Birthday Party

We celebrated my nephews birthday, my sister-in-laws, mine and my niece's today and a little bit of my husbands lol.

It's because both me and my mom have been in school and haven't had a chance to get together to do something so we decided to combine it.

My mom made this amazing potato salad that I will have to get the recipe and post.

I made a coconut carrot curry soup

and a raw chocolate cake with blueberry lavender frosting, the recipe came from http://fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.com/2014/05/little-raw-chocolate-cake-with.html

I did make some adjustments to it, it was good but I think it could have been better.

I had a bit of issues with the soup.  It was inspired by a quinoa and lentil soup, however, when I realized that the soup would have been only good for 2-3 people, I tried to double it. The mistake I made was that I also doubled the veggie bouillon amount, which made it entirely way too salty.  Maybe for some that would have been okay, but I felt like I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth, This soup serves 10, and you may need to do a few adjustments, below I'm writing what I put into it, but I've put in the adjustment of using less veggie broth. Also, the canned coconut milk could be preferably swapped with the meat and water of a young thai coconut blended.

Coconut Carrot Curry Soup
1/2 onion chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 celery stalk chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1/2 cup dry lentils
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 tsp all purpose herb mix
1/2 tsp oregano
4 tomatoes chopped
1 tbsp curry
juice of 4 limes
1/4 tsp lime zest
1 can coconut milk or better -- juice and meat of one young coconut
5 cups water
2 cups veggie broth
1 cup cilantro
10 carrots

Fry the onion until translucent.  Add the celery, garlic, lentils, quinoa, 2 cups of veggie broth and herbs. Let boil, turn down to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes.  Or until lentils and quinoa are cooked.  If using a can of coconut milk, add to the mixture and let simmer for 1-2 minutes, turn off heat.

Blend carrots, cilantro, lime zest, and tomatoes with the rest of the water until pureed.  Add them to the soup along with the curry powder and lime juice.

If you prefer the carrots to be cooked it can be simmered for a couple of minutes.

Serve.


For the cake recipe, if I were to make it again I would make the following adjustments
1-I used coconut flour -- which was fine, but either I should have added more moisture to the cake -- or used some kind of fresh nut or seed flour maybe almond or sunflower seed instead of store bought coconut flour.
2-the lavender I couldn't taste in the frosting -- I put about 3-4 drops of essential oil but maybe it needed something like 5-6?  Not sure.
3- I think I forgot to put flax seed in it -- I mean it turned out fine and my family seemed to really like it, but I think having the flax seed in it perhaps would have made it less dry?

Raw Chocolate Cake with Blueberry Lavender Frosting Cake:
Makes 2 cakes, serves 10 or more if only serving 1 piece per person

1 1/2 cups carrot pulp + juice
1/2 cup dates, pitted (if not soft, soak them 20 minutes and drain)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 1/4 cups raw coconut flour (home made is preferred)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries
4 soft dates, pitted (if not soft, soak them in water 20 minutes and drain)
a pinch sea salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
5-6 drops lavender essential oil (or another brand, but make sure it is food grade)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp raw coconut butter (not oil), warmed to liquid

Edible flowers and raspberries for garnish

For the cake, combine the carrot juice plus pulp, dates, vanilla, and sea salt in a food processor and process until it is well combined.  Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and well combined.  On a cake pan, shape two cakes. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
Meanwhile, to make the frosting, combine the berries, dates, sea salt and vanilla in the food processor and process until smooth.  Add the coconut butter and process until smooth (if it is clumpy at all, it probably needs to warm up a little, so process until it is not lumpy).  You will be using the frosting right away before it starts to set up.

After frosting the cakes, arrange flowers and raspberries as you wish.  Pictures soon to come :)

Last but not least I made a strawberry rhubarb icecream which was amazing, and no adjustments need for it :)

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice-cream
2 quarts, recipe taken from the recipe book, Vice Cream
44 ounces of juiced rhubarb (I used about 7-8 stalks)
2 cups cashews
2 cups dates (soaked for 20 minutes and then drained)
2 cups strawberries

Juice the rhubarb.  Pour the juice into a blender and first blend with cashews (I have a vitamix and this whole recipe didn't quite fit into my juicer so I had to do a couple rounds of blending).  Then blend with the dates and strawberries.  Put mixture into the fridge to cool for 30 minutes before putting it into an icecream maker.  

Vegan Malai Palak

Typically my attempt at Indian food always turns into an Indian- American fusion.  So I apologize for the lack of authenticity in it's taste. Despite the taste not immediately bringing you to India, it is unique and flavorful in it's own right. It has a tinge of bitter green taste yet the sweetness and the spice from the flavor combinations satisfy the palette. Ultra healthy with lots of vegetables, it does take a bit of time to prepare but worth it ;)  

Vegan Malai Palak 

2 large zucchinis (alternatively eggplant or mushrooms could be used)

Juice of one lemon

1 medium red onion sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 inch stick ginger minced
3 adobo peppers
1 tsp each, garam masala, and turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of fenugreek powder
2 bunches baby bok choy and 1 bunch large bitter greens of your choice -- such as dandelion greens

1 can of kidney beans

dash of salt

1/2 cup of cashews

1 cup water
1/4 tsp of baobab powder
1/4 tsp of lucuma powder

*I used the baobab and the lucuma powder as sweet tangy ingredients, alternatively tamarind paste could be used or lemon and a little bit of agave.

*If using eggplant, marinate the eggplant with salt for 10-20 minutes, squeeze out the excess water, and then marinate it with the lemon and adobo peppers. 

Marinate the zucchini in the lemon juice and chopped adobo peppers for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime the rest of the vegetables can be prepared.
Saute the zucchini (or eggplant or mushrooms) for 5-7 minutes. In another pan, saute the onions, add the ginger and garlic and then the chillies and fry till cooked. Mix in all of the powdered spices.  Then add the greens. Cook till the greens wilt. Remove the mixture, and put it into a food processor. Return the processed greens to the pan, turn on the heat and add a cup of water. Add the zucchini. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring at intervals. 

Grind the cashews into a powder and then blend them with 2 tbsp of water or just enough water to make it thick and creamy.  

Add them to the vegetables and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

 Serve with rice or rice tortillas (we like to cut the rice tortillas in fourths and toast them, they make a great healthy chip, depending on how long they are heated they will be less crispy)