Pesto Sauce

Oh the joys of gifted garden produce! This time it was a large amount of basil! I knew it was time to look for a pesto recipe and this one had great promise. Tasting it was heavenly.

The only thing I needed to do was to substitute the pine nuts. They are more than $22 a pound here lately, so I've used cashews instead. I read that you can also use almonds and maybe even walnuts.

Pesto Sauce

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pine nuts (can use other nuts)
5 whole cloves garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (or to taste)

In Vitamix: put all ingredients (except salt and pepper) in container and blend on low turning dial up to a "7" while using the tamper to get all the leaves into the blades. Stop when everything is still a little chunky, but blended well. Season to taste.

In food processor: process everything using the pulse setting, following all other instructions above.

Sun-dried tomato option: add 1/2 cup rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes to the ingredients.

Other herb/green options: Can use cilantro or parsley for part of the basil in this recipe. Can also use spinach or kale the same way. Great for stretching a small amount of basil for this recipe...still great flavor.

Almondaise - Raw Mayo!

This recipe is adapted from the book by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, called "Fit For Life II: Living Health". It is a very good substitute for mayonnaise. Great for spreading on sandwiches and in salad dressings.

I posted earlier that we use Vegenaise sometimes, but it is neither soy free nor cheap. Here is a soy free version that is better on the pocketbook. Who doesn't like some mayo now and then?

Almondaise

1/2 cup raw almonds, soaked 4 hours or more, drained, rinsed & peeled
1/2 cup water
1 small sliver garlic (about 1/8 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon (or less) seasoned salt, Spike, or salt free seasoning
2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
dash of cayenne (optional)
fresh ground pepper to taste (optional)
2 cups (up to 3 cups) extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil (or a blend of both)

Put prepared almonds and water in blender and blend on high speed until a thick cream forms. You may need to add more water (one tablespoon at a time) to make sure the blades move freely. Then add garlic, seasoning, lemon juice and pepper and blend briefly.

While the blender in on high (or #10 on the lower "I" or "Variable" setting on the Vitamix), remove center plug in blender lid and slowly add the oil in a thin drizzle* (I usually only get the 2 cups to blend in, but if it works for you, go ahead with the third cup). Final consistency should be like a very thick mayonnaise. Store in a canning jar (quart size or two pint size) in the refrigerator. Keeps at least a week.

* Note: The original recipe tells how one may get more oil into the blender. "When mixture refuses to accept any more oil, the oil will begin to sit in a bubble on top of the almonaise. At this point, remove the lid and continue to add oil in a thin stream, beating shallowly with a spoon so that you do not hit the moving blade. This will force more oil into the mixture and guarantee a thicker product." I don't usually try to get more oil in. It is still nice and thick for our tastes.

Almost Raw Carob Chip Cookies

Here's another recipe from the "Everyday Raw" book by Matthew Kenney that I adapted. Again, in the original recipe, he uses raw cacao powder. I use carob powder instead.

Grind your own cashews and rolled oats for the flour called for in the recipe. I used my Vitamix to blend them to flour. Measure the flours after they are ground.

Almost Raw Carob Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups cashew flour, fine ground
1 3/4 cups oat flour
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 water
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup carob chips
optional extra carob chips

Mix all ingredients together, except carob chips. Then stir in the 1 cup carob chips. Form into 3" cookies and press a few extra chips (if desired) into the tops of the cookies. Dehydrate on screens overnight at 118 degrees. Yields about 2 dozen, more if made smaller.

These taste great warm just out of the dehydrator. They are also great after getting cold in the fridge or freezer (where we put them so a certain little girl in our house doesn't help herself to too many!). =)

Homemade Carob Chips

This is a recipe adapted from the book "Everyday Raw" by Matthew Kenney. In the original recipe he uses raw cacao powder, made from raw cacao nibs (raw chocolate).

This was a fun recipe to make. It takes a little time to get the chips made, but the effect overall was worth it. We later used them to make double carob chip cookies. Yum!

Homemade Carob Chips

(Ready to go into the dehydrator)

1 3/4 cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup carob powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients in Vitamix and blend until smooth. You may need to add some water a little at a time to get the blades to move freely. Place mixture into a piping bag (I used a zipper type quart bag, and then cut a corner off) and pipe out small chips onto a teflex sheet. Dehydrate overnight at 118 degrees. Keep in refrigerator in sealed container until ready to use. Makes about 2 cups or more.

(Dehydrated carob chips)

Real food...refocus

Hello to all of you again, my friends. I want to explain my absence from blogging recently.

To say again, that my busy life has gotten in the way of regular posting, would be true... somewhat. My real reason has more to do with a different direction our food has taken. What I mean is that we have been trying to refocus on more natural and healthful eating. The one thing that stands out is that we have been eating more raw live foods. That is to say that we are not cooking, but eating more unheated foods. So recipes that are heated I am looking for similar ways to enjoy them without cooking or baking.

As you may have noticed, the recipes in the last 2 or 3 months have focused on this. I do not eat 100% raw, so that is why you still see the occasional cooked recipe. I find a balance is nice for us right now. There are still days that things get out of kilter and I find myself eating mostly cooked foods...what is interesting is that those days I don't feel as good as when I am eating mostly raw.

There is something about raw foods that give me energy. Maybe because raw foods retain their enzymes and heated foods (heated above about 105 degrees) do not. Actually, foods start to lose their enzymes when heated above 105 degrees. They are lost entirely when a food is heated above 120 degrees. That is not to say, there is no worth in cooked foods. They retain some, though not all, their vitamins and minerals, when cooked. You will find that the most healthful way to eat is through eating mostly (at least 80% or better) raw foods.

There are those that do eat a diet that is raw and still eat animal based ingredients. I still maintain that the vegan diet helps me to feel my best and eating raw helps me feel alive! I love eating this way.

It does take some preparation in the kitchen...not unlike most cooking, but when preparing raw foods, more time is helpful. Doing simple tasks that really help to set the stage for a great meal. For example, soaking seeds and nuts will help them to be more digestible. And sprouting takes time to produce some added greens for salads and such. Some recipes call for a dehydrator that uses low heat with a fan to "slow cook" a food and that takes longer than cooking or baking would.

Overall, it is fun to be in the kitchen and find recipes that are raw (or almost nearly) and enjoy them. My family is enjoying it with me. Yes, I still cook some. But, we love to find recipes, especially easy ones to replace the old cooked standbys we were using out of habit.

What are you eating out of habit? Is there an even better way to enjoy it that gives you a more alive feeling? Please comment.

Perfect Crock Pot Rice

I have had this recipe for quite a while and, like a lot of recipes I collect, it doesn't ever get made. Until one day, I think, well, I need this for a meal today anyway, why not try this method.

I don't know why I haven't tried it before. It really is good. I used brown rice and it came out soft and sticky. We like it this way. Would have worked great for homemade veggie sushi.

Perfect Crock Pot Rice

1 cup rice (brown preferred)
2 cups water
salt
coconut oil (to coat crockpot)
olive oil (optional, to stir in with rice to make it less sticky)

Rub inside of crock with coconut oil making sure to coat the bottom and sides well. Pour in water, rice and salt (as desired). Stir in olive oil, if using. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours.

I actually tripled the recipe for my crockpot. If you make one recipe, you should use a smaller crockpot. The day I made it, we actually went away during the time it was cooking. It may have cooked a bit longer, but it still turned out well. Less cooking may have made it less soft, but nonetheless good.

Avocados, Anyone?

Recently we were gifted a great many avocados.




Thirteen cases to be exact. Fifty avocados per case! Folks, that's 650 beautiful avocados!



What to do with so many?

1. Thank the Lord!

2. Give many away. (Our Hispanic friends were very happy!)

3. Keep about 2 cases, give or take a few.

4. Eat some fresh (on salads, in smoothies, oh, so many ideas...).

5. Preserve some by freezing...

First a note about handling...Avocados must be handled gently or your risk bruising them. When you open them later, if they've been bruised, they will have bad spots. So a tip for the store...when you buy, get them firm and ripen them up at home. This way fewer people have handled them and you can ripen them better at home.

(I kept most from ripening by putting them in the coldest part of the house. It happened to be a sealed off room in our basement. Warmer than the fridge, but not enough to ripen. I would bring up a few at a time for salads, etc. Then when I was ready to freeze some, I brought up 25 at a time to ripen in my kitchen. I put them somewhere I won't forget about them!)

First ripen them. You want to test them for firmness and you don't want them mushy. If they are soft like you cheek, they are too soft. If they are hard like your forehead, they are too hard yet. When they are about like the tip of your nose, that's about right. Check them every day, some will ripen quicker than others. You don't want to have to throw any away, because you didn't use them in time!

Wash the ripe avocados. I do this by putting a food safe soap (or even vinegar) on them, then rinsing off. Remember to handle them gently.

To open, I found the best way is to cut around the pit inside, lengthwise (top to bottom and back up). Then twist open. They should be nicely colored green (skin side) to a more yellow color toward the pit. After opening the first thing you do will be to remove the pit. I take my knife and insert the tip into the pit alongside the cut (as if I was still cutting) and then wedge it out.

(By the way, if you peel first, then pit, it will be more difficult to do.)

Then take the skin off. Sometimes it comes off in a couple pieces, sometimes the skin is very thin and will come off in many pieces. Just do your best. I find that if I hold it in one hand (cut, flat side against my hand) and peel with the other starting at the stem end, it goes better.

(At this point you can use it for anything. You could even slice it up to put into veggie sushi, sandwiches...instead of mayo, put on top of salads, add to a favorite salsa, put into a smoothie, etc.)

The best way to freeze ripe avocados is to mash them up. A potato masher works well or even a fork will do the job. It helps to have a container or bowl that has a flat bottom to it, especially if you are using a potato masher. For every 2 avocados mashed, add 1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice and mix well. Then put into containers and freeze. They say if you use lime juice, it preserves to flavor of the avocado better, than using lemon. Either way works.

I'm hoping to further save space and lengthen freezer time by using my Food Saver vacuum sealer to preserve them longer. I'll pop the frozen large chunks out of their containers and then seal them. Then I can put them back into the freezer.

Now you have avocados ready in your freezer, for guacamole or any recipe calling for mashed avocados.