Lemon-Caper Pasta and...

...A surprise road trip!!!!

My hubby knows I have been missing my family in Florida. Yesterday, he said we could visit them, and we are leaving tomorrow!!! It should be a 'long weekend' trip.

I do love surprises, and this was a major surprise:) To prepare for the trip, I made a checklist of things to bring, and printed out some online recipes, since I will not have internet access there.

The list helped a lot when it came time to pack. Here is a pic of my tiffins and other stainless containers. Some already had some goodies in them:) I will also be making some goodies to enjoy during the 20-something hours we will be driving.


There is a slight chance I will stay for a longer visit, so I also packed some appliances and things like my knife set, nutmilk bag, and of course my favorite gadgets.

Here is one of my favorite recipes I plan on making while I am away.

ETA~I have switched out the original old pic for a heart shaped* pasta for Valentine's Day:) You can still see the original pic on gone raw.

Lemon Caper Pasta

Ingredients:

1 yellow summer squash, organic, or other veggie pasta
1 lemon, organic
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon capers, organic but not raw, drained
1 medium tomato, 1/4 inch dice

gremolata topping:
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley
1 clove garlic
Preparation:

1. Process squash as desired for 'pasta', squeeze dry.

2. Zest lemon(reserve zest) and juice it, should be about 2 tablespoons juice.

3. Combine oil with lemon juice, capers, and only 1/2 of the lemon zest.

4. Pour over squash and mix well.

5. Top with tomato.

* For the heart shape, I used a small heart shaped pan. I placed the tomato in first, topped it with the lemon-caper pasta, put the plate on top and flipped it over. After removing the heart pan, I sprinkled it with the gremolata:)

6. For gremolata, chop remaining zest with parsley and garlic and sprinkle over pasta.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will see you soon!!!

Sarma's Beet Ravioli

Another winner from the pages of Living Raw Food by the lovely Sarma Melngailis.

Pages 201-2 feature this amazing entree.

At first glance, you might think such a beautiful meal would have lots of ingredients and take forever to make. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case :)

To start, prepare the pine nut "goat cheese" filling for the tender ravioli. Simply process* the perfect mix of pine nuts, oil, shallot, lemon zest and juice, nutritional yeast, s&p...see how easy:)

*One tiny little 'oopsie' here, I let it go a bit too long in the processor, and it got a little oily, but still tasted incredible:)

The delectable Rosemary-Cream Sauce includes half of the goat cheese with the addition of lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, water, s&p. I added slightly less water to create a very thick sauce. Again, so easy...

The last step involves slicing beets thinly, and cutting shapes as desired. Since it is how the ravioli is presented in the book, and it is getting close to Valentine's Day, I thought hearts would be nice. Next step is giving them a little soak in oil, lemon juice, and salt.

While they are soaking, you may want to give your fingers and cutting board a nice little scrub, since they will most likely be a lovely shade of pink by now:)

To finish, I drained the beets on a paper towel(don't yell at me, my fellow green peeps) and filled them with a little cheese mixture. Lay them on a plate with some fabulous Rosemary-Cream Sauce, a few drops of balsamic, a sprig of rosemary(or micro greens) and you are done!

This is absolutely one of the tastiest beet ravioli I have ever had. The fact that it is so easy to make is a huge plus. I especially adore the lemony flavors in it.

Sincere thanks to Sarma for sharing this fantastic recipe.

A bit of Magic and a taste of Heaven:)

I could not resist the name of this post:)

The reason?...I made Kate Magic's Marching Biscuits,

and Antony Heaven's Chocolate Spread to go on them!

I recently became a fan of Antony's blog. I love all the recipes he shares with us, and pictures of what he is eating.

There are quite a few of his recipes I would like to try, but we had to start somewhere, right?

Several of Antony's posts mentioned Kate Magic's Marching Biscuits. They looked so good, especially when Antony made his own chocolate spread to top them!

Click here for Antony's Blog post that got me so interested in trying this yummy recipe:) The link to the biscuit recipe is posted there as well.

Here is the link to Antony's post with the Chocolate Spread recipe

You know by now I have a hard time following directions:) I did not have a few of the ingredients, so I omitted them(zylosweet, he shou wu, and purple corn). I used about 3/4 cup of agave for added sweetness. My currants replaced the raisins called for. I also added 1 more cup of water, as Antony suggested.

The directions say to mix and soak just the seeds overnight with the water, but I mixed in the currants, cocoa, and lucuma too.

As soon as I added the water and agave to this mixture, look what happened...

It made me laugh as it started bubbling and gurgling for about a minute. This may be the strangest looking raw food pic I have ever posted...lol!

After everything calmed down, it soaked overnight.

In the morning, I was able to make several different variations. I made some with goji berries,

my favorite:) had dried cherries,


and one I left plain with the currants. I made some into heart shapes, and decorated them with nuts, seeds and lavender.

I cut some into squares and some into long bar shapes...


Click here if you would like some tips on making raw breads and crackers.

I made half the fabulous chocolate spread recipe, and added the cacao, coconut and maca to taste, since I was not sure about the 'd' measurement:)

If you have a stick blender, it is the perfect tool for making half of the spread recipe.



This spread was so delicious! I ate much more than I should have because I sat down on the couch with the spread and a plateful of the long biscuits! I am calling this my lunch for today:)


Try it, and you will see what I mean:)


Thank you so much to Kate Magic, and Antony! I loved both these recipes, and together they are especially awesome.

Rawmazing Turmeric Salad...

...and a winter walk in the Adirondacks:)

One of my quickie posts again! I wanted to share a few pictures from my walk today, but first, what I ate for lunch!

Susan Powers of Rawmazing made a lovely turmeric salad the other day. I love to find new recipes containing healthy turmeric, and this one sounded perfect! I just love Susan's blog. It is so inspiring!


What a wonderful, crisp, sweet, satisfying salad this is! I loved the cheery color, too:)

As usual, I made a couple of small ingredient substitutions. Currants in place of raisins, and chives instead of onion.

I loved how everything came together so quickly, and used ingredients I usually have on hand:)

Thank you to the lovely Susan Powers for this yummy salad recipe! I am so happy you posted this!

Now, please indulge me as I share a few pics from my walk today...

The pics are a little dark, but I was so happy it wasn't very cold out today! How cold was it? Almost 40 degrees:) Although I love the fast and freezing walks, I can't stay out too long when it is in the single digits:)

One of my favorite evergreens:)

A few of my favorite evergreens:)

The lake

Berries that I pretend are gojis:) They must be poisonous or they would have been eaten by something:)


Another peek at the frozen lake


Hope you all are happy, warm, and enjoying some yummy raw food too!

Choccie Cherry Chia Pudding

Happy Monday everyone!

I want to express my sincere gratitude for the wonderful response to my last post, Recipe Index. I added the index icon to the top of the right sidebar for your convenience:) Thank you all so much:)

I have been so inspired by the chia pudding trend lately among fellow bloggers! What chia pudding trend, you say? Check it out!

Cinnamon Raisin Breakfast Chia by Nikki of Yummy Raw Kitchen

Chia pudding by kelli of Animal-Friendly Eating

Chai Chia Pudding by Michal of lil Earth Muffin

Goji Chia Pudding from Raw Goddess from The Adventures of Raw Goddess Heathy

Chia Seed Porridge with Bananas and Raisins by Antony of Antony in London

And I am only going back about a week!!! If you, or someone you know has posted a chia pudding recipe you would like to see added here, please let me know:)

Of course I can never forget my first;)
Chocolate Ecstasy Tapioca Pudding from Slosh-uh on Gone raw!

And here are a few more posted on Gone Raw

Here is a coconut one to try.

How about a warming chia pudding :)

Goji chia pudding

Chia Chocolate Chip pudding!

Chia Mulberry Goji Pudding

Chia pudding is a wonderful way to get in some healthy chia seed. Here is my recipe, inspired by all of the above!

Choccie Cherry Chia Pudding

2 tablespoons chia seed
1 tablespoon hemp seed
1 teaspoon cacao powder
1 teaspoon agave, or sweetener of choice
10 pitted cherries, chopped or halved
1/4 cup brazil nut milk*, or milk of choice:)

*Brazil nut milk:
12 brazil nuts, shelled:)
1 cup water
vanilla and sweetener, optional

For 1 cup of milk:
Blend all ingredients, strain, or not...lol

1. For chia pudding, mix chia, hemp, cacao.
2. Add nut milk. Add as much as desired, but at least 1/4 cup.
3. Stir until combined.
4. Sweeten to taste.
5. Add cherries, and an extra sprinkle of that healthy hemp:)

Chia pudding is a great recipe idea to make your own.

There are endless combinations, just put in what you like:)

Recipe Index

Hi everyone!

The picture posted above has been added to the top of the right sidebar. Click on the picture with the blender in the sidebar to return to this index:)

Here you will find links to all the recipes featured on the happy raw kitchen. They are for recipes I have made and posted on this blog.

Most of the posts they take you to will have the recipe, or link to the recipe found elsewhere online.

And, every single recipe has at least one photo:)

Please let me know if you come across any problems with the links provided.

Thank you, and enjoy:)

Beverages
Kombucha
Cinnamon Roll Smoothie by Joanna Stevens
Raw 'Eggnog':)
Cinnamon Pecan Milk
Cranberry Orange Pear Juice
Warm Almond Milk
Blissful berry smoothie
Triple Thick Chocolate Shake
favorite green smoothie

Breakfast
Raw Sprouted Oatmeal (Maple Cinnamon and Chocolate:)
Sweet Heart Breakfast
Breakfast cookie pops
banana and currants

Chips/Crackers/Breads
Raw Sprouted Bagels
Kate Magic's Marching Biscuits
Raw Corn Muffin Tops:)
Caponata Crisps
Italian Herb Crackers
Raw Sprouted Essene Bread
Raw Rosemary Crackers
Chia-Sesame Cracker
Crisp Herb Crackers


Desserts
Fudgie Hemp Balls
Raw Chocolate Lava Cake
Raw Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes
Trail Mix Truffles
Cinnamon Roll Soft-Serve:)
Strawberry Stracciatella Soft-Serve
Chocolate Banana Pudding Cake
Kate Magic's I Can Go Go Go Too (Chocolates)
Raw Cherry Garcia® Soft Serve
Raw Carrot Cake:)
Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake
Chocolate Pecan Pie:)
Raw Gingerbread Cookies:)
Raw Cherry-Hemp Brownie
Holly-day Raw Eggnog Cake
Spiced Nut Cream
Dates Stuffed with Walnuts and Chai-Vanilla Cream
Raw Cowboy Cookies
Vanilla Chai Spice Macaroon
CranBanApple Parfait
Banana-Pear Soft-Serve
Sweet Potato Soft-Serve
Raw Chocolate
Caramel Coconut Cookies(spooky version)
Hemp Power Ball Truffles
Raw Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Chocolate Durian Ice Cream
Raw Caramel Brownie Bites
Summer Peach Cobbler by Diana Stobo
Hemp Brownie Sundae
Strawberry Ice Cream
Ani Phyo's Mango Tartlets
Cherry Cacao Cobbler by bitt
Cherry Bombs
Russell James' Maca-Ice Cream and Cacao Crackle Sandwiches
Ani Phyo's Carob Walnut Cookies
Chocolate Pecan Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
Halvah Truffle Trio
Choccie Cherry Chia Pudding

Dips/Dressings
Antony Heaven's Chocolate Spread
Sweet Cranberry-Orange Dressing
Creamy Hemp Basil Sauce from Choosing Raw
Cole's Coconut Fruit Dip
Dipping oil for Raw Bread
Kalamata Karma Dressing
Creamy Macadamia-Lime Hemp Dressing
Basil Salsa Verde
blueberry dressing from KMcR
sweet orange dressing
raspberry vinaigrette

Entrees
Heathy's Coconut Chik'n Curry
Mediterranean Wrap w/Red Pepper Hummus by Ani Phyo
Raw Eggplant Caponata
snowdrops Raw Porcini Ravioli in Cream Sauce:)
Chunky Raw Veggie Chili
Fennel & Tomato Tart
Turnip Pasta(inspired by Gena)
Chad Sarno's Beetroot Ravioli
Salsa Finta and Almond Polpetta over Angel Hair Pasta(Russell James)
Spinach Masala (Russell James)
Summer Rolls by paige4
Pesto pasta
Lemon-Caper Pasta
Sarma's Ravioli for Valentine's Day

Holiday/Special Occasion
Watermelon Baby Buggy
Watermelon Basket
Big Chocolate "Kiss"
Kale Salad Wreath
Raw Caponata Turkey:)
Pilgrim Hat Brownies
Sweet Lil' Turkey
The Juiciest Turkey Ever!
Raw Vegan Turkey:)
Spooky Sweets
Vampiric Vermin
Raw Halloween Main Course
Creepy Caponata
Smoky Bones(or jicama fries)
Spooky S&M Salad
Savory Raw Halloween Ideas
Raw Chocolate, Halloween mold
Swamp-water Smoothie(includes floating skull ice sculpture) and snack ideas
The Grim Rimmer
Banana I Scream
Creepy Creature Finger Food(caramel cookies)
Watermelon Brain
Halloween version of Sarma's Congo Bars
Jack-o-Lantern pepper bowl for dip
Boo~nanners, Darlin Clementine Punkins, and Fudgey the Friendly Bat


Salads
Gena's Fig and Pistachio Salad
Lovely Orange-Fennel Salad
Christmas Kale by Jennifer Cornbleet
Berry Festive Wreath Salad
Raw Cranberry Salad
My S&M Salad Recipe
Wilted Kale Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing(Russell James)
bok choy salad
Dandy salad with sweet orange dressing
Pickle-Dilly Salad
Asian cucumber and spinach salad
Korean cucumber salad
Bountiful Bouquet
Berry yummy salad
Rawmazing Turmeric Salad by Susan Powers

Sides
Raw Vegan Bacon
Fun Fries

Snacks/Misc
Real Cream Cheese
Cucumber Cups with Chia Sprouts
Happy Raw Trail Mix
Gena's Sweet Cheese and Crackers
Olive Penguins!
Evergreen Herb Wreath
Vanilla Chai Spice Mix Recipe
Pinecone Cheezeball
Cinnamon Glazed Pecans
Mediterranean Cucumber Cups
Caponata Tartlets
Snackie the Snake
Sweet Strawberry Mice!
Soft Chocolate Chunks
Sweet Cinnamon Butter
Tomato-Olive Bites
Herbes de Provence
Festive fruit stars
Watermelon Mini Cake Delights by rawleen:)
Pretty in Pink treat or strawberry dip
Ladybugs on a Log
fruit fiends

Soups
Orange Sunshine Soup
Red Pepper and Hemp Soup from Choosing Raw
Sweet-n-Special Soup
Warm tomato soup

I will do my best to add recipe links as new ones are posted:) I may also be moving things around a little and adding new categories.

Any suggestions for improving this index are welcome!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

{{{HUGS}}} and happy eating,
Angela:)

Raw Cherry Garcia® Soft Serve

One of the first raw desserts I ever tried was turning frozen bananas into a creamy treat. I first learned of doing this from Living on Live Food (p.516).

Thank you to Alissa Cohen for introducing me to this simply awesome raw dessert.

Of course, the raw food world was forever changed by this post from the lovely Gena of ChoosingRaw:)

Over the last several years, I must have made this hundreds of times, and tried so many different add-ins and flavor combinations.

Here is my favorite:)

You may remember my Halloween version...lol!

For flavor inspiration, I love to check out all the flavors at the Ben and Jerry website. Today I tried a raw Cherry Garcia® soft serve!

The base of the ice cream is of course frozen slices of banana. I used about 4 bananas, and pulsed them in the food processor using the "S" blade to about the size of peas. I added some pitted cherries, about 1/2 a cup, and 1/2 a teaspoon of cherry extract, and continued processing until a soft-serve consistency was reached. I did stop to scrape down the sides several times.

To this mix, I tossed in some raw chocolate chunks, and small handful of chopped cherries. Three or four more pulses mixed it all in. This makes 2 servings for me.

The chocolate was just some leftover Christmas Chocolates:)

This was awesome by itself, but so much better with a little chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of chia seed:)


Since I like to have mostly fruit for breakfast, I must confess this is what I had today. Is chocolate considered a fruit?

I just love raw food:)

Raw Carrot Cake:)

Today, as I caught up on some reading, I came across this awesome post from Pam of the wonderful blog, A Love For New Recipes.

Pam is celebrating her 1 year "blogiversary" and made a yummy looking spice cake. Happy blogiversary, Pam!!!

Most times there is a raw alternative to a cooked recipe, and I remembered that one of my favorite raw chefs, Russell James, had a lovely looking Carrot & Orange Cake recipe:)
eta link is broken here are the ingredients:
 

A short while later, I was eating this yummy cake!

It was dense, moist, and delicious!

I even made a few bite-sized muffins

I made only half the recipe, just for me:) I subbed currants for the raisins, and mixed a little frosting into the cake to help it set up a bit since I did not dehydrate it.

~ETA...I just noticed the directions say to mix it in a bowl. I just pulsed it all in the processor:) I really have to learn to follow directions:)!!

The carrot decoration is thin slices of carrot, cut to look like a tiny carrot or flower with a mint leaf top:) If your carrots have the tops on them, you can use a little for the green, or even a tiny parsley leaf.

Thank you to raw Chef Russell James for another awesome recipe:)

Thanks to Pam for the inspiration!
*********************************

Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake

I feel like I am the last raw food blogger on earth to try Ani Phyo's famous Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake! Really, I don't know what took me so long:)

It is featured on page 49 of Ani's Raw Food Desserts book. If you love fast, easy, and delicious desserts, I highly recommend this book:) You can find it through her website.

Check out my first taste of Ani's recipes here.

I loved Ani's mango tart-lets, as well!

A quick Google search found the recipe online.

I was very impressed with this recipe! It has very few ingredients, and comes together in a flash!

The rich cake is made from walnuts, cacao powder, dates and salt. The creamy ganache is a blend of dates, agave, avocado, and cacao powder. The raspberry filling is simply raspberries:) I was lazy and made the frosting first, and didn't wash the processor in between...shhh, don't tell;)

I shaped it by packing it in a 5 inch spring-form pan. It is such a cute cake! I think you could easily make cupcakes with it too:)


Thanks to raw Chef Ani Phyo for this yummy recipe:)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by:)

Raw Corn Muffin Tops:)

Sometimes I see a recipe that I can't wait to try...so I don't!!!

The lovely Kelli made a comment on my chili post the other day and mentioned she might try making Mosaica's corn bread with it.

Thank you Google, I found the recipe within seconds:)

The recipe is posted on The Sunny Raw Kitchen blog. There is also a yummy looking chili on the same post:)

A few minutes later, the food processor was spinning. I tweaked the recipe slightly to make little bite sized muffin tops. I simply ground the sunflower and sesame seeds to a flour.

I also reduced the amount of some of the spices(salt, paprika, onion, garlic) by half. The recipe called for a small red pepper, and a small yellow pepper. Since red and yellow make orange:) I just used 1 large orange pepper..hehe!

I scooped the muffin top batter onto the teflex sheets using a mini ice cream scooper. I think the recipe made about 2 dozen:) Total drying time was around 8 or 9 hours at 112 degrees. I shut the dehydrator off after about 5 hours since it was bedtime, put the muffin tops in a container in the fridge, and resumed drying in the morning. At lunchtime, they were perfect!

I really enjoyed this recipe. They were perfect with the second serving of chunky raw veggie chili:)

I whipped up a bit of coconut oil with a dash of hemp oil and salt for the "butter". It melted right into the warm corn muffin tops, oh yeah:)

Thanks so much to Mosaica for this delicious recipe:)

Of course my Google search revealed a few more awesome looking raw corn bread recipes to try!!!

Here is a wonderful looking recipe for raw cornbread on Raw Food Talk by Katchmoleen.

Raw Food Tulsa Warm Corn Bread

Corn Bread recipe on From Sad to Raw

Cornbread Sandwich recipe by sweetpea on gone raw:)

I am sure there are more out there!

Ahhhh....so many recipes, so little time:)

Chunky Raw Veggie Chili

With over four thousand raw recipes, Gone Raw is always my go-to site for trying something new:) I always make sure to check at least once a week for new recipes there.

Today I tried the Veggie Chili from starjen42. Check out all the awesome comments on the recipe page. Everyone loved it!

As usual, I adjusted the recipe to my own tastes:) I added a bit of cayenne to kick it up a notch, and had to make some ingredient substitutions. I like chili really hearty and chunky, and slightly warmed in the dehydrator. Before I went for my 'brisk' (fast and freezing) walk today, I left the chili and the bowl to warm up:)

I was not gone for very long (baby, it's cold outside), so I enjoyed a cup of my favorite mate when I got home. Check out the new reusable ceramic cup I found at the grocery store:)


About a half hour later, my chili and bowl were both nice and warm. I was so glad I made a double recipe, because I loved it!

Thanks to starjen42 for the wonderful, warming recipe:)


Stay warm, everyone!

Chocolate Pecan Pie:)

Happy Monday everyone! I wanted to start the new year off in a sweet way:) This will be another one of my quickie posts, but I wanted to share this amazing dessert with you!

I was just reminded of this yummy pecan pie by Jennifer Cornbleet. I first saw it posted by Joyce of Beautiful Living Food in Vermont. It was recently posted by Kelli from the blog, Animal-Friendly Eating.

The recipe is featured in Jennifer Cornbleet's book, Raw For Dessert.

A nut crust spread with chocolate ganache, topped with a smooth date based filling and yummy pecans. I did alter the recipe slightly to taste and ingredient availability as I went along:)

As Joyce said, this has to be one of the richest, most decadent raw desserts ever!


This was surprisingly quick to put together. I chilled it outside on the porch today, so it was ready about 1 hour after filling...hehe!

Just a small slice of this amazing pie should be enough to satisfy any sweet tooth! I am hoping it freezes well because I had almost all of the slice shown, and cut the rest and put it in the freezer. I love to have a beautiful dessert like this on hand for when the mood strikes me to have something sweet:)

Thanks to the lovely Jennifer Cornbleet for the recipe, and to Joyce and Kelli for posting on their blogs about how amazing it is:)

I am off to enjoy this beautiful sunny, but very cold day!!! See you soon:)