terryaki tofu roll with avocado, potato, cucumber & black rice

holy moly WOAH. make these! everybody (friends and mom) was really impressed with the combination of flavours and textures. i'm making this recipe again ASAP for my boyfriend. who can refuse cruelty-free sushi!? it's just that much better than raw-decomposing-fish sushi. better for you, the planet, and our fellow earthly creatures. YEAH!

 

if you want this recipe to be 100% raw, don't worry about the terryaki tofu and potato, you can use your fave raw vegan cheese or nut pate if you want. also, use sprouts instead of rice. buuuuuuut... i suggest making the tofu and potato with rice. so worth it.

the black rice really raised the meal to another level of sophistication (and good health, of course). it's an intriguing sight and fun to cook because the water turns dark purple. spooky. you could instead use brown rice or quinoa or whatever whole grain you have.

as usual - try to get organic ingredients, and better yet, get the veggies from your garden!

 

terryaki tofu rolls with avocado, potato, cucumber & black rice: serves 3-4

1 package tofu
2 potatoes 
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (i used mesquite)
1/2 cucumber
1 avocado
1 cup black rice recommended
nori sheets

cook the rice as directed. cut the tofu, potato, cucumber and avocado into long strips. sautee the tofu, potato and garlic in the tamari, liquid smoke and olive oil. spread the rice onto the nori sheets and lay down all the ingredients (including the tofu and stuff). roll in up and slice with a sharp knife into rolls. serve with tamari for dipping.

lemon, lime & coconut cheesecake

you know how much i love cheesecake! i made another one yesterday. it's layers of lemon and lime with coconut. sounds pretty tasty, right? RIGHT.

check out this mix above; it's groovy, sexy and funkalicious. there's three of them and i recommend downloading them all. NOW, back to cheesecake. i really like the flavours of this one, fresh and light but just sweet and dense enough to let you savour it. unfortunately my camera is still missing so i couldn't take the best pictures. you will have to deal with it. bear with me, people.

let it sit in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or better still, overnight. it leaves it time to set properly and gain some extra flavour. it was way better today than last night when i gave it to my family for dessert. it was still darn good though. the stripe of green is a cute addition i think, but you don't have to add it if you just wanna eat the cake ASAP... i understand completely.

lemon, lime & coconut cheesecake: serves about 12

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 heaping cup prunes or dates

lemon layer:
3 cups cashews
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 2 lemons
1 banana (optional)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons coconut oi

lime layer:
1 avocado
juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 cup coconut milk (use as little as possible anyway)
1/4 cup coconut flakes 

for the crust, blend all the ingredients in your food processor until it starts clumping together and you can press it into shapes. press into the bottom of a springform pan lined with plastic wrap. put in fridge.

to make the lemon layer, blend all ingredients together in your blender until creamy smooth. YUM. pour half of it onto your crust - set aside the remaining half - put back in fridge. 

to make the lime layer, blend all ingredients until smooth in your food processor or blender. pour all of this onto the first layer on the crust, then pour on the remaining lemon layer from earlier. let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is better). i put coconut flakes on top of mine to add some texture. YEAH, BABY.

raw chocolate mousse

uh... yeah. make these now.

i felt like creating something a wee bit fancy yesterday for my family and friends. we had a ripe avocado so i utilized it in the name of raw vegan splendor. turned out pretty decent, if i do say so myself (and i just did, so there). while you read the post, look at the pics and check out the recipe - i suggest you listen to THIS. i took lots of pictures for you today to feast your eyes on. FEAST:

i love having fresh mint from the garden for garnishes on desserts. to be honest, i'm not the biggest peppermint fanatic but i do adore the splash of colour. i am addicted to chocolate (that should be pretty apparent by now) but all the brown leaves something to be desired; purely for aesthetic reasons.

the bottom of these is a chocolate nut crust and it's topped with a chocolate pudding kinda deal. i made a quick chocolate sauce to decorate. i suggest letting them sit in a fridge for a few hours. i let them set overnight. i'm pretty sure if you do everything wrong in this recipe - it will still be delicious...

IT'S ALL CHOCOLATE.

double chocolate mousse delights: makes around 8 

crust:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup almonds

1 cup dates

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons cacao/cocoa 

mousse:

1 avocado

3 tablespoons cacao/cocoa

1/4 cup honey/maple syrup 

1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, melted (optional if you're using a chocolate bar)

3-4 tablespoons nut butter (i used peanut butter)

vegan milk, as needed (around 1/2 cup or something?)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/3 cup dates/prunes

1 vegan chocolate bar, melted (i guess this is optional, but i recommend it!)

chocolate sauce:

2 tablespoons almond butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon cacao/cocoa

3-5 tablespoons vegan milk

to make the crust, put all ingredients in your food processor and process until the nuts are crumbs and everything kinda sticks together. press into the bottom of big cupcake molds lined with plastic wrap or tinfoil; put in the fridge.

to make the mousse, blend all ingredients until smooth (you can do this in the food processor.) see if you wanna add anything. it should be pretty thick already, and it will set more in the fridge. spoon into each of the cupcake molds and stick it in the fridge for an hour or more. 

when you wanna eat them - ASAP i would assume - make the chocolate sauce by stirring all ingredients together. take the mousse cups out of their molds and decorate on plates with whatever you like! drizzle on the sauce and serve. YUUUMMM <3

holy garlic

we bought garlic from the farmer's market on saturday... it is so intense. like, the most potent garlic on the planet. i naively used an entire clove in the dressing of my salad, i have now killed all my taste buds. learn from my mistake - be cautious with your organic garlic. start with half a clove if you've got strong stuff.

besides the garlic insanity, this salad was friggin delish. i had a great workout up at my campus gym and all i wanted to eat afterward was a big salad from my garden. i added some chickpeas for extra protein. hemp seeds would also be a nice addition. we had grilled zucchini from last night and well... that's never a bad thing to throw in. enjoy! i sat in the sun and fought with wasps to eat this.

walnut garlic salad: serves one

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon tamari

3 tablespoons almond milk (or water)

1/2 garlic clove

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tabelspoon honey/maple syrup (or 2 dates)

1 tablespoon hummus (optional... but yum)

salad:

2-3 grilled zucchini slices

1/2 cup chickpeas

4-5 cups kale and/or rainbow chard

2 figs

3 olives

make the dressing by blending all ingredients until smooth. hopefully you like it, it might be a little thick so feel free to add more liquid. chop up the salad topping and tear up the leaves into bite-size pieces. pour on the dressing and mix into the greens, then add your toppings. yummers.

reeses pie

this is really yummy and pretty darn healthy. it's not raw because it has tofu, but hey, in my books - tofu is A-OK. the crust is mostly peanuts and as you can see the filling is chocolate, so it's like a giant reeses peanut butter cup!

sorry the pictures aren't very good today... long story short, my camera has been stolen! along with many other valuables. i guess that's why you don't leave important possessions in your car when you go camping in the wilderness. lesson learned.

here's some lovely music to stream while you make this pie. the album is brand new and beautiful.

reeses peanut butter chocolate pie: makes one pie

crust:

1 cup peanuts

1 cup walnuts

1 cup dates

1 tablespoon peanut butter (if needed)

filling:

1 package firm tofu

2 tablespoons honey/agave/maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips (or broken up chocolate bars)

to make the crust, blend all the ingredients together in your food processor until it forms a crumbly ball. press into a pie plate and refrigerate. to make the filling, melt the chocolate, then blend all ingredients together until smooth. spoon the filling into the crust and let it chill for an hour or two. this is good with bananas... but isn't everything?

garden herb salad

i beg you, grow your own tomatoes. they're pretty easy as long as you don't over water them... and they taste HEAVENLY. really... they should be golden with holiness, not red. i've been eating them like candy. some of ours are cherry tomatoes and some are larger. either way - ridiculous.

today i made a salad with rainbow chard, oregano, basil, and tomatoes from the garden. i also added some bell pepper, dried figs, avocado, and leftover gardein. the dressing is sooo good. it has mustard, miso, walnuts, garlic and fresh basil in it. sweet basil is probably my favourite herb. i left whole leaves of oregano and basil with the rainbow chard greens too, i think it's lovely when you get a bite and suddenly it's a herb-filled explosion of flavour!

garden herb salad with tomatoes: serves one

salad:

4-5 cups rainbow chard (or your fave greens)

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1 bell pepper

1/4 avocado

handful basil leaves

handful oregano leaves

2-3 dried figs/dates

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 dates

2 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

handful of walnuts (around 1/4 cup)

handful basil leaves

water, as needed

chop up the greens, tomatoes, pepper, avocado and figs. set aside. to make the dressing, blend all the ingredients together, adding as much water as needed. pour the dressing onto the greens and mix in. top it off with the remaining goodies and enjoy!