 

You can definitely learn new recipes and techniques from cookbooks, but there is nothing like learning hands on the how to make something.  I was able to hone my skills in the basic techniques of simple raw dishes that you would make at home. We also were able to use cuisine technology that has advanced the way raw food can be prepared.  I really enjoyed that.  It's truly amazing what can be done!  And the last thing that stuck with me was the emphasis on caring about how you plate your food.  A truly simple dish like butter lettuce salad plated beautifully really does taste that much better.  It adds to the whole experience.  You eyes take in the food first.  And if you ever have the chance to dine at his restaurant M.A.K.E. you will see what I mean.  Words really can't describe the gorgeousness of the dishes there.  Truly beautiful.

 

Here are some photos from my two days at the Academy. 

 



 

 

 



Raw food is not about eating a salad everyday. It's so much more than that.  If you combine the right ingredients together, you can create truly amazing and fabulously tasting dishes.  I love making new raw dishes and having my friends taste test.  It's been my way to convince them to get on this path.  And it's working too.   Please, continue on your quest to eat more raw cuisine.

 

Matthew Kenney and his team are so wonderful, so humble and gracious.  If you have the opportunity, come on over to The Matthew Kenney Academy and take one of his courses.  They will be offering online courses in 2013 too ... you won't regret it.

 

 

RAW VEGAN: MEXICAN SEASONED VEGGIE MEAT

  

 

Obviously, we like tacos over here, so I was very happy when I found this recipe from Judita Wignall in her book Going Raw.  This tastes so good and very much like taco meat that you won't even know the difference.  I love Brazil nuts too so, this recipe is a winner!  My husband couldn't get enough!

 

We wrapped this and all the fixings into a large rainbow chard leaf to complete our raw wrap.  So delicious! 

 

rainbow chard

soak and process the brazil nuts

 

mix the brazil nuts and veggies together

 



 

Here's the recipe...

 

RAW VEGAN MEXICAN SEASONED VEGGIE MEAT

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 cups brazil nuts, unsoaked

4 cups finely diced zucchini

1-1/2 cups  minched white or cremini mushrooms

1/2 cup minced onion

1/2 cup minced celery

1/4 cup mexican chilli powder, you can add up to 1/2 cup to add more flavor depending on your taste

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon sea salt, less if you are using salted chilli powder

2 clove garlic minced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Julienne your favorite veggies to include into the wrap.  I used yellow bell pepper, carrors, tomatoes, guacamole, pea shoots and cucumbers.  You can also add shredded cabbage, spinach or romane lettuce. 

 

For the veggie meat, place the brazil nuts into a food processor and grind into a flour.  In a large bowl, combine the brazil nut flour with the zucchini, mushrooms, onion, celery, chili powder, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and cayenne.  Spread the mixture into 2 dehydrator trays lined with non stick sheets and dry at 110 degrees for 1-1/2 hours.  Transfer to mesh dehydrator sheets for another hour.  Do no over dry.  Fill your tacos or wrap and serve!

 

If you save your meat for later and want to warm it up, place the the meat in the dehydrator for 30-60 minutes at 145 degrees before assesmbling.

 

Enjoy!

 



 

 



RAW: DATE PASTE + A SNACK WITH APPLES & MACADAMIA NUTS

 

 

 

What I love about the recipes we share on A Simply Raw Life is that they are, for the most part, simple and easy to make.  We hope this makes it just that much easier for you to take that next step to adding more plant based and non processed foods into your diet.    If you are new to eating a plant based diet, raw foods, or even vegan, we hope that you enjoy these easy recipes.  Please feel free to email me or post a note as to what kind of recipes you would like to see on the blog and I will do my best to work those in.  What I have found is that I have not lost taste or satisfaction in the foods I eat after making this transition.  There are so many flavors and tastes to enjoy!

 

Here's a really quick basic recipe that can be an easy staple to keep in your refrigerator.   If you like my fig jam recipe, or you keep other sweet spreads in your refrigerator, this is a perfect natural addition.  If you are trying to eat more raw and unprocessed foods, why not make your own spread or sweet treat at home?  Spread it on fruit, toast, or crackers.   Here's how to make it and also a simple snack I made using it.

 

 

 

This recipe yields roughly 2 cups of Date Paste. If you think this may be too much then you can freeze half of the batch, or just make a half batch.

DATE PASTE

 

INGREDIENTS:

40 medjood dates, soaked in warm water until your dates are soft and tender.

2 table spoons of water.

Soak the dates in warm water until they are soft and tender and drain.  Remove the seeds by hand.  Put all the dates in a food processor with 2 table spoons of water and blend until smooth.  Depending on how large your food processor is, you may need to stop processing in intervals to scrape down the sides to remove it all  and process some more.  Don't be discouraged.  It's worth it.

Puree your Dates until they have become a thick whipped and creamy texture. Place your date paste in an air tight container and store in the fridge or freezer.

 

So easy!

I cut up some apples, spread on some of the date paste and sprinkled it with some chopped macadamia nuts.  Super delicious.



Bon Appetit!



 

Helpful Hint:

 

You can make your Date Paste in bulk. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Store your Date Paste in a ziplock baggy, laying it flat in your freezer. Freezing it flat will enable you to break off a small or large piece as you need it. This is a great way to get your kitchen raw food ready. The more advanced preparation and planning you do, the better you will eat.

Check out the health benefits from eating dates HERE.

 

Enjoy!!