Raw Spanish Rice, Collard Greens, and an Excited Friend!

Hello all!  I've got a couple things to talk about today including my new favorite version of Green Lemonade, a new recipe, and a non raw-foodie friend who I got excited about eating raw!!  Let's do things chronologically: 

This morning I made my Green Lemonade with a whole bunch of collard greens I had leftover from the Thai Spring Rolls.  I probably put in about 8 leaves along with 3/4 head of romaine lettuce, 2 small lemons and 2 small (locally grown!!) apples, and the result was very green, and very yummy!  

As I was drinking my green juice I was conversing online with a friend of mine the highlights include:

D: "I just don't like raw foods..."

D: "I want you to cook for me!"

H: "I will!  Seriously, those Thai rolls were so good, you would really like them!"

D: "I just got excited! Those sound right up my alley, I would like them."

That's right, I did it!  I got a skeptic actually excited about a raw recipe.  Can't wait to make it for him when he isn't on the other side of the world!  I'll be sure to follow up with his reaction at some point down the road, if only to be a punk and brag.

Lastly, I just made a new recipe!  This recipe for Raw Spanish Rice is super, super easy and quick!  Although it doesn't really taste like spanish rice it does look a lot like rice, as you can see above.  This is quite yummy, refreshing, and much lighter than standard refined carb infested spanish rice.  This recipe was inspired by another version of spanish rice in Rawsome by Brigitte Mars Enjoy!

Raw Spanish Rice

1 Jicama, peeled and "riced" in a food processor (pulse until the jicama looks rice-like)

Kernels from 2 cobs of raw corn

2 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

Juice from 1/2 lime

Celtic sea salt to taste

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl and serve.  This is light and refreshing but could be used as a main dish.  It would also make a good accompaniment for a Raw Fajita Salad.  If you aren't 100% raw you could also pair this with a baked sweet potato for a nice hearty meal.  

Additional ingredients you might want to try in this include 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions and/or finely chopped red bell pepper. 

Music Fix: Nothing to Say-Bedouin Soundclash

Eat Happy. : )

Raw Thai Spring Rolls: Open-faced

Thank heavens for leftovers!  I made a really yummy salad out of the leftover filling for my Raw Thai Spring Rolls really quick to have before I run off to teach tonight.  Just tear up some romaine lettuce, throw in some chopped tomatoes, red onion, and top with leftover filling from your Thai Spring Rolls and enjoy!  Quick dinner, quick post!  Later punks. : )

Music Fix: You Enjoy Myself-Phish

Eat Happy!

Raw Thai Spring Rolls

I hesitated to make and post this recipe because, although it is raw, it is not technically a properly combined meal.  Although avocados can mix as a starch and with dry fruit, they are not supposed to be combined with nuts or nut butters.  The recipe sounded so good though, I just had to try it anyway.  I started off following a recipe from a book called Rawsome for Green Spring Rolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce but I ran out of time to make the sauce so I ended up completely improvising and switching things up to minimize the affect of the improper combining.  It turned out so damn good, I don't even feel the need to try the original.  So unless you are completely stringent with your meal combining, I highly recommended trying this recipe out!

Green Spring Rolls 

8 servings

8 collard green leaves, stems removed and cut in half

1 avocado, peeled, chopped and pitted

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

3/4 cup raw almond butter

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice from 1/2 a lime

2 tablespoons raw agave nectar

2 tablespoons Nama Shoyu soy sauce

Mix all ingredients except the collard greens together in a large bowl.  Place 1 spoonful of the mixture on each collard green half, roll up and enjoy!!

Music Fix:  Come on Closer-Jem

Green Lemonade with Escarole

On my last trip to the grocery store,to my horror, they were out of kale and spinach!  I bought some escarole to use in my Green Lemonade.  I don't use tons of escarole in my diet, and am not really in love with it.  Today, with the escarole, my green lemonade was a little less sweet and citrusy as usual.  I actually ended up adding the juice from half of another lemon so that I could still enjoy my beverage.  SO my advice is, if you are using escarole in your green lemonade you may want to use two apples for extra sweetness or add an extra lemon if you like your lemonade more tart.  Basically, fix your juice so that it tastes good, no reason to put yourself through torture to get healthy, duh!


I also wanted to mention a little something about not eating unless you are hungry.  I know a lot of us have been programmed to believe that it is unhealthy to skip breakfast, which it absolutely is, IF and only if you are actually hungry.  It is possible that when you wake up your body is still dealing with what you had yesterday, especially if you ate a heavy or improperly combined dinner.  If you aren't hungry, it means that your body does not need or want food yet, so don't force it!  I used to believe that I should eat breakfast even when not hungry if I was going to be exerting myself.  I thought that if I didn't eat, even though I had no appetite, that I might pass out at the ballet barre.   I have completely proved myself wrong and today is an example.  I had planned on making juice before I went to ballet, but I didn't wake up hungry so I decided to skip it and just drink some water with lemon while I got ready.  I rode my bike 30 minutes, took a 90 minute ballet class, and then rode my bike 30 minutes home.  Guess what, I'm still alive and feeling great!  I was hungry on my trip home and probably should have brought an apple or something to eat when I did actually get hungry, but I didn't feel weak or faint at all.  My point is, trust your body; if it needs nourishment it will surely tell you.  If you aren't hungry your body is telling you it doesn't need any food right now, so don't force it!!  Please don't get me wrong here, if you are hungry you should eat, have some green lemonade or fresh fruit.  There is absolutely no reason to deprive yourself if you are hungry, but if you aren't don't worry about it, your body is an astounding entity and its messages shouldn't be ignored.


Listening to: After Dawn-Weathertunes


Eat  Happy.  : )

Ridiculously Good Caramel, Banana, Almond Butter Mash.

Yes, this is a raw recipe, I swear!  I love, love, love eating nut butter with bananas.  Sometimes I will do just that as a super quick, easy meal.  Right now I have a stash of my raw caramel http://www.rawfoodpunk.com/1/post/2009/03/raw-baker-extraordinaire.html  so I mixed some in with my raw almond butter and banana and it was potentially one of the yummiest things I've ever tasted.  Its incredibly simple to make, so much so that I hesitate to put it in official recipe form but it'll be easier to read this way:

Almond Butter, Caramel Banana Mash

1 banana, mashed 
1-2 tablespoons raw almond butter
generous drizzle of raw caramel  


Mix everything together in a cereal bowl and enjoy!!




Music: Glory Box-Portishead


Eat Happy.  : ) 

Change is Good and Tasty.

I don't have a recipe for you today, but that's because I went out for dinner at my new favorite restaurant and had an awesomely raw dinner.  


I live in Buffalo, New York, a place known more for its wings, pizza, and roast beef than having any healthy tendencies.  The exciting news is that our little city is in the midst of a dining make-over!  I don't believe that we should completely give up our food legacy, but restaurants with healthy alternatives, bountiful vegetarian options, juices and smoothies, and even raw entrees are definitely necessary in our little world.  Those restaurants are popping up, slowly but surely and it is oh so exciting!


Today I dined at Merge, a restaurant with tons of vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and even some raw options.  I enjoyed a raw pizza with a walnut flax-seed crust, nut cheese, a very tasty tomato sauce, topped with fresh spinach and mushrooms.  The crust is perfectly crunchy and the nut based cheese is light enough to not overpower the dish.  The pizza is served with a healthy side of greens and definitely satisfied my appetite.  If you are in the Western New York area please stop in and check out Merge.  The food is great, the art is plentiful, and the people are lovely. : )


Someday, sooner rather than later I hope, I will work some magic in the kitchen and see if I can recreate the raw pizza in my own home. But, since I'm a big fan of easy to prepare simple meals, I may end up leaving this one to the trusted chefs at Merge.  


I encourage you to go out and explore your neighborhood for vegetarian/vegan/raw friendly restaurants and enjoy what your community has to offer.  If you're feeling adventurous, try going into a restaurant that does not have a raw entree, give them a list of raw foods you can consume and ask them to make up a raw concoction for you.  The chef will probably be delighted with the challenge as long as you aren't a brat about it. :P   I have yet to try doing this at a restaurant, but I have read many suggestions to try it out, so it must be worth a shot!


Eat Happy. : )


Listening to: The Garden-Mirah

Sesame Ginger Dressing and Curried Cauliflower

I am at a raw until dinner level with my diet right now, so I made a dinner last night that included some cooked vegetables.  We started with a nice raw salad with my delicious version of Sesame Ginger dressing then had some curried cauliflower, a recipe I found online and detoxified a bit.  This meal, though partially cooked, is still super healthy and completely detox worthy. So, unless you are a 100% raw foodist, you should certainly give these recipes a try!  Enjoy!


Sesame Ginger Dressing
1 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup brown rice vinegar
3 inch ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons Nama Shoyu soy sauce
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes


Blend all the ingredients together in a blender.  There is oil in this one and the flavor is strong so you can use it pretty sparingly on your salad.  It was great on a salad with romaine lettuce, red and green onions, tomato, cucumber, and shredded carrot.


Curried Cauliflower with Peas and Spinach
1 cup low sodium vegetable broth, divided
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 head cauliflower, stem removed and chopped into small florets
1 cup spinach (I used frozen, thawed)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (i'm sure fresh would be just fine!)


-Heat about 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth in soup pot, cook onions, curry powder and ginger in the broth until onion is soft.
-Add tomato and cook another 2-4 minutes.
-Stir in the rest of the vegetable broth and tomato paste.  Add the cauliflower, spinach and peas. Cover the pot and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  The cauliflower should be tender. Uncover and cook more if you would like the sauce to be thicker.  Add salt as needed.  This would be great served over some brown basmati rice!  Enjoy.


PS. The recipe originally uses butter instead of the first 1/2 cup of vegetable broth, so I ended up having to add extra vegetable broth later as it absorbed pretty quickly.  I think 1 cup should be fine, but don't be afraid to use a little more liquid if necessary or desired.  




Musical feast of the day: Canned Heat-Jamiroquai