Redefining Dessert.

The other night, I went to a potluck at a friend's house. I brought a kale and collard salad, marinated and mixed in with hemp seeds and avocado. Along with that, I made a layered fruit salad containing strawberries, kumquats, green grapes, bananas, oranges and goji berries. To top it off, I made a whipped cream that I think would be heavenly on just about any combination of fruit. Or as my friend said, on anything at all...


Heavenly Whipped Topping

• Meat of four young coconuts
• 2 Tbsp honey
• sprinkling of sea salt
• 1 vanilla bean scraped (or vanilla extract if you don't have beans)
• 1 champagne mango (or 1 regular mango, or pineapple, or you get the idea)
• 1 Tbsp lecithin crystals (optional, and they add a firmer texture)
• 2 Tbsp of coconut butter (again, optional, and you can sub coconut oil, but this stuff is heaven)

Process in food processor, adding some of the water from the coconuts until it's perfectly smooth, but still thick. Refrigerate to set. Pour on fruit, raw granola, or someone you love.

Charlie the Tuna, you're perfectly safe here.

I've posted my raw vegan tuna recipe on goneraw.com before. Essentially, I found that using the pulp from carrot juice was perfect for the texture of tuna. And since I had a bunch of leftover ricotta cheese from my portobello pizzas, I decided to take that, mix it in with my carrot pulp, add a tiny bit of olive oil, cracked black pepper and top it with a sprinkle of Brazil nut parmesan cheese.

Phwargh.

YUM.

What to do with leftover raw paneer?

Dinner.

Zucchini pasta, grape tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, sea salt, black pepper and paneer cheese.

HOLY MOLY.

Rainy Day Potluck and Raw Indian Food. YUM.

Oh, wow. Another delicious potluck was had. And another kick in my bum for staying away from my blog. Perhaps it has to do partly with the fact that I'm the world's worst potluck photographer. I get so amped up about the gorgeous dishes that I forget to snap any pics until the food has been half eaten. Though no less delicious, I really do need to take photos of food before we descend upon it.

That said, this past Saturday's potluck was a wonderful, mellow gathering of great people. The rain fell steadily outside and provided a great reason to stay inside...along with the incredible food and good company. :)

I tried my hand at something I've long wanted to...Indian food. It is the one cuisine I have always assumed I would not want to give up. Until now. I made raw palak paneer. And it was so good, I can still taste it. I can also still smell the spices in my kitchen, which makes me want to make it all over again.

I promise to post the recipe...as soon as I figure it out. As always, I am so deeply involved with the food that I forget to write down what I'm doing. My friend Jenny is borrowing my Indian cookbook, which is where I got the general idea of how to make it. For those of you not familiar, palak paneer is one of many Indian dishes using a cubed cheese (paneer) that has a soft consistency and a mild flavor. This dish uses spinach, and is traditionally cooked down with ghee, spices and other ingredients. Because ghee is not on the raw menu (it's clarified butter), I made do with coconut oil and olive oil. I really winged the whole thing, relying on my taste buds to tell me when I had achieved the taste of my favorite Indian dish. Here's a picture of the last remaining portion:



Along with that I made the raw version of gulab juman, which is an Indian dessert that is essentially fried balls of dough in a sweet, rose water-infused syrup. My version involved almonds, soaked overnight, ground into a fine mush, mixed in with coconut creme, rose water, vanilla bean seeds, honey and ginger, and then balled up, and finally drenched in a diluted honey and set in the fridge. YUM. All of the balls were devoured before I had time to snap a picture. Oh, dear. That really reads like it should go in a totally different blog.



The table began to pile up with deliciousness.


The fantastic food brought by everyone else included things like almond butter cookies with chocolate icing, pesto pasta, potato salad made with jicama, incredible salads, spicy guacamole, and more. It's so wonderful to hang out with folks that are into raw, and just goes to prove that surrounding yourself with like-minded people makes this lifestyle that much easier.

I promise, I'll get the recipe posted for the paneer. Love to you all.

The Look of Love

The heart at rest sees a feast in everything.

~Hindi proverb

Rather than kicking myself in the pants, head or otherwise for slacking on my blog, I will dive right back in and deliver some raw love to my peeps.

Valentine's Day. Most who know me well know that I find the holiday to be kind of ridiculous. We should be loving people every day, and not need a Hallmark holiday to remind us. Plus, what's with all the shitty candy? If I give you a bag of chalky hearts with sappy things inscribed, you may B MINE but will you B healthier for it?

Let me step down from my chocolate-covered soapbox and get down to business. The business of a Valentine's night raw potluck. It truly was the best possible way to spend the evening...with friends I love and food that was mind-blowingly delicious.


What a feast of love!

We started with a theme...Italian. The request was that you made something in that genre, but it wasn't a requirement. What we got was everything from ravioli to stuffed mushrooms to lasagna to tiramisu. Not to mention raspberry chocolate cheesecake, incredible salads and more. Add to that friends that love to laugh, and you've got the recipe for a fantastic night. I have really got to stop using food puns.

So, I'm posting pics from the table of love, and I'm also posting the recipes for my two dishes. Once again, I put so much love into these, and I'm so pleased with how they came out. Raw lasagna and tiramisu, anyone?


Jenny's astonishing stuffed mushrooms.



Jenny's astonishing Jenny Bars. I want to eat that picture.


Jenny's astonishing rawvioli. Are you sensing a theme here?


Elizabeth's decadent raspberry chocolate cheesecake.


Brian's scrumptious salad.



Many Layers of Love Lasagna
I got the inspiration for this from the fabulous Russell James. His lasagna recipe has inspired many to drool on their keyboards. So using that as a starting point, I got to town. My suggestion is to prep all of these layers the night before you make the 'sagna. That way you're not running around like a carrot with its top cut off. Please, stop me.

The cool thing about dishes like this is that you can trade out layers, or take some out. The idea is to get inventive. Use ingredients that offer a variety of textures and flavors, but that compliment each other. Let's layer, people.


Layers. Mmmmm. Layers.

Layer 1: I'm feeling meaty Brazil nut meat
I based this off of Russell's meat recipe, tweaking so my poor, walnut-allergic friend Luke could dig it. I was really pleased with the way this turned out.

• 1 ½c Brazil nuts
• 1c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked
• 2T miso (I used mellow white)
• 2t dried oregano
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 4T nama shoyu
• 2T olive oil

Russell has agave in his, but I found that I liked the taste of this without it. If you need a bit more sweetness, use the agave; otherwise, the sundrieds do a great job of imparting that sweet, luscious flavor. Just throw it all in the blender. I actually didn't leave this chunky, instead blending it to a creamy/grainy consistency.



It tastes as good as it looks.


Layer 2: Funky Chunky Marinara

• 1 ½c sun dried tomatoes, soaked
• 3 dates, soaked
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2c tomato (I threw in a big bag of Roma tomatoes. I didn't measure. I just tasted as I went)
• 1 ½T dried oregano
• 1/3c olive oil
• 2T lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine everything except sd tomatoes in a FP. Blend well. Add in sd tomatoes and blend some more. Yum.

Layer 3: Don't pesto me pesto

• 2 c tightly packed basil leaves
• ¾c pine nuts or walnuts (I actually did half pine nuts and half Brazil nuts for this)
• ½c olive oil
• 1t salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1T lemon juice

Combine ingredients in FP. Blend, leaving a bit chunky.

Layer 3: You're so cheesy Alfredo sauce

• 1.5 c pine nuts
• olive oil (add enough to give it some juiciness)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T nutritional yeast (add more if you want a cheesier taste)
• 1t salt
• water as needed

Dump the ingredients into your FP. Blend. Blend some more. Blend till you stick your finger in and scream "sweet and holy gods, that's good!"

Layer 4: Pepper me with kisses
For this, I used 2 shell containers of those baby yellow and red peppers that you can get at Trader Joe's. I marinated them in olive oil, a squirt of lemon juice and some garlic, salt and pepper. You can use whatever veggies you want for this. The peppers are sweet and add a nice dash of color, crunch, and compliment to the more savory flavors.

Layer 5: Decadent truffled mushrooms
I was lucky enough to score some really good truffle oil from my aforementioned friend Luke. If you can get your paws on some, I highly recommend it. Though pricey, you only have to use a tiny bit to have a giant impact.

• 2 containers of mushrooms-baby bellas, button, etc.
• truffle oil
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

I put the shrooms in my FP, pulsed until they were chopped up, and then gave them a decent coating of olive oil, a precious drop or two of truffle oil, and seasoned with sea salt and pepper.

Layer 6: Popeye's Props

• Approximately 1 bag of washed baby spinach
• 4T dried oregano
• 3T olive oil
• 1t sea salt
• Combine ingredients and massage into spinach. Don't expect a tip for the massage; spinach can be a bit of a tightwad.

Noodles—prepare these on the day of assembly.
I grabbed about 5-6 zucchini. I don't have a mandoline, and so instead, after peeling the zuchs, I took a sharp knife and cut them in half, then sliced thin slices lengthwise. (you want them to be thin enough to be pliable, but not transparent, as they will tend to break apart. Marinate strips in about 3 T olive oil and 1t of salt, for about 15-20 mins.

(This is not a school) Assembly
I used a rectangular glass dish for this. How you layer your lasagna is up to you. My suggestion is:

1. Noodles (overlap them, don't worry about perfection)
2. Meat layer
3. Marinara layer (I had leftovers and saved it for the top)
4. Pepper layer
5. Cheese layer
6. Mushroom layer
7. Spinach layer
8. 2nd noodle layer
9. Pesto
10. Remainder of sauce

You'll get the hang of each layer. Some you can just ladle on evenly. Others, like the meat layer, need to be gently patted in. Have fun!! Put the final lasagna in the fridge for a few hours to set. Whooo!


Tear in My Eye Tiramisu
I started this recipe with the incredible Café Gratitude book's version, and changed it up to suit my available ingredients. So if you want the original CG recipe, um, you can buy the book. :) It's a LOT to type out.



CAKE LAYER

• 1 16 oz bag of Brazil nuts, soaked
• 1 16 oz bag of Almonds, soaked [I soaked these overnight and then made a ton of nut milk]
• 2 vanilla beans scraped
• 3/4 cup coconut butter (I recommend Artisana)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 1/2 cups dates, pitted and soaked
• 8 oz of cold-processed espresso or coffee (optional)
  

After soaking the nuts (people, please.), I made nut milk, straining the pulp in a paint strainer bag and reserving it. Then I took the dates and other ingredients, whizzed them up in the FP until they were creamy and cake batter consistency. You may need to add a bit of water; I used the reserve from soaking the dates. Add the batter to the pulp. Get your hands in it and sing Italian opera. Actually, that's not necessary, but it's fun. Mixing with your hands ensures even distribution of the batter, and also it kind of squishes the liquids into the nutmeat. Grease a springform pie pan (or other deep dish dessert thingy) with coconut oil. Take half of the cake mixture and pat it down into the pan, evenly. Here's where you have the option of adding the coffee. I had some leftover from my parents' last visit. I popped it in a paint strainer and let it soak in 8 oz of water. Then I added some cacao powder. Then poured over the cake to soak it in. Pop in the fridge.




CACAO MOUSSE
You can only find the cacao mousse during hunting season in Maine. Oh, wait. That's a little animal humor, folks. Snort.

Okay. CG recommends Irish Moss. Mine wasn't ready to use, so I winged this and it came out just fine. I'm recreating this from my memory, though...

• Meat of 4 young coconuts
• 1/2 cup dates, pitted and soaked
• 1/2 cup of cacao powder
• 1/8 t salt
• 1 T lecithin
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 c agave

Blend ingredients in FP until fluffy and chocolatey. Pour on top of cake layer. Put in freezer for at least an hour, until firm. Then add second cake layer.

WHIPPED CREAM

• 2 1/4 c coconut milk
• 2 c soaked macadamias
• 1/2 c + 2T agave
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 1/8 t sea salt
• 2 T lecithin
• 2/3 c coconut butter

Blend thoroughly until graininess is gone and it's all creamy. I popped this into the fridge before setting on top of the last cake layer, just to firm it up. When that's done, spread it on top. Then pop in the freezer. Garnish with a dusting of raw cacao powder (I put nibs in a coffee grinder and used those). Eat and LOVE.

Twin Peaks and Raw Pizza...2 great tastes that, well, you know.

This entry is a little late being posted, thanks to the holidays...


I'm blessed. Yes, let's start with that. I'm truly blessed to have found a community of really cool people here in Raleigh. People that are into raw, but not obsessed with it. People that will willingly come over on a Friday night for Twin Peaks viewing and Raw Pizza tasting.

As my first experiment with raw pizza began on a Thursday night, I was uncertain as to what the results would be. And on the following Friday afternoon, when I came home on my lunch break to assemble the pies and put them in the D for the next 5 hours, I only knew that they looked great, but wasn't certain about the taste.

Ladies and gentlemen, I say with almost no humility at all...I rule. This is my favorite meal I've made thus far, and it came out far better than my expectations. I had three different crusts, three different cheeses, and a variety of toppings. The pizzas were scarfed down by my appreciative friends so quickly, I barely had time to remember to snap pics. So let's get your appetite whetted with a snapshot of love:


Now, for the recipes. I really did just take some basic raw crust recipes and alter them according to my available ingredients and personal taste. But I'll post the original ones and let you know what I changed up. If I can remember that far back. ;)

Let's start with the base.

Gourmet Crust from Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book

• 1/2 cup sprouted barley
• 1/2 cup sprouted wild rice (I used sprouted kamut berries.)
• 2 dates, pitted and soaked
• 1/8 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• dash sea salt

Toss all the ingredients in a food processor. Blend. It gets all doughy.
Then plop some dough in a ball onto a Teflex sheet on a dehydrator tray. I use an offset spatula, and then spread it around in a circle, leaving a thicker area around the edge for the crust. (How thick you want your crust is a personal preference. The one you see pictured in front was the gourmet. The one in the back is the "Easy Crust," recipe below, and I did it a big more thin.)

I threw it in the D at 125 for about an hour, then turned it down to 110. After about an hour, check it. If it's dry enough to peel off the Teflex, do so and put on the screen. I ended up bumping the D down to 105 and letting it go for the night, and the crust was perfect. Again, it's all personal preference. This crust, since I used kamut, was in need of a longer time in the D.


Easy Crust from Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book
(I doubled this to make two)

• 2 cups sprouted buckwheat

(I added 4 cups of barley, too, when I doubled this, so it was 4 cups buckwheat, 4 cups barley)

• 1 cup soaked flax seeds
• 1 cup red bell pepper (I skipped the pepper and added 1/2 cup of soaked sundried tomatoes)
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk (I skipped this)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

(I also added fresh rosemary)

Follow the same instructions as the crust above.


Sundried Tomato Marinara from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used Roma)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1/4 olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon, about 1 TBSP
• 1 teaspoon pitted and soaked dates
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, soaked

Blend tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, dates, herbs, and salt until smooth. Add the sundried tomatoes and blend until mixed well.


Ricotta Basil Cheese (Italian Pizza Cheese from Ani's Raw Kitchen)

• 2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked
• Juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cups water, as needed.

Put everything in the food processor (or blender), adding water as needed to make cheese creamy and fluffy. And YUMMY


Brazil Nut Parmesan Cheese from I am Grateful, Recipes & Lifestyle of Café Gratitude

• 1 cup Brazil nuts, dry
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Put in the food processor. Process. You won't believe how freakin' GOOD this is.


Vee's Pizza Alfredo Sauce
2 cups pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup almond milk or water
Nutritional yeast to taste
Sea salt to taste

Blend in food processor, tasting. Not just for the seasoning, but because it tastes groovy.


Veggies
I basically took mushrooms, orange and red peppers, and tossed them in olive oil, garlic and a bit of lemon and sea salt. You can add whatever veggies float yor boat. Let them marinate and soften.

Assembly
At this point, you may be thinking, "Hey, Vee, I don't have two weeks to make this stuff." But I promise you, once you have the ingredients all out, you can turn this all out in very little time. With the sauces and veggies prepped as the crusts dehydrate, it's just a matter of assembling them once the crusts are done. I spooned sauce on, then put cheeses on in varying degrees and combinations. Then put whatever veggies you like on, or sundrieds. I threw them in the D for 6 hours at 105 degrees and they were to LIVE for.

Have fun. Abondunzza and all that stuff.

xoxo

Holler! The Eyes Have It!

So, you may have read that a lot of raw vegans notice changes in their eyes as they delve into their new eating habits. Some see whiter whites and brighter brights...wait, am I thinking about laundry or eyes?

Anyway, after a month or so of eating raw, I noticed yesterday that my eyes are becoming more clear, with a lot more green, and a totally different color of green. This could also be due to the copious amounts of cocaine that I've been ingesting every day, but I think it's the raw. Any of you noticing changes in the eyes?

Rawkin Out in Austin (or Rawstin)

Hey, peeps! I hope everyone had a safe and fantastic holiday. I'm back from visiting a good friend in Austin, and I thought I'd check in since I've been woefully behind on blog posts.

The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, many of them centered around raw food, or at least including it. I've been spending tons of time in the kitchen, and am continuing to love creating new dishes.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got to Texas. Sure, Austin is known for its weird factor, and it's a funky, awesome town. But smack dab in the middle of meat country, I didn't have a lot of high hopes for finding raw vegan food, or even vegan, at that. Boy, was I rawng. Get it? Wrong? I'm squeezing too much mileage out of word puns with raw, aren't I?

Suffice to say, my friend Chris must receive huge props. He checked out some possibilities for me and gamely went along with my strange food preferences.

I started out the journey less than prepared. Brought some flax seed crackers on the plane with me. Then proceeded to have 3 or 4 glasses of wine with Chris, and no food save an apple. Yeah, I can hear the Greek chorus of "duh" from here. The next day, Thanksgiving, I ate some fruit for breakfast and then we went to the home of a really nice couple that's friends with Chris. They had a full Turkey Day meal, and we were all sitting down to it. So I luckily had some food choices, and made some that weren't so great, like mashed potatoes. Not one to kick myself after being 100% for weeks, I instead relished the fact that I wasn't off the wagon. In fact, cooked food really didn't do anything for me except give me that full, logey feeling I hadn't been missing while eating raw.

Friday morning, we went to Austin's new (and only) raw restaurant--The Daily Juice Café. That link, by the way, only mentions their three juice locations, not their new restaurant.

The Daily Juice Café Meditation/Chill Room

I got a fantastic smoothie with strawberry, peach, grapefruit, ginger and fresh maca root. Whooot! I spoke with the owner and walked around checking out their well-stocked cases of live foods. I like that they make their food based on the principles of less ingredients, lots of taste. They don't use a ton of nuts or massive ingredient lists.





The lovely interior...mmmmmm, young coconuts.




The newest location of Daily Juice is a repurposed gas station.


Next stop was the Whole Foods Mothership. It's the first WF in the country, if I'm not mistaken, and the largest. Walking into this bohemoth was overstimulation at its finest. In a way, I walked out feeling as though I had been brainwashed with weeks of food porn. However, the saving grace of the day was when Chris grinned and pointed to one of the mini island restaurants...Live Foods. A whole case of prepared live foods, and behind it, a wall of raw products.



You can live it up at the Whole Foods Raw Bar.

Yummy raw goodness. Holiday style.



The wall of raw.


Sure, had I bought everything I wanted, I would have to mortgage my house, and I'm a renter. But seeing that many resources available made me realize that Austin has it going ON in the raw department. As well as the artsy, funky, cool department. If someone could just explain why mullets are considered trendy there...

Friday night we went back to Daily Juice for a dinner that was exceptional. The entire staff is so friendly, it was packed, and the food was phenomenal. I had the raw lasagna and a side salad that included little strips of young coconut. Delish. My cohort had the raw tacos and some pumpkin soup, which was insanely good. I got a piece of chocolate banana cream pie to go and it was the bomb diggedy.



Deeelicious side salad.



Rawsagna. Phwargh, it was good.



Raw tacos and pumpkin soup.



Saturday I walked to Daily Juice and grabbed myself another gorgeous smoothie, as well as one for Chris. To live within walking distance of a raw restaurant would be both dangerous and wonderful. We ventured over to the Austin Farmers Market downtown, which was small, awesome, and full of organic choices.


Austin's downtown Farmers Market.

I've heard rumors of an even bigger organic market six miles out of town. Saturday night I chowed down on a raw dinner compliments of Whole Foods. Everything was really amazing, and I packed myself a to go lunch of raw leftovers for the plane ride home on Sunday.

My dish on Austin? Raw Heaven. Lots of organics, very green living, fantastic raw resources, and to top it off, a fun, artsy, funky town. I give it 10 Durians out of 10!

Chocogasm Pie and the Raw Love-in

What's the best way to stay raw?
Surround yourself with inspiration. I've chosen to do that in the form of attending raw potlucks, trying tons of new recipes, and staying prepared by bringing plenty of raw stuff to work with me. If I don't give myself a reason to go off raw, I won't. And some of the things I've been making have made me giddy with food lust.

This past weekend I hosted a raw potluck at my house. If you aren't already on meetup.com, try it out. You could find a raw group in your area that you didn't even know about. Potlucks are great. You can meet new friends, try new dishes, and spend time with some very wonderful people who are all in the same raw boat. The conversations seem a lot more open, deep and lively than any I've had at parties with cooked food and tons of booze.

Beyond the beauty of hanging with raw peeps, I have to do some blog braggin. I created a dessert that is the most amazing one I've made yet. Honestly, I want to marry me. And though I tend to make food in a very Zen way--not measuring, just going by taste, texture and visual--I'm going to attempt to recreate the recipe for you. Just remember to keep tasting what you're making. That's the best way to make good food. And to get chocolate all over your face like a kid.

Victoria's Chocogasm Pie

Crust
I used the same crust from my banana/coconut cream pie. See post. However, you can sub any nuts you prefer. I think hazelnuts and chocolate are an ideal match. I also made the crust have a bit of salty tang to really complement the dark cacao. For this recipe, I put the crust in a large springform pan, just on the bottom, not rising up on the sides.

First Layer That's right. This pie has layers.

• Meat of 3-4 young coconuts. Reserve coconut water
• 2 cups of cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
• 1 heaping Tbsp of maca
• 3 Tbsp of raw cacao powder-add more to taste
• 1/4 cup agave-again, add more to taste
• 1 tsp lecithin granules
• sea salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  

Put the coconut in a food processor and blend. Add in the cashews and blend until smooth, adding a bit of the reserved coconut water if necessary. You want to maintain a thick consistency, yet not lumpy.

Add the remaining ingredients. Keep tasting. The pie should have a dark, chocolatey taste that makes you want to stick your head in the bowl and eat it all.

Pour the layer into your springform pan. If you don't have one, you can just use a regular pie pan. Put into the freezer.

Second Layer

• 1/2 or 1 cup raw almond butter, depending on how thick you want this to be
  
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 or 3 Tbsp raw cacao powder to taste
• agave to taste
• sea salt to taste

Blend ingredients thoroughly in the food processor, until mix achieves a consistency like dark chocolate icing. This is a ganache kinda deal, but not. It's a Ganot.

Set mixture in the fridge for a bit if it's not thick enough, or just add more almond butter.

Pour mixture onto first layer. I waited until the first layer was really set well. Spread evenly, return to freezer.

Third Layer

• Meat of two coconuts; I opened quite a few and used the more pudding-like meat for this.
• Agave to taste
• Vanilla to taste
• 1/2 tsp Arrowroot powder (If you don't have this, don't sweat it. You can add some thickness with coconut oil)

Blend in mini food processor, regular food processor or blender. Pour mixture into plastic bag. Cut off the tip and squeeze mixture onto top of pie.

Top off pie with sprinkle of cacao nibs.

It seems like a lot of work, but in reality, I made this pie in under an hour.

Rawk on!

xo

PS: With all of that leftover coconut water, I strained it, put it in a big pitcher, and put in frozen strawberries as ice cubes. Fantastic drink that everyone was diggin on. :)

Raw Quickie

If you enjoy making flax crackers, then you've probably experienced the mess left after cutting them up. I've found that the "crumbs" from flax crackers, which are really just deliciously flavored and dehydrated flax seeds, are fantastic to throw in a glass jar and use for topping your salads. Or whatever other topless food you want topped.

Tonight, I threw together some local arugula—incredibly peppery—with lemon juice, a splash of olive oil, a cut up avocado, and then threw a handful of flax cracker crumbs on top. Magnificent.

Sunday Sunrise Smoothie

After a weekend of feeling not-so-hot, this was the perfect way to end my Sunday. Amazingly, not 15 minutes after drinking this deliciousness, I felt like I'd had a blood transfusion. Sinus headache gone. Fatigue gone. Brilliant. The color is as gorgeous as the feeling it gives ya.

Sunday Sunrise Smoothie

• 1 beet
• About 6-8 carrots
• 3 apples of your choice (I used 1 Granny Smith and 2 Red Delicious)
• About 5 stalks of celery

Juice it up and do the happy dance.

Stinky Heaven, Thy Name is Durian

Durian. For those who have experienced this notorious fruit, it brings one of two reactions: revulsion or shuddering ecstasy.

Durian gets a bad rap. It has been described as having a smell ranging from stinky feet to rotting garbage. Some say it's redolent of gas leakage. You're prohibited from eating it in public in some areas of the world. And even that bald guy on the Travel Channel, the one who will willingly eat a roasted goat penis, refuses to put Durian past his palate.

So why, you might ask, should you even bother with this olfactory offender? Because it is THE BOMB.

It's not called The King of Fruit for nothin.
The durian is the fruit of a tree family that includes hibiscus and okra. This fruit is not just about stank. It's high in fiber, and it's a good source of Thiamin, Vitamin B6 and Manganese, and Vitamin C. Some people are turned off by the calories (1 cup of durian contains 13 grams of fat and 357 calories), but raw foodists understand that counting calories isn't necessary. You'll find that you fill up on durian pretty quickly, so share the smelly love with some adventurous friends.

How the hell do you open this thing?
Inside each of these spiked footballs lies individual pillows of creamy goodness, surrounding a small seed. To open the fruit beast, you can find a natural seam, and take a chef's knife or serrated bread knive, cutting along, then splitting open.

This is the Barry White of fruits, baby.
Besides being a nutritional champ, durian is known for its, uh, aphrodisiacal effects. I've heard tales of durian parties that turned everyone into a pile of bliss. I witnessed firsthand a guy trying durian for the first time. He started to sweat, and became euphoric, claiming that durian could save the world.


What does it taste like?
Everyone has a different opinion on this. I think it tastes like a flan with onions. But it's really good. How it looks may be a bit off-putting. As you can see, the inside resembles an eviscerated alien. The only way you'll find out is to try it. It took me two tries to get into the durian groove. Now, I can't deny that it definitely makes me buzz with pleasure, and eating it is, in itself, a sensual experience. So I'm down with the durian.


Try it! You may like it. You may also hate it.
If you want to dip your little toe in the stinky pool instead of jumping in, here's an easy and delicious way to try durian:

Durian Shake, Rattle and Roll

• 4 durian pods
• Meat and water of 1 young coconut
• 1 banana (frozen works great)
• 2 tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 1 tspb maca
• 1 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)
• squirt of agave

Blend, drink, and assure your neighbors that there is no gas leak. If neighbors are attractive, invite them over to share.

Hot Bread Man, Spinning Greens, and Wholesome Addictions.

Good evening, peeps. Or should I say morning? It's after midnight, and this night owl is still going strong.

I started my day with a trip to the Carrboro Farmers Market. For those of you who live in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, if you've not gone, I highly recommend it. Most of the vendors were organic, even if not certified yet. Very friendly folks, gorgeous produce and flowers. I had my camera with me, but I didn't snap any pics because the bread man was incredibly sexy and distracting. :)

Two Things You Should Have in Your Raw Kitchen
So I decided to jockey stuff around a bit in my uncooking space today. Went out to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a few things. I normally don't like supporting huge stores like BBB, but I get those 20% off coupons in the mail every five minutes. They don't expire, and you can use as many as you like at once. So for kitchen stuff, the coin saved is awesome. Here's what I got:

The coolest cutting board ever. I was scanning the boards and saw this genius offering. Lots of space to cut veggies, plus two removable metal tins at the bottom. They both measure 1 cup, which is handy, and also act as a reserve bin for getting scraps out of the way. At only $24.99, plus the 20% discount, this was a steal of a deal, my friends.


A Slammin' Salad Spinner. I can't believe I've not had one of these before now. Woe is the raw foodist who washes their greens and doesn't get them dry enough. Even though I use Evert Fresh bags, I still have the problem of my greens getting all slimy. In steps the Cuisinart salad spinner. It's not the fanciest on the market, but it does the trick and it does it well. I washed all my greens tonight and put them away all dry and perky. $14.99 for the spinner, plus 20% off with my ubiquitous BBB coupon.


My fridge runneth over.
I had to take a picture of my fridge, fully stocked, and my newly cookless stove. For all my carnivorous, flame-loving fans, I'll take you out to eat. I love opening my fridge and seeing a bounty of amazing food.





My name is Victoria, and I'm an addict.
No, I don't indulge in heroin, nor do I smokah the cigarettes. Folks, I love radishes. I like to get a handful and pop them in my mouth like popcorn. Except that I think popcorn tastes like Styrofoam. So today I bought three bunches of organic radishes. I don't know what it is about that root, but I am on a tear lately. And I've picked a healthy one; radishes are a good source of vitamin C and contain lots of healthy minerals like sulphur, iron, and iodine.


Well, that's it for this evening. It's been a rawkin' day, and tomorrow I think I'm going to do some uncookin' in the kitchen. Who knows what'll turn up?

Keep it rawl,

xo
V

I'm back, baby!

Well, I decided to go raw again. And not lightly...I went in all the way. After only 2 days of eating 100% raw vegan, I already feel the difference. I had forgotten how profound the effects are, and how well my body takes to this way of eating. I'd really like to stay at 100%, or at least 95% with a very small margin of non-raw. But the vegan part, I need to stick with. And it's really easy to eat this way; dinner tonight is a green smoothie. Delish!

Fall into Raw Smoothie
1 avocado
Big bunch of spinach leaves
Big bunch of chard leaves
1/2 of a juicy fat mango
dash of lemon juice
dash of agave

YUM.