Salsa Finta and Almond Polpetta over Angel Hair Pasta

....or, spaghetti and meatballs!

Last night, I made my family regular spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Usually I am not tempted to eat what I make for everyone else, but I love angel hair pasta:) To ease my craving, I did have a tiny bowl of the pasta, but for lunch today, I made Russell James' Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta. This really satisfied my craving, and it was nice to know I could enjoy as much as I wanted:) Please visit the link for the recipe from his blog:)

What can I say...the man is a genius :)

Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta


First, you make the Salsa Finta, as you need a small amount to put into the Polpetta (meatballs). It blends up in a flash, the perfect mix of dried and fresh tomato, oil, basil, garlic, lemon juice and a touch of sweetener. I omitted the small amount of water, because my tomatoes were very juicy and I usually prefer a thicker sauce.

The Polpetta are prepared in the food processor. Sprouted almonds mixed with 1/4 cup of the Salsa Finta, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, parsley, Italian herbs and onion (I used chives). The moist mixture is formed into small balls and dehydrated to perfection for several hours. The outside was crisp, while the inside remained soft and moist. When ready, you mix the Polpetta with the remaining Salsa Finta.

Russell serves this over greens and zucchini ribbon pasta, but since I wanted the more traditional spaghetti and meatballs, I spiralized a medium sized turnip. I am always amazed when I see the long strands of my "pasta" come out of that little spiralizer:) I mix them with a drizzle of olive oil, and a few grinds of pink salt to soften, like you do with rawvioli:)

Once again, I want to thank The Raw Chef Russell James for the recipe.

Dessert for Breakfast?

Sure why not! One of my favorite things about being a raw foodie is throwing out all the old "rules" about eating. I usually stick to just fruit or smoothies in the morning, but if there is something I crave, I just eat it:)

This morning there was a lovely new recipe on my favorite recipe site, gone raw.

Summer Peach Cobbler by Diana Stobo.

You won't believe how quickly you can create this beautiful recipe.
I had the most amazing juicy ripe peach to make this with. After slicing and mixing the peach with a touch of cinnamon and agave, I packed the slices in a small springform pan, and topped it with the cashew, cinnamon, and date crumb mixture. There were some lovely juices from marinating that I poured on top before eating.

Thanks to Diana Stobo for the wonderful recipe!

Love That Kale!

Before becoming a raw foodie, I don't remember ever eating kale. Boy, has that changed!
I average 3 bunches of kale per week. I sometimes wonder how many trays of kale chips are considered a serving...2 or 3?:)
Kale salad is also a favorite.I always love getting my hands right in the bowl to massage it:) It always amazes me how it becomes so soft and tasty.
This recipe has been haunting me ever since I saw it:) Yes, it is yet another awesome recipe by The Raw Chef Russell James. 
link no longer works, but here are the ingredients:
 

Wilted Kale Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing

This has to be one of the best kale salads I have ever had! The flavor is so unique, due to the addition of chipotle pepper in the creamy dressing. I used a bunch of dino (lacinato) kale with about 1 teaspoon of salt, and made about 1/2 the dressing recipe with 1 avocado for my salad. I massaged the dressing into the kale for a minute before adding tomato and hemp. I halved a dozen cherry tomatoes and tossed in a handful of hemp seeds. It is so creamy and satisfying! I was planning on making chips with the remaining 2 bunches of kale, but now I am not so sure;)

***Kale update: only about 1/2 a bunch made it into the dehydrator as chips:)

Sincere thanks to Chef Russell James for another incredible recipe.

Raw Porcini Ravioli in Cream Sauce:)

This was another one of those recipes that I knew I had to try once I saw it! The recipe is Raw Porcini Ravioli in Cream Sauce by snowdrop. It can be found on her blog Adirondack Raw Food Connection. (Yay!!..another raw foodie in the Adirondacks:))
This is such a lovely recipe. I really enjoyed making, and of course, eating it. Aside from the soaking time for the cashews and mushrooms, it came together very quickly. The ravioli are thinly sliced turnip, filled with a creamy purée of parsnip and marinated mushrooms. After warming about an hour in the dehydrator to soften, they are placed on a beautiful cream sauce with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley. Simply elegant!
Enjoying this for dinner tonight turned an ordinary day into something special!
Thank you to snowdrop for the wonderful recipe:) I am looking forward to your upcoming book!

Here are the mushrooms I used, found in the produce section of the market.

Russell James Remix

I can seldom make a recipe without thinking of 10 other things I can make with it. You may remember how much I loved Chef Russell James' Broccoli in Hoisini Sauce from his recent eZine. I actually e-mailed him to say how much I have been enjoying his recipes. I have made it several times since my post, and thought it may be time to mix it up a little:)
Today, I doubled the Hoisini Sauce, (which I do anyway because it is so good), and used it over some spiralized parsnip, with a sprinkle of scallion, pepper flakes and sesame seed. I like the sauce slightly sweeter, and sometimes add a splash of water to thin it a little. I also took the broccoli and added some chopped red and orange bell pepper and parsnip.I still marinated the veggies in lemon juice, tamari and oil, but subbed sesame oil this time.I added some hoisini sauce to them, but chose not to warm the veggies today as I was quite hungry:) Next time , I may use lime juice instead of lemon for more of a Pad Thai feeling.

Don't be afraid to mix it up and have fun with raw recipes.
Special thanks to Chef Russell James for the recipe and inspiration:)

I love to experiment with recipes. After realizing the ingredients in most "cheesecakes" are similar to the ingredients in "ice cream", I have tweaked some cake filling recipes and turned them into a rich ice cream!

Here is a picture of one of my favorite places. It is a short bike ride from my house, and I always spend some time here :)

Hemp Brownie Sundae

As soon as I saw this hemp brownie recipe by bitt on gone raw yesterday, I knew I would have to make it!
My favorite recipes lately have been quick and easy, so this one fit right in:)
It is a great way to get in more healthy hemp and pumpkin seeds.
Thanks to bitt for another great recipe!

I doubled the recipe, and shaped the mix in a bite-size brownie pan. Chilling the brownies make them easier to release from the mold. I dipped the top of each brownie bite in additional hemp seeds, then decorated some with goji berries, walnut halves, or a pumpkin seed.
For the little sundae, take a brownie, and top it with a mini scoop of stRAWberry ice cream. The chocolate sauce is just blended date paste, coconut oil, and cocoa powder, but this recipe looks great!

Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked almonds, sprouted if desired
¾ cup hemp seeds
1 cup fresh water
3 cups ripe strawberries, washed, hulled
½ cup date paste, soaked dates,blended with water
1 inch vanilla bean seeds, or 1 tsp. extract
optional:
up to 1 tablespoon beet juice to enhance color

Preparation:

1.blend almonds,hemp,and water.

2.strain using nut milk bag.you should have about 1 cup “cream”.*

3.add cream to blender with berries ,vanilla, date paste, and beet juice if using.

4.process in 1 and1/2 quart ice cream maker.

*this recipe was made before I had a high speed blender, so now I don't strain:)
Sweet ripe strawberries are best for this recipe. The strawberry flavor may be enhanced by adding a ripple of strawberry jam(strawberries blended with a few dates).

Just adding this pretty butterfly pic from today:) The milkweed has grown so much and is flowering now.

Mango Tartlets

I almost forgot about the first recipe that caught my eye from Ani's Raw Food Desserts book. The Mango Sorbet-Macaroon Tartlets! I was surprised how quickly these came together. Last night , I peeled and cut up a couple of mangoes, and put them in the freezer. This morning I made the crust but must have used a much smaller tartlet because the recipe said it makes 4 and I made 8! While the crusts chilled in the freezer, the sorbet was prepared in the blender. As soon as the crusts were hard, I spooned a little sorbet into each one, and added a sprig of mint and a candied orange zest garnish(page 157). The sorbet was amazing but quite soft , so I put the remainder in the ice cream maker for a few minutes. Since it was semi-frozen already it took about 6 minutes to firm up. I was able to put more filling in the tarts with this mixture. There was plenty of sorbet left over, but it quickly disappeared ;)
There are only 4 ingredients in the crust, and 3 in the filling. It doesn't get much easier than that for such a beautiful dessert! These are so delicious, I am sure I will be making them again. You can also see this recipe on Ani's website.

Here are the firmer tartlets

Thanks again to Chef Ani Phyo for the wonderful recipe.

Here is a pic of the little tart tins I used:

They are so old, there is no manufacturer on the box(only says 'made in Sweden'), but these look similar. The wooden tamper is helpful if you make a lot of tarts or crumb crusts, like for cheesecake. You can use either end. It is designed for use in mini or regular muffin tins, but works well in the bottom of any size pan or pie plate. I could only use it in the round ones today.
The other helpful gadgets I used for this recipe are the soft fruit peeler and the mango pitter. I guess I love my gadgets:)

Cheery Cherries:)

This mornings' breakfast was determined by the fact that there were over 3 pounds of cherries in the fridge:) I have been wanting to try the yummy looking Cherry Cacao Cobbler by bitt on gone raw. This recipe is great! It is very quick to make, and really brings out the flavor of beautiful fresh cherries.

ETA: since the goneraw.com website works intermittently lately, here is the recipe(copied and pasted)
 

I had some leftover crust/ crumb mixture, so I made little scoops of chocolate almond, vanilla, and cherry ice cream. I took a pitted cherry and pressed it into the scoop, and shaped it into a ball again. I then rolled each ball in the crumb mixture, and put them on a cookie sheet to freeze solid. The chocolate almond were my favorite.

Cherry Bombs!

Thanks to bitt for the great recipe!

Russell James

Today I enjoyed another wonderful dish from raw Chef Russell James. Lunch was the new recipe from his eZine, Broccoli in Hoisini Sauce, and for dessert, his Maca-Ice Cream and Cacao Crackle Sandwiches from his blog.

Broccoli in Hoisini Sauce

The broccoli and "rice" is a very easy and delicious recipe, and quick aside from the 4 hours needed to warm the broccoli in the dehydrator. First the broccoli is massaged with lemon juice, olive oil, and tamari. After warming, it is dressed with a creamy blend of tahini, lemon juice, sweetener, vinegar, tamari, garlic, ginger, and chili. You may want to double the sauce recipe:) The parsnip "rice" is mixed with pine nuts, mac nuts, miso, sesame oil and spring onion. This would also make a great sushi rice.

Check out my remix of this dish ...good thing I was sitting down when I read comment #5:)

Here is a picture of the sweet ice cream sandwiches

I followed his recipe for the ice cream, but used half coconut oil for the cocoa butter in the chocolate crackle, like my chocolate chips:) The smaller sandwiches were made in a silicone pan for brownie bites and the ice cream was shaped in them, as well. They made such cute little treats! I may just dip them in the chocolate next time, like a little bon-bon.
Thanks to Russell James for his outstanding recipes:)
Please visit The Raw Chef Blog, and sign up to receive Chef Russell James' News from the Kitchen.

Fourth of July

For the upcoming holiday weekend, I thought I would share some easy ideas for celebrating in the raw!

Raw American Flag Cake

I am sure you have seen the popular flag cake. This one is all raw! Simply make your favorite raw cake or brownie and finish it with a white cream. Decorate as shown with fresh raspberries and blueberries. This is a raw raspberry swirl cheesecake, but it could be anything you like since it is covered with raw white cream. I think lemon bars, or all ice cream would be awesome! I laid out the berries on the lid of the pan so I was sure I had enough. They were easy to transfer to the cake this way. I thought about using cut strawberries for the red stripes, but was afraid they would release their juices onto the nice white frosting. You can make the base cake ahead of time , but it is best to add the berries as close to serving as possible.
To release the cake from the pan,right before serving, fill your sink with a few inches of very hot water, just less than the height of the pan. Carefully dip the pan in the water for about 10 seconds.














Patriotic Parfait

Simply spoon alternate layers of berries and cream(or ice cream) in a glass.

These pops are "da bomb"!

Fill popsicle molds first with whole blueberries and vanilla (or coconut) ice cream, then with a couple of layers of vanilla ice cream and raspberry jam. Swirl slightly , if desired and freeze until hard. Poke each pop through a cupcake paper to prevent drips on tiny hands:)

Ice Cream Cones:

July is National Ice Cream Month! We know how yummy dairy free ice cream is:) It is very easy to "rawify" ice cream recipes. Check out Ben and Jerry's for some flavor ideas:)
The cupcake papers are a great way to wrap cones. Simply wrap a flattened paper around cone for a pretty holder. Secure paper with a piece of tape, or a little glue stick if you are careful to only get it on the paper:) The tiny pinwheels came with the papers. This cone is Ani Phyo's recipe from her dessert book in the previous post. Remember, I made circles to form my cones:)

There are more patriotic ideas on my Memorial Day post.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

Three cheers for the raw, white, and blue!!!