Cashew Milk

Most of you have this recipe, but it is so basic, that I thought we ought to make sure it's on the blog.

Cashew Milk

1 cup cashews, soaked
4 cups water
Pinch of cinnamon
1 T raw agave
1 tsp vanilla

Blend till smooth (Blendtec: whole juice)

Live Raw Granola

I've been fiddling with making granola in my dehydrator and the results have been delicious! I used to make a great whole foods granola from a recipe from Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, but here's my doctored-up version to make it even better. The reason you soak the foods first is that it activates the enzymes and then it is crisped in the dehydrator at low temperatures to keep those enzymes live. If you do not have a dehydrator, you can cook this granola in the oven at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Cooking will kill about 25% of the enzymes, but you're still eating a great power food!

Live Raw Granola

2 cups buckwheat groats (buckwheat is not related to wheat, if you have an allergy)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup other seeds: sesame, hemp, flax, chia or whatever
1 cup of favorite raw nuts

Soak the above ingredients overnight or for a few hours then mix with:

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

Mix in a bowl:

1/2 cup raw agave
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir well. Cook overnight at 118 degrees in a dehydrator. This makes the basic recipe. You can anything you want. Try:

• adding raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit after cooking.
• adding fresh or frozen berries before cooking
• adding raw nut butters and cacoa powder into the wet mixture for a chocolate-peanut butter flavor
• use walnuts for the nuts and add mashed bananas into the wet mixture.

The varieties are endless.

Hummus Crazy!

I love hummus - my family loves hummus - and I always make it when I have to take something to share at a party. I used to use it only as a dip for chips, crackers and veggies, but now I use it in my sprouted wheat tortillas and on everything. Here are the four varieties that I have tried - I'm sure there are many more. The first three recipes come from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno.

The Classic Hummus

4 cloves garlic
2 cups chickpeas or one can drained and rinsed
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup tahini
Juice of 2 fresh lemons (I usually only use one)
1 T Olive Oil

Blend till smooth - adding water if needed.


Zucchini Hummus

2 cups chopped unpeeled young zucchini
2/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh basil
juice of 2 fresh lemons
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend until smooth.


Pumpkins Hummus

2 T tahini
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp pumpkin oil (or olive oil)
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 ground pepper
15 oz canned or baked pumpkin
4 cloves garlic
2 T cilantro

Blend till smooth.


Sweet Potato Hummus

I just take about 2 cups sweet potato and substitute it for the pumpkin or chickpeas in one of the recipes above.

Don't be afraid to adjust the ingredients to your liking so that you can get the right blend of garlic and lemon or spices for your tastes. Always add a little water to your blender to keep it moving, if needed.

Banana Teabread

This recipe comes from the Ener-G Egg Replacer box. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this product, it's an egg replacing powder you mix with water. It's made out of potato starch, tapioca flour, and other leavening agents (no animal products).

1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 teas. egg replacer powder
2 teas. baking powder
1 teas. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar (I did 1/4 cup turbinado and 1/4 cup agave due to what I had on hand)
3 table. oil
4 table. water
1 table. orange juice concentrate (I didn't have this-it was fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed banana

Preheat oven 350.

Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients, mix one and a half minutes.

Pour into 1 pound pan (...? I just used a bread loaf pan)

Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown.

-we made an orange glaze with powdered sugar, orange juice, orange concentrate, and a little butter (smart balance). And I'm sure you could add nuts or raisins to the bread batter and it would be delish.

Mushroom and Garlic Cream Pasta

WARNING!!!!!!! This recipe is TGTBV!!!! (too good to be vegan)

I adapted this recipe (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1735,154167-239201,00.html) from cooks.com

Blend=
1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (not soaked)
2 cups water

Set aside. This is your cream.

Sautee in a generous amount of olive oil and black pepper=
6 jumbo cloves garlic
1 small onion
8 ounces mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
(all the above ingredients are finely chopped, I used my chopper)

Stir in cream and let simmer for a few minutes. Season with sea salt to taste (I did quite a bit)

Serve over noodles (we chose whole wheat penne) and tell me you are not sitting in macaroni grill when you are eating this!

Quick Curry

I got this from Nathan's sister, I'm not sure where she got the recipe. It's so mild and fast. You could use fresh tomatoes if you want to make it even more fresh.

Cooked lentils or garbanzo beans (recipe calls for 2 lbs chicken, we chose lentils
1 1/2 Tablespoon canola oil
14 oz. can coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons curry
2 cloves garlic, crushed
14 oz can stewed tomatoes (or you could use fresh)
8 oz can tomato sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix oil and curry in pan and heat for 2 minutes.
Add onions and garlic, cook 1 minute.
Add beans, tossing to coat in curry sauce.
Stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Heat until warm enough to serve.

Eat with brown rice, potatoes, or anything.

Tortillas

We can't get any good tortillas in Kansas. Or bread for that matter. You would think when you are in the grain-center of America, surrounded by farms, you could find some quality whole grain products. Not so.

The "best" tortillas I can find are these

and the ingredient list is one mile long with words I've never seen in my life!

Let's go back to the basics:

-2 cups wheat flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
-2/3 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Work in the oil with your hands, until everything is evenly dispersed. Drizzle the water a little at a time, work it in with hands, until you have a ball of dough. You may use a little less than 2/3 cup.

Make 12-15 little balls, cover with a clean towel, let the dough rest 15 minutes.
Roll out as thin as you can get 'em and heat them through on a non-stick pan.
And don't forget to save one (or two or three) to eat with agave and cinnamon :)