Raw Summer Snack Basket

July 12th, 2010

Today we’d like to share a few recipes for fresh, seasonal snacks. Crackers and spread are such friendly, unpretentious food – they allow everyone to customize and create their perfect bite. These crackers are crunchy, nutty, and subtle enough to accept a variety of toppings. The two spreads are created with eggplant, peas, and cauliflower, which are abundant during these hot months of the year. We have a nostalgic attachment to green peas – to us they symbolize the barefoot freedom of childhood summers. Combined with the cauliflower and Indian spice blends, which we got during our recent trip to Toronto, the peas take on a new aromatic quality. Toronto is a true mecca of Indian food and these spices can be found in any of the numerous Indian markets in the area. When there, we ate Indian for nearly every breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
These crackers and spreads will do well for an afternoon nibble or a light meal together with a tossed salad.



Beautiful Japanese Eggplants

Nut and Zucchini Crackers
(Adapted from The Raw 50)
1/2 cup golden flax seeds – ground
3/4 cup purified water
1 medium zucchini – roughly chopped
2 cups walnuts or pecans – soaked in purified water for 4 hours
handful of fresh mint (optional) – chopped
poppy seeds for sprinkling

In a bowl, combine the ground flax and water and let sit until the water is absorbed. In a food processor, pulse the zucchini into small pieces and add to the flax. Chop the nuts in a food processor until finely ground and add to the bowl. Add the chopped mint and mix thoroughly with your hands. Spread on Teflex sheets. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and embed them into the cracker with wet hands. Dehydrate at 115F for 6 hours. Remove the teflex sheets, flip, and dehydrate for three more hours. Cut into desired cracker size, and dehydrate for 11 hours or until crisp. Keep refrigerated in an air tight container.

Cauliflower Green Pea Spread
(Adapted from Raw Food/Real World)
1 head cauliflower – florets only
1/2 cup cashew or macadamia nuts
1/2 tablespoon garam masala (a spice blend that can be found at any Indian market)
2 teaspoons chunky chat masala (a spice blend that can be found at any Indian market)
1/2 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup filtered water
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
handful of fresh mint or cilantro – chopped

In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower to make small pieces. Put the nuts, spices, ginger, lime juice, and water into a blender and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper. In a shallow dish, combine the cauliflower, peas, and the blended nut creme. Dehydrate at 115F for 2 hours, mix occasionally. Place the mixture into a food processor and blend until spreadable but with texture. Place into a bowl and mix in the mint or cilantro. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

Eggplant Spread
Marinade:
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons nama shoyu
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons agave syrup
1 clove of garlic – chopped

The Rest:
2 Japanese eggplants or 1 peeled large conventional eggplant – sliced
2 teaspoons salt
1 red or yellow bell pepper – thinly sliced
10 cherry tomatoes (optional) – cut in half
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
black pepper and salt to taste
1 bunch of dill or parsley
1/2 cup walnuts (optional) – chopped
2 cloves of garlic – chopped

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Put the sliced eggplant into a bowl, mix with 2 teaspoons of salt, and let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse with water and gently squeeze out the extra liquid. Place the eggplant into a shallow dish and pour about 2/3 of the marinade over it. Mix thoroughly. Place the dish in a dehydrator at 115F for 6 hours, mix occasionally. Pour the rest of the marinade over the sliced bell pepper, mix, and place in a dehydrator at 115F for 2 hours, mix occasionally. To intensify the flavour of the tomatoes, dehydrate them 115F until they shrink a little. After dehydration, drain the excess liquid and put the eggplant, bell pepper, and tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the tahini, pepper and salt (if needed), and blend until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add the dill, walnuts, and the remaining garlic. Mix and store in a refrigerator in a glass container.

Tags: condiment, food, raw food, recipe, savoury, snack

Your Own Sesame Tahini

April 30th, 2010


Sesame tahini is one of those simple ingredients that build a new dimension within a dish’s flavour. It’s used widely in salad dressings, sauces, and desserts. Sesame seeds have an earthy taste and are plump with calcium, manganese and iron. Prepackaged raw food is often costly, so I make my own tahini and nut butters, as they only require a good whiz in the processor and a cool place on your refrigerator shelf.

The official tahini recipe calls for 1/3 cup of olive oil per 2 cups of sesame seeds. I rarely measure, instead using good reason and a variety of oils in addition to the olive. Hemp or any nut oils will bring more character to your tahini. Grind all the ingredients together in a food possessor to achieve a paste-like consistency. You may need to give it a stir or two with a wooden spoon in the process. A favourite recipe, which calls for tahini, is one for our kale chips.
M went to Concord the other weekend and sent me some photos from Hawthorne’s backyard. The peaceful, unrefined landscape somehow reminds me of the musky flavour of sesame tahini.

Post by: A

Tags: a, condiment, food, raw food, recipe

Raw Strawberry Preserve

February 4th, 2010

Floridian berry season is upon us. We got some strawberries from a patch that ended up being all bruised up, so I decided to turn them into raw strawberry preserve. It’s quite simple, just blend the berries with some agave syrup or honey to taste and dehydrate until leathery. You can eat it as fruit leather (which Paloma loves), or blend again with a little water to achieve a jam-like consistency.

Raw Strawberry Preserve
In a food processor, puree the berries until smooth. If needed, sweeten with agave, honey, or any other sweetener of choice, to taste. Spread the mass onto Teflex-lined dehydrator sheets thickly and dehydrate at 115F until leathery. Soak the fruit leather in filtered water for two hours. Carefully strain out the water. Blend the mass in a processor again, adding as much water as needed to achieve a jam like consistency.

Tags: a, condiment, dessert, food, raw food, recipe