October 1st, 2010
Some foods have a distinct seasonal disposition. Ice cream for summertime, apple pie in the autumn, hot soup during winter, and roasted artichoke in the spring. Well, I have a feeling that this soup surpasses seasons. It’s both light and hearty and is just as delicious chilled as it is warm.
I often daydream about food and make up different recipes while doing things unrelated to cooking. Well recently, in the middle of a daydream, I got an idea for making a soup that would have nut milk for its base. I imagined a bowl full of soup that is “blond” and creamy, and became excited about the possibilities of the milk’s earthy flavour.
It took quite a bit of experimentation until I was able to minimize the ingredients to two simple companions to almond milk – apple and fennel. Combined with the milk’s nutty taste, the two bring a sweet and fresh presence to the bowl. The spice of chili and coriander deepens the flavour and ties the whole thing together with a slight kick. The use of nut milk instead of whole nuts makes for a much lighter soup.
Pumpkinseed cheese is a fairly recent discovery. The first time I made it, I could not believe what a wonderful result I got with so few ingredients. It’s a bit like a cracker. A cheesy, healthy, and delicious one. I’ve made it very frequently over the past couple of months. It’s simple, and works as a wonderful snack or part of a meal. I like to serve the soup with this “cheese,” but it’s very possible to pair it with any crackers of your choice.
Almond Milk
1 cup almonds – soaked overnight
3 cups water
3 dates
In a high speed blender, thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
Strain through a nut bag or double lined cheesecloth, carefully squeezing all the liquid out. Use 2 cups of the milk for soup, and if you have some left over, enjoy it with your breakfast or cookies. You can make these cookies out of the left-over almond pulp.
Creamy Apple-Anise Soup
2 cups almond milk
1 fennel bulb – roughly chopped
1 large apple (any kind) – cored and roughly chopped, reserve 1/4 for garnish
1 handful fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 small chili pepper – seeded
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
Garnish
the reserved 1/4 of apple – cut in small cubes
pumpkin seeds – optionally soaked and dehydrated for extra crunch
drizzle of chili olive oil (optional) – olive oil mixed with chili powder
fresh mint or cilantro leaves
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Adjust the salt and spices. Garnish with the cubed apple, pumpkin seeds, and a drizzle of chili olive oil. Before serving, heat up in the dehydrator or serve chilled.
Pumpkinseed Cheese
1 cup pumpkin seeds – soaked overnight
1/4 cup purified water
1/8 cup lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
In a food processor, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Thinly spread onto Teflex sheets and dehydrate at 115F for 6 hours. Flip and remove the Teflex. Break into pieces and dehydrate for another 2 hours.
Tags: food, raw food, recipe, savoury, snack, soup
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June 15th, 2010
In the midst of summer heat, time seems to become lazy – it stretches and yawns, while the white sun works after-hours and hangs high on the horizon until late in the evening. All of a sudden, we grow a need for afternoon naps, bottles of sunscreen, and glasses upon glasses of chilled rooibos. Summer appetites also differ from colder weather cravings – we want less comfort food, and more fresh, adventurous flavours. This soup is undoubtedly the dish for such heat. It’s incredibly refreshing and full of taste. I’m always on the lookout for different ideas for gazpacho, and mint is what makes the flavours in this one especially interesting and layered. I also like to make raw Spicy Herb Crackers to accompany the soup.
This recipe (from an old issue of Food&Wine) calls for green zebra tomatoes – a beautiful variety of heirloom tomatoes. Unfortunately I’ve never encountered them here in Florida. Instead, I chose to use organic plum tomatoes and tomatillos, which make a great pair.
2 lb tomatoes (half and half plum tomatoes and tomatillos) – coarsely chopped, plus 1 tomato for garnish
1 unpeeled seedless cucumber – coarsely chopped, and some for garnish
1 medium sweet onion – coarsely chopped
1 Hass avocado – peeled and pitted
1 small jalapeno – seeded
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup purified water
a small handful of mint leaves (plus some for garnish)
a small handful of cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil (plus some for drizzling)
Salt and pepper to taste
Using a food processor, combine half each of the tomatoes-tomatillos, cucumber, and onion with the avocado, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, and 1 cup purified water. Blend until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Put the remaining tomatoes-tomatillos, cucumber, and onion into a food processor, along with the mint, cilantro, and olive oil and pulse to make a chunky puree. Add the puree to the blended mass, salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Refrigerate until chilled. Garnish the gazpacho with mint leaves, a drizzle of olive oil, and any other ingredients you put away for dollup.
Enjoy on a hot summer day!
Spicy herb cracker recipe here.
Tags: food, raw food, recipe, savoury, soup
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May 13th, 2010
Asparagus is a vegetable that I grew to like during my years in America – we never cooked with it in Russia. Up until recently, I prepared it the conventional way – steamed or grilled. Every time while cutting off tough ends of the spear, I would chop off a little piece for myself to enjoy its crunchy and fresh flavour. It always tasted better than cooked and the thought of serving raw asparagus often crossed my mind. Asparagus is a wonderful spring vegetable and is especially rich in vitamin K and folic acid, as well as a whole spectrum of other vitamins and minerals.
This soup is as easy in preparation, as it is impressive in taste and presentation. I like to serve it at small gatherings, when other dishes are much more involved. It’s also a sure way to impress skeptical eaters. I never announce that dishes are raw prior to my guests tasting them. Instead, I wait for their pleased faces and then surprise them with the news.
The recipe is adapted from Awesome to be Rawsome.
Soup:
1/4 cup of raw cashew nuts per 6-8 asparagus spears
juice of 1/2 lemon
some purified water
sea salt to taste
Optional garnish:
I use kelp noodles, which are completely neutral in taste and take on the flavours within your dish, bringing interesting noodle-like texture and loads of health benefits to the plate
Wild mushrooms, prepared according to this recipe
Soak the cashews in purified water for about an hour. Cut or break off tough ends of asparagus and discard them. Cut off the tender tips of the spears and combine with kelp noodles (if using), squeezing the lemon juice over them to marinate for a bit, while you make the soup. Cut the remaining asparagus spears into pieces and put them into a blender together with the cashews. Cover with water, blend until smooth, and add salt if desired. Slice the asparagus tips into smaller pieces. Stir them into the blended mixture along with lemon juice and noodles. When pomegranate is in season, you can sprinkle several kernels on top for an amazing contrast in colour and taste.
Regular “raw,” or untoasted cashews that are sold in grocery stores are most often not raw. After harvest, nuts are put through a steaming process, which softens their hard outer shells. Apparently, only a couple of cashew producers use a technique that doesn’t involve high temperature steaming. Thus, if it’s important to you, look for “really raw cashews” which are available through various websites (although the reliability is often unclear, as there is a lack of regulations).
Apologies for the recent lack of posts. We’re both busy as bees. We’ll be back up to regular programming in a bit.
Post by: A
Tags: a, food, raw food, recipe, savoury, soup
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March 11th, 2010
This is another recipe from the small series of cooked soups that I feed Paloma and the rest of the family on wintry days. It looks like spring has come to stay, hopefully bringing with it fresh fruits in abundance, so there will be no need for hot cooked food for a while. Still, we Russians are fond of soups. Whether cooked or raw, they are a large part of our diet. Usually, as culture permits, soups are eaten for lunch. So does Paloma, and this best ever lentil soup is one of her favourites. I found the recipe about ten years ago in a Williams-Sonoma Soup cookbook. I’ve yet to meet someone who dislikes it.
Lentil Soup
about 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion – finely chopped
1-2 celery stalks – thinly sliced
1 carrot – peeled and thinly sliced
2-4 cloves of garlic – minced
1 bay leaf (optional)
1-2 teaspoons curry powder*
1 medium tomato – diced
1/2 to 1 cup (depending on how thick you’d like your soup) of pink and French (Puy) lentils (other varieties can be used, but the combination of those two is my favorite)
6 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh spinach
1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
*I use muchi curry in particular, it is spicier (so you need less of it), and more flavourful. This curry can be found in bulk in health food stores.
In a medium size pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and bay leaf and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato, lentils, and broth. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover partially, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Remove the soup from the heat, and stir in the spinach. Squeeze some lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
More soups from the series: Mushroom Barley, Chili
Post by:A
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