Frijoles con Queso (vegan, gluten-free)

I don't really know what to call this recipe - it satisfied my craving for Velveeta and Rotel, but it really is not a chili con queso type sauce, so until I think of a new name for now, it is Frijoles con Queso

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked white beans
1 roasted red pepper
juice from 1 large lemon (approx 1/4 cup)
3 Tbls tahini
1/2 tsp onion granules
1/2 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups pico de gallo, or your favorite salsa, or even a can of ro-tel!

Directions

1. Place all ingredients except salsa into high speed blender and blend for 2 - 3 minutes.  It will be smooth after about 30 seconds, but blending for the extra time will heat the sauce as well.
2. Pour salsa, pico de gallo or ro-tel into a medium bowl
3. Pour the bean mixture over the salsa and stir to incorporate
4. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

Veggie Burgers (Vegan, Gluten-free)

Ahh, the veggie burger.  Why is it when I look for any recipe for a veggie burger, there are hardly any veggies in them?  I don't want a bean patty, or a wheat and grain patty, I want a patty made predominately of veggies and maybe some flax seed to bind!  So, in an effort to make a veggie burger like that, and include a bit of grain because my son loves rice, this is my cooked veggie burger recipe.  Our entire family loved them - my 14 month old ate half of one just waiting for the others to finish cooking!

Makes approx 8 - 10 burgers
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, minced
2 carrots, minced or shredded
2 mini sweet peppers, seeds removed, minced
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 Tbls olive oil
1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 cup cooked brown rice

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. Wash and mince all the veggies, or take the easy way and wash then add them to your food processor fitted with an "S" blade and pulse until finely minced.  Set aside in a medium mixing bowl
2. Add the ground flax seed, poultry seasoning, Braggs, and olive oil and incorporate well - mix this with your hands to get everything really mixed well.  Let this sit for about 5 minutes so the flax can absorb some of the water of the veggies
3. Add the brown rice and mix again
4. Add your oil to a cold frying pan and turn to medium high heat.
5. Take a 1/3 measuring cup, scoop into your hand to form a patty add to the fry pan.  I can fit 4 patties at a time in my pan - you want them to have space and not to be crowded - no touching each other.
6. Cook for about 2 - 3 minutes or until you see a golden brown crust form, then flip and continue frying for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes until the other side is also brown.
7. As you finish each patty, set aside on a plate, salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve in fresh romaine leaves rolled up with your favorite condiments, tomatoes, sprouts, avocado, etc.
9. Store any leftover veggie burgers in the refrigerator for 3 - 5 days.

Chia Breakfast Pudding (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-free)

Chia seeds seem to be a new fad in natural food stores, supplement companies and even in protein shakes now, but their benefits truly do not seem to be a fad to me.  Chia seeds are a member of the mint family and yes, they are those fuzzy headed plants you see advertised at Christmas.  So why would I want to add chia seeds to my diet?

1. Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids,  even more so than flax seeds. And it has another advantage over flax: chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don't deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. 
2. Chia seeds, unlike flax, are readily available to the body.  Flax seeds must be ground to make their nutrients available to the body.
3. Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium,  phosphorus,  magnesium,  manganese,  copper,  iron,  molybdenum,  niacin,  and zinc. 
1. Chia seeds are 16 percent protein, 31 percent fat, and 44 percent carbohydrate, of which 38 percent is fiber. Most of its fat is the essential omega-3 fatty acid – alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). It’s also high in antioxidants… as much as 8 times higher than blueberries.
4. When added to water and allowed to sit for 30 minutes,  chia forms a gel. Researchers suggest that this reaction also takes place in the stomach,  slowing the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.
5. Chia seeds are not some new fad in the food industry - chia (from the desert plant salvia hispanica) was a major crop in central Mexico between 1500 and 900 B.C. and was still cultivated well into the 16th century AD.  Supposedly after the Spanish conquest,  authorities banned it because of its association with religious ceremonies.  They were also the staple of Mayan and Aztec warriors - Chia means "strength" in Mayan.  Some sites I reviewed stated that one tablespoon of chia seeds was believed to sustain an individual for 24 hours. The Aztecs also used chia medicinally to stimulate saliva flow and to relieve joint pain and sore skin.
6. Given the shelf life and amazing nutrient rich content of chia, we keep some in our Hurricane survival kit now
7. Believe what you want about its history, chia seeds make awesome vegan puddings without added sugar or processed foods!

Makes 1 serving of chia pudding 

Ingredients:

1 Tbls chia seeds soaked in 1 cup of water for a minimum of 30 minutes

1 apple, cored

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 dates, pitted

2 Tbls raisins (optional)

2 Tbls walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

I took pictures of the time lapse of my chia seed soak that I'll post at the end of the recipe because it is pretty interesting to me that one tiny seed can absorb 4 times its weight in water!

1. Add the first 4 ingredients to a high powered blender and blend for about 30 seconds until all ingredients are pureed
2. Pour into a cereal bowl, top with raisins and walnuts and enjoy!

Chia seeds in water just moments

Chia seeds in water about 20 minutes

Chia seeds in water for an hour

Chai Spiced Pecans and Almonds (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-free)

I usually do not care for pecans, but if they are sweet, I love them. I completely understand pecan pie now - pecans on their own do nothing for me, but coat them in sugar and they are quite tasty. I made these for a playdate recently where the adults and the children ate them and really enjoyed them. These are sweet, spicy and salty and may make it into regular rotation for snacks in our home.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pitted dates plus 1/4 cup water for soaking (reserved)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chai tea

1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your taste for heat)

2 1/2 cups of nuts (I used about 2 cups of pecans and 1/2 cup almonds)

Directions:

1. Soak 1/4 cup of dates in 1/4 cup of water for about 20 minutes.
2. Place dates, reserved soaking liquid, salt, chai tea, and pepper in a highspeed blender and blend for 15 seconds until the mix is completely liquid and looks like a syrup.
3. Place nuts in a medium mixing bowl, pour syrup over them and mix to coat each nut.
4. Let sit for a few minutes and retoss - pecans seem to loose their syrup after the first mix.
5. Either eat and enjoy immediately, or you dehydrate until dry and sticky - about 8 hours at 105 degrees.
6. Keep dehydrated nuts for about 5 days in the refrigerator.

Raw Chocolate Kale Chips

The picture does not give these justice. I have tried 2 different chocolate sauces, and ultimately the one I like the best is a simple mix of dates, cacao and coconut oil. These were super saucy and the sauce that ran off the kale and onto the teflex sheets tasted like a raw Tootsie Roll (or what my memory of tootsie rolls taste like).

Ingredients:

1 large bunch kale, any type will do but I prefer the curly leaf stuff for chips - I just like the texture

1 cup dates, pitted

1/4 cup raw unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup cacao powder (or reg cocoa but then it wouldn't be a raw recipe)

3/4 to 1 cup of warm purified water - 3/4 is still sort of thick, 1 C makes a runnier ganache

1. Wash and destem the kale. Tear into bite size pieces and let dry (or spin in a salad spinner)
2. Set kale aside in a large bowl
3. Blend remaining ingredients in a highspeed blender until well incorporated. You may want to taste at this point - if you prefer sweet sauces, you can add a few more dates, or a little agave.
4. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of sauce over kale - you will likely have some leftover sauce that is wonderful as a topping on any dessert (raw or otherwise).
5. Massage the sauce into the kale. The kale should be coated but not overly wet with dressing.
6. Place a teflex sheet on your dehydrator tray and lay kale on one layer. Depending on how much kale you have in your bunch, this should fill 2 teflex sheets.
7. Dehydrate at 105 F for about 8 hours. They will likely still be soft. Take off the teflex sheets and place directly on the mesh liner. Dehydrate another 4 - 8 hours until crispy.

Raw Spaghetti with Marinara

It is summer time and a great time of year for raw food in our home. We all love spaghetti but I really have not found a pasta that I find to be healthful. Behold a spiralizer and zucchini!

In the past when I have made raw marinara, the sauce comes out very muddy looking from all the fresh herbs. This sauce came out very orange and was very tasty!

Ingredients:

Noodles:

2 large, long and straight zucchini

pinch of salt

1. Wash and dry your zucchini. If they are conventional, I would also peel them, but if they are organic, eat the peel! Leave on the ends
2. Center your zucchini on the spiralizer. I get best results if I put the blossom end into the cutting end, and the opposite end into the prongs. The straighter your zucchini, the easier it is to spiralize the entire zucchini without having to readjust.
3. Take your pile of angel hair zucchini and place in a colander. Toss with a pinch of salt and let sit in the colander. This will help release some of the water so your final product will not be watery.

Sauce:

2 ripe tomatoes

6 sun dried tomatoes, soaked for an hour

1 small onion

2 small sweet peppers (I chose red to help with the color)

1 date (optional)

2 TBLS cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Place all of your marinara ingredients and blend until smooth. If you prefer a chunky sauce, then blend in pulses until you get the texture you like.
2. Transfer the zucchini to a large pasta bowl, pour the sauce over the top and toss.

This was definitely a kid friendly recipe in our home and my youngest ate an entire bowl, plus ate the 1/4 cup or so of left over sauce as soup.

Raw Black Sesame Sunflower Bread

This is a staple in our home that all of us enjoy as either crackers or sometimes less dehydrated and left as a pliable bread. Why black sesame seeds - well, the contrast is pretty, and black sesame is a nutritious food that is already known to contain lecithin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron. Chinese wisdom mentions sesame to strengthen energy, and muscle growth, as well as maintaining soft skin. Chinese medicine also uses black sesame (hei zhi ma) to maintain kidney and liver function.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c ground flaxseed

1/3 c flax seed whole

½ t sea salt

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T onion, minced

1-1/3 c water

2/3 c sunflower seeds

¼ c black sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

In large bowl mix ground flax, whole flax seeds, salt, garlic, onion & water. Mix well.

Add sunflower & sesame seeds. Mix well.

Spread on 1 telfex tray smooth out into an even square., Dry at 105 degrees for 4 hours

Flip & score bread into 9 slices

Dehydrate another hour for softer bread (to use for a sandwich roll) Stores for up to 3 days in the refrigerator

or dehydrate another 3 - 6 hours for crispy crackers. Stores 1-2 months refrigerated.