Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K, plus the antioxidant benefits of lycopene*. They are a fruit, but they are usually served as a vegetable. *Lycopene is the pigment that makes tomatoes red. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene it has. Season: Available year-round but tomatoes are at their peak June-September
How to select: Choose firm tomatoes, richly colored and noticeably fragrant.
photo by babybee
How to store: Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature and used within a few days.
photo by Pieter Pieterse Tip: Don't store tomatoes in the refrigerator, cold temperatures kill the flavor and turns the flesh grainy.
Tomato Salad 6 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces 1 small red onion, thinly sliced1 orange or yellow bell pepper, sliced in strips (de-seed)1/2 cup basil, cut into stripsHemp oil (or your favorite oil) Apple Cider Vinegar Sea salt, to taste 1. Place tomatoes in large salad bowl, add slice onions on top. 2. Layer with bell pepper and basil.
3. Drizzle hemp oil and vinegar over the top of salad. Sprinkle with sea salt and gently toss. Fun Facts: The tomato is in the same family as the potato, pepper, eggplant, and petunia (nightshades). Tomatoes are also known as the 'apple of love' There are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes
Recipe #46 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor. Loveliest Live Almond Hummus by Michal Adi, p. 275. I served this hummus with a simple cucumber, tomato and parsley salad.
February is coming to a close in a few days and I have to make the decision if I will do the NaBloPoMo again for March. I have my own ideas on it but I would like to open it for discussion with you. So what do you think? To daily blog or not? Leave a comment or answer the poll at the top left.
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.
A Blended Salad is a mixture of raw, leafy greens and other foods blended together to create a smooth, creamy consistency. Eating a salad prepared in this manner is quick, convenient and increases absorption of important nutrients.
Recipe #37 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor.
This is a pretty standard recipe and the beauty of the salad is you can add your favorite vegetables to eat.
Blended Salad by Paul Nison, p. 93 1 handful leafy greens (lettuce and spinach work best) 1/2 cucumber 1 stalk celery 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 handful sunflower sprouts (optional) 1/2 red pepper (optional) 1 avocado 1 teaspoon flaxseed oil (optional) 1 tomato
Mango Soup by Shannon Isley, 100 This was a good soup and I threw caution to the wind and added a pinch or two of sea salt and it transformed into a very, good soup.
But then I got to thinking. When do you eat Mango Soup? When do you use mangos? They can kick off the day blended in a smoothie, maybe add a little something different to a salsa or chutney and a mango can be down right sensual eaten by itself. But when would you take the time to create Mango soup, if it were not for a special occasion?
It’s not a cozy tomato soup or brawny mushroom soup or even a soothing miso broth. Those soups are like your grandmother’s quilt…dependable, comforting. Mangos are definitely not, that. I suppose since mangoes are an aphrodisiac, Valentine’s Day is a fine time to dine on Mango soup.
image Just the sexiness of all the ingredients. The mango. Touching it, you should feel the skin give, its ripe suppleness is a perfect consistency for the soup. Go ahead, it’s alright to smile as the sweet juices and sticky texture drip down your arm and make their way to the blender. flint hill
Do you feel your heart race as your knife bites down on the red chile pepper exposing the heat. Did you gasp as the burning chile fumes arrived at your nose? Was that a smile as you thought of your dinner companion for the evening? I promise I won’t tell that you secretly added a few chile seeds to the blender. A little more heat won’t hurt anyone.
It’s fortunate that the coconut meat bestows richness to this seductive dish as the coconut water washes over the mixture; a cool breeze on an August day. Lime juice brings a bit of spunk with its tartness and sass.
libraryman And last but certainly not least, the ginger offers warmth, not like wool socks, yet reminiscent of the fiery lover who cuddles after. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Spicy Mango Soup 3 very ripe mangoes, peeled, flesh removed Meat and water from 2 coconuts, extra water as needed 1 small red chile, seeds removed, chopped Juice of 1 lime 1 teaspoon grated ginger ½ teaspoon sea salt
Combine mango, coconut meat and water, chile, lime juice, ginger and sea salt together in a high-speed blender; process until smooth and creamy. Chill for 2-3 hours before serving.
Today’s recipe started out as Shazzie’s Guacamole (p. 274) but spiraled into our own creation. I’m sure we aren’t doing anything new and spectacular with this recipe but it’s ours all the same. Or shall I say it belongs to Avery. She kind of took over the kitchen when avocados entered the picture. She should be called Baby Avocado, she eats them with a passion. Just takes a spoon and scoops the sweet flesh from its shell. She was very insistent when it came to preparing this recipe.
Guacamole 4 Hass Avocados, halved, pitted 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped 1 red chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped* 2 garlic cloves, minced Juice of two limes 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
Scoop the flesh from the avocado halves into a large bowl, add the tomatoes, pepper, garlic, lime juice and sea salt. Smash all the ingredients together with a potato masher until you get a smooth, yet slightly chunky consistency.
*If a guacamole with more heat is what you seek, add the chile’s seeds to the mix.
Note: If the mood strikes you, add a handful of cilantro leaves and a tablespoon or two of chopped white onion . We were out, but I know for a fact they are welcome additions.
....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.
Recipe #17, Crunch Fries with Ketchup, by Sergei and Valya Boutenko, p. 120 I listen to quite a few Abraham-Hicks Law of Attraction books on CD. My sister-friend Monique, who is a devote Christian, always tells me I’m a spiritual and moral person despite the fact that I have not one religious bone in my body. I’ve always wondered if that was her way of saying that despite my past bad behavior she has my entry ticket into heaven locked down, so no worries. From a lifetime of searching for answers through Christianity, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Wicca, all made sense in their own right but I never felt I made sense doing them. I wanted to know why I was the way I was. That’s when “the Secret” entered my life followed by a slew of other Law of Attraction books, ending at Abraham-Hicks.
The whole idea of creating your own existence, situations, life, good or bad, resonates with me. I get that. It explains soooo much. It keeps me with joyful and happy thoughts, because that’s how I want to be. Despite that, there still are remnants of my past doubtful thinking that lurk within. For instance, at times, when I ask to win the Powerball, I still see the mischievous Magic Genie smirking “Your Wish is my Command” and POOF, I win $3 on a $5 ticket. Technically, I AM a Powerball Winner.
So two things I have to remind myself of. One: things will come to me, if I am joyful patient and two: be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
Which brings me to today’s recipe. Remember when I moaned and groaned about not enough sea salt in the recipes? Well, the sea salt gods, the Gene or the Law of Attraction played a funny at my expense, in the form of the Boutenko kids' simple recipe called Crunch Fries with Ketchup.
Please note the point in the recipe right after ¼ cup raisins and before 1/4 cup onion powder. Take notice that if you put in 1 tablespoon of sea salt in the ketchup you render it inedible and your husband will give you the evil stink eye, like you dented his precious car, Hazel, and you will have to trash the whole bowl because even your salt-obsessed, sister-friend Monique won’t touch it.
I held my tablespoon piled high with sea salt and flinched for a moment thinking of the absurdity. It was the instant the little creature with a halo and wings said “Maybe you should re-think this.” Yet a slit second later, the red-horned thug shoved the angelic being off my shoulder and screeched in my ear “Pour the damn, salt!” And there it went into my sun-dried tomato mixture.
Certainly, it was understood that my thinking was adding a dash-to-a-pinch more sea salt to the recipes for taste improvement. I wasn’t asking for something out of the ordinary, was I?
Whether it be a typo or lapse of clarity on the creators’ part, I know not. Bottom line is, deep down I knew it probably meant one teaspoon of salt. I knew better and you dear readers know that I knew better. Critical, just plain critical. Needless, to say, this recipe was my first major disaster as far as this endeavor goes and I don’t think I’ll attempt it again. It’s pretty basic and the jicama fries came out beautifully so it wasn’t too much of a waste and I really, really want to win multi-millions in the Powerball.
10 a.m. Red apple at work10:23 a.m. Mila in water at work
11:15 p.m. Lemon Poppyseed cake sample at Living Light Cafe12:17 p.m. Green juice
1:10 p.m. Lunch with Associate Chef students and Jenny Cornbleet (Mixed greens, avocado, Pickled "Pink" onions, Sun-dried tomato rose, not tuna pate, slaw)1:45 p.m. Cheesecake made by an Associate Chef student
3:32 p.m. green juice at work
5:23 p.m. Green apples at home with my Avery
6:30 p.m. Spinach salad with cranberries, walnuts and a glass of wine at home with Man on the Raw
7:35 p.m. Glass of wine and dates stuffed with almonds at home
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.
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator — Create Your Own Logo January 5, 2011 — Day 5
12:13 p.m. salad (mixed greens, spinach, romaine, carrots, cucumbers, Dijon, nutritional yeast) at work
3:30 p.m. Kombucha at work
4:20 p.m Coconut Date Logs and Cardamom Cake with Rosewater cream at work
6:30 p.m. Pure Power Bars with Man on the Raw at home
7:15 p.m. Salad (Romaine, cucumber, tomato, avocado, very hot jalapeno) at home with Man on the Raw
January 6, 2011 — Day 6
10:30 a.m. Berries ‘n’ Cream smoothie (almond milk, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, dates); a shot of E3live at work
11:45 a.m. Salad (mixed greens, romaine, carrots, cabbage, cucumber, nutritional yeast, Dijon dressing) at work
3:15 p.m. Apple at work
7:15 p.m. Sweet and Spicy Cabbage with avocado at home with Man on the Raw
Sweet and Spicy Cabbage 1/2 head green cabbage, chopped 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 carrot, grated 1 tablespoon Agave nectar 1-2 teaspoons Chili Garlic Sauce (not raw product), or more depending on how spicy you want it 1-2 teaspoons sea salt juice of one lemon
2 avocado, peeled and cubed
Toss cabbage, onion, carrot in a bowl. Add agave, chili garlic sauce salt and lemon. Mix well. Let set for 10 minutes.
Serve with avocado cubes.
At the Water Cooler What is your favorite raw food dessert? (enter your answers in the comment box)
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10:10 am Choco-Nana (Almond milk, cocoa, bananas and dates) and power bar sample from the Living Light Cafe
11:40 a.m. salad (mixed greens, romaine, cabbage, cucumber, sprouts, carrots, Dijon, nutritional yeast) at work
2:45 p.m. Green juice and dried mango piece at work
7 :15 p.m. Parsley salad with tomato, cucumber, avocado, hemp seeds at home
8:08 p.m. dehydrated or possibly cooked (???) unsweetened banana chips at home talking to my daughter Jordan on Skype
Okay here's a grey area. I might have eaten something cooked but not quite sure. I was munching away on my banana chips thinking they were dehydrated minding my own raw business when Man on the Raw (without missing a beat) said "Those aren't raw. They fry them. What the f***?!?
Are you telling me I just ate something that not only is NOT raw but it's fried??? Great, just great. So now do I feel like a failure because I wasn't techniqually 100% raw or do I just say whatever,
Well, if you know me (and I think you might know a bit), I say "whatever", I'm not going to stress. To me, My Year of Living Raw continues untarnished.
At the Water Cooler What's your favorite activity to do while you eat dehydrated/fried unsweetened banana chips?
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12:30 p.m. Large salad (spinach, romaine, mixed greens, purple cabbage, carrots, cucumber and sprouts with Living Light's raw Dijon dressing) at my desk at work.
2:30 p.m. Kombucha at my desk at work.
6:45 p.m. Lettuce Wraps with Man in the Raw
This post is dedicated to Candace and my other Raw Buddies at Living Light. Candace and I had a nice discussion on what to put in lettuce wraps. I offered a few suggestions, sunflower pate, veggies, sprouts and such.
But it totally slipped my mind one of my favorite lettuce wraps. Avocado Ceviche. I call it a ceviche because it's not quite a guacamole. Although all the players are there (tomato, pepper, cilantro) it is not prepared like a guacamole would be. And the bonus was it was quick and easy to make.
Avocado Ceviche serves 2
2 avocados, peeled and diced 1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced 1 Serrano pepper, diced 1/2 cup cilanto, chopped 1 tablespoon lemon juice Sea Salt, to taste
Lightly toss avocado, tomato, pepper and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss in lemon juice and season with the sea salt.
Serve with 8-10 Romaine lettuce leaves (Red or Green leaf lettuce works great also) and your favorite fixings (we used cucumber and carrot strips, parsley and scallions)
At the Water Cooler What are some of your favorite fixings for lettuce wraps? Leave your faves in the comment box.
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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 love platter dining. I'm not sure if it's an official term, maybe now it will be. I guess the closest thing to it would be tapas. Platter dining is a bit different.
Spreading your ingredients out and deciding which ones to eat in whatever combination you choose. And you have to eat with your hands. I think raw food tastes better eating with your fingers.
Guacamole Platter 4 avocados, peeled and diced 2 tomatoes, finely chopped 1/2 red onion, finely chopped 1 jalapeño, finely chopped, seeds intact 1 Thai Chile pepper, finely chopped, seeds intact 1/4 teaspoon sea salt juice of one lime
1 In a bowl, mash the avocados with a potato masher.
2 Add the tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno and chile pepper to the bowl. Squeeze the lime juice and sprinkle sea salt over the guacamole. Platter ingredientscarrot slicesbroccolispinach leavescucumbercollard green leaves
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
Cranberry-Raisin Essene Bread Soft wheat berries were my first. Hard wheat berries are more for the yeast breads. Oat groats are not really in the same league. Rye never entered the picture. Like my husband, once the Durum wheat’s distant Egyptian relative sprouted into me life, there were no others.
Essene the grain at the end of the tunnel and its name was Kamut. I’m certain I’m committing a bit of blasphemy. Casually, chatting on the subject of an ingredient used in the Bible’s Essene Bread. If I am, I beg the powers that be… please forgive.
But really, how can you blame me? It was a close race. Both grains are economical, easily sprout and work well in Essene Bread. But my Kamut is one high protein, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc-packed grain.
Kamut has a much richer and buttery flavor than the sweet wheat berries, which could explain it’s somewhat higher fatty acid content. Oh well, I ramble.
Not that wheat berry is the re-bound boyfriend. It has qualities that make it appealing in its own right. For instance, sprouting wheat berries increases its vitamin C content by 400 percent- not too shabby. Low in calories – works for me. And wheat berries did grind to flour (in my coffee grinder) a bit better than my dear Kamut, which left me with a grainier texture compared to wheat’s fine quality.
No matter which grain you prefer, it’s all good.
Back in the biblical day the sprouted-grain breads were probably baked on hot rocks under the blazing sun. Now, depending on where you live, the sun could be an option, but I’d try a dehydrator first and see how you like that.
There are many good versions of Essene breads on the internet, with the most basic recipe having only one ingredient, sprouted grain.
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 sticky dough.
2 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.
3 Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 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. Alternatively, you can form into small loaves, no more than 1 ½ inches thick. The dehydrating time should be increased by a few hours.
I didn’t have much success with making loaves. The outside was perfect but the inside fermented a bit before completely drying but It had a sour dough taste to it. You would think the dry Colorado air would help a girl out, but I guess you have to live in the deserts of Nevada to get some love. Once you are comfortable with the basic recipe, you can add ingredients to suit your fancy.
Herb Essene Bread 4 cups sprouted grains, Kamut, wheat berries, rye, etc. 1 cup almond flour 2 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoon Herb Blend* 1 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.
2 Place dough in a large bowl and add almond flour, olive oil, herb blend and sea salt. Combine well.
3 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.
4 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.
Combine seasonings in a coffee grinder and grind until fine.
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.
Raisin Bread 4 cups sprouted grains, Kamut, wheat berries, rye, etc. 1 cup almond flour ½ cup soaked golden raisins ½ cup soaked Thompson raisins ¼ cup agave nectar ¼ 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.
2 Place dough in a large bowl and add almond flour, raisins, agave nectar and sea salt. Combine well.
3 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.
4 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.
5 Serve with honey butter (recipe below).
Cranberry-Raisin Bread 4 cups sprouted grains, Kamut, wheat berries, rye, etc. 1 cup almond flour ½ cup fresh cranberries ½ cup soaked raisins ¼ cup agave nectar ¼ 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.
2 Place dough in a large bowl and add almond flour, cranberries, raisins, agave nectar and sea salt. Combine well.
3 Divide the mixture in half and spread each half on a two Teflex sheets, forming 8 x 8 squares.
4 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.
Final notes: Please keep in mind, the more wet ingredients you add to the basic bread recipe the longer it will take to dehydrate. Also, other factors come into play. The type of dehydrate you have, where you live, your preferences, etc. Use your best judgment on determining the tastes and textures of your bread.
John wrote me last month and asked if I could work on a bread for his family. Essence breads had been in the back of my mind for awhile, but his request jump-started the process. Many thanks to John. Essene you later! Terilynn
10:38 a.m. Green juice at work
1:20 p.m. Small Salad with tomato dressing, olives, raw refried beans and taco "meat"
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