pumpkin seed & garlic pasta

the possibilities for zucchini pasta are endless; much like salad and smoothie recipes. this time i used pumpkin seeds and garlic for the base of the sauce. of course - the noodles are just zucchini! i topped it off with raisins, chives and spiced almonds.

i usually make 2 small zucchinis for myself. one of the many aspects of raw food i love is the huge amount of food you can eat. veggies and greens are so low calorie it's pretty much impossible to get adequate calories from them alone. so most of my diet ends up being fruit. then of course i have nuts and seeds in my desserts, and sometimes some whole cooked grains to balance out my omega-3's.

as joel fuhrman explains - the higher ratio of nutrient to calorie in a food, the better it is for you! so plants like zucchini, eggplant, any greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. are super low-calorie but super high in nutrient density. they will keep you living long! and holy guacamole (see what i did there?), do they taste good...

zucchini noodles with pumpkin seed & garlic sauce: serves one or two

noodles:
2 small zucchinis 

sauce:
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup basil leaves/other fresh herbs
2 tablespoons raisins/dates
as much nut milk or water as needed

to make the noodles, slice the zukes on a mandolin or spiral slicer. set aside in a big bowl. to make the sauce, blend all ingredients until smooth (adding water or nut milk til then). massage the sauce into the noodles until evenly coated. let them rest for a minute to soften and marinate. sprinkle on whatever you like! nom. 

p.s. i go on my juice fast tomorrow! SO EXCITED. 
p.p.s. check this website out if you - like me - are in love with reggae dub. 

raw fig bars with almond and figs from shiloh farms

today i bring you an inspired treat, rawified: fig bars! shiloh farms, an organic whole foods company based in the states, sent me some of their products for free to use and review! yippie for me! they were kind enough to mail me more than i asked for. i got extra alfalfa seeds! i also received black mission figs and raw almonds. while they were in the mail i decided what i would make with them - fig bars (as you may have guessed).

they are delicious! they remind me of a raisin butter tarts. imagine if a fig bar and a raisin tart had a baby (don't worry about logistics here okay, humour me)... then make it raw and vegan and you've got one of these! yum. i won't make this post too long because you probably just want the recipe BUT ALSO my friend just got here and we gotta make some juice! WOO.

as far as my review of the products goes - i love shiloh farms! the figs were delicious, satisfying and full of flavour; the almonds tasted really fresh and actually RAW; i am going to sprout the alfalfa seeds and let you know how that turns out. 

raw fig bars: makes 9 big bars

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 heaping cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

filling:
2 cups dried figs, soaked in water for 2-4 hours (keep the water!)
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt

topping:
1 1/2 cups pecans

to make the crust: process the nuts in your food processor until you get really fine pieces - like flour. alternately you could use oat flour here. add the raisins and cinnamon. if it's not sticky enough, add some dates or maple syrup. press into a 9X9 pan or shape it yourself on parchment paper, that's what i did.

to make the filling: blend the figs, maple syrup/agave and salt in the food processor (no need to wash it yet), adding the soak water as needed to make it smooth but still quite thick. spread this on the crust but keep a little less than 1/4 cup of it in the food processor...

to make the topping: add the pecans to the food processor (with the leftover fig mixture) and pulse until there are small nut chunks, but not too fine. sprinkle this on top of the fig filling and press down a little. cut and enjoy! i sliced the sides off mine to make it a nice square so i had these extra strips of fig bar... i made fig nut milk! just blend it with water.

blueberry hemp smoothie

yum! here's another smoothie recipe for you, my peeps. this one is sneaky, it's not green but it has kale in it. the colour of the blueberries hides it. oooh, deceptive (yes i DO personify my smoothies). you can personify THIS:

while you're enjoying the unprecedented 90's smoothness of that little diddy ("i like the way you work it, no diggity...") you should also enjoy the raw deliciousness of this smoothie. it's got extra protein from hemp so it's excellent for right after a work out; which was my situation. you like P90X? i do. das my jam.

anyways - smoothie recipe.

blueberry hemp smoothie: serves one

1 cup frozen blueberries
2 dates
1-2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds
1 cup kale
1 banana
1-2 cups water/nut milk, or as needed
stevia, if desired

blend all of it up in your high speed blender. add enough water/nut milk to make it all smooth; but not too much because then it will taste watery (as one might guess.) drink!

new omega juicer

oh lawd. i am so excited about our new juicer. it is an omega vert 350 and i love it almost as much as i love dante (my cat).

random: check this out.

as i have already told you, i was planning to go on another juice fast as soon as it arrived in the mail! so the next few days will be smoothies, juice and raw snacks. then i go into 100% juice mode for... who knows how long. i want to fast until i feel my body should stop. the human body doesn't identify calendar dates or week-long time periods, it runs on it's own watch and i plan to monitor it carefully. i will know when to stop.

this time is really special for me because my friend is doing the juice fast with me! i've never had someone want to join me for one of these things so i'm looking EXTRA forward to this; maybe even... double extra? 

i know. double. woah.

the first juice we made was carrot, apple and lime (as you can see in the photo). it was SO DANG GOOD. you can literally taste the difference a good quality juicer makes. this thing is my new baby. i am going to use it so often and for everything. i can finally juice my own wheat grass! be jealous. BE JEALOUS.

the juice was so flavourful (more nutrients available because of the difference in juicing process so there is more to taste) and the pulp was so dry! cleaning it is easy too. if you're serious about juicing, or know you will be, or just WANT to be: get this juicer. 

perfect first juice: serves one

2 apples
1 peeled lime
4 peeled carrots

juice. drink the juice. 

raw hot chocolate

i've made this before but this recipe is simpler. if you thinking eating raw means you can't have hot chocolate... think again, my friend! an added bonus (and a pattern in the raw food diet) is that this is guilt-free and in fact - healthy. if you've ever heard david wolfe ranting about how cacao is gonna save the world and our collective health then you'll understand.

although i'm comfortable chillin on the fence when it comes to the question of wolfe's genuineness; i do love chocolate. some say cacao is poisonous to humans and shouldn't be consumed at all. all i know is that mayans have been enjoying it for thousands of years and it tastes pretty dang YUMMY. you just can't make me give up chocolate. too bad.

anyway, just as many people offer up that cacao is a superfood and should be eaten like a vitamin supplement everyday. until the evidence is conclusive, you can find me sipping delicious vegan hot chocolate on rainy nights in my living room.

(if you actually come to my house and find me i'd be a little scared though.)

raw hot chocolate: serves two

6 pitted medjool dates
3-4 cups nut milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder (careful with this...)
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2-3 tablespoons cacao powder
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (optional)

note: the cinnamon, cayenne and vanilla are optional but i really recommend them. warm the nut milk on the stove then add it and all the other ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. pour into mugs, cuddle up with a loved one and enjoy! you could add some peppermint or candy canes to this too. 

aged nut cheese with herbes de provence

this is REALLY GOOD. maybe the best raw vegan cheese i've ever had. it's so easy (allbeit a bit time consuming) to make yourself and really affordable. please try this! it is incomparable to cheese. who wants the drug-filled mucus of another species when you can eat the delicious probiotics of cashews and grains?

i adapted this recipe from one i saw in vegnews (an all vegan magazine). although the actual hands on time for this is minimal, there's a lot of fermenting - so look at the recipe before you roll up your organic hemp sleeves. wanna get sexy while ya make it? look no further. 

aged chevre with herbes de provence: serves a party 

2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 3-4 hours

1/4 cup rejuvelac (see recipe below)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons herbes de provence

to make 4 cups of rejuvelac: soak 1 cup whole grains (i used rye) in 2 cups of water for 8-12 hours. drain and repeat, continue to soak until the grains begin sprouting, then drain again. put the grains and 4 cups of new water in a mason jar and cover with a towel. let it sit for 2 days or so, until the liquid turns white. the white liquid is your rejuvelac! strain it. 

to make the cheese: blend cashews, rejuvelac and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt until very smooth. put it in a bowl, covered, and let it sit for 1-2 days until it's thick. then add in the nutritional yeast, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the herbes de provence. form the cheese into a roll using parchment paper. on another sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle the remaining salt and herbes de provence. transfer the roll onto that and roll it in the herbes and salt so it's covered. let THAT sit for 1-4 days until it's firm. it took one day for me. 

serve with raw or whole grain crackers. this pairs nicely with apples or olives. YUM. 

caramel chocolate apple party

these photos are so lame. you can thank the thieves that stole my good camera. i am now reduced to using this little digital point-and-shoot deal. ah well; so it goes - as kurt vonnegut would say. anyway, what MATTERS is the food. this food is rawsome. (then again, you can't go wrong with chocolate and caramel and apples.)

it's all good, dude. 

i've been seeing a lot of raw caramel apple recipes in honour of the season lately and they remind of one i made awhile ago. here's the link. these ones are a bit more simplistic: just dip and enjoy. but you can decorate them the same way as the other ones if you like. you are free to do what you want, after all.

winter is coming! i am quite excited. summer was lovely but i have been too hot for like 6 months now and am welcoming the colder temperatures, winds and rain with open arms. besides, i have wonderful memories of last winter and so psychologically have reason to anticipate it. i want snow! of course, now that i've said this i'm sure i'll be complaining in a month about the weather. dang.

anyways, expect more seasonal recipes. i'm wanting to do some stuff with pumpkins, gourds and what not. get ready, ya'll. gotta take advantage of dat local produce.

please take the time to check out my friends' band. they rock. give a listen and be impressed. here's their sound cloud. if you live in the vancouver area, check them out sometime! they play all over downtown and are far too charming for their years. they also own a hookah, so there's that.

raw caramel chocolate apples: serves 4-6

chocolate sauce:
4 tablespoons cacao
1/4 cup dates
1/2 cup almond milk 
1/4 cup nut butter

caramel:
1/2 cup water
1 cup dates
3 tablespoons nut butter
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean 

4-6 apples 

to make each sauce, blend the ingredients until smooth in your blender (separately, obviously). scoop each into a bowl for dipping. then uh... dip away.