A warming cold curry?

Despite it still being August, it was cold, grey and miserable, something i had not envisaged when i was planning this raw food detox.  Hmmmm.  So i fancied something warming, but raw food is cold or tepid at best.

I did some googling and found the inspiration for this - a curried white cabbage salad:


Finely chop 1 whole medium sized white cabbage (you can do it in a Food processor, but i did it by hand).  Remove the thick stalk bits.  Do the same to an onion - i used a red one as it was in the top dish of the veggie stand and i was too lazy to reach down to get a white one.

In a big bowl mix the cabbage and onion with some sunflower seeds, some sesame seeds, and some coconut.  I used dessicated (which may mean this is not officially raw - but i'm not worried about the raw food police).

To make the dressing, i blended:

• the juice of 2 lemons
• the juice of 2 limes (you could use vinegar)
• a tablespoon of curry powder
• a tablespoon of turmeric 
• a tablespoon of cumin (Actually - did not measure any of these, just checked some in)
• a splash of hot sauce
• some crushed garlic
• a handful of fresh coriander
• a tablespoon and a bit of coconut oil (you could use half an avocado or a flavourless oil)
• a big glug of light soy/shoyu sauce (about a 1.3rd of a cup, i guess)

Blend thoroughly, let down with more lemon or lime juice, add pepper.  Pour over cabbage mixture and mix.  It tastes a bit better if left to chill for a while.

I decided to make it go further that i'd add a box of marinated tofu to it - but that is not necessary.  

Yummy - a warming dish, despite being a cold day.  

Enjoy!

Fried Rice? Not easy on a raw food diet, or is it?

As part of detox week, I am trying to eat more raw food, so did some googling based on what veg I have in and came up with this:

Raw fried rice!

1 cauliflower
1/2 an onion
Piece of fresh ginger or powdered
A sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice powder if you have it.
2 handfuls of sweetcorn
2 handfuls of frozen or fresh peas.
Teaspoon of Thai curry paste (I used green curry)
Splash of soy sauce.
Splash of hot sauce.
2-3 handfuls of sunflower seeds.
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh coriander and or fresh flat parsley.

If the peas and corn are frozen, place in a shallow dish in the oven (fan assisted ideally) at between 80 & 110 to defrost.  In a food processor, place the cauliflower, onion, garlic, seasonings, herbs and blitz in bathches until the texture looks like rice! 

Add seeds, soy and hot sauce.  Mix, add peas and sweetcorn.

You can serve cold or warm.  I put it back in the oven/dehydrator at 80 for 30 mins, and served it warm. 

The low temperatures mean that this is still classed as raw food. 

It really does have the texture and flavour of fried rice. 

Enjoy! 

Quick healthy spinach salad.

Got home late and needed a quick healthy salad.

In a large bowl add a bag of raw baby spinach, a pack of cooked beluga black lentils (or any other cooked lentils or drained beans. A finely chopped spring onion or two. 3/4 of a chopped avocado and two tablespoons of chopped dried apricots. You can also add some goji berries.

In a dry pan put a couple of handfuls of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dry roast gently for 5 mins and turn pan off and cool.

Mix the ingredients in the bowl.

Dressing: In a blender add: 1/4 peeled avocado. Half a handful of dried apricots, salt or salt substitute, pepper, with a good splosh of cider or white wine vinegar. Blend until smooth. You can let it down with water and olive oil or a mix of the two. You will get a creamy dressing thanks to the avocado.

Chuck dressing on top, mix and serve.

Enjoy.

Healthy Pesto

2 handfuls of raw walnuts, 2 cloves of garlic, juice of 2 lemons, bunch of basil, handful of raw spinach, vegan Parmesan, 2 tablespoons approx,(you can use real Parmesan if you eat dairy). You can add olive oil or a little water to let down.

Blitz gently, you want it to retain some crunch and texture.

Place in a covered container and keep in fridge for up to a week.

Good over rice noodles for a raw pasta or use in other recipes such as my raw mushroom soup.

Almond milk.

You can use my cashew milk or if you haven't got a high powered blender try this:

Soak the almonds (however many you want to use - 3 handfuls) in the same quantity of water (just cover). soak for min of 2-3 hours or overnight.

Blitz up in a blender or food processor.

Strain and add a little salt (or substitute).

You can use the pulp in other recipes.

The milk can be used in smoothies, soups etc.

Cream of mushroom soup - no cream, no butter & no cooking.

This creates a really creamy, thick mushroom soup.

You need a very high powered blender or make almond milk first or it will be grainy

Wash 2 boxes of mushroom (better to just brush the dirt off if organic).

Put in blender, with 2 stalks of celery, some almond milk (or handful of raw almonds and some water. You can add stock powder if you want). Half an onion, a clove of garlic, the juice of 2 lemons.

You can add a few leaves soft herbs, such as basil or tarragon. Add salt (or salt substitute) and pepper to taste.

Blend until smooth and creamy.

You can serve this at room temperature or chilled.

A swirl of garlic oil on top or some pesto (see separate entry).

Detox Week - Starter for 10....

My first recipe for my planned detox week:

A base recipe is my alternative to milk and cream, which i use as a base for smoothies etc.,

Soak 3 large handfuls of cashews and 2 tablespoons of chia seeds (black, white, whole or milled),  in the same amount of water for about 1-2 hours. 

Add 3-4 pitted dates, a 3rd of a teaspoon of salt,  a handful of oats. 

Blitz up in a high-sped powerful blender with ice and some additional water to let down a to a creamy consistency. 

Place in a sealed container in the fridge - this will keep for 5 days min. 

I use about 2-3 tablespoons of this as a base for my smoothies, such as this one:

In addition to the base, add 1 banana, a large teaspoon of coconut oil, some prunes (or any fruit, fresh or frozen) and some ice or water and blend/blitz. 

Enjoy. 

Cool as a cucumber

Been trying to find a good cool soup for these hot few days.

Wash a 4-5 inch piece of cucumber (do not peel) and put into a high Powered blender (like a vita mix) with 1/2 cup of cold water and 4-6 ice cubes.

Add two large celery stalks and a few mint leaves (you could use basil or dill too). Then add salt and pepper and a splosh of lemon juice, white wine or cider vinegar.

To thicken I used 1/2 an avocado one day and a small spoon of cashew nut cheese today (cashews, chia seeds, lemon juice, onion, with coconut oil - will blog that later).

Blend until completely smooth and serve.

Yummy, cooling and healthy.

Enjoy.