Strawberry Pizza with Candied Basil
Okay, so it’s not really a pizza, but it’s delicious. Marie had wanted to make a strawberry pizza and we threw around some ideas. Part of me wanted to make a strawberry sauce but then what do you put on top that’s raw, vegan and appetizing looking. Because to take a quote from one of the very quotable kids here: “why is everything so beige?”. He’s not wrong. One of our goals on this site is to make things that entice you. Food that you want to eat. To encourage people to eat better by visually kicking those food endorphins in first, then dazzle you with flavor. Let’s face it,…
Thai Chili Crunch
Snacking is a major pastime around here. So when I get a chance to make one of my favorite things and adapt it to a raw recipe, I jump at the chance. I’ve been making a version of this Thai Chili Crunch for years. Usually prepped on the stove and placed in the oven to caramelize, it seemed like something I could easily make with the dehydrator. Yes, it’s reminiscent of the high end snacks available in the grocery store, but my version packs a little more kick while preserving the flavor and benefits of raw cashews. Amusingly, or maybe not so much for me, I’m suffering from severe allergies…
Green Cabbage Steaks with Black Olive Tapenade
Lately I seem to be having a love affair with cabbage. I’ve already made these green cabbage steaks three times; twice before I ate them so fast I completely neglected taking pictures of them, never mind sharing any with anyone else. I don’t think Melissa actually believes that I made them at all because there’s never anything left when she comes ’round and no one else knows anything about them either. It’s like a covert operation. This time around I only had enough cabbage to make two steaks but I remembered to take pictures as evidence. I really am doing the work! Unfortunately, once again I ate both of those…
Prune Hamantaschen
A day late and a dollar short as they say. My intention was to make prune hamantaschen in time for Purim but I didn’t have prunes in the house. That wasn’t the only reason why they weren’t ready. I had wanted them to have a closer consistency to the real thing and the dehydrator wasn’t cooperating. I like my new dehydrator. Marie and her family got it for me for Christmas. The problem is I got so used to having Marie’s professional one in the house that I get frustrated; my home dehydrator takes a lot more time. I hadn’t allotted for that difference and depending on which dehydrator you…
Savory Nori Seaweed Crackers
I hadn’t made these seaweed crackers in a long time and I’ll be damned if I can figure out why not. They were one of the foods that I was introduced to early on in my raw experiences and I remember liking them immediately. Now everyone here likes them too. No sooner were they out of the dehydrator and everyone got a first taste, they quickly ascended to ‘favorite’ status. And even though I made two trays of them, I’m already getting orders to make more. A success story if there ever was one. Melissa doesn’t like seaweed. Period. So she wouldn’t even try one to be polite. Her nephew…
It’s Okay to Drink Tea When You’re Raw
When I started on this journey, like so many others, I worried about what I would have to give up. Some things I was more willing to chuck out of my diet than others. I really don’t miss a lot of things as I explore new ways to literally have my cake and eat it too. But I worried about my crazy and expensive tea habit. Every single person in our pod are heavy tea drinkers. We drink it iced in the summer, hot in winter and make special toddies when we aren’t feeling well. So the thought of not being able to have my tea was depressing. Luckily for…
Rye Bread
Oh boy! I don’t think there’s anything more difficult in raw preparation than coming up with a raw-vegan bread. So when I asked Marie if we could eat rye raw (say that 10 times fast). I was thrilled when she said yes. And our rye bread pursuit began. Rye bread is very aromatic. The scent comes from caraway seeds and not the rye bread itself. So be generous when adding it if you want it to taste like the rye bread you’re used to. If it was up to Marie it would be called Caraway Bread instead, she wanted me to use twice as much. Warning to those that are…
Mom’s Vanilla Apricot Macaroons
My mother was really quite the cook but, hands down, baking was her favorite thing to do. It was also my dad’s favorite thing for her to do because he had quite the sweet tooth and she catered to it completely. Needless to say, my sister and I were not complaining much about it either. Our house was like a horn of plenty, always filled with multiple tins of home-baked goods and likely some more lining up in the oven. My mother literally lived for school bake sales. It was the one time she tooted her own horn because her concoctions were always the first to get sold. Inevitably she…
Rose Hips and Blood Orange Super Cookies
In the mood for a cookie but don’t want to cheat on your diet? Well don’t pass up this incredibly healthy and delicious high fiber, antioxidant goodie. I drink rose hips and hibiscus tea all winter, usually mixing my own recipe with dried orange peels. And when I feel even an inkling of a cold, I drink this elixir every 2 hours as hot as I can stand it. For me it works every time. While winter begs for high vitamin C, please be cautious as it can interact with medications. Too much vitamin C can affect the kidneys, hormones and blood thinners. The benefits in fighting inflammation and boosting…
“Braised” Brussel Sprouts with Cranberry Vinegar
I know, I know, a lot of you are not fans of brussel sprouts. Well around here they are a popular side dish that are scoffed up in moments. Like with everything we make around here, most of our dishes come from cravings. While out shopping I saw the balsamic brussel sprouts sitting in the deli counter and I was hungry. I figured a little cheat wouldn’t hurt, but as I stood in line to order, I noticed how wilted they looked. The lone cranberry sitting on top was dark and barely recognizable. The food looked sad to me, even the color started to look a bit unappetizing and I…
