Thai Popcorn

I tried out this Appetizer dish for girls night.

And it was amazing, everyone really enjoyed it, so this is party friendly!  And not too much work.

Thai 'Popcorn'
Serves 8

Wraps
6-7 big leaves or 20 small green leaves (spinach, lettuce) cut into 2" by 2" pieces or 4x4

Filling
1 cup coconut shredded coconut toasted (heating them on a skillet with no oil, is enough to toast them)
1/2 cup peanuts toasted
1/4 cup soy sauce +2 tbsp (depending on how salty you like it)
1/4 cup sugar + 2tbsp (depending on how sweet you like it)
3/4 cup water

Toppings
1 lime thinly slice peel included
1/4 cup of ginger minced
1 hot pepper thinly sliced (optional)
1 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup peanuts roughly chopped (or food processed) and  toasted
1/2 cup shredded coconut toasted

Dry roast the peanuts and the coconut for the filling.  Once fragrant and lightly browned, add the soy sauce, sugar and water.  Add 1/4th of a cup to start out with and add more based on your taste preference. When I made this yesterday I used 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp for both sugar and soy sauce,  but I think next time I make it I will use less of both.

Add the water to the filling, once bubbling, let simmer for 5 minutes.  Take it off the burner.  Blend the ingredients-- it will become like a fluffy paste.

Place filling in a serving bowl.

For the toppings, prepare all ingredients separately.  On a large serving tray, the lettuce leaves can be arranged on the outside, with a bowl of the filling in the middle.  Each topping can be placed in a separate small serving dish-- apart from the peanuts and the coconut which can be mixed together.

To make a 'popcorn', take a piece of lettuce, put about 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp of filling, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1-2 pieces of lime, 3-4 pieces of chopped cilantro, 1 small piece of hot pepper (opt), 1/2 tsp of peanut/coconut mixture , and fold over the lettuce leaves and pop in the mouth!

Everyone loved these little treats!
Another option is to prepare each 'popcorn' yourself and toothpick them to hold them together and serve on a tray.

Lots of fun!

Fruity Rainbow Seaweed Salad

Picture is to come.

This serves one :)

1 avocado pitted and cubed
1 mango pitted and cubed
1/2 cup strawberries halved
2 tbsp sauerkraut
2 shakes kelp flakes
1 tbsp fresh mint chopped
2 shakes nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup kelp noodles

Toss all the ingredients together. Enjoy :) 

The pizza creation

This recipe makes a bit of extra veggies that can be placed in a separate pan to bake at the same time as the pizza.  

Super Green Pizza with Red Pepper Cashew Cheese

Toppings

1 head of broccoli finely chopped

4 cups of greens (kale, spinach) ripped into bite size pieces

2 heirloom tomatoes diced

1/2 green pepper chopped

1/2 jar/can of tomato paste

1/4 tsp italian seasoning

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 cup to 1 cup daiya

Cheese Sauce

1 red pepper

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp agave

1 cup cashews

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp amchur (dried mango) (2 tsp lemon juice can be used instead)

Dough

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup wheat flour

1 3/4 cups garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup ground flax meal

1 1/4 cup warm water

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp italian herbs

1 tsp oregano

To make the bread, first mix the yeast, with 1/4 cup warm water and sugar. Let it stand for 10 minutes.  Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together.  Add the yeast mixture to the dry mixture plus 1 1/4 cup of water.  Knead the dough with flour on your hands until elastic and smooth.  Place the dough ball into a container and cover with a cloth for 1 hour.  

Spread the dough out onto an oiled pizza pan.  Lather the tomato paste on top.  Evenly spread the tomato pieces and the green bell pepper on the pizza.  Sprinkle the garlic powder and the italian seasonings over the pizza.  

To make the cheese sauce, blend the ingredients together (from red pepper to salt). Sprinkle the amchur atop.  Pour the cheese sauce into a bowl with the greens, broccoli, minced garlic and parsley.   

Put this mixture evenly on top of the pizza --- there will be extra of this cheesy greens, so they can be put in another pan in the oven :) 

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.  

Protein boost smoothies

Raspberry Tofushake
1 small package of raspberries
1 package of tofu
juice of 2 limes
1/4 tsp lime zest
small pinch of stevia
1-2 cups coconut water
1 banana

Blend all ingredients, and depending on the desired consistency add more or less coconut water.

Vanilla Coconut Kefir
1 cup coconut yogurt
1 banana
1-2 cups coconut water
juice of 2 limes
1/4 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp vanilla

Blend all of the ingredients and same as above, blend as much coconut water to get to the desired consistency

South Asian Noodle Extravaganza

makes about 4-5 servings

Cook enough noodles enough for 2
leftover quinoa and beans (1/4 to 1/2 cup each)

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp hing (Indian Spice, garlic powder can be used in place of)
1/2 tsp amchur or mango powder (indian spice, optional)
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tbsp red thai curry paste
1/4 cup of water
 1 small cauliflower chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 bunch broccolini chopped
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp peanut thai sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cilantro

Heat the oil with the cumin and the hing.  Add the cauliflower and the rest of the vegetables.
Add the mango powder, coriander, salt, and nutritional yeast and water.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Mix the tahini, curry paste, peanut sauce, tomato paste,sriracha, and vinegar in a separate container.

Add the mixture to the vegetables and stir.  Add a can of beans, package of mushrooms or some leftover quinoa or rice -- if you have it. Let the sauce and ingredients heat up for 5 minutes.

Once vegetables are desired consistency and temperature, take off the stove and mix in the lemon juice and cilantro.

Serve :) 

10 minutes

If you often find yourself in a rush, don't hesitate to make extra when you do have the time to cook, a lot of things freeze really well.  I just learned that Quinoa freezes awesome.  I had made too much quinoa just the other day and threw the rest in the freezer :)

The quick throw together
1.5 cups of already cooked frozen grain (quinoa)
1 bunch of broccoli or asparagus or bit of both chopped
3 tbsp of tomato paste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 dashes sea salt
1 package premade Rajma
2 tbsp thai peanut sauce (we bought premade)


I had about 1 1/2 cups of frozen quinoa in the fridge already cooked,

I threw it in a pan.  At Natural Grocer they have these pre-made Indian sauces -- I bought the red kidney beans -- Rajma, which is one of my favs.  I put it into the pan with the quinoa.

It wasn't really cooking as fast as it could, so we added about 1 cup of water.
and it sped it up, but do stir frequently so it doesn't burn the bottom, the rest of the ingredients can be added, we served the final product over some lettuce :)

One food fits all.

Have you ever wondered what goes into those feeding tubes, for patients at the hospital... or baby formula?

Okay, maybe the latter people have had more exposure to... but the former?

So my grandmother just had surgery on a tumor in her throat, so she can swallow a bit better.

The doctors gave her this liquid food... can I call it food?  Anyway, basically it was, corn syrup, cow's milk and soy with added nutrients-- calcium, and a few others.

It said 1 calorie on the label? But I have a hard time believing that.  Who knows.

Anyway, I wanted to make her another food choice that had just as much protein and nutrition.. without the sugar load, cholesterol and inflammation results other negative side affects of consuming milk.  eeeek.

This recipe makes 1 pitcher full of serious nutrition-- I wasn't going for taste, but it actually was very palatable.. could have had it as a soup or a sauce !!

Extreme Healing Smoothie Juice 
-- Designed especially for beating cancer

1 cup cooked white beans
1 cup cooked quinoa

1 brazil nut
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

3 carrots
4 leaves of kale
1 orange beet
1 lime with peel
1 handful of parsley
1" peeled fresh turmeric
1" peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 cups lettuce
3/4 cup cabbage
7 mini bell peppers
1 tomato

1 oz aloe vera juice
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp raw coconut oil
1 tsp flax oil
1 tsp spirulina
16 oz coconut water
8 oz sun tea (unheated water with herb diffused over 20 minutes-- I used a tsp mixed of alfalfa tea, calendula and spearmint)
1 tbsp of Organic Life Vitamins 
2 tsp Calcium Magnesium Citrate 

The day before, I soaked the white beans all day, and then put them in the crockpot overnight 4-5 hours -- it helps to plug it into a timed power outlet.
Soak the nuts and seeds in water while you juice the vegetables.

Prepare vegetables so that they can fit into a juicer.

Once vegetables are juiced, add them to a high powered blender.  Drain the nuts and seeds and add them, add the oils, spirulina, beans and quinoa.  Blend on high for 1 minute.  Add the rest of the ingredients, again blend on high for 1 minute.

After everything has been blended, strain the contents through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve-- only if it's for a feeding tube, otherwise it doesn't need to be sieved.

Voila, all in one magical food.  I was too afraid to try it after it was made, even though it smelled really good. My husband gave it a go, and thought it tasted like a thai curry! Go figure :)

Raw vegan pie, using leftovers from nut milk

Pie crust
2 cups of nuts
1 tsp salt
2 cups pitted dates

Place all in a food processor.  Until dough sticks together.

Pie Topping
4 cups of fruit -- peaches, strawberries, apples etc.
1 banana or more to give thickness to the topping
1/4 agave syrup.

Blend

Pie middle
1 cup of nut leftovers from milk sieving process (milk recipe)
1 cup cashews  (if they haven't soaked overnight, grinding them into a powder can make them more smooth, prior to use)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 cup strawberries or other fruit or dates
2 tbsp agave syrup

Blend until smooth

Pie crust on bottom, pie filling in the middle, and pie topping on the top, this will make 2-3 pies, and they are easily frozen for later use.  

Cheese sauce

Cheese Sauce:

This is something that I have made in the past I can't quite remember the exact recipe that I used, but I think this get's pretty close!  

1/2 block of vegan cheese, roughly chopped

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of ground cashews

2 tsp of vegetable broth powder

1 tbsp tapioca starch

Simmer the cheese in the water with broth, it should become a runny consistency.  Slowly add the ground cashews to make it creamier and thicker, and add the tapioca starch.  Turn off heat, and make sure it is adequately stirred.  

Ginger Peach Tapioca

Switching it up for breakfast this morning:
2 medium to small sized portions

Ginger Peach Tapioca
1/2 cup tapioca pearls
2 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of dried apricots and or peach
1 inch chopped ginger
micropinch of stevia

Put it either in a slow cooker for 1-2 hours or stovetop for 10 minutes.  Make sure to stir it, I made the mistake of not stirring and it burned the bottom.. but it was still good :)  I added a little bit of vegan horchata to this -- my husband likes to buy it, it's a little sweet and has a cinnamon flavor.. so alternatively once it hits your bowl, you can add a little more sweetener, or 'milk' or cinnamon.  

Throw together dinner

My husband made this salad yesterday, and it was amazing.  We had some mixed salad from the CSA we get from, so it was red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce and rucola.   He made up the salad dressing, it somewhat reminded me of a thai peanut/thousand island... I'm not sure but it was impressive, and took him less than 5 minutes to throw together.


Tangy Thai Cashew Dressing
1/3 cup of cashews
2 tsp olive oil
dash of zesty spice (salt alternative)
1/4 of water
1-2 tbsp of sesame seeds
1 tsp of agave
1 tsp of sriracha
dash of thai peanut dressing
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Blend in a vitamix, or other blender :)
These ingredients may need to be adjusted a bit, my husband likes to
explain ingredients by the 'dash' of something or 'handful'
I saw him put some of the ingredients in, so these are my best estimates
otherwise you can follow his advise and put 2 handfuls of cashews
and a dash of everything else... and just enough water to help it blend.
It's a very creamy and rich dressing, definitely a new favorite :)


Potatoes and Asparagus
2 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 bunch of asparagus roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp of oil
3 dashes garlic powder
3 dashes onion powder
4-5 dashes black pepper
2 dashes of salt

Bake on 350 F, for 45 minutes.  

Tri-blend milk

It's best if the nuts and seeds can be soaked overnight before hand, but I often don't soak because, I haven't properly planned ahead.
This milk is a little harder to strain, and has a bit of a strong nutty flavor, but can still be used in cereal, however perhaps this milk is best used for baking or other cooked dishes.

Tri-blend milk
1/4 cup almonds
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp of flax seeds
5 cups of water
4 dates

Blend preferably in a vitamix or other blender and strain through a fine mesh or nut milk bag.
Strained material can be frozen and saved later, here is one recipe: raw vegan pie

Chocolate Cake

I made this yesterday, just before we had dinner at a friend's house I doubled the recipe and ended up with 3 pans. The cake turned out good, however, would have been perfected if frosting was put on it.

Chocolate Cake
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of coconut yogurt (alternatively yogurt and water can be replaced by 1 1/2 cup of dairy free milk)
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of oil
2 tbsp of ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp of agave

This made a very fluffy cake, kind of like the traditional ones you find in the store.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine all dry ingredients except flax seed and mix.  Combine all wet ingredients in addition to flax seed and mix.  Combine both the wet and the dry ingredients.  Pour mixture into a lightly oiled pan or two, I doubled the recipe and used two pie pans and one 8x8 pan.  (For the doubled recipe, the yogurt doesn't necessarily need to be doubled)

Bake for 30-25 minutes.  

'Paneer' Biryani and Coconut Curry Vegetables

Paneer Biryani/ Tofu Biryani
2 16oz packages (baked) extra firm tofu (I used sprouted)
1 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt (or other)
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
2 inches gingerroot minced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 large onion chopped.
1 medium tomato chopped.
2 cups brown rice cooked with 4 cups of water (slightly al dente)

Cube the tofu, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 F, flip them, and bake for another 15 minutes at the same temperature.  This gives the tofu a more of a paneer texture.

Put 2 cups of rice on the stove with 4 cups of water, cook for 30-40 minutes until slightly al dente.

In a bowl combine the yogurt, cilantro, ginger, masala, coriander, turmeric and salt.

Once the tofu is baked, combine the tofu into the mixture.

Let marinate while the rest of the ingredients are prepared.

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin, cardamom and fennel seed.  Let sizzle for a couple seconds and add the onion.  Fry until the onion has browned or mostly become clear, add the tomato.  Let fry until tomato has mostly broken down.  Add this mixture to the slow cooker.  Then add the marinated tofu, then add the rice on top.

Cook on low for 3 hours.  Serve right out of the slow cooker.


Coconut Curry Vegetables
2 heads of broccoli chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 package of button mushrooms chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp of oil
2 tbsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 can of coconut milk
2 tbsp of tomato paste

Heat oil and garlic in a pan, add the broccoli, carrots and mushrooms.  Cook until the colors brighten and the vegetables slightly soften.  As soon as the pan seems to dry or it's starting to brown at the bottom, add some coconut milk, to keep some moisture.  Once the vegetables are at the desired consistency, add the rest of the ingredients.  I made this dish in the morning for an afternoon potluck, and since I don't like to cook my vegetables much before eating them, it worked out well, because the mushrooms even though they were hardly cooked they still became soft by lunchtime because they had that extra time to marinate, the dish was successful :)