Monday, December 10, 2012

Raw Vegan Jicama "Fries" & Veggie Burgers - gluten-free too!


I cannot tell you enough of how AMAZINGLY awesome our dinner was!  I’m not sure which I love more – the jicama “fries” or veggie burgers.  Naw, they were both winners!
 
For both of the raw dishes, I used my dehydrator for the entire meal so this is how the recipe is prepared.  However, I’m sure these can be done in the oven as well, so you’ll have to use your best guess for cooking temps and time.
 

Smoked Paprika Jicama “Fries” (feel free to alter to your liking)
 
1 medium jicama cut into fry shape
1 tablespoon or more of cold-pressed Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt (more or less)
1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
 
In a large bowl combine the oil and seasonings.  Add the jicama fries and coat well.  Place “fries” on mesh dehydrator screen and into the dehydrator they go.  Set it at 110 F and dehydrate for about 4 hours or to your liking.
 

Look at this beautiful bowl of colors!  This is just part of what goes into the veggie burgers.  The brilliant orange color of the carrots made me smile, so I had to take a pic of the veggie bowl.


The burgers look a little pale at start, but turn a deep brown when they are done.  Let me tell you, while they are in the dehydrator, the house smells delicious!



The veggie burgers are from my Rawmazing recipe book and while I tweaked it a little, credit still goes entirely to her. I’m writing the recipe below as it is in the book, with my adjustments next to the applicable item.
 
Mushroom Walnut Veggie Burgers (Veggie Burgers) – Makes 8-9

2 cups carrots, grated (pulse processed small diced)
2 cups portobello mushrooms, chopped fine (pulse processed small diced)
1 cup onion, chopped fine (pulse processed fine)
3/4 cup celery, diced (pulse processed small diced)
1 cup walnuts, soaked, drained and ground fine while wet
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked, drained and ground fine while wet (I used pepitas)
1/4 cup water, filtered
1/4 cup Nama Shoyu (I used Braggs)
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme
(I added 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon rosemary)
1 cup raw oat flour, or 3/4 cup ground flax seeds (I used the flour plus about 1/3 cup ground flax)

1. In large bowl combine carrots, mushrooms, celery and onion
2. Stir in walnuts and pumpkin seeds, combine well
3. Combine water and Nama Shoyu, mix into veggie/nut mixture
4. Add herbs, stir well
5. Stir raw oat flour or ground flax seeds in batches
6. Shape into patties, 4-5 inches across, no more than 1 inch thick.  Place on screens and dehydrate at *145 degrees for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 115 degrees and dehydrate until mostly dry, 3-4 hours.  You want these to be moist, not rock hard.

My note: Since both of these dishes were our dinner that night, I made the veggie burgers first as they went in at a higher temp for the first hour, then turned it down to 110 degrees and popped in the “fries”, while resisting to eat them, until done.

*Note about temp setting. I was curious about setting the temp so high, when raw food cannot be above 115 degrees.  Here’s a brief explanation of it by Rawmazing:

You will notice on many recipes that dehydration starts at a higher temperature and then is reduced for the remainder of the dehydration. It is still raw. The food is throwing off water and stays cool at the beginning of the dehydration process. Dehydrating like this saves time and also prevents possible fermentation. The food temperature never goes above 115 so your food stays raw.”
 
Our meal was complete with a healthy green salad and fresh raw almond milk (skim milk for Mark).  I've since made another batch of the veggie burgers for our lunches this week.

Eatin' raw and lovin' it!
Peace,
Rocki

1 comment:

Mark (aka Bullwinkle) said...

I've gotta confirm that this meal was absolutely FANTASTIC! The veggie burgers make an excellent lunch time sandwich as well! The Jicama fries were delicious and didn't last very long before we scarfed them all down!

Who knew eating well and eating raw could taste so good!

I'm lovin' it!