I have released four recipe books so far:

The Best of the Sunny Raw Kitchen
The Best of Raw Freedom Community
Delightfully Raw and
Deliciously Raw

These feature some of the most delectable creations to have come out of my raw kitchen and will appeal to anyone interested in a healthier diet, regardless of their level of knowledge and experience. From easy one-step everyday fare to more elaborate and involved gourmet dishes and layered cakes, they offer something for everyone and every occasion. Incredibly tasty smoothies, creamy and comforting warm soups, sexy salads, delicious nut cheezes, satisfying entrees and scrumptious guilt-free desserts...

Healthy food never tasted so good!

To learn more about my recipe books, click here!

Monday, April 14, 2008

What's Uncookin' Good Lookin'? - Episode III

Time to catch up and report back on what's been on the menu lately. Hum, where to start? I guess I'll begin with the fun part.

I had a major Savory D Day recently and had a real blast in the process, thanks to Don. Between the two of us, we had everything tucked away nicely in the dehydrator in no time at all. What a team!

I made Cafe Gratitude's Almond Toasts in 2 flavors: plain and rosemary, along with their Buckwheat Pizza Crusts and the Veggie Herb Pizza Crusts (still one of my faves!) while Don worked on CG's Sun Burgers, Rawvolution's Veggie Cakes and Ani Phyo's Black Sesame Sunflower Bread.

We also had 'Vegan Bay' Crab Cakes unbaking away which we enjoyed for dinner that evening. I always like to throw a batch in when I have a savory D day. Works out perfectly!

Getting there! Slowly filling up the D...

From top to bottom: Almond Toasts, Buckwheat Pizza Crusts, Crab Cakes and Veggie Cakes.

Now, let's fast forward a bit to what all yummies I 'harvested' later on...

Ani's Black Sesame Sunflower Bread - a staple around here


Almond Toasts (seriously yummy!!!)


Here are the Sun Burgers


And the Crab Cakes


"Good for another thousand miles!" as Don likes to say.

Some of the soups we've been enjoying include Don's Pilgrim Soup and Green Celery Soup, Cynthia Beaver's Cucumber Avocado Dill and my Popeye Gone Raw Soup. I also made Rawvolution's Scarborough Fair Soup, remembering that Ocean had listed it as one of her Top 10 recipes for 2007. Wow, no wonder! It's a delicious blend of coconut water, bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, celery, onion, sage, garlic, lemon, olive oil and sea salt.


In fact it was so good, I just had to make it again a couple of days later. As you can see, a recipe never comes out exactly the 'same'.


On the salad front, I whipped up a big batch of my House Dressing and Snowdrop's delicious Ranch Dressing, so we were set for a while. When we finally ran out, I assembled the lovely Sauerkraut Salad - something I often do, as it's a make-as-you-go dressing.

I also dared to venture in new territories... On Tofu666's recommendation, I sprouted quinoa in order to make rejuvelac. (Yah, I know, who would have thought you could use that instead of the usual wheat or rye, eh?) While I was at it, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to try making a dish with sprouted quinoa - something I'd been staying away from, as I'd heard that it had a strange taste. Anyhoo, in the end, I opted for the quinoa salad that VeganForLife posted here.

I made half the recipe and that was plenty enough for two and then some. Although the taste of the quinoa wasn't so bad after all, I doubt I'll start sprouting it on a regular basis. It gave me a bit of a tummy ache and I noticed how it didn't get broken down by my body. (Don't ask me how I know! ;-) )

Since we had a bounty of freshly dehydrated goodies, we got to take our pick. I've already mentioned the Crab Cakes (if you still haven't made those yet, I'd run to the D if I were you!) which I served with the ranch dressing (not exactly tartar sauce but close enough!) I also made the Velvet filling for my Spinach Mini Quiches which we enjoyed on Veggie Herb Pizza Crusts, topped with some lovely button mushrooms lightly marinated in olive oil, tamari and garlic.

On a lighter note, I made a sunflower garlic spread - a new favorite - which we had on crackers and in nori rolls. I know it doesn't look like much but boy, is it ever yummy! I'm totally hooked on that stuff!

Sunflower Garlic Spread

2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
2 garlic cloves
2 tbs lemon juice (or to taste)
Salt, tamari or Nama Shoyu, to taste
Handful dill (optional)

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.


Finally, we tried the Veggie Cakes; a mixture of sunflower seeds, celery, onion, beets, dulse flakes, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and Nama Shoyu. Although these were good, I thought they weren't anything special. I did like the idea of a mostly vegetable based burger though. I'll have to experiment with the theme some more when I get the chance.

Veggie Cakes served with Creamy Dill Sauce


As for desserts, we munched on the yummy cookies I recently unbaked (man, those macaroons are yummo!) and the rest of Shannonmarie's Chocolate Eclair. While I was chatting with Heathy one day, she told me about a new citrus creation of hers that turned out particularly great. (What else is new?) It got me in the mood to make Cafe Gratitude's Key Lime Pie again. It's so easy to whip up, doesn't take long to set and is soooooo good, especially served with a few slices of banana. Heavenly!

Cafe Gratitude's amazing Key Lime Pie


Even Kylo, our master licker, loved the filling! ;-)

As we had lots of ripe avocados, I toyed around with the idea of making a chocolate mousse for a few days. On a whim, I came up with these one afternoon.

Chocolate Mousse Cakes


A light and creamy chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream on a macadamia orange crust. Mmmmmm... The recipe still needs a wee bit of tweaking (actually, it's just an excuse to make it again! lol) so I won't post it just yet. Soon, though, I promise.

OK, guess I'll stop here for now... the Vitamix is calling me!

7 comments:

  1. oooh! won't kylo cut his tongue by licking the blades at the bottom of the vitamix pitcher?!

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  2. Wow! Everything looks so amazing! I must say I recently made CG's buckwheat pizza crusts (we used them more as crackers) and they were snarfilicious! I want to try soon the almond toast and Ani's black sesame sunflower bread. Can't wait!

    Thanks again for a tasty looking post.

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  3. Carmella,

    Everything looks amazing as usual, you are a juice feasters worst nightmare!!!!

    One question, how do you and Don stay so divinly slim while eating all these dehydrated gormet foods?! seriously, inquiring minds want to know!!

    xoxo,
    Linda

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  4. Hiya! I've just discovered your amazing blog via Ant's. Can I just say, you are a truly creative chef, and I aspire to one day make such raw delicacies as you do! Sigh, if only I were male, I would ask you to marry me! :)
    Makes me want to get a dehydrator.
    :) Peace and Love
    M

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  5. juusan,
    Not to worry, it seems that Kylo has gotten to become quite the expert as it has never happened. ;-)

    hihorosie,
    Can you believe we still haven't had a chance to taste these yet? Gotta put pizza on the menu pretty darn soon!

    Linda,
    Me a juice feasters worst nightmare? That's a great one! lol Actually, I have to confess I've had many feasters complain along the same lines before! he he

    As for our weight, well... I guess it's a metabolism thingie. I have put on some weight since eating gourmet foods but I used to be too skinny so it is nice to finally have curves. ;-)

    I'd say the real culprits are the desserts, though. I don't pay much attention, however, as I know it's just a phase and that everything changes... Soon it will be summer, our diets will lighten up and the weight will melt right off me again. ;-)

    goingRAWr!,
    Thanks for the kuddos. I have to admit it's the first marriage proposal I ever got! lol

    The D is what has made so many of these incredible dishes possible in the first place. I feel so grateful for having it.

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  6. Wow... Yummmmm!!!

    I would like to know how you store your foods & how long they store for?

    Thanx for the inspiration

    Blessings x

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  7. terra,

    I store fruits and juicing carrots under a table, protected with a cloth curtain to help keep them cooler. They will keep for a few weeks, depending on the season. Produce goes in the fridge, wrapped in plastic bags (again, they last for a couple of weeks.) I freeze whatever dehydrated goodies I won't be consuming in the next few days in a couple of ziploc baggies where they can keep for months.

    Hope this helps! ;-)

    ReplyDelete