Raw Food Recipes:
Olive

Today’s Cream of Shiitake Soup will be accompanied with a tale of break-ups.

My first major break-up, that I recall, was a silly little man-boy by the name of Fulton J. He had these striking, chocolate eyes that mesmerized. They gazed into mine and held tight, giving me the illusion that I was the only thing he saw.
On later recollections, his glare really resembled someone who smoked way too much ganja. None the less, he (and his eyes) were as smooth and charismatic as a 15-year old could be in bible camp.
That‘s where I chased him like an eager puppy. He loved the attention and he played with me, as long as I didn’t piss on his new penny loafers (to mark my territory, mind you) or until a new b**** came into the mix. Whichever came first.
To make long stories, shorter and to prevent opening old wounds, it was nearly 10 years of hooking up with Fulton J. and being tossed aside by him that I finally wised up and got him out of my system for good.
I never want to have anything to do with him, ever. He broke my heart.

During that time, my best friend Monique was there to pick up the pieces.
Monique and I met during 5th grade at Amesse Elementary School in Denver. I said something that made her feel bad to which she immediately set me straight. She told me if we were going to be friends I couldn’t be mean to her. I apologized and we have been best friends ever since.

I loved Monique like a sister, that‘s how close we were. If it ever possible for two only children to break free from that “me only” habit and love another as a sibling. But that‘s how I loved her.

Monique has been there for me through thick and thin and she has always been my cheerleader. She has loved me even when I couldn’t find the strength to love myself.
I, for her, have given her positive and happy-go-lucky inspiration. I tried to remain upbeat and
optimistic when she refused to. And I, at times, provided the voice of reason.

Unfortunately, I had to listened to her same issues surface again and again with a supportive stance. By supportive, I mean without comment that would set her into attack mode. She had endowed with me with a the gift of holding my tongue.
Enter juice feasting. I am cruising along, detoxing crap, purging old habits, getting out everything that's on my mind that would be beneficial for me. Not a good thing if your best friend is Monique.
Again making that long story, short.On Wednesday, February 10, 2010, when she mentioned taking a break from the friendship, I thought it a bit harsh that many, many years of friendship could be tossed aside with such ease.

Monique stated that since I said something that made her feel bad she thought it best we end our relationship.

This time around, I did not apologize. After several man-boys, birth of 7 children between us, tragic deaths, ups, downs and whatnots... after 30 years of friendship, Monique has broken up with me.
I want to get her out of my system for good. I never want to have anything to do with her, ever. She has shattered my heart. On to soup. Cream of Shiitake Soup to be exact. This particular soup really has nothing to do with the story. Well, except this is the first day I hadn’t got that sinking feeling in my stomach from thinking of her. That alone is a reason to celebrate with a soup.This soup started out as Shazzie’s (p. 97) until I realized I didn’t have half the ingredients required for completion. I guess coming out of the fog that break-ups provide, I missed a few steps.
No worries, I promise I am okay. After twice-a-day Bikram sessions and running endless miles on the treadmill, I feel better than yesterday and twice as good as the day before. And so is this soup.
Although, Man on the Raw, didn’t enjoy it. I was surprised that he didn’t, it smelled amazing to me, very rich. But when he reacted so negative about it, I couldn’t resist I had the tiniest bit of a taste of the broth (I know, I know the juice feast). I thought it had a nice earthy taste to it. A statement in which Man on the Raw proclaimed, “Earthy?!? More like dirt.” Well, you my dear readers will have to be the deciding vote. Try it and tell me if you taste “earthy” or “dirt”. Just remember, I'm the one going through a break-up.

Cream of Shiitake Soup
2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
4 tablespoons Nama Shoyu
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups almond milk
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
Red pepper flakes
Parsley
Slice 1 cup of mushrooms and place in a bowl. Finely dice the remaining 1 cup of mushrooms and place in a second bowl.
Add 2 tablespoon Nama Shoyu and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to each bowl. Toss to coat. Marinate mushrooms for 1 hour.
Combine the sliced mushrooms, almond milk, red onion, parsley leaves, garlic and sea salt in a blender. Puree until smooth and creamy.
Transfer to a bowl and add the diced mushrooms to the soup. Garnish with red pepper flakes and parsley, to taste.
Recipe #42 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor - Shazzie's Cream of Shiitake Soup, p. 97
Recipe #43 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor — Shazzie's Almond Milk, p. 184

Here are the ingredients I used to create my recipes for The Daily Raw Blog Recipe Challenge

1. Red Grapes
2. Cashews
3. Almonds
4. Garlic
5. Red Pepper
6. Lemon 7. Tomatoes

Focaccia with Grapes
Yield: 12 slices

2 cups flax seeds, ground into flour
1 cup almonds, ground into flour
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped onions
2 tablespoons Italian seasonings
2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup red grapes, sliced

1 Combine flax and almond flours in a large bowl. Add olive oil, agave nectar, garlic, onion, rosemary and sea salt. Mix well.

2 Fold in grapes.

3 Spread Focaccia dough on two Teflex-sheets, making them about 1/4-inch thick. Drizzle with olive oil. Place in dehydrator at 140 degrees for 4-6 hours or until Focaccia is dry on the top.

4 Flip over and remove Teflex sheets. With a pizza cutter, score the Focaccia into six large rectangles. You should have 12 slices of Focaccia bread. Drizzle with olive oil. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for an additional 8-12 hours or until the Focaccia is dry and semi-hard on the outside but soft and somewhat moist on the inside.

The Daily Raw Blog Kitchen Tip: From time to time I use a thermometer to check the temperature of the foods I dehydrate. Particularly when I raise the temperature of the dehydrator. I just like to make sure the temperature of my food doesn't rise also.

My 1, 2 and 8-year old children are used to mom's raw food creations. For better or worse, they have acquired a taste for fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Kevin, my 14 year-old stepson is the new kid on the block and has come from a bag-of-candy-a-day habit.
Now, when I create dishes, he is the gauge I use to determine if my recipes are up to par. I am pleased to say that he has asked me to make this recipe twice since it's conception.

Red Pepper Aioli
1 cup cashews, soaked for an hour
¼ cup water
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice one one lemon
½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt

1 Combine cashews, water, lemon juice and garlic in a blender. Blend until cashew becomes a thick, smooth mayonnaise. Add more water one tablespoon at a time until you cashews break down and you achieve desired consistency.

2 Add in the red peppers, olive oil and sea salt. Briefly process until peppers are smooth.
3 Serve with bread, cucumbers, mushrooms and tomatoes.

It's not too late to submit a recipe for February's challenge. Next week, I'll post the recipe for Radicchio and Fennel Coleslaw.

My mother asked me to write something to help my Aunt Gigi get on a path of healthier eating. And although I would be the first to say “Go Raw” I realize saying it is much easier than doing it.

If I can offer Aunt Gigi a smoothie or salad recipe here or there, she could take baby steps into more greener pastures.

But first I should remind her of the reasons why incorporating more fruits and green leafy vegetables into her meals (and less of the processed, dead crap) is beneficial to her health. Also, exercise is a must with our family history. You feeling me?

So here are the Top Five Reasons you, Aunt Gigi should eat healthier.

5. You gain a tremendous amount of energy to continue to stay out all night dancing.

4. You feel good. Just ask the man who was rubbing up against you on the dance floor.

3. You become positive and happy without doing major drugs.

2. Your mind becomes sharp and alert, so when you get pulled over, you can think of something clever to tell the police officer.

1. You live longer. I’ve got a few bucks on you outlasting mom, do me proud.

Love you both,
Terilynn

Recipe #39 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor is Rhio’s Marinated Collard Ribbons (p. 65).
Now this is a risky recipe for Aunt Gigi to try because I don’t think any woman in our family, excluding myself, has ever eaten collards raw.
I believe that there is a family law, punishable by death, which states collards (or mustards, or turnips) greens must be cooked a minimum of 8 hours or until the paint wears from the walls, whichever happens first.
Trust me Aunt Gigi, these marinated collards are delicious and you will enjoy.
　Spicy Marinated Collardsadapted from Rhio's recipe
1 bunch collard greens, stems removed, cut into thin strips (Chiffonade)2 tablespoons olive oilJuice of one lemon2 teaspoons sea salt1/4 teaspoon cayenne peppera pinch of red pepper flakes
In a large bowl, combine collard strips, olive oil, lemon, sea salt, cayenne and red pepper flakes.
Massage the collards with your hands. Cover the bowl and let set at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

Because of the snowy weather outside here in Colorado, I am forced to play on my tile floor with my kitchen garden. Kitchen gardening and sprouting are great, don't get me wrong. I enjoy it. Below are some lentils I eventually sprouted. They were super easy. Soak in water overnight, drain in the morning. Rinse and drain until you get tails. For more details visit here.

But, alas, kitchen gardening doesn't replace getting down and dirty in the soil.
The feel of the earth between my fingers, smiling as my son plays with the worms, the anticipation of what's to come. It's very grounding.

Spring please come.
Maybe, just maybe if I share one of my favorite spicy dishes, I can bribe Spring's warm arrival.
Maybe.

Lentil Patties with Coconut Peanut Sauce
LENTIL PATTIES

1 cup almonds, soaked
1½ cups sprouted lentils
¼ cup water
4 tablespoons Nama Shoyu
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
Juice of one lime
lime zest
¼ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro 1 Combine almonds, lentils and water in a food processor. Process until almonds and lentils are a chunky consistency. Add Nama Shoyu, cayenne pepper, lime juice, zest, olive oil, garlic clove and cilantro. Briefly pulse until well combined.
2 Shape the mixture into ping-pong size balls. Flatten into patties.
3 Place on Teflex sheets. Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 4 hours or until top is completely dry. Flip patties over. Dehydrate an additional 4-6 hours or until the patties are dry on the outside and moist on the inside.

COCONUT PEANUT SAUCE
1 cup almonds, unsoaked
½ cup cashews
1 cup water, or more as needed
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoons Coconut butter
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup Nama Shoyu
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon Turmeric

1 To make the Coconut Peanut Sauce, mix almonds and cashews in a blender to make a powder. Add ginger, water, coconut butter, agave nectar, Nama Shoyu and lime juice. Blend until you achieve a creamy sauce.
2 Pour into a bowl and sprinkle in sea salt, red pepper flakes and turmeric. Stir well.
3 Serve Lentil Patties and Coconut Peanut Sauce on a bed of Carrot and Zucchini pasta.
(un) Cooking Tip:

If your sauce comes out to watery, place the sauce into a glass container and put in the dehydrator for a couple of hours.

That's how Man on the Raw described my first month of eating a Raw Vegan diet. The month did kind of fly by with relative ease, and the next 11 will be easy if he keeps making meals like he did tonight.

9:20 a.m. Smoothie at work

11:53 a.m. Mila with water at work

1:25 p.m. Mixed greens with olive dressing, cucumbers, slaw, pickled pink onions

....and about a bazillion more to go. I've better bust a move on these recipes if I want to complete them before...well, I don't really know before when. I'm kind of moving along at a turtle's pace, yes?

Well, to make the challenge more interesting and to post a few more recipes, I have joined NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. See my cool widget for February to the left? I have pledge to post something every day on The Daily Raw Blog (weekends included) for the month of February. Mom, stop frowning. I know, I need to find a job instead of blogging everyday. But imagine the dedication that is shown on my part writing everyday. I'm an employer's dream. It shows I have commitment or should be committed, I'm not sure which one.

Speaking of jobs, I did put in a call with the 2010 Censor Bureau to work with them this spring here in Denver. That would seem like an interesting job, meeting people and such. Wish me luck.

So to kick off February's blog-a-thon, I give you Karyn Calabrese's Walnut Pate on page 258. Visually, I wasn't impressed with the pate, it looked rather depressing, a tan-ish hue depressing. In the future, I might add a few grated carrots or diced red pepper to it or possibly half of a red onion, to add some color.
The flavor? Well, Man on the Raw said it had 'lack-of-salt/seasoning issues.' Hey, it wasn't me who said it. I'm totally playing the blame-game on this dish. So he seasoned it up a bit with a couple of garlic cloves, more dill and of course, sea salt. His platting is spot on. He is great at creating little platters of food using simple ingredients. He makes things look appetizing and isn't that as important as taste and smell and texture? By adding a few basil leaves, spicy jalapenos slices, sweet tomatoes, salty olives and a drizzle of olive oil, he produced a dish with flare.

Have I mentioned how wonderful and supportive the raw community is in Denver. I attended a rawluck on Saturday and I was at another last night. And I tell you what, Denver is building something special. I haven't had such a stimulating, exciting evening in quite a while. Thank you Loriel, Soleil, Mila, Rachel and CJ for the lively conversation.

Of yeah, the food looked great too. My contribution was Lentil Patties with Coconut Peanut Sauce, but alas, I won't share the recipe until next week. Please forgive.

Today I present my dish from Saturday's rawluck. The tapenade and vegetable dip works perfectly with crudites and flax crackers.

There's many a day where I'll whip up the dip and chop some veggies for the littles to eat for lunch.

Olive Tapenade Yield: 2 cups
1 cup Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
½ cup Green Olives, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/3 cup Olive Oil

1 Combine olives, garlic and Italian Seasoning in a bowl.
2 Add red wine vinegar and olive oil. Gently toss. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to allow the flavors to marinate. Overnight is best.

Vegetable Dip
Yield: 2 cups
1 celery stalk, finely diced
¼ onion, finely diced
½ carrot, shredded¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ garlic powder
1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours
½ cup water, or more as needed
Juice of one lemon

1 Toss celery, onion and carrots in a bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and garlic powder.
2 Place cashews, lemon juice and water in a blender. Process until cashews are very creamy, add more water if needed.

3 Combine cashew cream and vegetables. Chill overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

I would like to pass along my Inspirational Blogger Award to Rediscover Raw Foods. She is a honest, straight forward lady. As for the other four? They will have to wait I'm going to bed.

Did you miss me? I didn't have internet last night so I couldn't post the goodies from Day 26. So here they are.

8:43 a.m. Green Smoothie at work

11:17 p.m. Mila with water and celery at work

1:25 p.m. Mixed greens (with cucumber, sprouts and olives), raw quiche with red pepper remoulade and carrot/raisins slaw

2:57 p.m. lemon tartlet at my desk

6:46 p.m. wine with Man on the Raw at home

7:39 p.m. Romaine, cilantro, avocado salad at home

7:51 p.m. Glass of Wine at homeDay 27 of My Year of Living Foods10:54 a.m. Green Smoothie and Mila at work

1:21 p.m. Living Light's Associate Students' meal features Raw Enchilada, Mexican Wild Rice, Avocado Salsa, Colorado Chili Sauce (very spicy)

5:50 p.m. Green Juice at home

6:12 p.m. left over quiche at home

6:15 p.m. Glass of Organic wine at home

6:49 p.m. Bowl of Kimchi at home

7:22 p.m. Glass of wine at home

Here are some photos from The Denver Living and Raw Food Cafe rawluck I attended yesterday.

Kale Salad
I made a platter of crudites with three different flavors of flax crackers, olive tapenade and

vegetable dip. I will share the recipes for the platter sometime next week. As you can see there were a variety of raw dishes at Saturday's rawluck, it was amazing!
Fettuccine Alfredo

Blondies

Stuffed peppers with Cashew/Macadamia nut cream and avocado

Fruit Salad

Apple with chocolate

I am attending a second rawluck on Tuesday so there will be even more tasty treats to share!

Mixed Green Salad

What does this exotic raw food dish and a beautiful raw cookbook author have in common? They're both named Sarma. Rawsome!

At first glance, this dish was given the traditional name of dolma, but upon further investigation I uncovered a different meaning.

The noun dolma derives from the Turkish verb dolmak for "stuffed things" and in this case stuffed vegetables, which could be any vegetable (pepper, eggplant, etc.) hollowed out and "stuffed" with goodies.

Moving on from there, I discovered the correct terminology is Sarma, a wrapped vegetable.

"Sarma is a verbal noun derived from the Turkish verb sarmak meaning "wrapping" or "rolling" in Turkish. Sarma is similar to its cousin dolma, and the two names for such rolls are used interchangeably in many languages." — Wikipedia

No, I'm not saying that Sarma Melngailis is a "wrapped" vegetable. From reading her blog and being a fan of her book, I would imagine she is a sweet, sincere person.

They just share a name and now I'm changing the name of my particular raw food dish to "Sweet Sarmas." It just fits.

This scrumptious appetizer is sweet, savory and succulence all wrapped up.

Sweet Sarmas
Servings: 40

20 large collard leaves
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups pine nuts
¼ cup finely diced red onions
½ cup loosely packed fresh mint
½ cup loosely packed fresh dill
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 Cut away the stem from the collard leaves, leaving you with two leaves.

2 Place the olive oil and sea salt in a large bowl. Add the leaves to the bowl and gently massage them with the oil mixture. Set aside.

3 In a food processor, briefly pulse pine nuts, mint, dill and onion until well combined. Pine nuts should be finely chopped.

4 In a large bowl, toss sun-dried tomatoes and raisins with the pine nut mixture. Add cinnamon, allspice and cumin.

5 Place one tablespoon of the filling center of a collard leaf. Fold bottom of leaf over the filling. Fold sides and roll into a cigar shape.

9:30 a.m. Green Smoothie at work

12:30 p.m. Large Salad (Romaine, mixed greens, spinach, beets, carrots, sprouts, cucumber, seasoned seeds, 1/4 of avocado, Dijon dressing)

2 p.m. Orange Jewels Drink (Orange juice, cashews, dates, agave, soy lecithin, vanilla) and a E3Live shot

3:45 p.m. Cherry Cheesecake

6:15 p.m. olives

6:15 p.m. Organic wine

6:30 p.m. radish bite

7:15 p.m. Fig and Cacao Bean

7:17 p.m. Figs

Time? 7:17 p.m.

Time? almonds

Time? Organic wine

Time? Organic wine and olives while outside looking at the stars with Man on the Raw

Time?: Cacao Beans with agave at home while blogging this post
Due to 3 4 glasses too many glasses of wine, the evening times and names of food will appear tomorrow could not be fully recalled. Good nite folks, have a great weekend.

Fast Avocado Salad by Stephen Arlin, p. 61

Pretty straight forward salad.

I didn't use 30-40 Raw Power! olives, I choose 10 regular raw powerless Kalamata olives and a dash or two of sea salt.

9:30 a.m. Fruit Smoothie with Mila at home

11:30 a.m. Salad with red onion and avocado and Mila

12:10 p.m. Spanish olives at home

12:15 p.m. half a avocado with Spanish olives

2:30 p.m. Man on the Raw's Mystery Superfood Smoothie

5:15 p.m. A bowl of kelp noodles with broccoli, carrots and scallions at home

6:13 p.m. Avocado at home


9:50 A.M. Sample Flourless chocolate cake with rosewater frosting at work

9:55 a.m. E3Live shot at work

10:10 a.m. Piña Colada smoothie (almond milk, pineapple, coconut, agave) at work

11:50 a.m. Salad bar (mixed greens, cucumber, romaine, carrot, cabbage, sprouted chickpeas, nutritional yeast, raw Dijon dressing) at work

1:35 p.m. Flourless chocolate cake with rosewater frosting at work

6 p.m. Thai Coleslaw at home with Man on the Raw

8ish Glass of Organic red wine with Man on the Raw

8:30 p.m. Spanish olives at home

9:30 p.m. Glass of Organic red wine at home

To tomorrow's FUNdamentals class.

Welcome! I am so excited for you. I was in your spot last July and I can tell you that I had a blast!
If your experience is half as fabulous as mine then you are well on your way to something special. You are in for a joyous ride.

Terilynn


At the Water Cooler
What are you plans for this weekend?

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10:15 a.m. Two apples

4:45 p.m. Large salad with romaine lettuce, scallions, cucumber, tomato and avocado with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice with two of my baby girls.

I know, I know. Not much eating going on. But after several weeks of heavy, heavy indulgence of foods that I would be too embarrassed to mention, my first day of raw foods is heaven sent. I do believe that romaine was the greatest thing I've eaten in a very long time.

I hate being broke (especially around the holidays, can I get an Amen). More than being broke I hate arguing with my husband about being broke. A national survey released in February of this year stated 37 percent of couples fight about money. No surprise to me.

But it’s not like I’m purchasing the newest juicy jumpsuit or a acquiring the D&G purse, (although it is very pretty).

I am practical in my spending. The bulk of the money goes to food and kitchen gadgets.

Awhile ago we bickered about the amount of money I spend on produce and springform pans (my fetish). Silly, right?

The details of the argument isn’t as important as that fact that it is like detoxing it brings up past issues and hurts and such, totally unrelated to the disagreement at hand.

In our case, the quarrel really was about me not doing the laundry often enough or him not putting the toilet seat down again. I forget which.

To resolve the issues, I promised to do laundry once in awhile; he guaranteed the lid will descend after his potty sessions. The making up was very nice and I received a gift to get over the hurt feelings.

“It’s quinoa”
“Keen-who,” I asked?

“Q-U-I-N-O-A. It’s a grain,” he explained.

And not just any grain. Once considered "the gold of the Incas," quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is an amino acid-rich seed that has a slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when sprouted.
Speaking of sprouting. It takes these tiny guys 6-8 hours to sprout, sometimes less. You can’t beat that.

Sprouting quinoa:
1. Wash 1 cup quinoa with water very thoroughly to get rid of an unpleasant-tasting saponin on the seed coat.
2. Soak 2-4 hours in a jar. 3. Drain. Rinse well with water before sprouting 6-8 hours.*

The strong flavor of the quinoa can be unpleasant. To counteract this I soak mine in a mixture of 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar and 1/4 cup Nama Shoyu.
yields approximately 1 -1/2-2 cups sprouted quinoa*This time can vary. I sprouted quinoa on four separate occasions and they all sprouted at different times. Once a batch sprouted while it was still soaking.
They remind me of a bulgur or rice. Once rice came to mind an Asian creation wasn’t far behind.
After scanning the frig and silently praying to the GE appliance for some usable ingredients, it delivered: mushrooms, broccoli, red onion and walnuts. Score!

Searching the refrigerator is a huge step for me, usually I just write a list and go to the store, but, we just argued about being broke so that wasn’t an option.
I decided to marinate the ingredients separately in their own special sauces to create more of a vegetable bowl, but this dish also lends itself well to a stir-fry.

So from being broke, to fighting about it, to detoxing, to laundry, to making up, to a grain worth its weight in gold, to scanning the frig, to a vegetable bowl gift for my husband to say I’m sorry. Here we are. Enjoy!

Vegetable Bowl with Quinoa
BROCCOLI MIXTURE
3 cups broccoli
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon raw agave nectar

MUSHROOM MIXTURE4 cups sliced mushrooms¼ cup Nama Shoyu½ cup apple cider vinegar2 tablespoon olive oil
RED ONION MIXTURE

½ red onion, sliced into thin strips
½ lime, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt

WALNUT MIXTURE
1 cup soaked walnuts
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
¼ teaspoon sea salt

4 cups sprouted quinoa
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ tablespoon Nama Shoyu

1 BROCCOLI MIXTURE: Marinate the broccoli in the apple cider vinegar, raw agave nectar, sea salt and red pepper flakes for 2-3 hours or until broccoli breaks down a bit.
2 MUSHROOM MIXTURE: Place ingredients in bowl and marinate in for 2 hours.

3 RED ONION MIXTURE: Marinate the onions in the lime juice and sea salt for an hour.

4 WALNUT MIXTURE: Marinate the walnuts in the raw agave nectar and sea salt for an hour.

5 Toss quinoa with apple cider vinegar, Nama Shoyu and sea salt until well coated.

Servings: 4

My husband and I were in the kitchen together making this pizza. It's been awhile. Welcome back, baby!

Pizza Bread
4 cups sprouted grains, Kamut, wheat berries, rye, etc.
1 cup almond flour
½ cup soaked Sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup sliced Kalamata olives
½ garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt

1 In a food processor, grind the grains well. If your processor doesn’t have a powerful motor, use ¼ cup of water to get things going. Stop every so often to scrape the sides of the food processor. Blend the mixture until it forms a sticky dough. Remove from processor and place in a large bowl.

2 Add sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and olive to processor. Briefly process to make a thick paste.**
3 Place dough in a large bowl and add almond flour, sun-dried tomato paste, olives and sea salt. Combine well.

4 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.

5 Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 6 hours, flip over and with a pizza cutter, score into nine slices. Dehydrate an additional 6-8 hours or until the bread is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

**You may also add the ingredients to the dough without processing into a paste. The paste option produces a tomato-red colored bread.

Cashew Pepper Cheese Spread
1 cup cashew nuts
Juice of one half lemon
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1/4 cup water

Combine ingredients in a blender until well mixed.

Chunky Marinara Sauce
2 ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour to soften, reserve soaking water
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded, roughly chopped
4 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour to soften
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, roughly chopped
2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Combine dates Roma tomatoes, garlic, onion, Italian seasonings and olive oil in a blender. Add sun-dried tomatoes, using soaking water to get the blender going. Puree until you reach a chunky consistency. Add sea salt and pepper.

Marinated Mushrooms2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of one half lemon
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
½ teaspoon sea salt

Toss mushrooms with olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, Italian seasonings and sea salt. Let marinate for 2 hours

Toppings
1/2 bunch of Spinach, washed and chopped
1 cup marinated Mushrooms, sliced
1 small Red onion, sliced
tomato, sliced

Spread the cashew cheese on the pizza bread add the marinara. Top with spinach, mushrooms, onion and tomato.

If you don't like these toppings try these:
Sweet bell peppers
Green onions
Jalapenos
Chili peppers
Broccoli
Carrots
Alfalfa Sprouts
Asparagus
Bean Sprouts
Chives
Cilantro
Lettuce
Pineapple
Shallots
Snow Peas
Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Walnuts
Yellow Squash
Zucchini

Here's a grown-up version of nachos to celebrate the day. And while you're chowing down on the nachos read the "I Love Nachos Day" ecards you sent to each other.

Chili Lime Flax Crackers1/2 cup ground brown flaxseeds1/4 cup soaked golden flaxseeds1/2 tablespoon chili powderJuice of one lime1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 Combine ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed.
2 Spread mixture as thin as possible Teflex sheet.
3 Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 5 hours. Flip crackers over, remove teflex sheet and dehydrate an additional 5 hours.

Pepper Flax Crackers1 cup soaked golden flaxseeds
1/2 tablespoon black pepper1/2 tablespoon red pepperJuice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 Combine ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed.

2 Spread mixture as thin as possible Teflex sheet.

3 Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 hours. Flip crackers over, remove Teflex sheet and dehydrate an additional 4 hours.

“Refried Beans”
2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked for 2 hours
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour
½ teaspoon miso
3-4 tablespoon Mexican seasonings
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon agave nectar
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2-3 sprigs cilantro leaves only
Sea salt, to taste

1 Process all ingredients; expect jalapeno, onions and cilantro, in a food processor. Add a few tablespoons of water at a time and process until you get a smooth consistency.

2 Add jalapeno, onions and cilantro and pulse a few times to combine.

Pear Salsa1 pear, finely diced1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced1/2 shallot, finely diced1/2 jalapeno, finely diced5 sprigs cilantro, leaves onlyJuice of one half lime1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Toss ingredients together.
As usual my dear hubbie doesn't work in measurements. I did pin him down (which was kind of fun) to give me the salsa ingredients.

Cory's salsa
tomatoes
garlic
onion
cilantro
jalapeno
lime juice
sea salt

Toss ingredients together.

Guacamole
one avocado
Cory's salsa Sea salt, to taste

1 Peel and mash the avocado in a bowl.
2 Add one or two tablespoons of Cory's salsa. Combine well. Add sea salt
Other Nacho toppings
Avocado cubes Black OlivesGreen Olives
Jalapenos
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Walnut Taco Meat