Raw Three Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

Need a easy, decadent chocolate fix, without all the sugar and fat? Today I looked in my fridge and saw my raw cacao powder. Knowing how healthy it is and how it makes my cramps and headaches go away in minutes, I wanted some. I also saw my date butter so that's how this happened. It's really simple and so delicious. Try it!!

Chocolate Mousse- Vegan, Sugar-free and All Natural

Vegan Raw Chocolate Mousse:
(Single serving)
1/4 C date butter
1 tsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp water

Pour ingredients into a bowl and mix with a spoon until blended. Eat. Be happy. Ok so it's four ingredients but water doesn't count. ;-)

Date Butter

Ok so date butter. It's not terribly exciting, it's pretty self explanatory how you would make it. I'm going to tell ya anyway. The reason I'm writing about date butter is because I think it's a great staple for sweeting smoothies or tea if you don't mind a little sediment. It's great for spreading on bread or add a little vanilla and a pinch of salt and you've got a great caramel apple dip. I also use it in in my recipes for raw pies and sweets. I like to just make a jar of it and keep it in the fridge to use at my leisure.

Date Butter:
16 oz medjool or honey dates
enough water to cover dates

Soak the dates 30 min or more. After you soak them, pit them and put them in the blender add about 2 cups of the water you soaked them in and blend until smooth. Store in a jar in the fridge and use often.

Blendtec vs.Kitchenaid 5 speed Blender

Wow. I may have been wrong about the Blendtec.  I still think it is a fantastic machine (I've never tried to liquify a whole orange or apple in a blender) but this video makes me think the Kitchenaid blender is a winner at less than half the price of the Blendtec. You want a really great blender because if you are making raw food, it will save you a ton of time in the kitchen. So check it out! Below are the best priced ones I could find.
                                  
 I believe a good blender is necessary and this one is way less expensive than the Blendtec so if you can't afford the top of the line Blendtec or Vitamix, you can still get a great blender.

Raw Fettuccine With Meatballs And Creamy Marinara Sauce

Vegan, Raw, Gluten-Free, Paleo-Friendly Fettuccine With Meatballs And Creamy Marinara Sauce

I know I am posting a lot of uber-healthy recipes rather than decadent sweet treats. Trust me I have a ton of sweet recipes, which will be coming up soon but this summer it has been so hot and all I feel like eating is fresh, raw wholesome meals that won't heat up my kitchen and that take advantage of my amazing raw organic produce. So, if you're looking for junk food, hang tight I'll post those recipes later even though I might be switching over to a more plant based, less (or no) grain, soy, etc. I still have written down many vegan junk food recipes so I don't want them to go to waste. I will post eventually. I must clarify, when I say vegan junk food, I don't mean junk like the equivalent of fast food or twinkies. I always use quality ingredients which are healthier, they just are a little more processed than say Raw Fettuccine With Creamy Marinara and Meatballs. This recipe is vegan which means dairy and meat free. Also, it is gluten-free, grain-free, and 100% raw. It probably took less time to make than real fettuccine and didn't heat up my kitchen which is very important as we've been in a bit of a heat wave lately. Anyway, I am very excited about this recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Pasta:

4-6 zucchini 

juice of 2 lemons or limes

dash of salt

1 T olive oil (can be left off if you are cutting back on fat)

Peel zucchini and toss or eat the skins or feed to pets (I have a rabbit and guinea pig who love my veggie scraps). Use your veggie peeler to shred the zucchini into noodles then mix noodles in with the lemon or lime juice, salt and oil and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

My cute veggie lovers: Piglet and Thumper

Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce:

8-10 oz of cherry or grape tomatoes

1 T  red onion minced

1 zucchini peeled and sliced

salt to taste

1 clove of garlic minced 

5-7 leaves of fresh basil

5-7 leaves of sage

6-8 olives

Place all ingredients (minus the sage and olives) into a blender, Vitamix or Blendtec  (I know I'm pushing this blender a lot but it is my favorite you may also find a used or refurbished one cheaper on Amazon) and puree. Mix sauce into noodles. Add a few whole leaves of fresh sage and the olives chopped in half.

Italian Sausage Meatballs:

1 C Walnuts

1 C sunflower seeds

1/4 C sun dried tomatoes

2 cloves garlic minced

2 T onion minced

2 T fennel seeds

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

water as needed

Soak your nuts and seeds while you prepare the noodles and sauce. If you don't remember to soak them, it's ok you may just need to add water while you are blending this mixture. Add all ingredients to a blender, Vitamix, etc or food processor and blend thoroughly. It should have the texture of a thick almond butter or something like that. Once mixed, roll into 1/2" balls.

Serve noodles and sauce over a bed of spinach and top with "Meatballs." There you a have a satisfying, delicious meal that is filling, wholesome and doesn't heat up your kitchen.  

Organic Produce Co-op!!

I just discovered the most amazing thing! The South Central Farmers Cooperative it's an organic produce co-op where you can buy a box of assorted produce for $20, $25 or $40 and pick it up weekly from your local farmers market or whichever of their locations is most convenient. Here's the link for anyone who's reading in Los Angeles: South Central Farmers Cooperative

Anyway, all the boxes are the same size but you can choose to pay more if you can to help cover those who can't afford as much. Pretty cool, huh? The boxes vary depending on what's in season. My box came with several types of zucchini, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, oranges, mandrine oranges, fresh basil, parsley and sage, squash, kale, and I think a bitter melon. I'm not exactly sure what it is. The box is supposed to feed a family of 4 for one week. Not sure how long it will last with how much produce my family of 3 eats but it's definitely going to save us some money. I want to start adding videos to my blog so I think I'll do one next week when I open my box. That way you can see how fresh and amazing it is. I was just too excited this week with my first box to think of doing a video before I started tearing into it. Seeing all the yummy raw produce inspired me so I will have some tasty, healthy recipes coming up. :)

If you have a local farmers market where you live, or maybe you live in a good farming community, you should see they have anything similar to the South Central Farmer's Cooperative and if not, maybe you can organize one for your area. It's a great way to save money if you're trying to be more frugal and eat more fruits and veggies or if you just want to eat more locally grown food. Keep an eye out for my upcoming recipe for raw fettuccine with creamy marinara and "meatballs." All made from fresh organic produce and no meat, grains or dairy. It should be posted by tomorrow so come back and check it out.

Raw Lettuce Leaf Tacos and Raw Nachos

There's a restaurant I love called Sun Power Cafe in Hollywood. It's on Cahuenga blvd, if you're ever in the area and want to check them out. Quite possibly my favorite dish there (besides the chocolate shake or the key lime pie) is the lettuce leaf tacos. They are an appetizer but I usually order them as my entree. The dish seems small, like it wouldn't be a lot of food but it's the perfect amount of food. I guess all those live enzymes, minerals, and vitamins that are so bio available just fill you up faster. You don't miss what's not it them. Anyway, I've been craving them and the Paleo Power Lunch Cookbook I mentioned the other day had a similar recipe so, I made my own even better version today. I was completely ravenous after work and didn't have the time to wait for nuts and mushrooms to soak so I have a new impromptu version of my nut meat which requires much less preparation. I think perhaps the best recipes are invented out of starvation. I could be wrong. What do you think? Do you have any favorite recipes created under similar circumstances?

For this recipe, and most raw food recipes, you will need a good blender, I recommend this one: Blendtec Blender HPA-611-25 White - J-2 3qt 

It's my absolute favorite! It really is amazing, it can grind popcorn into cornmeal and rice into rice flour.   So it's great for a gluten-free baker to save money on gluten-free baking ingredients and it will cut time from all of your raw food recipes. If you're interested in more raw recipes, I own this book: The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Raw By Reinfeld, Mark/ Rinaldi, Bo/ Murray, Jennifer . It makes raw food recipes simple. It really is a great beginner's book.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my new favorite recipe:

Lettuce Leaf Tacos/ Raw Nachos:

If making Lettuce Leaf Tacos, you will need 1 head of romaine lettuce washed. Each leaf can be sliced into two to three "taco shells." If making "Raw Nachos" you will need a couple cucumbers sliced into "chips"

Taco Meat

1 C Walnuts

1 C sunflower seeds

3oz sun-dried tomatoes

1 T chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1-2 tsp salt 

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Soak nuts and sunflower seeds for 10 to 20 minutes while you prep the rest of your ingredients. Pour excess water out then pour the seeds, walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor along with the seasonings. This should have a course texture.  Once blended to desired texture, remove from blender and place in serving bowl. Set aside.

Cheese 

1/2 C almond meal

1/2 C sunflower seeds

1/2-3/4 C water

juice from 1 lime

2 tsp nutritional yeast flakes*

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp onion powder
dash of nutmeg

Add all ingredients to the food processor or blender, add more or less water as needed to reach desired consistency. I made mine about the texture and thickness of hummus. 

UPDATE: I recently made these and discovered a shortcut! I just chopped up avocados, tomatoes and olives and placed them on top, instead of making guacamole. It was easier and tasted great- maybe even better than with the guacamole.

Guacamole

2 Haas Avocados 

1 small tomato

1 jalapeno

1 shallot

1 garlic clove

juice of 1 lime

add salt and cumin to taste

Chop up tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro and black or calamata olives to place on top of the tacos or nachos. Place each taco or nacho topping in it's own separate bowl and each person can make their own with whatever they want to add. I made mine with "meat", then "cheese," then guacamole topped off with tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro and olives.

Paleo Power Lunch- Vegan?

      I can't say I'd ever go 100% Paleo as I don't eat meat and the diet would be rather restrictive. However, I really like this diet's avoidance of wheat gluten, and dairy and generally sticking to natural unprocessed foods. So, I just checked out this great cookbook. It provides a lot of help for planning out your meals for the week and also includes simple and nutritious no-cook recipes. I love un-cooking. I don't post nearly enough uncooked recipes. The only thing I did to make up for the lack of meat, which of course is not normally a lack of food for me but without grains, beans or potatoes (which are excluded from the paleo diet) to fill me up, the recipes can seem a bit sparse for a vegetarian so I made a recipe for "nut meat" (see below for recipe). It's raw, contains no gluten or grain and can be seasoned in any way to match the flavor of whatever dish you add it to.  I also recommend cauliflower blenderized to replace the egg. Maybe you could add flax seeds or cashew or sunflower seed butter or milk for more protein. I didn't try it so if you do, let me know how it worked out.

    I would definitely recommend this cookbook to anyone. If it seems to restrictive for a lifestyle change, it would easily make a great short-term detox diet or a quick plateau- busting diet for weight loss that will give you great energy. If you're vegan or vegetarian, include my nut meat as a substitute for the meat or you can just add extra nuts, seeds, or mushrooms to your meals to keep you from feeling really hungry.

Click here to get the Paleo Power Lunch Cookbook.

And, for anyone who's ever wanted to try gluten-free, soy-free*, dairy-free and egg-free meat alternative, here's my nut meat recipe. I think it needs a new name. Any suggestions?

Nut Meat
1 C raw walnuts
1 C raw white mushrooms sliced- or if you like the taste, dried shitake mushrooms have more of a meat-y texture
1 clove of garlic minced
2 tomatoes
1/4 C Bragg Liquid Aminos*
1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt or himalayan crystal salt
1/2 tsp raw agave

In blender, mix the tomatoes, liquid aminos, salt, agave onion powder and garlic. Add a little water if needed to blend thoroughly. Pour into a container with the walnuts and mushrooms and allow to marinate overnight. When ready to prepare "meat," drain the excess liquid from the mushrooms and walnuts then place in food processor and grind to a ground beef consistency.

For mexican taco inspired "meat" season with:
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano

For italian flavor season add:
sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano, and black pepper

*Liquid aminos contain some soy, can substitute an extra 1/4-1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 C water