Cilantro Pineapple Orange Carrot Smoothie

This was my breakfast this morning. I was feeling the need for cilantro because it is a great chelator that helps pull toxins from the liver. It's especially good for pulling heavy metal toxins from the body. Maybe it's that spring cleaning feeling in the air, but I wanted something clean and detoxifying. I love the flavor of vanilla in this smoothie. It's a surprise taste that transforms this healthy smoothie into dessert, and you know by now how much I love dessert.

Smoothie:

1/2 c. coconut water (filtered water will work as well)
2 oranges peeled
2 c. pineapple
2 small carrots
1 bunch cilantro
vanilla stevia extract to taste

Blend all ingredients and enjoy. This makes enough for two.

If you don't have the liquid stevia, you can also substitute vanilla seeds and some powdered stevia, or use 2 dates and vanilla seeds. I used frozen pineapple, which helped give the smoothie its frostiness. If using fresh pineapple, throw in a few ice cubes to fluff it up into a thicker smoothie.

Rosewater Cream and Chocolate Baskets

I got a new candy mold really cheap, and I was excited to try to make a chocolate basket. The baskets turned out pretty well. I made them using 1/2 c. cacao power, 1/4 c. coconut butter, 1/4 c. cacao paste, 3 T. cacao powder, and 2 T. agave. I also added some cinnamon into the chocolate, which gave it a really smooth flavor.

I filled these baskets with a cashew rosewater nut cream. I can think of lots of possibilities for fillings, but this was my mood for today. I blended 1/2 c. soaked cashews with 1 T. agave, 1 t. vanilla and 1 drop rosewater. The rosewater gives it a light flavor of rose, but be careful, too much gets overpowering quickly. You don't want these candies smelling like your grandmother's lingerie drawer sachet. Is it just me that associates the smell or rose or lavender with grandmothers? Probably. My nieces would associate their grandmother with Chanel No. 5.

I think next I'll try an almond butter cup and cover it with more chocolate, sort of like a Reese Peanut Butter Cup but so much better. Then maybe just a good old vanilla creme. Or maybe a hazelnut creme. And maybe raw caramel. Like I said, so many possibilities.

I had some leftover chocolate, so I poured it into another candy mold to make these sweet noshes.

Almost Summer Salad

Today it really feels like summer is on its way. Here in Minnesota it seems we went right from winter to summer and missed spring completely. Just three days ago it snowed, now it is in the seventies and gorgeous. So I've enjoyed the day by going for a long run, relaxing on my porch with the windows open, and making a delicious salad that looks like summer. I'm posting two pictures, one of an earlier salad that had all the same ingredients as today's salad plus macerated berries. I didn't have the macerated berries on hand today, so the second pic is of the salad I made today. The pickled onions in this pic are a little more red than the first pic because they had soaked a little longer. I love the bright fuchsia color of the onions against the yellow mango. Superimpose these two salads, and you have the best version of both. 

Almost Summer Salad:

Salad greens
1 mango chopped into cubes
1/2 c. pickled onions
1 carrot sliced
1/2 avocado chopped into cubes
1/4 c. goji berries or 1/4 c. macerated berries

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss with salad dressing of your choice. I love an aged balsamic vinegar even though it isn't raw. Tonight I mixed the aged vinegar with a fig vinegar and some olive oil. Another dressing I like with this fruity salad is a citrus vinaigrette.  Combine some apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and some orange zest with a little salt and voila.

To pickle red onions: Slice red onions and place in a mason jar with 1 c. apple cider vingar, 1/2 c. beet juice and a bay leaf.  Soak overnight to get the brilliant color. Enjoy on salads.

To macerate berries: Put any kind of dried superfruit in a small jar with 1/2 c. of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for a couple of days. Then enjoy on salads. I use a combination of whatever I have on hand. Often it is goji berries, mulberries, goldenberries, and currants or golden raisins. These berries really take an ordinary salad and boost it to fine cuisine.

I hope your day was as beautiful as mine.

Cashew Chocolate Bars

This is a super simple recipe. I needed a quick hit of chocolate (which I confess to needing a lot) but didn't have a lot of time to make something extravagant. I was thinking of a vegan bar I used to love twenty years ago that had a doughy crust and was topped with hard chocolate and sprinkled with salted cashew pieces. I basically inverted the recipe and left out the dough. The hard chocolate is better than the topping I remember. Feel free to sprinkle cashew pieces on the top of this bar mixture. I thought there were enough nuts with the cashew crust, so I didn't garnish this time. Maybe for a party I would.

Cashew Chocolate Bars:

 Bars: 
1 c. raw organic cashews soaked for at least 2 hours (you can skip the soaking if you prefer)
5 dates
1 t. Himalayan sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Press mixture into a shallow pan.

Note: I make a "lip" to hold the chocolate topping so that it doesn't drip over the edges into the crust. Press the lip into place with your fingers 

Topping:
1/3 c. shaved Navitas Naturals Cacao Power
1/3 c. shaved Navitas Naturals Cacao Paste
1/2 c. coconut oil
3 T. cacao powder
3 T. agave
1 t. vanilla

Melt the shavings of cacao power and paste and the coconut oil to liquid form. Whisk the cacao powder, agave, and vanilla into the liquid mixture until there are no lumps of powder. Pour the topping onto the cashew crust.

Put the bars in the refrigerator for at least twenty minutes or until the topping appears hardened. Cut into bars and enjoy. 

Another note: I've mentioned the Navitas Naturals Cacao Power and Cacao Paste in other posts, but I'll reiterate here. These are hard blocks of cacao that can be shaved, melted, and used in candy making, frostings, hot chocolate (made hot by the Vitamix running for awhile), ice cream toppings, etc. There are many possibilities for using these blocks. The Cacao Power is like a white chocolate block of cacao butter. The Cacao Paste is a hard block of dark cacao. I use them intermittently alone and together. I usually add cacao powder to the Cacao Power to give it a dark color.

I just wanted to mention this again because sometimes the Cacao Power confuses people. They think I just forgot to put a "d" in the  word "power", but no, I didn't. The Power and cacao powder are very different. Look for natural food co-ops that carry the Navitas Naturals line of superfoods. They can also be found at Whole Foods Markets. Or check out their site at www.navitasnaturals.com. You'll quickly be on your way to making your own homemade chocolates.

I just wanted to let you know that Natalia of nataliakw.com, one of my favorite raw food websites, is having a sale on her ebooks, Pure Pleasures and Cupcake Heaven. One of my earlier posts is of her strawberry cupcakes with ginger frosting. They were absolutely delicious. I get happy just thinking about that ginger frosting. Please check out her site. This is a great deal, especially the cupcake book because those recipes aren't on her site.  I own both and love them.

Lemon Avocado Pudding

This is my go-to quick sweet fix. I was never a pudding lover as a child, but this pudding thrills me. It is quick, easy, and delightfully fluffy. Today I had it for breakfast. Why not? It's only avocados, lemon juice, dates and vanilla. Beats all conventional breakfast foods in nutrition and taste, if you ask me.

Lemon Avocado Pudding:

2 avocados
5 dates
1/4 c. to 1/3 c. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor.  Serve and enjoy.

Note:  The dates can be soaked prior to making this pudding. They will be easier to blend, and the water can be used to aid the blending.  If you don't blend the dates, it will just take more tamping down the mixture in the blender. The Vitamix does a great job on the dates, but it takes awhile.

Also, depending on your tastes, adjust the lemon juice up or down. I really love tart and sweet at the same time, so I use a lot. The same goes for the vanilla. I use Ojio Raw Wildcrafted Ground Vanilla, which is quite strong. If I used vanilla extract, I'd probably use more than one teaspoon. Taste as you blend and adjust accordingly.

Cacao Trail Mix

Here is a perfect example of what I said in my last post--that sometimes the end product doesn't look so good but tastes great. I make this trail mix regularly, but this time I put too many cacao nibs in the recipe. I usually use 1/2 cup, but when I measured that out there seemed to only be a little left in the bag, so I dumped it all in. Turned out I had about one full cup now mixed in with the nuts, goji berries, and coconut. It was too late to scoop out the extra cacao nibs. The nibs taste great in the mix. It's really got a smooth, rich chocolate flavor, but I think that visually speaking the extra nibs make it too brown. So I advise keeping the nibs to 1/2 cup. The white and red colors of the coconut and goji berries will pop out more, making for a more beautiful presentation. Trust my recipe but not my photo.  Or just eat the trail mix with your eyes closed. It is delicious in these proportions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cacao Trail Mix:

1 c. raw organic cashews
1 c. raw organic almonds
1/2 c. cacao nibs
1/2. shredded coconut or coconut flakes
1/4 c goji berries

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

1/4 c. Navitas Naturals Cacao Power shaved in small pieces
1/4 c. coconut butter
2 T. coconut oil
2 T. agave
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
Himalayan sea salt to taste

Melt the cacao power, coconut butter, and coconut oil in the dehydrator or by double boiler method. Whisk the agave, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt into the melted cacao power/coconut butter/coconut oil mixture. Coat the trail mix thoroughly with this liquid.

Spread the nut mix onto a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees  for a few hours to make the nuts crisp again. The mixture will feel oily when you take it out of the dehydrator, but it will harden quickly in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I always keep nuts refrigerated because nuts can go rancid relatively quickly.

It will take me awhile to eat this many nuts, so it'll be some time before I make it again.  I'll post a better picture when I make it using less nibs.