In fact, the whole holiday week has been very nice. We had a holiday luncheon feast at work, which everyone brought a dish or two. I made a kale salad (imagine that), a raw butternut squash pie, and some chocolate carrot-orange mouse cakes with chocolate pudding frosting...all so very yummy! I was also happy to see that someone at work made a raw tabbouleh (not sure of the spelling) salad, and a spinach salad, and a cranberry relish (almost raw, except for the sugar) - yum!
For our family Thanksgiving we went to my Mother-in-law's house, and I knew we would be serving the traditional turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing and gravy. So I complimented the meal with two new kale salads, and I made my version of the cranberry relish, and then this awesome creation of a pie, the "coconut cream, strawberry cheesecake pie". Oh my gad! This was the bomb! I mean...goood! The family loved it! Even those that were not into raw at all!
It was probably the most peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving we shared as a family in a long while.
I still have the weekend to enjoy! Hope you all enjoy it too! I will be spending a lot of my time this weekend reformatting my smoothie book for print. I'm moving forward with having it published in print, so I have made modifications. I have changed some of the photos, and the size, etc. It is still the same great book that I'm proud of, just ready for print...I'll update you more about soon. For now you can check out my smoothie book as an e-book.
.jpg)
I have to tell you, the past 10 days I have not been as high raw as I would like. I don't know what's going on. I haven't been bad per say, just not as disciplined. I have a small addiction to Trader Joe's organic corn chips (made with corn, sea salt, and organic sunflower oil), and I have had a few sushi dishes - which I need to stop! It's good - but not vegan, and it's pricey - not in my budget right now! I think it's because of the holidays, the cold air, and just me...
I just need to make a lot more snack foods so I don't do that! Well, speaking of making food, I promised some of my Raw Fu friends that I would share my Thanksgiving recipes with them, so let me do so.
Now for the Thanksgiving recipes!
Broccoli and Kale Salad:
2-3 cups baby broccoli chopped
3-4 large leaves kale stemmed and chopped into strips
1 yellow bell pepper seeded and chopped into chunks
1 cucumber peeled and chopped into chunks
2 handfuls sunflower sprouts
2 handfuls baby heirloom tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 T EVOO
1 T Bragg's Amino Acids
drizzle ACV
sea salt
garlic powder
onion salt
mixed dried herbs
handful of chopped pecans
Mix all very well and let marinate. Serve it up - yum-yum.
Sweet Red Kale Salad:
5-6 thick red kale leaves stemmed and chopped into strips
2 red delicious apples cored and chopped into small pieces
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup dates pitted and finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1T or more balsamic vinegar
drizzle EVOO
drizzle agave
sea salt
Mix well and let marinate. Serve up some sweet kale goodness!
The Big Kale Salad:
5-6 large kale leaves stemmed and chopped into strips
1 red bell pepper chopped into chunks
2 small carrots sliced into small pieces
1 large cucumber peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 handfuls of mini heirloom tomatoes sliced
1-2 handfuls fresh micro herbs
1 T hemp seeds
1-2 handfuls pine nuts
1 T Bragg's Amino Acids
1 T EVOO
mixed dried herbs
onion powder
garlic powder
sea salt
drizzle of AVC
Mix well and marinate. This is a very filling salad. You could add sliced avocado or mushrooms for an even meatier salad. Very good!
Cranberry Orange Relish:
1 bag frozen or fresh organic raw cranberries
1 large naval orange with peel left on, but seeded
3-5 pitted dates
1/4-1/3 cup agave nectar or maple syrup or mixed
dash of sea salt
Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend until a nice relish is formed. Place in a sealed container and chill for about 30 minutes. Serve with any dish raw or cooked! The non-raw foodies loved this one with their turkey!
Butternut Squash Pie:
Crust-
3 cups pecans
1 1/2-2 cups pitted dates
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. sea salt
Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a pie pan - going up the sides of the pan a well. Chill while working on the pie filling.
Filling-
3 cups or more of raw ripe butternut squash (about a medium to large size - interior of the squash only. Discard shell and seeds)
1 1/4 cups coconut water
2-3 T coconut butter
6 T agave nectar
1 T maple syrup
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla liquid (recipe below)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice or cloves
1/8 tsp. turmeric
2 T lecithin
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/8 tsp sea salt
Vanilla Liquid-take 1 T vanilla powder, or 1-2 vanilla beans scraped and chopped fine, grind in a coffee grinder. Place in blender and add about 1/4-1/2 cup purified water and blend till very well combined and liquid. Store up to a week in the fridge.
Combine all pie filling ingredients into the food processor. Blend very well until very creamy and smooth. Pour into pie pan with crust. Place back in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes. Garnish with pecans. Place back in the fridge and let set for about 3-4 hours or overnight. It's ready to serve, and it's yum-yum good!
And now for my most favorite dish of the week, my very own pie inspired by so many pies I have had and enjoyed...Hope you love this one as much as I did, and the rest of my family did! Enjoy!!!:)
Coconut Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake Pie:
Crust - (inspired by Pure Vegan)
2 1/2 cups soaked pecans and walnuts (1/2 and 1/2)
1/3 - 2/3 cups pitted dates
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt
dash of cayenne pepper
Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a spring form cake pan. Chill while working on the pie filling.
Cheesecake (layer 1) -
1 cup purified water
1/2 cup agave nectar
Juice of half a large naval orange
1/3 cup soaked cashews
1 cup dried cashews
2 T soy lecithin
1 T coconut oil
2/3 cup coconut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp vanilla powder
dash Himalayan salt
Combine all ingredients into the food processor and mix very well till very creamy and smooth. Pour on top of the pie crust.
Coconut Cream (layer 2) -
Coconut flesh (meat) of three young Thai coconuts
1/4 cup or more of agave nectar
1/4 cup or more coconut butter
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Place in blender and mix and puree on high until smooth and fluffy. Adjust sweetness and thickness by adding more agave and or coconut butter. If too much, add a little coconut water. The consistency should be very creamy and fluffy with a flavor of coconut sweetened cream.
Add sliced/cut strawberries on top of cheesecake layer, making a pattern. Pour coconut cream over top and spread evenly within the pan, using up all the coconut cream. (Scrape the inside of the blender and eat -- yummy cream!). Let set in the freezer for a bit. Top with more strawberries, and freeze cake overnight or for at least 4-5 hours. Serve it cold! It's 'da bomb!
Blend ingredients in food processor until texture takes on a crumb/dough like consistency. Press into bottom of a pie pan - going up the sides of the pan a well. Chill while working on the pie filling.
Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed all the lovely recipes, and that you have a fabulous week to come! I'll write back real soon!
- Peace :)
Debbie
No comments:
Post a Comment