Raw Test Kitchen

photo by lucafotogne

Earlier today I posted that I wasn't creating raw food dishes of late. That doesn't mean that I don't have my share of recipes to well...share.

I haven't prepared this dish but I invite you to create it and let me know what you think. Send in a photo, comments, revises, whatever you feel would make it off the hook.

Peace and love,
Terilynn

Avocado Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cashews
juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
1 head Romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
1 small bunch cilantro, leaves only
2 ripe avocados, cut into small cubes

1 Combine oil, cashews, lime juice, agave nectar and cumin in a blender. Process until cashews are smooth and creamy. If needed, use water a 1/2 tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency.

2 Combine the lettuce and cilantro with the dressing in a large bowl. Top with the avocado pieces.

Recipe of the Day

photo by artchick2002

As you might have noticed, I haven't posted new original recipes on the Daily Raw Cafe for awhile. To be truthful, I don't know what to make or to eat, other than salads with hemp powder and green smoothies. My eating seems to be in a transitional stage and I tend to prepare recipes on how I would like to eat.

I ask that you be a bit patient with me while I find my way. I will continue to share information about raw foods. I still love the culinary art of raw foods, I'm just not indulging at the moment.

Having said that, while I am finding my way in the recipe department and hopefully gaining back some of my mojo, I have found interesting recipes from other sources that I thought I would share.

Heidi at 101 Cookbooks posted a A Simple Spring Salad that looks absolutely tasty. She also offers tips on shopping for the right salad ingredients, washing and storing lettuce and dressing a salad.

For the Love of Thai

I am a huge Thai food fan. I thought it would be fun to create a salad, for the Denver Living and Raw Food Cafe rawluck, using the fillings for a Thai summer roll. The dressing uses the ingredients from a summer roll dipping sauce.

Thai food is known for its use of fresh herbs and taste balancing spicy, sweet, sour, salty and bitter. I love playing with the flavors.

It also got me thinking. What is the difference between spring and summer rolls? It's all in the translation. Gỏi Cuốn is a Vietnamese word where some believe it is translated as spring or summer roll. It's up to you. However, the literally translation is "Mixed Salad Roll"

I have a running lists of recipes to try when I finish juice feasting and this is definitely one of them.

Thai Summer Salad
Serves 8
1 zucchini, peeled
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cucumbers, julienned
2 carrots, julienned

2 Thai peppers, finely diced
1 small bunch Thai basil leaves
1 small bunch mint leaves
1 small bunch cilantro, leaves only
1 small bunch scallions, sliced on the diagonal
1 small head of Napa cabbage, shredded

Hot and Sweet Dressing
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
1½ teaspoons dried red pepper flakes
¼ cup rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
¼ cup agave nectar
½ cup olive oil
1 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 Use a spiralizer to make thin zucchini pasta. Sprinkle with sea salt and place the pasta on a paper towel. Set on the counter overnight. Or you can place in the dehydrator at 115 degrees for a few hours or so.

2 Toss the cucumbers, carrots, peppers, basil, mint, cilantro, scallions and cabbage into a large bowl until mixed well. Add the zucchini pasta and gently combine.

3 To make dressing, combine ingredients in a jar. Give a quick shake before pouring the dressing onto the Thai salad just before serving.
Don't want to deal with zucchini pasta? No worries, try kelp noodles instead.

The Best Day Ever!

"For those bloggers who inspire others through their words and actions.
With a positive attitude, and uplifting spirit these bloggers make the blogosphere
a better place, and encourage others to do the same. This award is for bloggers
who rise up to set an example but continue to reach out and support others.”

What is better than getting an Inspirational Blogger Award from your peers? Getting two Inspirational Blogger Awards. What are the odds that Inspiration:Life and the Daily Raw Cafe get awards on the same day? Bizarre.

This means I can pass along this award to 10 bloggers, instead of 5. Yeah!

Thank you Fatma for bestowing such an honor to The Daily Raw Cafe and I wish I could open up a real Cafe.

Let's celebrate with a salad!

Cucumber Salad
Serves 6

3 cucumbers, peeled, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly slice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dill weed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 Combine cucumbers, onions and dill in a bowl.

2 In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and pepper.

3 Pour mixture over cucumber and onions. Gently toss. Cover and chill.

Pear Salad with Tangy Cranberry Vinaigrette

Believe it or not, I don't always prepare elaborate raw food dishes. I do appreciate the simplicity of a piece of fruit on top of fresh greens. But, of course I have to create a spectacular dressing.

4 cups spring mix
2 pears, cut in slices

Place spring mix lettuce on plate, top with pear slices.

Tangy Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
(Yield: 1 cup )

3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons agave nectar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine balsamic vinegar, cranberries, agave nectar and sea salt in a blender. Slowly stream in olive oil.

Drizzle on top of salad.

Serves 4

Two of My Favorite Salads

Kale Salad Basic Salad

These salads are my daily staples. I have one of these for lunch. The Basic Salad is a variation of "Donavan's Salad."

The ingredients are so simple you can add so much more to it.

I started eating the Kale Salad last winter. I think I needed a heavier green to fill my belly and kale did the trick. My neighborhood grocery store didn't carry kale, with the exception of using it as garnish in their deli and fish counters. What a waste!

I would go to the produce guy every week and hope he would have kale left and if he did, I would buy 5-7 bunches. I evenly found another grocery store that had kale as their produce supply. So they got my business.

I love the combination of the slight bitterness of the kale and the sweetness of the raisins, it's a wonderful contrast.

Kale Salad

1 bunch kale, cleaned, stems removed

1 avocado, diced

1/2 jalapeno, diced

1/4 c raisins

1/4 c scallions, diced

Sweet Dressing

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c agave nectar

2 t sea salt

Place dressing ingredients together in a mason jar and shake until well combined.

Pour dressing over kale and gently massage into leaves. Let set for 30 minutes.

Toss in remaining salad ingredients and combine well.

You might note that I don't use as much olive oil on the basic salad as I do the kale salad. My reasoning behind this is, the kale is a much heavier green and can handle more oil compared to the green leaf, which can be weighed down with 1/4 cup of oil. It can leave it a bit soggy for my tastes. I like to keep my greens as crisp as possible.

Basic Salad

1 bunch green leaf lettuce

1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/4 c scallions, diced

Toss salad ingredients together.

Basic Dressing

2 T olive oil

Juice of one lemon

1 T flax seeds

Place dressing ingredients together in a mason jar and shake until well combined.

Pour over salad.

Thai Slaw (4 servings)

This is a recipe I created and posted on Raw Test Kitchen and I had a hankering for coleslaw. It was super quick and easy to make. This slaw is great eating same day but it's killer marinated overnight.

I don't know if you lovely readers have noticed, but I try to spend the least amount of time preparing these recipes. That's why with most of the recipes on my blogs, I use a simple blender. I have four children, I don't have time to spend forever in the kitchen so I create dishes where I don't have to.

DRESSING
Juice of one small lime
1 small piece ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c raw almond butter
4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only
2 T honey
2 T olive oil
1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/4 t sea salt

In a blender, combine ingredients.

SLAW

4 c shredded Napa cabbage

2 c shredded red cabbage

1 c shredded carrot

Combine cabbages and carrot in a bowl and toss with dressing. Marinate 15 minutes before serving.

Greek Salad

DRESSING

1 lemon, juiced

3 T olive oil

1 t dried oregano

¼ t sea salt

ground black pepper, to taste

Place ingredients in a jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine.

SALAD

1 head romaine lettuce- chopped

1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings

1 c kalamata olives

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber, sliced

1 cup feta cheese (recipe below)

In a salad bowl, combine the Romaine, onion, olives, bell pepper, tomato, cucumber and cashew feta. Pour dressing over salad, toss and serve.

FETA CHEESE

2 c macadamia nuts, soaked until soft

¼ c lemon juice

1 T nutritional yeast

2 t sea salt

Combine ingredients in a blender until chunky. Loosely spread on a teflex sheet and put in a dehydrator at 100 degrees for 6-8 hours or until dry. Break up cheese with a fork.

Donavan's Salad

My 7-year-old and her cousins adore this salad. It would have been called "Donavan's mom's salad" if it weren't for the tomatoes.

When I prepare the salad for myself I replace the tomatoes with jalapenos and green onions.

I lived off this salad combination when I first went raw. I love the tartness of the lemon.

LEMON DRESSING

Juice of 1 lemon

2 T flax oil

1 t sea salt

Put ingredients in a glass bottle (with lid) and shake.

SALAD

1 c red leaf lettuce

1/2 avocado, pitted and chopped

1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped

7-8 sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped, stems and all

2 t flax seeds

1 t sea salt

Combine ingredients and toss with lemon dressing.

Taco Salad (serves 4)

Whip this up when you get a hankering to run for the border.

WALNUT TACO MEAT
1 c walnut, soaked 2 hours
½ c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 30 minutes, save water
¼ c finely chopped yellow onion
½ t taco seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ sun-dried tomato water
½ t sea salt

Combine ingredients in food processor until mixed well. For a less moist texture, put in dehydrator for 1 hour.

TAKE IT FURTHER
Make taco burgers: Form meat into patties and dehydrate for 2-3 hours.

SOUR CREAM
½ c macadamia nuts
juice of one lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ t sea salt
6-7 T water

Blend macadamia nuts, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Add 1 tablespoon water at a time to create a smooth consistency.

TOPPINGS
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
Avocado, chopped
4 cups shredded lettuce

Place 1 cup lettuce, a portion of the walnut taco meat, tomatoes, avocado and sour cream on a plate.