pineapple-cucumber gazpacho with jalapeno and cilantro

awhile back i ranted about the book raw food real world.  and while i still find classism and elitism at the root of my various issues with the book, i thought i’d give it another look-through to see if there were any relatively simple, less exotic (read: cheaper ingredients) recipes i could try out.

with the arrival of spring comes a renewed interest in light and fresh foods for me, particularly raw ones.  i’m sure that many people living in cold climates manage to sustain some high level of a raw diet, but i’m not going to be one of them.  however, i am trying to be more conscious of what i am eating, which includes eliminating certain ingredients (mostly refined/white and overly-processed ones) and eating more raw fruits and vegetables.  the green smoothie thing is still going pretty strong for me, provided i have the ingredients and don’t have to be at work by 630 am (this happens three times a week)…my blender sure is getting a workout lately!  but luckily it’s a lot easier to clean than other blenders i’ve used.  and i know i’m not alone in trying green smoothies or trying to “be better” about what enters my digestive system.

so, back to my day-off raw (or mostly raw) food endeavors… this makes it easier because i don’t necessarily have to worry about whether a will eat it because she’s at work.  this actually spanned last night’s dinner, and today’s breakfast and lunch (dinner is tbd).  i got a free organic pineapple from work last week, which was really the thing that reminded me of rfrw - one of the recipes i made from it when i first got it was a cheater version (i used canned pineapple) of the pineapple-cucumber gazpacho with jalapeno and cilantro.  it claimed to make four servings, but it was easily two (or maybe i was really really hungry).  since it was an extra-light soup, we had it with some quinoa.  it was delicious!  i could easily eat this on those blistering, muggy summer days, and it doesn’t require anything fancier than the pineapple.

because i wanted something different, and because a took the last banana to work, i ended up making a different kind of drink for breakfast this morning: the fig and grape cleansing shake.

red grapes, black mission figs, star anise, vanilla, a pinch of salt, water and ice.

i don’t have a vitamix so this wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, but it was a nice change, and very filling and hydrating.  i haven’t had grapes in ages!  i think it would be good with some ginger too.

and lunch today was definitely the most labor intensive of the three (though because of some nut soaking) and by far the most expensive (again because of the nuts).  it is titled celeriac and green apple soup with black truffle.  but i wasn’t going to buy myself a black truffle (much less know where to find one) or black truffle oil, when i already have a (seemingly endless, though tiny) bottle of white truffle oil.  nor did i want to buy a plastic container of chervil to use as a garnish.  all of this especially since i was using 3/4 c of macadamia nuts, which don’t come cheap!  i didn’t follow the recipe exactly; i eyeballed measurements as far as the celeriac and green apple, and added some rosemary that i had in the fridge.  my half batch this time seemed to make a lot, but the soup was elegant and tasty despite my lack of straining out the pulp and nut particles.  i’d make this again for a special occasion, but it won’t be going on my list of regular raw soup recipes (that list isn’t actually real).

i still prefer ani phyo’s book to this one because of the simplicity and wallet-friendliness, but if i were to, say, plan a romantic candlelit dinner involving some raw food, i would probably use rfrw.  i think i still need to work on the idea that raw food doesn’t have to mean a gourmet meal from ecopolitan, and try out some recipes that use seeds rather than nuts.  this year’s garden should provide plenty of opportunity to make my own creations too.  however, cooked food is not forgotten here, it’s just being supplemented.

how many posts can i make in a day you ask?  three, it would seem.

i had some cauliflower, some onions, and a handful of french green lentils to use up.  i based this soup loosely on the moosewood simple suppers‘ curried cauliflower and chickpea soup.  except i didn’t have chickpeas.  and i did add berbere spice in addition to the curry.  perhaps a bit too much, it seems, for this was spicy spicy spicy!  but in a good and bearable way.  served over rice or couscous, it would be even better.

today i decided to try out a raw syrup for my flax cake.  i didn’t directly use one of the syrup recipes in the book, but it was definitely based on that process, and using my latest produce fun-find: pixie tangerines.  they are teeny, juicy, and seedless.  this turned out so so good!  i would use it on any pancake, raw or cooked.  way tastier than plain ol’ maple syrup (but don’t worry, mp, i haven’t abandoned you)!

pixie tangerine and strawberry syrup (makes 2 servings):

juice from 1 tangerine
and
1 tangerine, peeled and segmented
2 medjool dates, pitted
3-4 strawberries, thawed if frozen
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. 

i stopped in at work and got an apple-lemon-kale juice.  delicious!  and greens to boot.  after fiddling around at home a bit, i then made the heirloom tomato gazpacho from ani’s raw food kitchen.

some changes i made: i reduced the amount of olive oil based on my miso soup experience (good idea), and also added some fresh basil to the soup base.  based on the lack of vegetables (only tomatoes and cucumbers featured) and the inclusion of some brazil nuts (which made the soup creamy), i’d say this was more along the lines of a raw cream of tomato soup + cucumbers.  not that it wasn’t good - quite the contrary - i just found it a little misleading.

for dessert i made myself a strawberry-banana-almond shake.  i wish i’d processed the almonds a little more for smoothness, but the taste was really good (sweetened with barhi dates):

as much as i wanted to make more raw food for dinner, i didn’t think that was going to fly with my lady all too well (she’s into my vegan cooking, even though she misses cheese, but is very afraid lately that i’m going to go raw.  which i’m not, but i like to eat raw once a week or so).  i have been sorely neglecting my copy of yellow rose recipes since i made the sweet potato and black bean flautas in december, and buried somewhere in my brain i remembered something called “green-wa.”  it’s been snowy and gloomy all day, so some green deliciousness and a steamy bowl of dal seemed in good order.

(the gloominess is also responsible for the lack of clarity in my photographs it would seem.)  the green-wa is delicious, though i admit to one change: i didn’t add the curry powder since i was making dal to have with it.  and really, i didn’t miss it.  a didn’t witness the preparation so when i handed her her dinner she said “why is it green like that?”  i explained the onion-spinach-cilantro sauce, to which she replied “ohhhh! it’s so beautiful!”  this certainly will be a much-used way of preparing quinoa in the future, and went great with the spicy and spiced red lentil dal (i made that up as i went along).

i’ll admit i got full rather quickly, and i think my raw meals earlier in the day were a big big part of that.  not to mention some other things i’ve been noticing, bodily, about myself, that i won’t be repeating here…

japanese miso-shiitake soup (ani phyo) and red cabbage-kale salad with walnuts and a tangy citrus dressing

i’d wanted to make this yesterday, since i’d started the day out with another coconut-flax breakfast cake, but instead was invited to an impromptu vegan taco party (which was definitely delicious). i can’t call this a raw day, since i had a cup of coffee at 630 this morning, and will be headed to an ethiopian dinner later on, BUT, it was a pretty raw middle of the day for me. i got a beta blast after work (carrot, beet, and celery juice), and headed home to make the japanese miso shiitake soup and some kind of salad.

this soup was good, but really rich, and i couldn’t entirely finish my portion. i don’t think my body’s used to consuming large, uncooked, albeit flavored and diluted, amounts of olive oil. i also don’t think i really like the texture of large pieces of raw mushrooms either, particularly shiitake. (i was really digging the portabellas in the risotto, though.) the scallions were a nice contrast to the creaminess, but if i were to make it again i might add more vegetables with crunch to up that contrast.

today, apparently, the natural lighting gods were not with me, so the focus of my pictures is rather blurred. this salad i was more afraid to try, because while i love kale, i have never found myself loving it in raw form. it is bitter, fibrous, and, even cooked and smothered in oils and spices, it can be a lot to masticate. (i really like the word masticate in a creepy way.) this salad proved for me that there are ways around that: 1)make a flavorful vinaigrette, 2)use dinosaur/lacinato kale, and 3)slice it very thinly and let it marinate a little bit. i didn’t write it down, but it went something like this:

red cabbage and kale salad with walnuts and tangy citrus vinaigrette (serves 1):

2 large or 4 small leaves dinosaur kale, destemmed and sliced thinly
1 1/2 c red cabbage, sliced thinly
small handful raw walnut pieces
1 clementine, peeled and seeded
1-2 tbsp lime juice
splash apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp flax seed oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash cayenne

place kale, cabbage, and walnuts in a small mixing bowl. put remaining ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. pour over vegetable mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. let stand 10 minutes to marinade before serving.

this was, as you might imagine, pretty tart. i’d probably up the sweet end of the citrus, or maybe add a splash of agave nectar nectar, though it was certainly edible. it’s not a perfect recipe, but the good news after having made it is that i can EAT RAW KALE AND CABBAGE. well, the second part i knew, but it’s good to know that i can achieve the first, maintaining those healthy nutrients that cooking lessens. hooray! now i just need to get a good vinaigrette going and i’ll be eating raw kale and cabbage salads all the time. now, if only i can get motivated to have regular exercise when there are sub-freezing temperatures to contend with…

with xmas, and a’s pre-xmas illness, i didn’t get to cook and bake as much as i’d wanted to, and documentation of what little was done was even more sparse.  so this is a bit of a backlog of some things i haven’t had the chance to post.

my love affair with extraveganza! was in high gear the other week.  i made two new recipes:

tofu baked in almond mint cilantro sauce (served over brown rice):

this was really tasty, creamy, and simple to make.  there was both plain and smoked tofu, green peas, and a mint and cilantro almond butter sauce.  so good!  i will make it again for sure.

ginger fried rice:

with leftover almond mint cilantro tofu:

though not reflected in my usage above, what i really like about this recipe was that there isn’t any tofu in it.  i love tofu fried rice, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes a big load of vegetables and some spice is all i want.  i think i ended up adding a few extra vegetables because i had some in the fridge, but the recipe has a tasty variety already.

with my usual habit of not eating breakfast, and especially now that i have to work so early in the morning three days a week, me making anything beyond toast is a pretty big deal.  inspired by oatmeal discussions on the ppk, i bough a can of mccann’s irish oatmeal and made enough for a couple of meals.  irish oatmeal, cooked up in apricot nectar, with bananas, walnuts, and cinnamon:

the first recipe i tried from yellow rose recipes, per josh’s recommendation, was the sweet potato and black bean flautas.  delightful!  i also made the tangy sour cream (yum!).  i had cilantro to use up so i also served it with chimichurri sauce, and some free avocados i got from work:

another cookbook/zine i am super excited about but hadn’t gotten a chance to use is kittee’s.  i remedied that last night by making a cake, using the non-chocolate cake recipe from papa tofu, and adding some chopped rhubarb, cinnamon, and cardamom.  i’m not much of a cake decorator, but here is the whole thing:

inside shot:

must say it smelled so good while baking that i almost didn’t decorate it!  but i resisted, whipped up some maple frosting from vctotw, and ate a piece as soon as i was done with the photos.  next time i will add more rhubarb (i wasn’t sure how tart it would be), and maybe even some raspberries or strawberries.  yay kittee!

lastly, my dinner tonight… a creamy potato-leek soup with red chard.  i was craving something like this all day at work, and also thought back to the christmas eve dinner soup that a’s brother in law made (though it involved lentils and ginger and fennel and coconut milk).  i added a little bit of anise to the soup as a nod to the rye bread i didn’t have a chance to bake today (tomorrow it will have to be!), and i really liked it that way.  i want to tweak the recipe a little bit, but this really hit the spot.  the rich creaminess of a potato soup with the tender crunch and beautiful colors of swiss chard (not to mention nutrition), with a hint of anise and white pepper:

spinach salad with cranberries, roasted red peppers, and goddess dressing; kraut; EB on toast, and a sage and apple field roast with mustard and ketchup.

my ladyfriend will attest to me not being very good at eating leftovers. i think the problem comes from me growing up cooking for at least four or five people, then finding myself cooking for one or two… i make big batches like i’m used to, then realize i can’t eat it all in one or two meals, and have no one else to help me. it’s a poor excuse for wasting food, i know, but it is mine. i’ve been trying to be better, especially since our fridge death fiasco a couple months ago, where i lost a bunch of food i hadn’t gotten the chance to make anything out of.

another problem i’ve been having lately is not making very healthy food… i’ve been baking more, which is awesome (yay baking!) but then all my energy goes to that and i don’t have any left to put thought or time into something delicious and nutritious. for some reason the easy way out for me is to saute or fry stuff, or just not really care. i was really good about it for awhile, but i don’t know what happened. my meals are unbalanced, i hardly eat anything when i’m at work (except cookies and smoothies, though recently i’ve changed my smoothie habit into fresh juice). and i can feel it: i’m tired, unmotivated, and feel kind of blah. it hasn’t totally changed (note upcoming baking post), but i’m working to change my recent habits.

proof no. 1: spiced lentil soup from extraveganza! topped with sauteed kale

now this still could have been a bit healthier (steaming the kale for example, and i thought the soup could have done with a lot less salt) but after days of bread and cookies and sweet potato fries… this is definitely a step in the right direction.

you know when you rediscover a cookbook and it’s like a treasure all over again? i feel that way about extraveganza! i really like that there are a lot of recipes just full of vegetables and unprocessed proteins like nuts and beans and legumes, and not too many tofu and seitan recipes. i got inspired and picked out a few recipes to make this week for dinner that i’m really excited about.

speaking of cookbooks, i just got joanna’s new cookbook yellow rose recipes in the mail yesterday! i am really excited to cook something from there, and since i got extra sweet potatoes and black beans at the store yesterday, josh’s recommendation to try the black bean and sweet potato flautas might be just the ticket… if you haven’t already, you should really check it out. i’m totally on the periphery of this group of people over at the ppk, but there is something so warm and friendly and family-like that is super supportive of creating and promoting awesome vegan things. i have a big ol’ crush on the ppk and herbivore. yay!

there’s a fairly new indian restaurant on hennepin that serves vegetarian- and vegan-only food, where i first got to try a dish made with cream of wheat.  names seem to vary, but i think what i made closely resembles uppma (according to my copy of the art of indian vegetarian cooking), though i changed a few ingredients based on what i had at home and remembered being in the dish i had at mysore cafe.  it has a lot of curry-type spices in it that are sauteed with green beans, tomatoes, raisins, cashews, and pistachios, before being stirred into some prepared farina.  delicious!  i think next time i’d go with the green peas like the recipe asks for, because they have a more delicate bite to them than the green beans i used.

on sunday night, i made vegetarian pho with a and her mom who was visiting.  we love love love the pho at jasmine deli and this was my second attempt at recreating it.  the problem seems to be in getting the veggie broth right–jasmine makes theirs fresh daily and is full of toasted shallots and all sorts of goodness that i have no recipe for.  though this was better than the first time i tried (we accidentally got a veggie stock that had tomatoes in it–not the right flavor!), i still want to tweak this recipe a bit to get it better.  this had rice noodles, tofu, green cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, bean sprouts, cilantro, and mint… homemade broth next time!

last night rachel came over and we made sparkle ginger cookies from vwav to eat while watching superstar: the karen carpenter story. yummy!

and today, a’s friend kim came over for brunch. a and i baked some whole wheat rye bread that i rolled out instead of baking in a loaf, so you can slice them in half and have your own little sandwich thing. just the faintest hint of anise and fennel, too:

my grandma used to make rye bread this way all the time, and make little cheese sandwiches for us to eat when we went on a long car trip. i really like rye bread; i don’t think i eat it enough. i wonder if this would be a good bread to have a reuben on. anyway, we made them into sandwiches with chive and scallion cream cheese and cucumbers, spinach, and tomatoes for brunch to eat with soup.

delicious! i am glad we ended up making the whole batch of rye bread (16 rectangles total) even though i was nervous about how much it would make. i’ve already had 3 sandwiches since 1 this afternoon. i used tofutti cream cheese with chopped scallions and chives because it is delicious and fools the omnis:

and for soup i made a broth-based parsnip-apple soup with leeks, shallots, and red potatoes. i threw some white wine in there, and seasoned it with herbamare and white pepper. it was really delicious, but maybe a bit too tangy. that might have been from adding a little too much wine though. i think making it creamy would have balanced it out well, but since we were already having cream cheese spread for our sandwiches it seemed like overkill. parsnips are one of my favorite root vegetables, and it went nicely with the apples, which was a first for me to have in soup. it was a perfect gray day for a warm soup.

following a severe drought over much of the region, minnesota and wisconsin were just hit by torrential rains that caused massive flooding and several deaths. this also, sadly, disproportionately affected many of the organic farmers which supply the produce to my and several other local food coops. many of the farms have reported several hundred thousand dollars worth of damage and loss, and are in great need of support to have a chance at financial survival.

i decided that tonight i was going to buy local produce where i could to create a “flood relief meal,” in addition to using some of the veggies i picked from my own garden. i’m only one person, but i hope that enough people remember that being one person as part of an army of many can be a very powerful and influential force. my shopping basket ended up with featherstone organic farms cherry tomatoes, and organic yukon gold potatoes and organic red torpedo onions from avalanche organics. along with fresh corn, jalapenos, and basil from my garden, and a few other items, i really went all out and made this for dinner:

spinach and watercress salad with cherry tomatoes, cranberries, and sunflower seeds; zesty bourbon bbq ribz; spicy garden corn chowder; and a bottle of summit epa (brewed across the river in st. paul). it’s a good thing i like spicy food! i was sweating by the end of this meal.

spinach and watercress salad

roughly equal portions of spinach and watercress, topped with cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, red torpedo onions, sunflower seeds, and a lemon-balsamic-flax vinaigrette.

this was my first experience buying watercress. upon trying it i remember reading people’s comments about it being peppery and crisp-tasting, a bit like a zestier version of radicchio, which i like sauteed with kale. so i am thinking of using the remaining watercress in some kind of stir-fry this weekend, although i’m still trying to decide what else to put in there.

fatfreevegan’s seitan ribz with zesty bourbon bbq sauce

i followed susan’s recipe for the seitan (omitting the liquid smoke), and made a southern-style bourbon bbq sauce from scratch, roughly following this recipe. however i added some blackstrap molasses, increased my lack of tomato paste with some fresh tomatoes, used regular paprika because i didn’t have smoked, and sub’d powdered onion and garlic because i used all the fresh i had in the other recipes. it was pretty intense; i think because i’m not a whiskey drinker really, but i really liked it (the ribz are pretty plain and dry-ish before the sauce), and can only imagine it would be far better with the full amount of tomato paste and fresh garlic and onion to keep it thicker.

spicy garden corn chowder

this was definitely the winner out of all the dishes, in my opinion. it was rich and creamy, tangy and flavorful, and had the crispiness of fresh corn kernels in it. i have definitely been inspired to make corn chowder by all the tester food porn on the ppk for lolo’s chipotle basil corn chowder, as well as having my own crop of “silver queen” corn growing in the garden.

this recipe will serve 4-6, so feel free to reduce it if you want.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 c leeks, rinsed and sliced thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c Yukon gold potatoes, diced
about 3 c fresh corn, 1 cup reserved (i used 5 ears of corn)
1 c dry white wine
3 tbsp cashew butter
2 c ricemilk
1 tsp turmeric (optional, i used this for color since i had white corn)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
small handful fresh basil leaves, chopped

heat vegetable oil in a large soup pot. add leeks and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. add bell pepper, celery, jalapenos, garlic, and potatoes, and cook over low-medium heat, covered, until potatoes are soft. add 2 cups of corn, white wine, cashew butter, ricemilk, turmeric, thyme, paprika, and salt and pepper. stir, cover, and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. add fresh basil leaves and remove from heat. puree using an immersion or regular blender to desired consistency. return to pot and add remaining 1 cup of corn. simmer an additional 5-10 minutes. serve hot, topped with toasted corn and/or fresh basil as garnish.

spelt-rice bread with imagine foods sweet corn soup and a baby romaine and tomato salad with annie’s lemon-chive dressing:

today was a bearable day, almost chilly at times, which is a welcome change from the heat and humidity of late. so i decided it was cool enough to try some baking. i found this recipe in my ExtraVeganZa! cookbook and have been wanting to make it for quite some time because it sounded so weird (cooked rice, spelt, cornmeal, no yeast or leavening agents!). it has a really weird name too, with somebody’s name and old english spellings (?) that sound like more of a quote than a title. it also asks for sesame seeds in the recipe without listing it in the ingredients, so i put my own version below. anyway, i popped into work and got a container of cooked rice (because i was a little lazy) and some soup and salad fixings. then i got to work…

spelt-rice bread (makes one loaf):
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 c. spelt flour
1 tbsp. olive, corn, sesame, or other natural oil
1 1/2-2 c. brown rice, cooked and cooled
2/3 tsp. sea salt
3/4 c. (or more) water
about 1/8 c. sesame seeds

in a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, and salt, and rub in the oil with your fingertips. work the rice with your fingers until all of the grains are separated and kinda coated with the flour mixture. add enough water to make a dough that sticks together easily. it will look something like this:

shape the dough into a round loaf. place the sesame seeds on a plate, then roll the loaf in the sesame seeds until it is completely covered (or until all the seeds are used up):

sprinkle some sesame seeds on a baking sheet, then place the loaf on the sheet. put loaf into a cold oven, then turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for one hour. remove from oven and allow to cool. serve with soup and salad, or just with your favorite topping! keep remaining bread in sealed container or plastic bag to retain moistness.

observations:
this dough is quick to make, and easy to work with (not very sticky like other doughs can be). it doesn’t rise (duh), so don’t be alarmed if it’s the same size when you pull it out of the oven as when you put it in. it’s super-dense, simple, and (so far) pretty moist. i bet toasted it would make a good open-faced sandwich base (mmmm… cashew cheese!!).

on a related note, i’m going to try and make my own sweet corn soup soon. the imagine foods brand is delicious (and vegan of course) but i bet homemade it could be even tastier. the ingredients don’t seem to weird or vague, either, so whenever my corn crop is ready for eating, sweet corn chowder here i come! (or i may have to make it sooner).