Noodles Noodles Noodles

I had a craving for satay vegetable noodles today so began formulating a recipe. My vegetable spiralizer (purchased from Alive Organics, Bayswater) has opened the door to the exciting world of raw "noodles". I'm always amazed at the thin angel hair strands that fall out from the machine as I rotate the handle. What I think is MORE amazing is that I can get this far in life and not know I can have noodles that are completely life giving - and that won't clog up my digestive system and leave me feeling bloated.

SATAY VEGETABLE NOODLES

Satay Sauce
1 young coconut - meat and 1/2 cup coconut water
1/4 cup agave syrup
2 Tbsp almond butter
3 tsp Shoya Namu
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
sea salt and pepper

Blend altogether until smooth and refrigerate. Spread onto a dehyrator sheet and dehydrate 30 mintues before serving.

Vegetable Noodles
1 zucchini spiralized (with a splash of lemon juice and olive oil tossed through)

Finely slice:
broccoli
carrots
red capsicum
green onion

Toss all vegetable ingredients in a bowl with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and spread out onto a dehydrator tray. Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 2 or 3 hours. Place in a bowl and toss in satay sauce. Dinner is served.

Lunchtime Nibbles

BUCKWHEAT BREAD

Being a bread lover trying out raw bread has been quite the experience. I enjoy a good chunky sandwich at lunch time so was eager to dive into some dehydrated bread recipes. The Raw Chef has some yummy breads to try - Mediterranean Almond Bread and Buckwheat Bread.
I'll see what's in the cupboard first then make my own version according to what's available. This picture shows my Buckwheat Bread with added sprouted quinoa. I loved that it had avocado in the recipe. It gives the bread a creamy texture.

You can find the recipe here, The Raw Chef

NORI ROLLS


Raw Nori Rolls are a favourite. They last only a day in the fridge (at most) so you want to be sure you eat them the day you make them. I did notice though, they are easier to slice and handle when left in the fidge for a couple of hours first.

Rice

2c Peeled fresh parsnips
3T mac nuts
3T pine nuts
1T olive oil
2t agave nectar
1t lemon juice
2 pinches salt
1T white miso

Pulse in the food processor until rice-like. Refrigerate til ready.

Filling

grated carrot
diced avocado
thinly sliced red capsicum
finely chopped green onion
(grated beetroot) - this will bleed and make it quite red, so you could leave it out

Simply spread rice mixture over 3/4 of the Nori sheet and layer the filling in a thin line over the rice, in the first 1/4. Wet the top and bottom edges of the nori sheet with water. Roll tightly til firm. Refrigerate for an hour or two (if you can wait that long!) then slice and serve with Nama Shoyu if desired.

NUT NUGGETS

1/2 cup soaked almonds
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup brazil nuts
1 tbl lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp celtic salt
1/2 tbl rosemary
1 tbl fresh sage
1/4 tsp black peppercorn
1/2 tbl dried sage

Blend in food processor and then roll into small patties and roll in finely ground almond meal, although it would be better to roll in yellow flax meal. Then place on dehydrator tray for 2 hours at 145 and 3 more hours at 115. Instead of the sage and rosemary you could put spinach and a bit of basil.

I liked them best served as a base for savoury nibbles. Use them in place of crackers with avocado, cherry tomatoes, fresh dill and drizzled with raw honey mustard sauce.










Lunch is served!

Luscious Raw Lasagna

Lasagna is one of my all-time favourites!

As a growing girl, my mum would ask me each year what I would like for dinner for my birthday. Well, I can't recall a birthday where I DIDN'T ask for lasagna. It's one of those meals I have always really really loved, quite frankly.

As with all heavily cooked foods, however, there IS a price to pay - bloating, draining of your energy, stomach cramps, bad gas, weight gain and heaviness. As we know, cooking food destroys 100% of the enzymes which aid in digestion. Your body must therefore produce the enzymes required.

Dr. Edward Howel, a physician, biochemist, and author of "Enzyme Nutrition" & "Food Enzymes for health and Longevity" says, "When we eat cooked, live enzyme deficient food, the body is forced to produce enzymes needed for digestion. This stealing of enzymes from other parts of the body sets up a competition for enzymes among various organ systems and tissues of the body. The resulting metabolic dislocations may be the direct cause of many chronic incurable diseases such a obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative problems.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered there was a raw version and I didn't have to give up my beloved favourite.

I finally got around to trying out a recipe I've been googling for a few weeks. I was captured by the picture on The Raw Chef and knew I had to give it a go. I initially kept putting it off because I thought it sounded too complicated. After making it, I realised it's actually quite easy and well worth the effort. There are several small dishes to prepare and then you assemble them together, just like a real lasagna, just slightly different.

Just click on the link Sunny Raw Kitchen for the recipe. All I can say is: DELICIOUS!

I would have tried it earlier if someone had walked me through the stages, so I'll show you how each small dish looks before assembling, to entice you.

Firstly, the Zucchini Pasta is sliced as thinly as possible and left for a short time to marinate. If left too long, the pasta will begin to brown. While marinating, the other dishes are prepared. I loved the Cheesy Nut Cream! So smooth and the nutritional yeast gives it a real cheese flavour. I make cooked lasagna with spinach so loved that this recipe included a spinach layer. I added three times as much basil as this recipe, though. The Tomato Sauce is also great. I needed to add a little water to the recipe to ensure it would blend well. The Almond Ricotta is processed till ricotta-like. Mine wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. I could have processed it longer to get a smoother consistency.

When you're ready to assemble the lasagna line up the small dishes and layer on separate plates or in a lasagna dish. It looks stunning!
Before eating, place in the dehydrator (be sure to remove the racks) for 2 hours on 105F.

Bon Appetit!

Greens Glorious Greens

Amongst all my thinking about Easter (see previous post) I DID try out some delicious new raw recipes. Yup, you guessed it, I'm about to share them with you!

I have discovered the world's best salad! (see picture at the top). It's so good I could eat it every day. There is so much darn goodness crammed into this mix your body will be thanking you as your cells sing Zip-A-De-Doo-Da.

It's called SUDO- BURMESE SALAD (don't know why - kinda weird name). I have adapted the recipe found on The Sunny Raw Kitchen blogspot.

Sudo-Burmese Salad

Dressing
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1 tbsp nama shoyu
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tea. water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon agave syrup (or to taste)

Salad:
1/4 cup sunflower sprouts
1/4 cup sprouted mung beans
1/4 cup finely chopped baby spinach
1/4 cilantro, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of green onions, thinly sliced
1 portobello mushroom, sliced thinly
1/4 cup matchstick chopped zucchini
1 whole avocado, diced

Procedure:
Combine all wet ingredients for dressing into bowl and stir vigorously to incorporate the almond butter.

Combine all greens, zucchini, and mushrooms in large bowl. Toss with hands. Toss the marinade with the greens. Carefully mix in avocado cubes.

Enjoy!

I liked it so much I tried a couple of variations that were suggested by Sunny Raw Kitchen. The first was adding diced tomatoes and the second was serving it on top of zucchini "noodles". Yes, noodles made from zucchini! You can make angel hair "pasta" with a vegetable spiralizer. These manual machines are available from Alive Organics, Bayswater for about $66. Way cool!!

I must admit that I like the salad better without the tomatoes and with the zucchini matchsticks stirred INTO the salad ( see picture at the top). The matchsticks can be made by thinly slicing your zucchini by hand or with a Mandoline, which you can purchase from kitchen outlet stores, then slicing fettucini-style.

Season of Resurrection

As Easter rapidly approaches, I've been asking God for a fresh revelation of the cross (er, while trying out new salads and raw chockie recipes..). It would seem lately that challenges and testings have been so much a part of my daily life. I've "reminded" God of His promise, through Abraham - I Will Bless You! Not that He's ever forgotten, mind you, but more of a reminder and a declaration over my family and myself when times get tough. Declaring every promise that still lay ahead and asking for fresh vision of what God has in store.

So, what does Easter mean this year?

It's a season to remember that Jesus was crucified and shed His blood for our redemption. Yet He didn't remain in the grave. He rose again three days later with resurrection power! He reminds us this Easter that we are protected at every turn by His blood shed on the cross and through His resurrection power.

He hears the cries of our heart, even when we don't say a word. When we direct our cries toward Him for help, He's ready with what we need and more.

The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that can heal your body, heal your emotions, resurrect your dreams, restore your finances, mend broken relationships and give you a vision for an exciting future. A future of living in the very purpose for your life. Imagine that!

THIS is the power of THE CROSS. Life and life abundantly! Jesus said:

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

I'm shaking off the shackles that would keep me from having an abundant life and pressing in for the resurrection power of Jesus. This is the season to stand and declare I AM BLESSED.

Raw Plum and Red Grape Cereal

Last weekend I spotted a large box of ripe plums at my local fruit and veggie store for $2.
Even though I had never before considered making raw cereal out of plums, I thought for that price, I'd give it a go. I had soaked almonds already stored in the fridge - perfect!

I filled the blender with the pitted plums and blended them with 1/2 cup agave syrup and a few medjool dates for sweetness, then added about a cup of soaked almonds. A deliciously deep magenta colour emerged! I felt like I was mixing colours for a painting.
Once poured onto the teflex sheets and placed into the dehydrator, they were left for 10 hours to dehydrate at 105 degrees F.

To fill the fifth and last tray I made a red grape and almond mixture (my favourite!). The blended mixture was a lovely baby pink tone (can you tell I'm an artist?). After the dehydration process the sheet was a very pretty speckled pink.

The plum sheets dried quite dark (as expected I suppose - but honestly... I'd hoped they would stay the rich magenta!). It was then simply a matter of peeling the dried sheets away and tearing into small pieces.

The plum cereal is great on top of fresh fruit and cashew cream for breakfast.








The red grape cereal is soooooo good you'll be rolling your eyes with delight! I love it with cashew cream or almond milk and fruit.

A great way to start the day!

"Health Benefits of Plum:
A very important health benefit of eating Plum is that, it acts as a laxative and improves performance of the digestive system. Further, the presence of phenols and Vitamin C ensures good antioxidant protection. Prevents your eyesight from any deterioration and enhances immunity against cancer related diseases. Iron absorption in the body is increased by eating Plums and heart related risks are minimised." (Organic Facts)