STRAWBERRY/RHUBARB SMOOTHIE – a raw rhubarb delight

Strawberry Rhubarb Shake
based on a recipe found at goneraw.com

1 lg stalk of rhubarb (or 3 small), chopped
1 C strawberries (fresh or frozen)
4 dates
handful of macadamias or cashews
dash of cinnamon
agave to taste
water

• Place all ingredients in the VitaMix.
• Add water to cover
• Process to a smooth consistency

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RHUBARB/STRAWBERRY PIE – the raw vegan version

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE!
based on a recipe at goneraw.com

The pinch of cayenne in the crust adds nice depth….
INGREDIENTS
CRUST
2 C almonds, soaked
1 C dates, (or less, to taste)
2 T agave syrup
1 t cinnamon
pinch cayenne
dash sea salt, (optional)
handful shredded coconut

FILLING
4 C rhubarb, peeled and chopped to 1″ pieces
1/4 C agave
2 C strawberries, chopped
1/4 C psyllium husk
whole strawberries for garnish

PREPARATION:

CRUST:

• In a  food processor, process ingredients to a coarse mixture which sticks together easily when pressed..
• Sprinkle shredded coconut into pie pan to prevent crust sticking.
• Press crust into pan.

FILLING:

• In a food processor, process rhubarb to a slushy consistency.
• Add agave and continue processing until well mixed..
• Remove rhubarb mix to a large bowl add chopped strawberries and psyllium husk, and mix by hand.
• Spoon filling into crust and chill 6 – 8 hours, or overnight,  to allow sweetness to develop. (Pie is tart at first, but, as it sits, the flavors meld, and the sweetness develops.)

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY RECIPES

I have an ample collection of Christmas holiday recipes on my Holiday Recipes page.

I will also include a few more new recipes in the next day or so.

FALSE ALARM!!! you’ve seen it on other raw food news sources!

I held my breath when I heard the story that the FDA was going to force “pasteurization” of organic vegetables. Of course, I was frightened, because of the forced pasteurization of California almonds, which has raised the price of raw almonds through the roof, but I still held off…. I held my breath…. good thing…

Today, I received an email from Dave Klein, the publisher of Living Nutrition Magazine:
“I was wrong about the pasteurization of greens; the FDA
is not, in fact, proposing to pasteurize greens at all! What happened was someone on the rawfoods board posted a thread that read like there was a proposal to pasteurize greens, telling us to protest on the FDA comment line, with a link to the original article. I didn’t read the article.

In fact, the FDA is proposing regulating growers’ practices, which is probably a good thing.

They’re proposing making growers test their produce at certain intervals for contamination. Also they are looking to make certain regulations about soil conditions, which some groups feel will negatively impact organic growers. I would tend to disagree, as I think a lot of ‘organic’ growers today are faking it and need to be regulated. The real organic growers probably have little to hide.”

I have sat out of this scary notification loop because I wanted to see what would really come around. I understand the panic based on California almonds (what were they thinking of… do they really think that pasteurizing almonds will increase almond consumption, as the world continues to go organic and raw????? They just make us go to outside (foreign) sources, which do not have such ignorant laws (unfortunately, almond prices for raw foodists have just gone through the ceiling, as (sensible) foreign sources have realized that they have a limitless market) The main problem for us here (in the US) is that we must trust foreign sources, which are not necessarily under the same regulations as our local regulations.

Perhaps, our “formerly” raw almond growers/producers in California will be able to organize (oh, but it is California!!! they couldn’t organize when the threat was imminent! )

Meanwhile, it looks like we are safe… stay awake… stay aware!!!

Pretty Smart Reading: my new book

I’ve just received LifeFood Recipe Book: Living on Life Force by David and Annie Padden Judd today. I have to say I am liking it more and more, the further I read (okay, not very far yet– I’ve just mostly flipped through it, noticed a few of the nutrition attitudes, and glanced at the recipes…. I’ve been working on upgrading the blog for the past few days…)

As of what I have read, I would highly recommend this book, regardless of what you think you know, or what you believe…. It is a heck of a good read, and it offers worthwhile information. In addition, there are a number of yummy-looking recipes.

I finally bought this book, a year after it was recommended to me by a wonderful man in my raw food training atRaw Soul. This amazing man kept bringing in marvelous books that he had found, and, one day, he brought in some Jubb books. I was moderately intrigued, at the time, but something attracted me the other day, when I was browsing the Internet, and I bought this one.
More interesting books about raw food

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBLE

 STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBLE
adapted from a recipe found at http://rediscoverrawfood.blogspot.com/

1 pt. strawberries, sliced
5-6 dates, pitted
1/2 C pecans
1/8 c flaxseed, ground
3 t coconut oil,(optional)
2 T raw agave syrup (optional)
salt (optional)
cinnamon (optional)

•    In a blender, combine strawberries, 2 T coconut oil (optional), agave, a pinch of salt (if used), and a dash of cinnamon (optional), and blend thoroughly.
•    In a food processor, for topping mix, combine dates, pecans, flaxseed, 1 T coconut oil (optional), and cinnamon to taste, and process to a crumbly texture.
•    Spoon topping mix over strawberry mix.

PRETTY SMART RAW FRUIT & NUT BARS

I’m leaving on vacation tomorrow, and I have to change planes, which will make it a kind of long flight, so I had to think of something to take along to eat.  The last time I made something (crackers and “cheez”), security confiscated my cheez and then gave me a very very thorough search.  I don’t want to go through that, so…. I thought…. BARS!!!!

I’ve never been terribly interested in bars… I think I may have eaten a total of 4 Lara Bars in my life, so I had no clue where to start, except that I remembered that the Lara Bars were basically dates and nuts.

I don’t want to spend scads on a pile of Lara Bars, so I thought about what to do, and then I found a recipe in Brigitte Mars’ book, Rawsome.  I changed it a little bit, because I did not have all the same ingredients.  These bars came out really good…. I’d rather them not be so sticky, but they are still quite good… my room-mate says they taste like a Lara Bar.

MY TRAVEL BARS
1 C walnuts, soaked overnight, then rinsed
1/4 C dried apricots, soaked 4 hours to overnight
10 dates, soaked 20 minutes, then pitted
2 apples, cored and chopped

•    Combine everything in a food processor and grind fine, scraping down sides from time to time.
•    On a teflex dehydrator sheet, form mixture into bars about the size of a granola bar (or a Lara Bar), and about  1/2 inch thick.  Alternatively, you could make cookie shapes.
•    Dehydrate at 125 degrees for 4-6 hours, then turn onto a mesh dehydrator screen, peel off the teflex sheet, and continue to dehydrate for @ 6 more hours (a total of about 12 hours).

When I get back, I want to work on some flavors.

CHAMPAGNE REJUVELAC

CHAMPAGNE REJUVELAC
adapted from a recipe found at http://users.chariot.net.au

To make champagne rejuvelac the rejuvelac must be covered with a tight fitting lid during fermentation. In this way, CO2 gas created during fermentation remains in the finished drink, causing bubbles.

RECIPE

1 C whole millet
1 T raisins

• Sprout millet for 24 hours, then rinse and drain well.
• In a mortar, lightly pound the millet with a pestle, to bruise the grains.
• Place the sprouted millet in a large jar.
• Fill the jar no more than 2/3 full with fresh spring water (approx. 4 C)
• Add 1 T raisins.
• Tightly close the jar with an airtight lid.
• Ferment for 2 to 3 days, shaking the jar gently once each day.

Millet is most suitable for making Champagne rejuvelac as it produces a slightly more sour taste than do other grains, providing for a more champagne-like flavor.

HANUKKAH 2007

Hanukkah 2007 starts on December 4th.

If you are of the planning sort, or a worrier, you might want to start thinking now (it’s surprising how fast time passes)

I have some raw recipes which you might find usable at raw Jewish Holiday recipes

Please let me know how you like the recipes.

APPLE/KALE/LEMON SMOOTHIE

4 apples
1/2 lemon, juiced
4-5 leaves of kale
water to taste

In a blender, process all ingredients well.