Food Factory

The last couple of weeks have been quite busy with weddings and birthdays and graphic design work and getting ready for vacations and warm weather. Like I have to make an excuse to myself for not food blogging, and then publicize it on my food blog...

I made an awesome raw taco salad tonight. Want to hear about it? Here it goes:

Raw Taco Salad w. Cilantro Lime Dressing

Cilantro Lime Dressing
Almost a whole small bunch cilantro, including stems
A few ½ inch thick slivers of white onion
Juice from 2 limes
Some olive oil
Pinch coriander
2 Szechwan green peppercorns (optional, jalapeno might be nice too)
¼ tsp sea salt

Blend in blender
Then add some more cilantro to chop in blender but leave chunky/flaky in dressing

The Salad Part
2 ears of corn cut off (only use organic corn! non-organic corn is one of the most genetically modified and f-ed up things growing)
½ red pepper chopped small
½ med white onion chopped small
1 bunch of flat kale, chopped
1 small-med. head broccoli, just florets chopped small

Toss veg with dressing and let sit while preparing the rest.

Walnut Taco "Meat"
1.5 cups raw walnuts - pulsed in food processor to resemble ground beef bits

Transfer to bowl and mix in:
2 tsp braggs liquid aminos/liquid soy
1.5 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander

Place the salad w. dressing in bowls and distribute the taco meat on top. Serve with sliced yellow tomato and sliced or chopped avocado (I did not use avocado cause I forgot to get some at the store but I think it would be great in this salad).

I also cut up some raw zucchini onion bread into little triangles and put them on top.

Tah-Dah!


Ok so I've also been doing lots of other experimenting and even making my own vegan ice creams in my ice cream maker that I've owned for 7 years and used the first time yesterday! (made 3 ice creams since last night - making up for lost time)
Here are some pics of other dishes I have made in the past few weeks:

Mushroom Burrito (zucchini cumin wrap w. marinated mushroom meat and guacamole)


Zucchini Tagliatelle Salad w. B.C. Peach Sauce, Pea Shoots + Cumin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds


Spinach + Onion "Quiche" w. Nectarine Salsa


Mixed Raw Nut + Fruit Parfait w. Lavender Cashew Cream
(which I apparently made for Eddie)


Tomorrow I'm going to give this white chocolate thing another go... got an idea that just might work...

The Delightful Misunderstandings of Chocolate + Macadamia Nut

Mrs. Powder reunites with her long lost soul mate Mr. Fat. Emotions of the vanilla persuasion swirl in their heads. Feelings of sweet and salt come to the surface as things start to heat up. They must not allow things to get too hot for their guests are on their way. They take a moment to cool themselves before welcoming Mr. Macadamia and Mrs. Coconut with enveloping arms.


...or something like that...

Raw Chocolate!

200 grams raw cocoa butter, chopped into small bits for easier melting
12 tablespoons raw cocoa powder
2 tsp raw agave
1/8 tsp Himalayan sea salt (or less)
2 drops liquid vanilla stevia
¼ tsp ground vanilla beans, or scrape the inside of half of a bean
2 tbsp melted virgin coconut oil – optional, can add olive oil too for something different

Using the double boiler method (I usually use a sauce pan with some water and a 1L glass pyrex measuring cup), put the cocoa butter in the pyrex and melt on med-low, stirring so the bottom never gets too warm (keeping it raw - under 115 degrees - or room temperature to the touch). When all of the butter is almost melted, take the glass measuring cup out of the water/off the heat. Make sure you never get any water in the cocoa butter, it will ruin your chocolate. Continue to stir the melted cocoa butter until no more solid white chunks remain.

Add the rest of the ingredients and frantically stir with a whisk for a while until it starts to cool and thicken. You probably don't have to whisk it the whole time... maybe you can let it sit and cool for a few minutes before whisking again.

Taste for sweetness, saltiness, overall flavour and adjust to your taste buds. (I like dark, bitter, salty chocolate).

When slightly thicker, but not too thick, pour into chocolate molds or some other mold.

In the molds I usually have several different nuts and fruits or a combination of the two. My faves are: raw macadamia nuts, goji berries, home made trail mix, large coconut flakes/chips, jungle peanuts and dried strawberries.


Sometimes I like to separate the chocolate into a few bowls and try adding different flavours such as: black/green peppers (see "The New Salt" post about my pepper selection from Montreal), lavender, olive oil, curry powder, cocoa nibs, lucuma powder, macca powder...the list goes on and on.

This batch, I also rolled individual macadamia nuts in the chocolate. Be careful when you keep your nuts in the fridge and do not allow them to come to room temp. they will make the chocolate harden fast!

*They have THE BEST raw macadamia nuts at Nu Roots in Canmore - taste just like the ones from the mac nut farm on the big island of Hawaii - well worth the $. http://www.nu-roots.com/*


Place all chocolate in the molds in the freezer for 10-20 minutes to harden and then take out and pop out of the molds. Place in fridge for storage. You can always improvise with molds. Silicone muffin cups work fantastic, as do silicone mini muffin mats (silicone is great because you can easily pop the chocolate out). If you are using muffin cups try putting your favourite nut butter in the middle to make a home version of those peanut butter cups we all used to eat as kids.


I kind of just figured this recipe out for myself, with no real understanding of chocolate and how it works. If you have any tips for me or your own chocolate recipe, I'd love to hear it!

Taking it Back... to the Dill Days

I was on the grass in the school yard between the sandy playground and the dusty ball diamond of my elementary school when I carefully dipped my hand into the small crinkly bag and came out with a single potato chip. As the tip of the fried root vegetable touched my tongue I knew, at that moment - like love at first sight - that dill pickle chips and I would have a life long, passionate relationship.

I now present you with an amazing healthy alternative to the indulgence we all know a little too well...


Dill Pickle Kale Chips

1 package of baby dill (28 grams / 1 oz) - including stems
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 of a small white onion
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
juice from one lemon (approx. 3 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
2 pinches of fresh ground pepper

Place all in vita mix/high speed blender and blend until smooth. A regular blender might actually work for this recipe... give it a whirl.

Wash 2 bunches of curly kale and dry in salad spinner. I usually let them air-dry after spinning. Grabbing the hard stem, run your other hand up it to separate the leaves from the thickest part of the stem. Discard the hard stem. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces with your hands. Place 1/4 of the leaves in a big bowl and pour 1/4 of the dill cream on top. Mix with your hands, making sure to fully coat all of the leaves (those curled over insides can be hard to get at). Add more of the leaves and more of the cream until all of the leaves are coated and all of the cream is used up.


Place in a single layer on 4 dehydrator screens and dehydrate around 100-105 degrees until fully dry and crispy (approx. 10-15 hours).
Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

* you can also buy another thing of baby dill and chop some of it up to sprinkle on top or mix in after the cream and the kale are fully entangled. Weird that I didn't take any pictures of fresh dill.

Green is the new Green

I drink smoothies every morning, not because I hear they are good for me (that ads to the charm though), but because they taste awesome. You can have one every day for the rest of your life and always experience a different flavour combination. They make me feel really good too, and full for hours. I made a pretty good one this morning so I'll share that recipe along with a few others.

Melon Lemongrass Breakfast Drink

1/2 cantaloupe
about 3-4 cups of baby spinach
approx. 1 inch long slice fresh lemongrass
2 thin carrots
about 1 cup water or coconut water
2 drops vanilla liquid stevia (or whatever sweetener you want + some vanilla bean)

Blend thoroughly in high speed blender until smooth. I'm not sure how it would turn out with a normal (not vita mix) blender because the lemongrass might be hard to pulverize.

Spinach Papaya Black Raspberry Shake


If you are fortunate enough to have those smaller orange-inside papayas available, use them in this recipe. My friend Jackie sent me a box of papayas in the mail this winter from Hawaii (best day of my life so far) so I got to experience their magical flavour.

2+ cups baby spinach
1 frozen banana (or fresh, whatever)
½ - ¾ cup black raspberries, frozen
1 cup brazil nut milk (1 cup brazil nuts and 4 cups water, blend, strain, put rest in fridge for other days)
1 cup or so water
½ teaspoon spirulina
1 teaspoon camu camu powder (optional, added vit. C)
some goji berries
½ orange inside papaya

Vita!

So I don't have any pictures for this smoothie or the next because I didn't make them today (or recently) but keeping with the Hawaii talk, this is a lady (right) on the Big Island who has a fruit stand just off the road on the way from the south to Kona. (Girl on the left is Jackie). She grows all her own organic fruit and nuts and also sells dehydrated fruit (that she dries herself, raw!) Major unexpected highlight of the trip. (nerdy, I know)


The green fruit in the far left corner is called a Cherimoya - a.k.a. the best fruit on the planet. If you ever see one of these, you must purchase/pick it. Check out the fresh cacao fruit on the bottom right!

Tea-less Green Tea Shake

I came up with this shake when I was staying away from all sugary fruit (ha, like that lasted long) and it actually tasted like greet tea.

2 thin org. carrots
approx. 1 cup big leaf spinach
approx. ½ tbsp chlorella
juice from 1.5 small lemons
1-2 dandelion stems/leaves
fresh coconut water
pinch sea salt

blend.


One more...

Green Pina Colada

meat from 2 young thai coconuts
water from 2 young thai coconuts
1/2 fresh pineapple
2-4 cups baby spinach
1/4 vanilla bean or 3 drops vanilla stevia liquid
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Vita Mix.

This was purchased from a guy on the side of the road selling coconuts and passion fruit. He climbed the palms himself to get the coconuts earlier that day.

I don't always add spinach as my green, but if you want to taste the fruit and other flavours then spinach is mild enough to let those others shine through. Cilantro is always a nice addition, as is cucumber, which ads to the bulk and water content of the shake. Other things I commonly add to fruit smoothies are: raw black sesame seeds (calcium), hemp protein or hemp hearts (protein, build/maintain lean muscle, brain + healthy skin, aids cardio, immune + nervous system function), coconut oil(anti-fungal/bacterial/viral, weight loss, reduces risk of heart disease, improves digestive disorders, protects liver from alcohol damage, rejuvenates skin/prevents wrinkles), pumpkin seeds (zink), cinnamon (balances blood sugar) and macca powder (balances hormones, increases energy).

Check out my friend Jonas' blog too. He is in a band from Toronto that just toured the west and they stayed with me for a night. I made them breakfast and we hiked a small mountain. http://www.eveninghymns.com/blog/tour-blog-day-12/

Bye for now.