Raw Vegan Smoothies

Good Morning Smoothie - raw, vegan and gluten-free

I'm getting a bit more creative with my raw vegan food and am having a blast!  I have several to blog about, but will do a few at a time. 

Have to say that my little creations are just a drop in the bucket compared to what I've seen on Instagram - amazing and inspiring to say the least.  Speaking of Instagram, I'm becoming more active on my page and as I told Mark... "there's no stopping me now!" You can find me at Raw_Rocki.

Let's get right to the quickie recipes.  Above is my Good Morning Smoothie! I'm simply going to give the basics for this one because you really can't go wrong with smoothies.  So let your taste be your guide, experiment and have fun!

Good Morning Smoothie!

Bottom layer: banana, mango, pineapple, coconut water, flax meal and warrior blend protein powder - natural flavor

Top layer: baby spinach, matcha green tea powder and coconut water
- you can add a banana with this part for a thicker consistency

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake - raw, vegan and gluten-free

You can't say no to a healthy chocolate shake in the middle of the afternoon, can you?  No way!  Especially since it is raw, vegan, gluten-free and nutritious with no processed sugar.  Say it with me: "GUILT-FREE!"

Guilt-Free Chocolate Shake

Step 1:
2 very ripe frozen bananas
1 cup pure coconut water
1 Tbs protein powder
1 Tbs hemp seeds
vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla
1 cup ice

Blend the above.  Pour half or more of this vanilla mixture into a tall glass and leave the rest in the blender. 

Step 2:
Add 1 Tbs or more of cacao powder to the remaining mixture in the blender and blend briefly until combined.  Pour slowly on top of the vanilla mixture.  I garnished mine with coconut and cacao nibs, but you can garnish any way you want or not.

Note: if you do not have very ripe bananas and/or like it more on the sweeter side, simply add sweetener of choice in Step 1.

I'll post more of my raw vegan smoothies soon.  Enjoy!

Peace,
Rocki

Raw Vegan Taco Night

Raw Vegan Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

Who says you can't have tacos when living a raw vegan lifestyle?  Not me!  Mark and I LOVE tacos and we practically devour them once we sit down.  

 

We used to eat them on greens, but I've been playing around with a variety of flat breads from sweet to savory, Italian to Mexican, etc. and finally came up with a version of what I call my Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas.  I haven’t gotten to the point of measuring everything exactly for this recipe, mainly because I change it a little here and there depending on what the meal is and what I want it to taste like.  Besides, with raw food creating it isn't exact science - which I love - so experimentation is the key. 

 

Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

Approximate measurements:

 

1 ¼- 1 ½ cup flax meal

¼ rounded cup nutritional yeast

Pinch of sea salt

Put into large bowl, stir to combine and set aside

 

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes - soaked in 1 1/2 cups water to soften, drain and reserve water

1 ½-2 cups roughly chopped tomato

½-3/4  cup chopped onion

1 very full cup of corn

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ancho chili pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

 

Put all of the above into a food processor and process until blended smooth.  There will be little bits and that is perfect.  I do a taste test in case I need to add more spices.  If you do not like spicy, then omit the cayenne and ancho chili pepper.

 

Add 1 cup of the reserved soaked water to the flax meal bowl and combine well.  Add the above mixture and stir until combined.  It will be thick, but if it seems to thick to spread then add the extra water a little at a time - NOT too thin or watery.  It needs to remain a thick spreadable mixture, so you be the judge.

 

I usually can fill up 3 dehydrator trays (2 almost to the edges and 1 smaller) but this varies.  Line the mesh tray with a teflex sheet or similar then spread the mixture out evenly until it’s around ¼” thick or so - you don't want it too thin.  You'll need to work with the mixture, it will be kind of gummy.

 

Dehydrate for 1 hour at 145 then lower to 115 for several hours, around 4-8, but this varies due to location, weather, etc.  I turn the trays around during the dehydration process just to get them evenly dehydrated.  Once they are pliable enough, remove them from the teflex sheet onto the mesh sheet.  If you haven’t done this before, simply put a mesh sheet on top of the tortilla along with a tray, flip it over then slowly peel the teflex sheet away from the tortilla.  Put them back into the dehydrator until done. 

 

Cut into desired pieces and once cooled, place them in a Ziploc bag or other container - this will soften them to be more pliable.  

Raw Vegan Taco Night!

Yum yum yum!  Cashew queso "cheese", soft spicy corn tortillas, mushroom taco filling, pico de gallo, avocado and lettuce.  See?  Raw vegan meals are not just lettuce and carrot sticks.  But those are good too :)

Enjoy!

Peace,
Rocki

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

I made SPROUTS!

Raw Garbanzo Beans - day 1
 

I’m discovering a whole new way of *not* cooking and I’m loving every morsel of it!  Last week I sprouted my first batch of garbanzo beans for a dish I made over the weekend.  More on that in tomorrow’s post.  For now, we’re talking bringing our food to life.

 

Above is a batch of raw garbanzo beans that I had just put in to soak.  Soaking is technically called germinating, a much friendlier term I think.  I gave them a good rinse and into the jar they went for the next 3 days - covered with a cheese cloth, but anything similar can be used from my understanding.  After the first 24 hours of soaking I rinsed and drained them real good then all I had to do was rinse and put them back into the jar - 3 times per day.

 

Soaked and awaiting sprouts - day 2
 

So what’s the deal with soaking and sprouting?  In nut shell - many health benefits.  To get sprouts you must first soak your raw grains, beans, nuts or seeds.  Each one has their own timeframe of soaking and sprouting and it’s not difficult at all.  Even if you don’t go as far as the sprouting process, soaking alone will give you great health benefits.  I love Carol Alt's description of it from her recipe book Easy Sexy Raw: 

“Seeds, grains, beans and nuts  are filled with nutrition, but their life-giving nutrients are dormant, held back by enzyme inhibitors.  They are like little Sleeping Beauties just waiting for you to wake them up.  And all it takes to awaken them and release their many enzymes – along with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and proteins – is to soak them and, if you wish, take the next step and sprout them for even more benefits.”

 

Raw sprouted garbanzo beans - day 3

I made SPROUTS! (think Tom Hanks’ fire scene in Castaway).  I know, but I can’t help it because it was awesome to see the birth of my first batch of little sprouts! 

 

Tomorrow you’ll see what I made with these little beauties. 

 

Peace,

Rocki