Category Archives: Raw

Raw Parmesan “Pita” Chips. And A Contest.

Pita Chip w/ DipI told you I was going to make a raw version of Stacy’s Pita Chips…and here they are. Stacy’s, I’ve kicked you to the processed and over-salted curb!  (Pssst!  I’m sharing this recipe on Healthy Vegan Friday!)

Eat What's Good Banner

About that word contest in the title. The fine folks at Ethical Ocean invited me to participate in a vegan recipe contest called Eat What’s Good and I accepted their invitation with a recipe for a little something to tempt your Bliss Point that I call Mango Sticky Rice Cake. Here’s what they have to say about the contest (you could win, too!):

The Ethical Ocean and Vegan Cuts Vegan Recipe Challenge is looking for the most mouth-watering delicious vegan recipe out there. 25 of the most talented vegan culinary masterminds have submitted recipes for the contest, and now we need you to pick your favorite!

You can vote daily (and for as many recipes as you want!). And if a recipe that you vote for wins, you’ll be entered into the Grand Prize draw for a chance to win a $250 shopping spree on Ethical Ocean OR a 1 year subscription to a Vegan Cuts’ Snack Pack. The more times you vote, the more chances to win you have!

The contest kicks off at 9am EST on Friday April 26 and ends at 11:59pm EST on May 17.

People must sign-up to Ethical Ocean to vote; they can choose to unsubscribe to emails at any time.

“Talented Vegan Culinary Mastermind.” I like it and I’m having it printed on business cards ASAP. So…if you’re so inclined, please visit Eat What’s Good, vote on your favorite(s) – one of which I hope is mine – and enjoy the yummy plant-based recipes from a passel of excellent vegan bloggers! Thank you! Oh, and here’s a photo of my concoction – -

Mango Sticky Rice Cake

Raw Parmesan “Pita” Chips
Makes 1 dehydrator sheet

1 cup walnuts, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
1 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup “Parmesan” nut cheese (I used Parmela brand) + extra for sprinkling
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 clove garlic
couple of slices red onion
1/2 cup baby carrots (or chopped carrots)
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. white miso
1/2 cup water

In a food processor, process the walnuts, carrots, garlic, olive oil, white miso, red onion, onion flakes and garlic powder until smooth. Scrape down sides to make sure you don’t have any large chunks.

Put the flaxseed meal, nut cheese, and salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the walnut mixture and the water until it’s well-combined. Line a dehydrator tray with a non-stick sheet and plop the dough into the center, top with another non-stick sheet and slowly roll out the dough. I had to move dough around a bit from one spot to another to fill the whole tray. The dough should be about 1/4″ thick. Remove the top non-stick sheet, gently score the dough into whatever size and shape strike your fancy and slide the tray with the dough into the dehydrator. Sprinkle the top with nut cheese, if desired.

Start the dehydrator out at 145F and dry for 30 minutes. Turn it down to 115F and after a few hours, carefully flip the dough onto a dehydrator screen. Continue to dehydrate for an additional 12-24 hours. Check the consistency of the chips occasionally – you want them to be very crispy.

Chips in Bowl

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Raw “Granola Bar” Crackers

Granola Bar CrackersI’ve now about worked my way through the entire list of cracker and flatbread recipes in Matthew Kenney’s book, Everyday Raw.  (Raw ice cream – you are next!  As soon as I can source young coconut which, no surprise, is not stocked at my local Walmart.)  I’m obsessed with the technique and love the idea of making my own healthy, raw “chips” at home rather than buying tortilla chips and (my favorite guilty snack) Stacy’s Pita Chips.  If you haven’t tried these: DO NOT buy a bag.  You will be forever hooked.  Fear not, I am going to tackle recreating those babies in my dehydrator, but for today, I’m sharing an on-the-sweet-side cracker that I created using the principles I picked up from Kenney’s book.  These very crispy crackers include some standard granola bar ingredients.  By the way, I’ve shared this recipe over at Gluten-Free Cat as part of Raw Foods Thursdays!

Eat them straight up or make a sandwich using homemade coconut milk ice cream.  Thanks to Amanda (via Somer) for that very easy and tasty recipe – you’ll have to ask them for it yourselves…

One year ago today: White Bean, Asparagus & Artichoke Heart Salad
One year and one day ago today: Bluebirds to Be 

Raw “Granola Bar” Crackers
Makes one dehydrator sheet

1 cup raw walnuts, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
1 large apple, cored and chopped into small chunks
1″ nubbin fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, soaked in warm water for an hour or so and drained
1 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao nibs
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash cardamom
1/2 tsp. orange zest
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup agave nectar (taste dough and add more if preferred)

Put the flaxseed meal, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, cacao nibs and orange zest in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a food processor, process the walnuts, ginger and apple until you get a nice mash.  Add this mixture to the flaxseed meal mixture and add the remaining (wet) ingredients.  Using a big spoon or your hands, mix until thoroughly combined.  This is a fairly wet mess.

Line a dehydrator tray with a non-stick sheet and plop the dough into the center, top with another non-stick sheet and slowly roll out the dough.  I had to move dough from time to time from one spot to another to get something that resembled a square.  The dough should be about 1/4″ thick.  Remove that top non-stick sheet, gently score the dough into whatever size and shape strike your fancy and slide the tray with the dough into the dehydrator.  Dehydrate at 145F for 30 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 115F.  After a few hours of drying, I carefully transfer the dough to a screen for more efficient drying.  Dehydrate for about 24 hours or until crispy and crunchy.  Break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

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(Raw) Cheez Crackers with Almond (or Peanut) Butter

Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?
Because it’s there.
- George Mallory to a New York Times reporter, 1923

Crackers on PlateWhy did I want recreate a former teenage favorite – Austin Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter?  Because my dehydrator was there.  I once had a raging one-pack-a-day addiction.  My mother enabled my habit by including the pocket-sized packets in care boxes she mailed to my college dorm. When those supplies ran out, I’d scrounge for quarters for the vending machine or save up so I could buy bulk packages to satisfy my ceaseless craving for the salty, nutty, eerily bright orange snack cracker filled with something that resembled peanut butter.

Austin Cheese PB Crackers

My object of my addiction.

I kicked the habit long before I gave up cheese and animal products.  Went cold turkey.  There was just something about that orange color that nagged at me.  But I never forgot the thrill I got tearing open a package and devouring all six, perfectly square peanut butter sandwiches (probably washed down with an icy, cold Coke – another habit I kicked long ago).

The dehydrator was there.  I was there.  So I made raw cheez crackers with almond butter.

One year ago today: Orange Poppyseed Waffles with Blueberry Sauce

Bowl of Crackers

(Raw) Cheez Crackers with Peanut Butter
Makes ~60 individual crackers or ~30 sandwiches

1 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup raw coconut flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups almonds, soaked for 8-10 hours, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup water
1 tsp. white miso
1 tbsp. maple syrup

In a large bowl, combine the flaxseed meal, coconut flour and the nutritional yeast.  Set aside.

In a food processor, grind the almonds into a crumbly meal – don’t over process, otherwise you’ll have almond butter.  Not a bad thing, but not what you’re looking for here.  Empty the almond meal into the bowl w/ the flaxseed mixture.  Process the carrots and apple until you have a nice mash.  Scrape the mixture into the big bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.  The mixture should be moist but hold together when pressed.

Making Crackers

Divide the mixture in two and spread one half on a dehydrator tray that has been covered with a non-stick drying sheet.  You’ll just about be able to cover the full sheet.  To get an even surface, I cover the dough with another non-stick sheet and gently roll with a rolling pin.  Carefully lift off the non-stick sheet.  Once the dough has been rolled out, gently score the surface into squares.

Place the trays in the middle of the dehydrator and set the temperature to 145F.  Dehydrate for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 115F and dehydrate for an additional 6-8 hours or until the cracker are very crispy all the way through.  About halfway through the process, I carefully transfer the dough to a dehydrator screen.

I have not tried this recipe using an oven – but give it a go, if you are adventuresome.  Spread the dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Set the oven to its lowest temperature, leave the door open a bit and bake until crispy.

Bowl of Crackers, Knife

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Dehydrator Love

I don’t have a recipe to share today, just some low-quality, iPhone photos of a raw pizza that kinda rocked my sheltered plant-based planet.  You see, I recently acquired an Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator, an item that had been sitting patiently on my Amazon Wish List for many, many months while I accumulated enough points (freebie!) to hit the Order button.  To many vegans, purchasing a dehydrator produces feelings akin to having a sturdy high-speed blender (there are two camps: the Vitamixers camp and the Blendtecers) gracing their countertop. (For insight into how people feel about owning a high-speed blender, please read this very funny post.)

The pizza pictured below is made from a mish-mash of recipes: the crust is a very slight adaptation of a recipe by Matthew Kenney, one of the gods of raw food cooking.  It is absolutely delicious and stands up as a snack – sans topping – in its own right; the cashew-mushroom sauce is my adaptation of yet another recipe found in the pages of Runner’s World.  I didn’t change it enough to justify including the recipe here.  Again, it’s tasty enough to scoop up on its own, but I’d hold off unless you are trying to gain weight.

Already my dehydrator has opened up a new food world to me and I know I have much left to learn and dry out.  Look out world!

Shameless plug: did you hear that Virtual Vegan Potluck made it onto Post Punk Kitchen’s 100?  Yep, it did!  Please check out the list to see their blurb about the VVP and to visit 99 other awesome sites (including Vegan Richa and Keepin’ It Kind)!

One year ago today: The Vegan Option
One year and one day ago today: Buttermilk Rolls with Flaxseed and Wheat Germ

Whole Raw Pizza

Raw Pizza, cut

Pizza and Fork

Raw Pizza and Fork 2

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VeganMoFo: Cocoa PB Balls

Cocoa Balls, CoffeeSigh.  The last peanut-milk-meal + chocolate post of the 2012 MoFo season!  This recipe is based on Cookie Bites by Erika over at Good Clean Food.  With my first taste of those nutty-chocolatey bites, I knew I’d be making them at home – and making them again with a few minor twists.  Enter peanut milk and peanut meal.  By the way, is it sacrilege to say that I’m relieved that the light at the end of the MoFo tunnel is visible??

For another yummy recipe, check out Blissful Britt’s No Bake Energy Bites – or - Raw Almond Coconut Energy Balls from The Veg Bar.

Cocoa PB Balls
Makes plenty

1/2 cup roasted peanuts
1/2 cup fresh peanut milk
1/2 cup fresh peanut meal
1 cup mixed grains (I used Bob Red Mill’s 5-Grain Rolled Cereal)
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup sweetened cacao nibs
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch sea salt

In a food processor, process the mixed grain (or oats) until broken down into small pieces.  Remove from the processor and place in a large mixing bowl.

Put the peanuts, peanut milk and peanut meal in the food processor and process into a nice, thick slurry.  Add the cocoa powder, chia seeds, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and vanilla and process to combine.  Remove from the processor bowl and add to the grain mixture.

Stir in the hemp seeds, coconut and flaxseed meal and mix until all the ingredients are moistened and thoroughly combined.  Add more peanut milk if the mixture seems dry.  Store in an airtight container for a few hours or overnight.

Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.  Keep in the refrigerator.

One year ago todaySimple Side Salad w/ No-Oil Vinaigrette

Cocoa Balls on Plate

Vegan MoFo

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Black Bean Soup & Ginger Slaw: The Unprocessed Giveaway

Ginger Slaw

Tip: Add broccoli slaw for extra crunch.

Ginger Slaw and Nutrient Rich Black Bean Soup from Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight, by Chef AJ.  Details on how to enter the giveaway are below.

Bowl of Soup

Bowl of Soup 2

Tip: Top with chopped tomatoes, avocado and red onion.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below or on any other Unprocessed blog post describing what you find most addicting: sugar, salt or fat.  Or, share your story of how you have cleaned up your diet and changed your life.  For additional entries you can also Like my Facebook pages, An Unrefined Vegan and/or Virtual Vegan Potluck.  Tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway!  

The Deets
Title: Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight
Author: Chef AJ (aka Abbie Jaye) with Glen Merzer
Publication Date: 2011
Page Length: 178 pages including 100+ recipes
List Price: $19.95
Publisher: Hale to the Kale Publishing
Websites: www.EatUnprocessed.comwww.chefajshealthykitchen.com
Facebook
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The Cooked and the Raw (and a Virtual Vegan Potluck Question)

Raw Sauce

Raw Sauce, NoodlesThis is a hybrid of the cooked and the raw.  Seems that some kindly neighbor folks have taken pity on Kel and me – being transplants and all – and have been sharing with us their bounties of zucchinis, cucumbers, peppers of all kinds, peaches, pears and…tomatoes.  Lots and lots of tomatoes.  Fresh, juicy, no-hothouse-mealiness-allowed tomatoes go into everything.  (It will really be hard to go back to those mealy, tasteless poor excuse for tomatoes…)

I made this quick raw tomato+roasted tomato sauce on an evening when my heart wasn’t into making an elaborate meal.  I had about a cup of roasted tomatoes from another meal so I chopped them up and added them to four beautiful tomatoes (also chopped), a couple of tablespoons each of kalamata olives and capers (I adore capers), fresh basil, lots of cracked black pepper, garlic, chopped red onion and a splash of Bragg Liquid Aminos.  Then I boiled up enough pasta for two.  When the sauce gets mixed into the hot pasta, the smell of garlic rises with the steam.  It’s wonderful.  I like a preponderance of sauce to noodles, but serve it at whatever ratio pleases your palate.

Now for the Virtual Vegan Potluck Question.  Thanks to a post by Tom of New Vegan Age over at Vegan Bloggers Unite! I found out that World Vegan Day is November 1.  Seems like the perfect day on which to hold the next Virtual Vegan Potluck.  What do you think?  It falls on a Thursday rather than a Saturday a day I find slightly preferable for a potluck, but since this is a virtual thing and it’s possible to schedule posts in advance anyway, perhaps it doesn’t matter too much?  Please let me know what you think!

Bowl of Pasta

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Searching for the Holy Grail of Raw Broccoli Soup

Broccoli Soup in BowlsI am on a quest.  A quest to replicate the raw broccoli (a.k.a. The Nectar of the Gods) soup from Omar’s Rawtopia located in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City. It’s thick and creamy and nutty and very un-raw-broccoli-like.  After one sip even ol’ #41 (George Bush, Sr.) would fall to his knees in adoration of the mighty green Brassica oleracea after one sip of this soup.  Omar tops his with his tantalizing seed cheese (another recipe onto which I’d like to get my raw amateur mitts) and a delicious slice of “bread.”

My search began – as many a search has – with a quick stroll through Google, which yielded many results; none of which even hinted at coming directly from the kitchen of Rawtopia.  Perhaps employees sign a Confidentiality Agreement…  Anyway, I started with a recipe I found at Food.com and messed with it ever so slightly.  It’s delicious, no doubt about it, but it’s not It yet.  So the search continues.  In the meantime, it will take dedicated and prolonged taste-testing at Omar’s to suss out his secrets.  Someone’s got to do it.

Raw Broccoli Soup
Serves 4

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for a few hours
3 cups water
1 tsp. agave nectar
2 cups broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1 avocado, cut into chunks
1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp. onion, chopped
1″ nubbin of fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
dash black pepper
dash red pepper flakes

sliced radishes, chopped red onion, sesame seeds and fresh cilantro, for topping (optional)

Drain the cashews and add them to a high-powered blender along with the water and agave nectar.  Process until smooth.

Add the remaining ingredients (except for those used as the garnish) and process until smooth and creamy.  Divide among four bowls, top with the cilantro, red onion and radishes and serve immediately.  Best eaten the same day it’s made.

Broccoli Soup in Bowls, Spoons

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A Mish Mash Post with a Virtual Vegan Potluck Update

Vanilla & Matcha Cupcakes

Matcha & Green Tea Cupcakes w/ Vanilla Bean Frosting.

See that beautiful (and yummy) cupcake up there?  Sure, I made it and all, but I can’t take credit for it.  That would belong to the creative minds behind The Bear & The Blackberry.  In less than 24 hours after reading their recipe for Matcha and Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, I had these babies rising magnificently in the oven.  Sure, I made my standard tweaks: used applesauce in place of canola oil; whole wheat pastry flour for white and used maple sugar and stevia to achieve the proper sweetness.  I did not have matcha powder but did have green-matcha tea bags.  I snipped a few and emptied them of their lovely green, powdery contents and voila!  Almost-matcha powder.  The biggest change I made was to modify the Lean Cocoa Frosting recipe from The (Almost) No Fat Cookbook, by Bryanna Clark Grogan.  Do not expect thick, creamy, buttery decadence here, folks.  But do expect lots of tasty vanilla flavor and zero eater’s remorse.  Here’s the (very quick) recipe:

Lean Vanilla “Frosting”
Makes enough to coat 8 cupcakes

1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup maple sugar
half of 1/3 of a cup (I’m not a mathematician) cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla extract syrup, vanilla extract or a vanilla bean, scraped

Combine everything but the vanilla in a blender and process until smooth and well-combined.  Pour into a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium.  Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Let sit until it reaches room temperature and then you’re ready to frost the cupcakes.

And now for some more blender action…Despite promising myself I would stop, I need to share another green smoothie recipe with you all.

Super Good Green Smoothie

Can’t Not Share it Green Smoothie
Serves 2

1 6 oz. container coconut-flavored almond milk yogurt
1 cup coconut water
1 orange, peeled and quartered
1 apple cut into chunks
1 stalk celery, cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 big handful of spinach or other green

Process until smooth in your favorite blender-type appliance.

Fuzzy Cactus

Recently I received this cuddly little cutie (above) in the mail from Rachel of Rachel in Veganland – why? because I won (woohoo!) the very first giveaway she held on her blog.  Rachel must know that the color of my thumb hovers between gray and black and that I can’t do much harm to a crochet cactus!   When I opened the package, all kinds of sparkles and fuzzies tumbled out of the envelope along with her handmade gift – it was kind of like getting a hug from my blogging friend.  Thank you, Rachel!  Your cactus has a place of honor right next to my computer.

Last but most definitely not least: Have you been thinking about what you’re going to bring to the next Virtual Vegan Potluck??  I have!

While I’m not quite ready to divulge what recipes I’m considering nor the work behind the scenes of the next one (November 3, mark your calendars!!), I will share that I recently asked two of my favorite bloggers to help me out with the details.  Apparently my powers of persuasion are better than I imagined.  I’m happy to report that both Jason of Watch Me Lose 150 Pounds fame and Somer, the plant-based heart and soul of Good Clean Food, have graciously agreed to help plan and execute November’s Potluck – and they’ve already been contributing awesome content to the VVP Facebook Page.  (If you haven’t Liked us, please do!)  If all goes as planned, the facade is going to look a lot different – but (pardon the expression) the meat and potatoes of the event will remain true to the first go ’round.

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Sleepwalk Southwest Bean & Rice Salad

Southwest SaladMy kitchen mojo has been a little spotty lately so my weekly menus have been stacked with meals I can prepare without needing much time or brain power.  Right now I need to be able to sleepwalk through dinner prep.

But even a detailed shopping list isn’t a guarantee that dinner will turn out as planned.  About an hour before this salad was due to hit the table, I realized that I’d somehow made it home from the grocery store without buying all of the necessary ingredients – despite the fact that they had been written (somewhat eligibly, it’s true) right there on the list.  So, using the base ingredients that I had on hand, I completely switched around the flavors of the original recipe  and traveled from Southeast Asia to South of the Border.

Southwest Bean & Rice Salad
Serves 4-6

Salad:
2 14 oz. cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 medium green, red, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup cooked and cooled brown rice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, peeled and chopped, optional

Dressing:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup red wine or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. chipotle in adobo sauce
dash Chipotle Tabasco
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the dressing ingredients in a big bowl and whisk to combine. Add all of the remaining ingredients, except for the avocado, and stir gently to combine. Let sit for a while so that the flavors can get acquainted.

To serve, top with chopped avocado.

Southwest Salad Aerial Shot

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