The Daily Raw Blog kids My kids inspire me. Five different personalities running rampant, with five different thoughts, ideas and possibilities. Wow! I can't wait to see how they take on the world. Love them very much. During this time of year I like to take stock in what is important to me, what inspires and well, you get the point. Who (or what) inspires you? "Inspiration: Life" Coming January 2, 2008
Mushrooms and Scallions in Miso Broth serves 4
juice of one lemon (or lime) 2 cups sliced mushroom 2 tablespoon miso 4 cups warm water 1/2 cup diced scallions 1 Marinate the mushrooms in the lemon juice for one to two hours. 2 In a large bowl place miso, add water. Stir until miso is dissolved. Add mushrooms and scallions.
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
I promise I had the best intentions. I had a beautiful menu planned for you for this Thursday. Each day this week I would focus on a different course for you to seduce your sweetie into a meal he or she would always remember.
The foreplay of the evening would have been the Sweet and Spicy Neptune Salad Cocktail, followed by a bit of cool Cucumber soup or maybe a Shaved Fennel salad with cranberries. Moving on to main event it was a Mushroom Ragu and Chickpea Polenta with Asparagus Rolls. The climax was Cheesecakes Shots with Blueberry sauce.
I like to cuddle after. Do you like to cuddle? I thought you might cuddle with a Fruit Platter of pineapple cubes, strawberries and raspberries with two spicy chocolate sauces for dipping and feeding . One laced with cayenne and the other with cinnamon.
Time escaped me and I really couldn't indulge in such an extravagant venture, you know the juice feasting thing.
Now before you leave in a huff and curse me for being such a tease or so you won't wear "that shirt" that says "I visited The Daily Raw Blog and all I got was this stinking T-shirt"...try this, to soothe the savage beast.
A sweet and fiery concoction that will most definitely set the fires ablazing. Here folks to get your party started is the.....
Sweet and Spicy Neptune Salad Cocktail 2 cups finely diced coconut meat 2 tablespoon finely diced red onion 1 Holland chili (or another red-colored chili or pepper), finely diced 2 long pieces of dried seaweed, broken into small pieces, save extra for garnish 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon coconut butter Juice of one lime juice 1 teaspoon sea salt 2 lettuce leaf 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into slices A few sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 Toss coconut meat, onion, chilies and seaweed in a bowl.
2 Whisk together honey, coconut butter, lime juice and sea salt until the honey and coconut butter dissolves a bit, creating a smooth consistency. Pour into bowl with coconut meat. Marinate at least an hour.
3 Place lettuce leaf in the bottom of cocktail glass. Place a heaping amount of Neptune salad on top of leaf. Garnish with avocado, cilantro and a few flakes of seaweed.
Servings: 2
After you finish eating the salad, sip on the juice that have collected in the bottom of the glasses.
The beautiful Wendi Dee from Pure Jeeven has kicked off February's Daily Raw Blog recipe challenge with "Easy To Swallow Veggie Soup," a delicious-looking vegetable soup. For the recipe visit here. Thank you very much Wendi Dee for submitting your soup, you are truly rawsome. To everyone else keep it coming! For the details of the Daily Raw Blog recipe challenge visit here.
Other blog news. I have passed along my Creative Blogger Award to Paulina of Veggie Delight. She is our future in raw and vegan cuisine and I wanted to acknowledge the talent that this 16-year-old possesses. Keep up the great work Paulina!
8:58 a.m. Green Smoothie at work11:41 a.m. Mila with water at work1:48 p.m. Chef Vinnette’s Thai Red Curry Coconut Kabocha Soup (recipe coming soon)Another day of RawFusion Spa Cuisine from the Gourmet students features...
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.
Green Onion Dressing by Jalissa Letendre, p. 83 I love scallions. I prefer to call them by their nickname green onions.
Although, rumor has it that they are too different beasts altogether. I guess, technically speaking, scallions are younger and do not have a bulb whereas green onions have a small, partially-formed bulb. I haven’t been able to wrap my brain around if a green onion is a scallion is a spring onion is a…well, if anyone knows for sure please give me the 411. Green onions are my favorite bulb, next to the light bulb. It’s the mildest flavor of the Allium Genus family which includes garlic, onions, leeks, chives and shallots. And best of all, unlike “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” commercials with lost puppies finding their way home and boys, green onions never made me cry.
Oddly enough, I never ate a raw green onion until I first embraced the raw food lifestyle some six odd years ago. And though I wasn’t always faithful to raw foods, I remained steadfast with green onions. I consumed the bulb and stem, chopped in salads, soups and juices. I have been known to eat them straight from the ground in our garden.
Prior to preparing Jalissa Letendre’s, it did not occur to me to create a dressing with green onions. If you share my passion for green onions (or if you just like a really good dressing) try it. It’s very fragrant and it hits all the required spots on the taste buds. Based on the smell alone I would recommend you buy the book just to make the dressing. My husband thought it was just as good as the Ranch Dressing, if not better. I made a simple mixed greens tossed salad and he ate it up like no tomorrow. And as you can see, Avery seemed to enjoyed it too.
photo by Yury Wow! I can't believe it's December 31, this year flew by. Tomorrow will be 2011!
I want to take this opportunity to share a few of my favorite posts from the year, kind of like a virtual retrospective of 2010. I hope you enjoy.
Michelle and Angela Donavan's Poem Lunch at the Daily Raw Blog — a pictorial Breaking Up is Hard to Do So Eat Soup Terilynn's 60 Days of Juice — Video 10 Thoughts from Angela Stokes-Monarch Not Exactly Cheeze and Broccoli The Daily Raw Blog's Cyber Celebration He Said...She Said series Terilynn turns 40! Back to the Cutting Board series
Thank you to all who take time from your day to pay The Daily Raw Blog a visit. Thank you for your comments, well-wishes, support, encouragements and most of thank you for...you. I wish you and yours a rawlicious 2011. Happy New Year!
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Pizza Tuesday: Chocolate and Orange Panna Cotta Wednesday: Guacamole
Raw Gaia launches the world’s 1st Raw Chocolate Face Pack
Raw talent Uncooked diet catching on with the health-conscious by Cate Lecuyerm, Salem News
Carol Alt's Raw Pecan Pie by Jenn Smith, Serious Eats
What if 'real' turkey won't do? by Erika Wurst, The Beacon News
Raw Delivery Service in the Denver and front range area Living Foods Chef Melissa Gilbert provides raw food meals delivered right to your door every week. The weekly package will include: 2 savory soups or 2 smoothies 4 Gourmet Entrees 4 Side Dishes 2 Desserts Raw Snacks Delivery area will be from Boulder in the north to Castle Rock in the south. Morrison to the west and Aurora to the east. There is a small fee for deliveries outside of Denver. Want more information? Contact Melissa at gilbertd921(at)comcast.net.
SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have raw food related item for "Raw News You Can Use" please feel free to pass it along. Send information to yahoo.com and I will post it on Friday's blog.
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Essene BreadTuesday: NachosWednesday: Chocolate, Mint and Lemon GranitasThursday: Clementine slices Raw Delivery Service in the Denver and front range area Living Foods Chef Melissa Gilbert provides raw food meals delivered right to your door every week. The weekly package will include:
2 savory soups or 2 smoothies
4 Gourmet Entrees
4 Side Dishes
2 Desserts
Raw Snacks
Delivery area will be from Boulder in the north to Castle Rock in the south. Morrison to the west and Aurora to the east. There is a small fee for deliveries outside of Denver. Want more information? Contact Melissa at gilbertd921(at)comcast.net. Westlake's Web of Life Natural Foods Market has weekly lectures on raw foods by Evelyn Theiss, Plain Dealer Reporter Carol Alt's book featured in a Cookbok Review by Erin Mendell, Baltimore Sun Natural habits by Natalie Mikles, Tulsa World Scene Writer Normally, I wouldn't comment on news articles but with this one I'll make an exception. It was a fairly good article (Pam's Apple Pie Salad caught my attention) until the "note" regarding pineapples at the very bottom.
I'm not very rigid with my raw culinary ingredients. I use honey, red or rice vinegars, frozen fruits and, if you're familiar with my chocolate sauce, I even use maple syrup. But under no circumstance would I ever, ever, ever prepare a raw dish using anything that comes out of a can!
SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have raw food related item for "Raw News You Can Use" please feel free to pass it along. Send information to yahoo.com and I will post it on Friday's blog.
My husband first made a variation of this chowder when we first adopted a raw lifestyle a few years back. I remember loving the taste and texture of the creamy broth. It has a nice balance between the rich, deep flavor of the walnuts and mildness of the seaweed.
Use kitchen shears to cut the Wakame into super, super tiny pieces. They expand at least ten times their size and you don't want have to chew through seaweed to enjoy the chowder.
Seaweed Chowder
3 cups water 1 cup walnuts 1 tablespoon yellow miso (optional) ¼ cup Wakame, cut into tiny pieces 1 carrot, sliced ½ tablespoon sea salt
1 In a blender, combine walnuts, miso and water until you achieve a creamy milk consistency. 2 Pour in a large bowl, add Wakame, carrots and sea salt. Stir. Let sit until Wakame expands.
Servings: 2
Wakame is rich in protein, calcium, iodine, magnesium, iron and folate.
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Cream of Mushroom Soup Tuesday: The Legally Raw Candy bar Wednesday: Zucchini Noodles with Alfredo Sauce Thursday: Pear Salad with Tangy Cranberry Vinaigrette Find a fresh choice at House of Nature's Own by Emanuella Orr
Learn basic recipes to integrate more raw foods into your life. Raw Denver hosts a Raw Foods 101 food preparation class, 11 a.m. Saturday. For more information or to register visit rawdenver.com.
Enjoy a Raw Latin American Fiesta! Kristen, of Kristen's Raw, offers a Mexican cuisine class noon-2 p.m. Saturday at the Wild Oats Market in Scottsdale, AZ. For details and to register, visit her website.
Actress Cathy Silvers (Jenny Piccalo on "Happy Days") signs copies of her book "Happy Days Healthy Living" October 27th at Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, 2301 Main St., Santa Monica, 310-392-9501
Journeys for the Soul, Oct. 24-28. A transformational liquid fasting retreat with hosts Kerrie Dancing Butterfly and David Wolfe. Here is a really sweet email from one of The Daily Raw Blog readers. "Hello Daily Raw!
Im a lover of your daily raw website — I always know I will find great recipes and ideas!
The other day I made something from your Raw Blog, for your test kitchen...the chocolate cupcakes! That post really got me, as I'm a chocolate lover all the way around. I have a raw catering business and this coming week my clients will be getting these delicious cupcakes as one of the desserts. I actually had brownie "dough" already made up, so added the vanilla and almond extracts like you had in your recipe, and had the coconut icing already made too, so added beet juice to colour it pink :D For a few of them I used a key lime filling as the icing.
Attached are a few of my cupcake pictures.
Thank you for the inspiriation! I look forward to trying your stuffed butternut squash next! :)
In light,
Heathy" Healthy, thanks for the email and photo. SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have raw food related item for "Raw News You Can Use" please feel free to pass it along. Send information to yahoo.com and I will post it on Friday's blog. Have an rawsome weekend! Terilynn
Cream of Mushroom Soup 4 cups sliced mushrooms 5 cups water 2 cups soaked cashews 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 cup chopped yellow onions 1/4 cup chopped parsley juice of one lemon 2 teaspoon sea salt, divided 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Marinate two cups of mushrooms with olive oil, lemon juice and one teaspoon salt for at least an hour.2 In a blender, process cashews and one cup of water until you achieve a thick cream. Remove from blender jar and place in a large bowl. Reserve a few tablespoons of cashew cream for garnish.
3 Add remaining two cups of mushrooms, onions, parsley, olive oil and remainder of water to the blender, puree until creamy.
4 Combine mushroom mixture and marinated mushrooms with cashew cream. Stir well. Season with one teaspoon salt and pepper. Garnish with reserved cashew cream.
Servings: 4
Selecting: Look for mushrooms that are firm with a fresh, smooth appearance.
Storing: Keep mushrooms in the refrigerator in their original packaging for up to a week.
Cleaning: Use a damp paper towel and brush off any dirt on the mushrooms.
Other mushroom recipes on the Daily Raw Blog. Portobello Steaks Greek Portobello PizzaTuscan MushroomsAsian MushroomsMarinated Mushrooms
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Basil Limeade Tuesday: Pesto-stuffed Butternut Squash with White SauceWednesday: Creamy tomato basil soup and Basil PestoThursday: Honey-Basil Sorbet with Chocolate-covered Basil Local director showcases film at MCC, Herald Staff Report. Jenna Norwood showcases her award-winning film, "Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw" Learn basic recipes to integrate more raw foods into your life. Raw Denver hosts a Raw Foods 101 food preparation class, 11 a.m. October 20th. For more information or to register visit rawdenver.com.
Enjoy a Raw Latin American Fiesta! Kristen, of Kristen's Raw, offers a Mexican cuisine class noon-2 p.m. October 20 at the Wild Oats Market in Scottsdale, AZ. For details and to register, visit her website.
Actress Cathy Silvers (Jenny Piccalo on "Happy Days") signs copies of her book "Happy Days Healthy Living" October 27th at Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, 2301 Main St., Santa Monica, 310-392-9501
Journeys for the Soul, Oct. 24-28. A transformational liquid fasting retreat with hosts Kerrie Dancing Butterfly and David Wolfe.
Send a happy birthday shout-out to my Sous Chef D. She turns 8 years old today! SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have raw food related item for "Raw News You Can Use" please feel free to pass it along. Send information to yahoo.com and I will post it on Friday's blog.
This week has been all about basil in celebration of HerbDay this Saturday. The Daily Raw Blog has posted raw food recipes for a beverage, appetizer, soup, a main dish, so I guess that leaves....dessert!
This is a scrumptious sorbet and so very simple to make. The chocolate-covered basil leaf adds a bit of the "WOW" factor to this dessert.
Viva Raw Foods!
Honey Basil Sorbet 1½ cups honey 1 cup water juice of one lime 1 cup basil leaves, chopped coarsely
1 In a blender, puree chopped basil leaves, lime juice, honey and water.
2 Transfer mixture to a stainless steel bowl, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, 3-4 hours.
3 Remove the sorbet from freezer, puree again, cover and freeze an addition 3 hours.
4 With an ice cream scooper, place sorbet balls in a serving dish and garnish with chocolate-covered basil leaves.
Chocolate covered basil leaves 6 basil leaves, washed and dried ½ cup chocolate sauce (recipe below)
1 Dip each leaf in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. Hardening occurs best by placing in the freezer. Chocolate Sauce 1 cup cocoa powder 1 cup maple syrup* ½ cup coconut oil ¼ cup water
In a large bowl, whisk cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut butter and water together until smooth and creamy. *Note: not a raw product
It's official! The Daily Raw Blog's new URL is now josculinary.com. Feel free to update your lists and post the new URL.
Viva Raw Food!
Creamy tomato basil soup
6 tomatoes, seeded and diced 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves, plus extra for garnish 2 cups cashews, soaked 1 cup water 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon black pepper
Place cashews and water in a blender and blend until creamy. Add basil, tomatoes and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil.
Basil Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 1/4 cup olive oil 1/3 cup pine nuts 1 garlic clove, minced sea salt, to taste black pepper, to taste
1 Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and process until well chopped.
2 Add the nuts and garlic, process again until if forms a thick smooth paste. Slowly stream in olive oil. Stopping the food processor to scrape down sides of container.
3 Process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper
4 Serve pesto over zucchini pasta.
A saladacco (aka Spiralizer) transforms yams, sweet potatoes, daikon and other root vegetables into angel hair pasta noodles.
Food Prep Tip: The noodles will be wet after you spiralize. Place them in a strainer with a pan underneath. Sit on the counter overnight to let it "dry out" a bit. Or you can put it in the dehydrator for an hour at 100 degrees.
11:41 a.m. Mila with water at work
1:48 p.m. Chef Vinnette’s Thai Red Curry Coconut Kabocha Soup (recipe coming soon)
Another day of RawFusion Spa Cuisine from the Gourmet students features...
