STEAMED SWEET POTATOES with WILD RICE, BASIL + TOMATO CHILI SAUCE

A lot of you have been asking for more savoury recipes and more low-fat dinners. My job as I see it is to give you what ya want. So here we go. This is also a good representation of my actual diet; since I do not simply live off raw vegan chocolate cake (although sometimes I wish I could), but in reality enjoy mostly fruit all day in the form of smoothies followed by a dinner of lots of steamed or baked veggies with rice! Check out my Instagram to see more on this... and also to see my PMS face.  I do love my raw vegan desserts recipes, and I definitely eat as much of them as I want, but I see them as a fun and delicious way to get in my fats for the day, so in the rest of my diet I keep fat content to a minimum. Fat is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but I just don't need much of it. So in this recipe, I only use a handful of nuts (or 1 tablespoon of nut butter if you prefer). It provides the perfect amount of creaminess and richness without making me feel sluggish afterwards, which happens when I eat too many nuts in a day. I have learned my limits.

As many of you may know, I have gradually transitioned into an 80/10/10 diet (a high carb diet) and for me that basically meant just increasing the amounts of fruits and starchy veggies I was eating. Instead of 3 bananas a day; I eat anywhere from 5 to 15 now. Instead of 3/4 cup of rice; I eat 2 cups, etc. When I eat this way I find I don't crave the rich foods that I used to. I don't want to eat the entire tray of raw vegan brownies, I am satisfied with one. I have learned that my body does best with minimal amounts of fat. As I stated a moment ago, I feel weighed down and head-achey when I eat too much fat in a day. All I need to keep me energized and strong is a handful of nuts, 1 avocado, or 1 tablespoon of nut butter or coconut oil a day. Am I saying this is the ideal diet for everyone? Of course not! You know your body better than I do! So experiment and find what works for you. I have a friend who does best on a high fat diet, and so that right there is proof that we all require different percentages of macronutrients to fuel ourselves right. Having said that, it DOES make sense to me from an evolutionary perspective that most of us would do best with a diet high in fruit, greens, and starchy veggies.

My logic is simple: we all know fruits and vegetables are good for us, so let's eat as many as we can!

Now, onto this meal! I am in love with sweet potatoes. They are excellent for your brain and eye health, as well as overall wellness. Basil is called The Sacred Goddess Herb and is thought to be the embodiment of femininity and holiness itself, tomato is great for the prostate (holla to the males out there), and the whole recipe is just freaking yummy altogether... so make it.

STEAMED SWEET POTATOES with WILD RICE, BASIL + TOMATO CHILI SAUCE

Sauce:
1 tomato
1 tablespoon nut butter (optional) 
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup 
1 teaspoon chili powder, to taste 
1 garlic clove

Other ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, sliced and steamed until soft and tender
2 cups cooked wild rice
1/4 cup basil leaves

To make the sauce: blend all the ingredients until smooth. Mix the sauce into your rice and sweet potatoes in a bowl, then top with basil leaves and enjoy! 

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WILD RICE with BLACK BEANS, CHERRY TOMATOES + STEAMED POTATOES

Keepin' it simple and wholesome, as per usual. I made this a couple weeks ago and posted a pic on Instagram, and I thought it was so pretty and delicious I decided to share the recipe with you, 'cause you're awesome, and so is this bowl of happy food. That is all. (Like I said - keepin' it simple.)

WILD RICE BOWL with BLACK BEANS, TOMATOES + STEAMED POTATOES

1 cup cooked black beans

1 cup cooked wild rice

2 steamed potatoes

1 cup salsa or tomato sauce

Handful cherry tomatoes

Handful chopped cilantro 

Pinch of turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper (if desired) 

Throw it all in a bowl. Yessss. 

Note: add whatever other spices or flavourings you want! This would probably be outta this world with the addition of an avocado. Then again, when is that statement ever false? 

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BUTTERNUT SQUASH MAC & CHEESE

Sometimes ya just want a giant bowl of creamy mac and cheese. Sometimes ya gotta make one, especially if it's super healthy and nutritious! I don't have much to say about this recipe because it basically speaks for itself. There are already so many great vegan mac and cheese recipes out there so if you don't like the looks of this one, feel free to Google "vegan mac and cheese" and find even better ones. But this is what I made yesterday, and I figured you'd want me to share it with all you wonderful humans. 

To be honest I actually ended up giving this to my dad for his dinner, because I lost my appetite just as I finished making it! I was looking forward to it all day too! My period really messes up my metabolism... am I the only one!? Yesterday I didn't want to eat much at all, but today I am ravenous. I dreamt about bananas and juice last night so that's all I want. Having said all that - I promise this recipe is really tasty! Try it out! Note: it's more butternut squashy than cheesy, so if you're looking for a cheesier recipe, this one looks crazy good. 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH MAC & CHEESE 

Base:

3 cups of quinoa penne is in the photos, but you could use whatever you want. 

Sauce:

3 cups cubed butternut squash, baked until soft

1/2 onion

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup cashews

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon turmeric 

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon coriander 

3 dates (or 1 teaspoon liquid sweetener)

Salt & pepper, to taste

Water, as needed

Prepare your base: cook your noodles, rice, or whatever... or slice a zucchini into zucchini noodles!

To make the sauce: blend everything until smooth and creamy. Mix into your noodles or rice or whatever base you want and nom it up! Oh... this would probably be amazing if you baked it in a bowl with Daiya vegan cheese shreds over top. Mmm.

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ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI + TOMATO GARLIC SAUCE with FRESH HERBS

This was dinner for me and le boyfriend last night, and it was freaking delicious. He was late getting to my house so imagine the will power it took for me to control myself; I had to let a giant bowl of this uber luscious raw vegan spaghetti sit on the counter for AN HOUR without devouring it all before he got here. Yeah - I DO deserve a medal. Anyways, he finally did get here and we ate it in the sun after adding some cilantro and oregano from the garden. It was his first time (having zucchini noodles...) and he said he loved 'em. I often wonder why people eat fudge when there are Medjool dates in the world, or similarly why people eat white pasta when there are zucchini noodles! I think the answer is because they are not aware of the magical effect dates have upon entering your mouth (if you didn't know - dates become fudge when they meet your taste buds) and likewise, the miracle of zucchinis + a spiralizer. This is my theory anyways. 

I will let you in on a little secret - of course by announcing it like this it immediately becomes public knowledge and no longer a secret but shh - I've given you this recipe before, and it was just a few days ago. But WHY THEN am I pretending that it's new? Because when I shared it on the blog previously, it was in the form of PIZZA CRUST! Trippy, right? Check it out here. I mentioned in that post that the base for the pizza was basically like a humongous bowl of zucchini pasta and tomato sauce, and then you just dehydrate it in the form of pizza crust. Well, I was in my fave organic grocery store yesterday (waddup, Eternal Abundance) and saw some zukes and tomatoes which made me remember how badly I just wanted to eat that bowl of pasta before I even made it into pizza. I decided I'd make it happen that night (which was last night). 

I try to make my stories sound exciting but let's be real - I just explained that I wanted to eat noodles, so I made noodles and ate them. Oh well. In other news, I just got some dope matte grey nail polish in the mail from Abe's Market and I love it. Totally chemical free and vegan. I heart dat! Enough of this tedious rambling, sometimes I just have nothing to say. Let's eat. 

ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI + TOMATO GARLIC SAUCE with FRESH HERBS

Noodles:
3 zucchinis 

Sauce:
2 tomatoes 
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
2 dates
2 bell peppers
1/4 cup walnuts

Toppings:
Avocado (optional)
2 sliced tomatoes (I warmed them up in the oven which also intensifies flavour) 
Oregano
Cilantro

To make the noodles: slice the zucchinis into noodles with a spiral slicer, mandolin or a cheese grater. Set aside in a large bowl. 

To make the sauce: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adjusting according to taste. Mix this into the noodles. 

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ULTIMATE RAW VEGAN PIZZA (LOW-FAT, OIL-FREE, SALT-FREE)

This is epic. This is pizza. This is how we broke the liquid fast on this fine day (4/20). I have been thinking about making this since like the second day into the fast, and I think it's pretty much perfect. I wanted to create a raw pizza recipe that was NOT nut-based. Nuts are great, don't get me wrong, but they have a high fat content and so you only need a handful every day. The thing is... I wanna eat a LOT of pizza, and so if I wanna eat a lot of NUT-based pizza, then I'm gonna be consuming too many nuts and too much fat for a day! Get it? The base for this recipe is actually zucchini noodles and other veggies! I got the idea from this dude. So in fact you could make the pizza crust and just eat that because you're essentially making a giant bowl of zucchini noodles in a garlicky tomato sauce... then you just have to shape it into circles and dehydrate it for awhile! I am definitely remaking this recipe but stopping at this giant spaghetti bowl stage and nomming that up. Another bonus about this pizza crust is that you can use your leftover nut pulp in it (from when you make nut mylk)! I used the walnut pulp from when I made walnut mylk a few days ago. Now you have even more reasons to make your own fresh nut mylk. It's approximately 1723 times better than store-bought, and you have an excuse to make the best pizza ever. C'mon. No down sides.

All the ingredients in this are organic and most are from the farmers market. *Beaming smile*. I think I've successfully made the switch to an almost all organic diet! Yes it is more expensive, but it is worth it to me. I want to nourish my body with the most excellent food available, and that means organic! Preferably local too (which will be easier now that summer is headin' our way). The flavour of organic food is also incomparably better. These heirloom tomatoes we got from the farmers market are IN.SANE. You don't even know. Run to your farm market and grab some right now. We got them for a dollar each because they were SO ripe that they burst open while the merchants drove them to the market. Better for me! I dehydrated them and holy LAWD they are like pizza bites. So we've now got pizza bites on pizza slices. Life cannot be improved.

In case you wanna hear about the last day of our liquid feast - we went eight full days and most of today in total - it was fantastic! Energy levels were great, I wrote my last final exam with an optimally-functioning brain, then went to see my friends' band perform at a record store (it was record store day). By midnight I was tired and hit the hay. My partner and I likened today to Christmas, 'cause we were so stoked to eat. Having said that, after I got up, did yoga and went for a quick run, I just wanted a smoothie. But I'm not surprised by this since most of my diet is liquid anyways, except my dinners, so this wasn't a huge change for me; but enough of a challenge to make me REALLY excited to eat solids again, and appreciative of such. Whenever I fast my passion for food is recharged 333%, so then all I wanna eat is zucchini pasta and raw chocolate and fruit bowls... mmm.... *drool*. Oh, and this pizza.
Pizza forever.

ULTIMATE RAW VEGAN PIZZA (LOW-FAT, OIL-FREE, SALT-FREE)

Crust:
3 zucchinis
2 tomatoes (I used beefsteak)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
2 dates
2 bell peppers
1/4 cup walnuts (or nut pulp leftover from nut mylk)

Sauce:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped zucchini 
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Handful fresh basil leaves 
1 date
1 garlic clove

Toppings:
2 tomatoes (I used heirloom)
2 cups mushrooms
1 bell pepper
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

To make the crust: slice the zucchinis into noodles with a spiral slicer, mandolin or a cheese grater. Set aside in a large bowl. Blend the rest of the ingredients until smooth, adjusting according to taste. Mix this into the noodles. You should end up with a huge bowl of really saucy noodles. Like I said, it's hard not eating all of this by itself. Spread this evenly - keepin' it thick - into a big circle on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 °F for 6 hours or so, until pliable. Flip over and do the same again. Note: you can use your oven at it's lowest temperature if you don't have a dehydrator. Keep checking on your crust as it is drying though, because everyone's will turn out different.

To make the sauce: put all the ingredients a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Spread on your crust.

To prepare the toppings: slice all the veggies thinly, then coat in the apple cider vinegar and place in a warm spot, dehydrator or oven for around 40 minutes until they soften. Decorate your pizza with the toppings, slice, then ENJOY THE HECK OUT OF IT. Optional: add some raw vegan cheese! I also threw on some avocado, cilantro and hemp seeds. 

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RAW VEGAN CURRY with MARINATED MUSHROOMS & ONIONS

I KNOW you guys are gonna be stoked about dis one. I sure am. I've been meaning to make this recipe and share it for some time but for whatever reason I haven't. Until now, obviously. I was walking home and suddenly thought "Hey, why not make raw curry today!?" I made some delicious organic curry last night for me and my parents and it was SO GOOD, leaving me wanting more today... I figured I don't really wanna eat cooked food like that two days in a row - I'm NOT saying cooked curry is evil or anything, my body just prefers mostly raw - so I should make a raw curry recipe that so many of you have been asking for! Honestly, this was just as amazing if not BETTER than the curry last night (which was freaking fantastic in itself).

This recipe is actually super simple and yet has mind blowing flavours. I don't know if I'll ever make conventional cooked curry again (not because it's not healthy, but because this seriously equals it in awesome taste!) I highly recommend finding some organic curry powder, I got mine from a wonderful little raw vegan cafe and store called Tao Organics in North Van, I used it in the cooked curry I made last night and that is probably why it tasted so good. The flavours are fresher and cleaner.

Basically all this recipe is is cashew milk blended with some onion and curry powder. Done. I added some marinated mushrooms and onion and that's it! You can add whatever veggies you like, I bet this would also be incredible with some zucchini noodles... Mmm... Let's get curried! P.S. I have a low-fat and nut-free option - that's right, I'm always watchin' out for ya.

RAW VEGAN CURRY with MARINATED MUSHROOMS & ONIONS

Curry:

1/4 cup cashews (or use zucchini if you wanna keep this low fat)

1 cup water

1 teaspoon your fave curry powder

1/4 cup diced onion

Salt and pepper, as desired 

Marinated mushrooms & onions:

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup diced onion 

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon coconut aminos (it's like soy sauce) 

1/2 teaspoon coriander

To make the curry: blend all the ingredients until smooth. Adjust according to taste and texture. 

To marinate the mushrooms & onions: toss them with the lemon juice, coconut aminos and coriander and let sit on the counter for an hour so they soften, or put 'em in your dehydrator or oven at a low temperature until they soften. Alternatively, just leave them as-is. Pour your curry in a bowl and add the shrooms and onions - enjoy! This serves one. 

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ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI with SUN-DRIED TOMATOES & BASIL

I cannot get over how amazing tomatoes are when you drizzle them with some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and allow them to dry in the sun, dehydrator or oven. They become flavour EXPLOSIONS that are the very essence of the best pizza you've ever eaten. Trust me. But wait - don't trust me. Find out for yourself by doing it. You will not be sorry. They taste so damn delicious that all you need to do to make a meal is throw them on some noodles. Bam. You just made a mind-blowingly tasty dinner that everyone will be jealous of. If they aren't envious, then they are definitely missing their sense of sight or smell. 

Although my family's own tomatoes from our garden in the summer are - needless to say - my favourite, I eat them all long before summer is over so in the cooler months we need to rely on other sources for my tomato obsession. My mom brought home a jar of organic sun-dried tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil and spices yesterday and I opened it up this afternoon only to have my taste buds do a happy dance and my memories of our oven-dried tomatoes from summer sweep back into my mind. Ahh. Flavour explosions. I am confident I could have eaten the entire jar but I held back and did the next best thing: threw some of the tomatoes onto zuke noodles along with some basil leaves. Everyone's jealous. 

I'm gonna tear through that jar in no time, so next week I think I'll hit up the farmer's market and buy some more there. *Cannot wait* but *must wait*. Something else I can't wait for? A tentatively planned trip I want to go on this summer. Get this: I might be going to Minneapolis, Montreal and Mexico. All three places start with M. My name is Em. If ya look on a map, the layout of the trip is an M shape. I basically HAVE to go, right!? (Say yes.) My soul mate sister moved to Montreal a few years ago and that's why I wanna go there. Also, the culture in that city is off the chain from what I have heard. I'll be in Minneapolis for a family reunion. And Mexico... well. Avocados. Mangoes. Papayas. SUNSHINE. Need I say more? But actually I have made a friend there who has a vegan restaurant and hotel and has invited me to stay for free. Can life get any better? Only if I had some frozen bananas to make a chocolate mylkshake with. 

ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI with SUN-DRIED TOMATOES & BASIL 

Noodles:

2 large zucchinis 

Sauce:

1 cup dried tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil 

Salt, pepper, lemon juice, other spices you like

1/2 cup basil leaves (whole or chopped) 

Note: the tomatoes are gonna need to taste *amazing* before you even add them to the noodles and stuff because they are the star of this recipe, so try to get organic or even better - use your own! 

To make the noodles: slice the zucchinis into noodles on a spiral slicer, mandolin or even cheese grater. Set aside in a large bowl. 

To make the sauce: blend up half the tomatoes into paste then mash up the rest of the tomatoes with the olive oil and the rest of the ingredients and mix everything into your noodles. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes and mix again. Eat. Omg. 

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM CASHEW CHEESE BURGERS

If you think these look good, they taste even better than they look. If you think they look weird, they still taste better than they look... (in this case, much better?) I ate them all by myself because I'm a wild, greedy animal like that. You should know this by now.

My mom bought portobello mushrooms and organic spinach from the farmers market on the weekend so I wanted to make a recipe with them for you guys. Eat local! Yeah, baby! I initially planned on making portobello "steaks" with spinach pesto and cashew cheese but wound up not making pesto (instead simply serving the mushrooms with crisp spinach leaves) and calling them burgers because I stacked 'em like sandwiches. What up, simplicity.

Maybe I make things up in my mind - well, I DEFINITELY make things up in my mind, but I mean in this particular instance - because I thought the cashew cheese tasted a little bit like mustard, which conveniently paired deliciously with the fresh tomatoes, herbs and marinated mushrooms. Serve these "burgers" with salad and a raw dessert (look no further than this blog, hint hint) and you will plausibly be able to convince your most critical skeptics that raw vegan grub is actually kick-ass. 'Cause it is.

The weekend was pretty crazy for me. Friday night I went to a classical music concert that my medieval European history professor told me about; it was performed in a church and was beautiful and moving. Then I headed to a club to see my friend's fashion show and dance like it was the end of the world (in a good way). I licked some celebrities and some people licked me; a great night. I went to sleep at 3 AM and got up at 7 AM - an ungodly hour for me, normally - to jump on my dads motorcycle with him and ride up to Lilooet and back! It took about 8 hours and we had gorgeous weather for most of it. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking, empowering and humbling all at once; the autumn mist and colours made it extra special. I love this province. We stopped in at an Oktoberfest my dad's friends were throwing in West Van just so he could say hi and steal some veggie burgers and strudel.

Got home that night at about 8 PM, had a quick shower, gulped down some raw hot chocolate and headed over to my romantic partner's house for a Halloween party with my friends. It was... eventful and entertaining. Slept for a few hours after FINALLY getting to sleep at like 5 AM, then went for ridiculously delicious Indian food. No seriously, it didn't even make SENSE how good that chana masala tasted. I also have a theory that food tastes better when someone else pays for it. Got home that evening and studied for my history mid term exam, which I wrote this morning.

That was my weekend.

Today, I enjoyed the majestic foggy weather up on campus then headed home to be crafty with beads AND creative with mushrooms. Made these. Photographed 'em. Here they are for you.

Much love. 

marinated portobello cashew cheese burgers with herbs & tomatoes

Marinated mushrooms:

4 portobello mushrooms

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon liquid aminos (or soy sauce) 

Cashew cheese:

1 3/4 cups cashews

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup nutritional yeast 

Juice from 1 lemon

2 peeled garlic cloves

2 tablespoons miso

Salt and herbes de provence, to taste 

Toppings:

Sliced tomatoes

Fresh chopped chives, spinach and parsley 

Anything else your heart desires 

To marinate the mushrooms: rub them down with the olive oil and liquid aminos then place in your dehydrator or oven at its lowest temperature for about 3 hours, or until they have softened and darkened and smell amazing. 

While they are marinating, make the cashew cheese: blend all the ingredients until smooth and thick. Taste and adjust accordingly. Scoop into a bowl lined with cheesecloth and let it sit somewhere for at least 2 hours (or, if you've got time, let it age for a few days).

When everything is ready, spread your cheese onto your mushrooms and layer with herbs and tomatoes. You can double-shroom it (that is now a term) if you want, and/or use fresh mushrooms instead of marinated. Note: you're gonna have lots of left over cashew cheese. Let it sit in a quiet spot overnight then put in the fridge and eat within a week.

raw nori wraps with red cabbage, cucumber, carrots, zucchini & spicy dipping sauce

Oh I love mah LIFE. These are super delicious and super nutritious. Bam bam! Jam-packed with raw veggies and wrapped in seaweed, they deliver one heck of a meal that is sure to impress your taste buds and perhaps dinner guests? You could actually eat this recipe all by yourself because it's so low in calories (naturally) but I dare you to try... I couldn't even do it and I can eat a LOT.

I forgot to add avocado (doh!) but the recipe was wonderful even without my creamy green friend. Having said that, if you've got an avocado handy, use it. I ran out of nori sheets so I used rice paper to wrap some as well. Rice paper is so fun and easy to use, and it lets you get a sneak peek of what's inside your roll! Colours abound in the plant kingdom. 

I was pretty busy in the kitchen today - I made four recipes (this one for you, and three for my cookbook) so I am looking forward to a relaxing evening hanging out with an old friend... and maybe watching Tarzan or Aladdin. Shh... Disney movies are great okay (you cannot argue). Actually, last night I watched Atlantis with my girl friend and it was awesome. Sure, there are plot holes - but what is a plot hole when you get to relive your childhood in technicolour with an original soundtrack!?

Right. Back to food... make these.

raw nori wraps with red cabbage, cucumber, carrots, zucchini & spicy dipping sauce 

Wraps:
1/2 head red cabbage
1 carrot
1 small zucchini
1/2 cucumber
2 kale leaves 
1 avocado
3-4 nori sheets and/or rice paper sheets

Sauce: 
1 tablespoon tahini
Chili powder, to taste
1 tablespoon miso
2 dates
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 small garlic clove
Water, as needed to make it creamy and smooth

Make the sauce by blending all the ingredients together until smooth. Now make your wraps: shred the veggies thinly on a mandolin, but chop the cucumber by hand. Tear up the kale leaves and slice the avocado. Lay your desired fillings on one side of your nori sheet, and on the opposite side spread a little sauce to seal together the ends when you roll it up. Roll everything up tight and set aside. If you're using rice paper, dip the paper in hot water until it's pliable, then place everything you want in the middle. Wrap up like a burrito. Dip your wraps in your sauce and get this party started.