Pineapple Pepper Raw Chia Jam
Chia makes it so easy to make jam, it’s ridiculous! No cooking, not a bunch of pots to clean gooey messes off of – barely any labor expressed on your part in any way, shape or form. And for barely lifting a finger, you get one hell of a delicious jam! Now, we used ground chia seeds to make this because they really seem to thicken better but the grey color of the seeds does mute the vibrancy of the fruit a bit. OK. More than a bit. It bothered us at first. Melissa was trying to figure out how to make it more yellow naturally. Turmeric seemed like the…
Melon Ball Summer Stew
Don’t be intimidated by the nifty little melon ball-er. Using one is easy and fun and it’s somehow so rewarding to see those little melon balls falling into a bowl to form vibrant mounds! Even if there not perfectly round, they’re still perfect; each one a burst of fresh sweetness! This is the kind of food that actually makes you want to play with it – even if you’ve got your mother in the back of your mind telling you not to! Now, mind you, you don’t have to make melon balls for this to be good. Cutting the melons into large dice would work just as well. It probably…
Almond Ginger Chia Pudding
Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia! Whenever I prepare food or smoothies with these tiny seeds, I can’t help but remember all those commercials for Chia Pets. And -let’s not forget – the famous Chia Head (scary and ridiculous)! I, myself, succumbed to the lure of the miraculous Chia Pet when I received one of the kits for my birthday. That was a long time ago. As I recall it was a hedgehog that actually looked pretty damn cute when it began to sprout green chia quills! But, never, at that time, did I ever anticipate a day that I would actually be eating those little seeds. And – even more miraculous – that I…
Guacamole and Avocado ‘Toast’
You can’t go anywhere now-a-days without running into avocado toast and, I’ve gotta’ admit, there’s something to it. Avocado is only just one of the worlds best fats – not to mention all the other nutritional benefits packed into these little green gems. And even if we still want to keep our fat intake on the down low, anyone would be doing themselves a favor to choose avocado toast over bacon and eggs any day of the week. For me, this fashionable feast gets dialed up a notch. The toast gets tossed, of course, in favor of some raw multiple O bread. And even though you could, technically, just smash…
Green Grape and Cucumber Minted Soup
Late spring and summer is such a wonderful time to be raw! And that means it’s prime time to begin incorporating more raw food into your diet! During this time of the year it takes barely any energy at all to create satisfying raw dishes that will completely steal the spotlight away from cooked foods. It’s just not what our bodies crave in the heat! Me, I love to whip things together in the kitchen but it’s just too warm to spend a lot of time doing it, so my summer fall-backs are incredible soups and smoothies that I toss together in a blender in a matter of minutes. This…
Dijon Mustard in the Deceptively Raw
Here on the farm we all love fiddling with a manner of vegetarian and vegan recipes, trying to make them into something raw. And not gross. Sometimes it’s really challenging because a lot of these recipes will call for condiments – like dijon mustard, for example – and these things are just not readily available to us oddballs. All these condiments started out being raw, no doubt, but not anymore. Now everything and it’s grandmother is processed. And we’re trying to veer away from that. Things have changed. Mustard has been around for a long time. Originally people used to chew the seeds during meals- ostensibly to disguise the taste…
Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho
It may sound crazy to say this but there’s nothing like soups in summer! Yes: it’s true! Only I’m not talking about those steaming cool-weather concoctions that warm you up for a nice curl in front of a roaring fire. Granted, those have their place, for sure. But these summer soups are cool, refreshing, hydrating and addictive. Not to mention, super simple to throw together! Summertime really becomes a snap when you’ve got this kind of stuff on the menu. I basically look at every stray bit of produce in my fridge as an opportunity to create culinary bliss at this time of year. Surely, more of these satisfying soups…
Fried Rice in the Raw
What’s fried rice when it’s not rice? And when the fried rice isn’t fried? There’s no telling really, is there? But this happens to be a very tasty and remarkably similar tasting version of the fried rice we all know and love with all the flavor of Asia completely intact. Only minus the frying. And also minus the MSG. This is a recipe that can change the mindset of almost anyone with a cauliflower phobia – and there’s plenty of those out there. In fact, you’ll barely know it’s there at all! And the nice thing is that you can eat this cold or at room temperature… or you could…
Orange Pomegranate Salad With Mango Chia Dressing
This colorful summer salad replete with oranges and pomegranate seeds, gets big points in my book. Not only is it delicious and refreshing on these warm days but its so damn pretty too! The pomegranate has so many health benefits, it’s ridiculous! It’s cancer fighting, a potent anti-inflammatory and its anti-oxidant levels are three times higher than they are in red wine or green tea. The list just goes on. If you’ve got a guy at home who’s having some problems in the bedroom, pomegranate is good for that too; it’s been linked to improvements with erectile dysfunction. Suffice to say: pomegranate is a fabulous fruit to include in your diet…
Nectarine Watercress Wraps with Almond Satay
If there were a contest between a nectarine and a peach, I’d pick the nectarine every time! It probably just boils down to the ‘fuzz’ aspect. I’ve always thought the fuzz distracted from the sweet peach taste. Not the case with the nectarine; it’s pure pleasure. This wrap has become a lunchtime staple for anyone who’s tried it – partly because it’s so easy to make – but mostly because it’s so GOOD! We prefer it with nappa cabbage as the wrap. It’s subtle and pliable and adds its own extra layer of freshness and subtle flavor. But you could try collard greens or romaine as well. And double the…
