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.

Chad Sarno's Beetroot Ravioli

This is an amazing and versatile recipe from Green Chef Chad Sarno . It is found on the gliving website. Click here for the recipe.

There are some steps that will take time to prepare. You may actually need a few days:)

The creamy cheese filling can be made using probiotic powder, or rejuvelac. I already had some rejuvelac on hand, so I used that.

Soaked cashews are blended with the rejuvelac, and cultured 14-16 hours. I like to let my cheeses go 24 hours, since my house is usually a little chilly.

Once the cheese is fermented, it is mixed with some lovely herbs, nutritional yeast, pepper, and salt. I prefer to use dried herbs in most of my cheeses, as the fresh ones add moisture and sometimes separate from the cheese. I left out the shallots called for, and used a bit less salt.

The green garlic oil needs 1 day to infuse, but I made it earlier and kept it in the fridge:)

The beet ravioli wrappers need at least an hour or so to soften in the garlic oil and some salt and pepper.

To assemble, simply fill the beet slices with a little cheese, drizzle a bit of the green oil and balsamic, and add a sprinkle of chives. I had a wide beet, so I used 1 beet slice folded over instead of 2 per ravioli:)

This was so good! Well worth the time needed to make it:) Thank you to Chef Chad Sarno for this recipe!

The delicious cheese was my favorite part of this recipe. I did a little remix with the ingredients and used it as a dip for some red beet chips. Simply slice and dehydrate a beet until crisp. Sprinkle with the green oil and balsamic, add a few chives, and dip in the creamy cheese.

I also formed some cheese into a heart shape by packing it in a cookie cutter. This really took care of my 'cheese and cracker' craving! The crisp crackers were another variation of my rosemary crackers:

Italian Herb Crackers

2 cups almonds, soaked 8 hours, rinsed and drained
½ cup Chia seed, ground fine
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs
1/2 -1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1 cup fresh water

1. In food processor fitted with “S” blade, grind almonds till coarse.

2. Add herbs, chia seed, and salt and process till combined.

3. With machine running, add water to form dough.

4. Let stand a few minutes to thicken.

5. Divide between 2 teflex sheets and roll covered with cling wrap.

6. Peel back wrap and sprinkle with extra herbs, if desired.

7. Replace wrap and roll lightly to set herbs.

8. Score as desired, or cut into shapes with cookie cutters as shown.

9. Dehydrate at 112 degrees, turning halfway through until crisp.

Store in glass jars for several weeks.

Basil Salsa Verde

Many times I find a lovely mostly raw recipe in a 'regular' magazine. This is a quick and easy recipe found in First magazine by Aida Mollenkamp of The Food Network. This recipe is also found online.

Thanks to Aida Mollenkamp for this wonderful, flavorful recipe!

Here is the recipe as it appeared in the magazine:

I just grabbed a handful of basil and flat leaf parsley and chopped them up with 1/2 a shallot. I added 3 tablespoons of capers to a small bowl, and added about 3 tablespoons of my favorite olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon. I did not use the salt, as the capers have enough salt for my taste:) Just a few grinds of pepper, and the salsa verde was done! The capers are considered 'not raw' in this recipe, but I love them so much I often include them in small amounts. I thought of using raw olives next time for all, or part of the capers.Update: Here it is using olives:)

I can think of quite a few things I would like to try this simple recipe on, but for today, I made a quick lunch by topping some crisp crackers with juicy slices of tomato and the salsa verde. A tiny basil leaf and few pine nuts for garnish made these little canapés burst with flavor in my mouth! If you don't have crackers made, this makes a great topping for thick tomato slices. I also added a drizzle of balsamic before devouring them:)

The crackers were a variation of my rosemary crackers using Herbes de Provence in place of rosemary. The mini-breadstix were quite tasty dipped in the salsa too.


Crisp Herb Crackers
Ingredients:
2 cups almonds, soaked 8 hours, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole golden flax seed, ground after measure
1 cup fresh water
1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence*
1/2- 1 teaspoon salt
Additional herbs for top of crackers, optional

1. In food processor fitted with "S" blade, process almonds until coarsely ground.

2. Add nutritional yeast, flax, herbs, and salt, and process until combined. Adjust seasonings as desired.

3. With machine running, pour in water to form dough. Let mixture stand a few minutes to thicken if it seems too wet

4. Divide mixture in half and roll out onto 2 teflex sheets, sprinkle with additional herbs if desired, and score into crackers. I also rolled some mini-breadstix:)

5. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for about 8 hours, flipping about halfway through. Drying time depends on thickness of crackers.

6. Store in glass jars for several weeks.

*Here is a recipe for the Herbes de Provence, but you can buy this already blended.

Herbes de Provence
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon chervil
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon summer savory
1 teaspoon lavender
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon mint
2 chopped bay leaves

Mix together all of the ingredients and store in a tightly sealed container.
Makes about 1/3 cup herb mix

Chia-Sesame Cracker

This was my very first recipe ever posted on gone raw. It was the first recipe I made in my dehydrator, too! I still make it almost weekly. It is a sweet way to include healthy chia seeds in your raw food diet.

This makes a light, crisp, sweet cracker.

Chia-Sesame Cracker

Ingredients:
1 cup chia seeds, unsoaked
1 cup unhulled brown sesame seeds, soaked 8 hours or overnight*
½ cup light agave, or date syrup
¼ cup water, or maple syrup(not raw)**

*Also yummy using 2/3 cup chia, 2/3 cup sesame and 2/3 cup hemp seeds:)

**For the liquid, I sometimes use 1/4cup water, 1/4cup agave, and 1/4cup maple syrup... as long as there is about 3/4cup total liquid, it's all good! I always include some maple syrup:) This is how I made the ones pictured above.

Preparation:
1. Mix all ingredients together.

2. Allow mixture to stand (stir a few times) for about an hour, or more, to thicken and all liquid has been absorbed. Don't skip this step:)

3. Roll out, covered with food wrap, 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick on parchment paper on mesh sheet. These will work on teflex sheets, but take much longer to dry.

4. Score into desired size crackers.

5. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for 18-20 hours till crisp, or as desired.

This recipe will make 1 excalibur sheet if rolled 1/4 inch thick, or two sheets if 1/8 inch thick. The crackers pictured were rolled to 1/4 inch since I only had one open sheet in my dehydrator at the time, but I prefer them 1/8 inch:)

Click here if you would like some helpful tips on making crackers.


I love these just as they are, but they are also wonderful with your favorite jam, or nut butter.

They will keep for several weeks in a glass jar.

Here is a link to a page by Angela Stokes with lots of info and 10 more recipes for chia!

Click here for chia nutrition facts.

My S&M Salad Recipe

Cool salads are perfect on a warm summer day! I have been having this salad a lot lately. I created the creamy dressing as an alternate for Sarma Melngailis' popular S&M Salad.The salad is simply mixed baby lettuce with avocado cubes, a sprinkle of hemp seeds, and some torn dulse. Sarma has her recipe for the famous S&M salad posted in this interview. It is also in her most recent book, 'Living Raw Food'.

Creamy Macadamia-Lime Hemp Dressing

Ingredients:
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup fresh lime juice*
1/4 cup fresh water
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 tablespoon agave, more or less, to taste
additional 1/4 cup fresh water or more if needed

1. In blender, combine nuts, lime juice, 1/4 cup water, and agave until creamy.

2. With blender running, add additional water until desired thickness is reached.

3. Mix in hemp seeds by hand.

Makes enough for 2 or 3 good sized salads. Keep in fridge 2-3 days in glass jar.
This is awesome as a dressing in a plain avocado half.

*to get the most juice out of your lime, have them at room temperature, press down on them and roll back and forth several times on the counter before cutting and reaming.



Raw Rosemary Crackers

Ingredients:
2 cups almonds, soaked 8 hours, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole golden flax seed, ground after measure
1 cup fresh water
1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
Additional rosemary for top of crackers, optional

1. In food processor fitted with "S" blade, process almonds until coarsely ground.

2. Add nutritional yeast, flax, rosemary, and salt, and process until combined. Adjust seasonings as desired.

3. With machine running, pour in water to form dough. Let mixture stand a few minutes to thicken if it seems too wet

4. Divide mixture in half and roll out onto 2 teflex sheets, sprinkle with additional rosemary if desired, and score into crackers. These are scored into 1" and 1/4" crackers. Check my post about making breads and crackers for some helpful tips:)

5. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for about 8 hours, flipping about halfway through. Drying time depends on thickness of crackers.

6. Store in glass jars for several weeks.

This is a very forgiving cracker recipe. It will work with more or less flax seed, rosemary, yeast and salt according to your personal preference:) These are also excellent using different herb blends, especially Italian mixed herbs, za'atar, or Herbes de Provence.

I could not resist making my own "Rosemary Quackers"...hehe, sorry:)

Check your dulse carefully!!!!!

I buy the large whole dulse in the bulk bins, and they usually contain a shell or two. This little critter was hiding!

A word about raw almonds...

As you probably know, all almonds purchased in the U.S. are now pasteurized. I still soak my almonds at least 8 hours before using them. They plump up and are very easy to peel at this point if desired. They pop right out of the skin if you pinch them after soaking.
The almonds in the picture show unsoaked (top right), soaked (bottom right), peeled(bottom left), and the empty skins (top left). Notice the soaked almonds get a white point that sticks out at the tip. The soaked almonds are smooth and plump, and quite a bit larger than unsoaked. The soaked almonds can be dehydrated and ground for almond flour, or just a crunchy snack.