Smoothie Cleanse

Our Raw As We Wanna Be group are planning to do a Green Smoothie Cleanse starting on Monday, May 3rd. This will consist of Smoothies for Breakfast and Lunch. Then a nice RAW savory soup for Dinner. . . If you want to join in join us on the Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawaswewannabe/

We will be posting some smoothie recipes and soup recipes that we can use for the Cleanse and hopefully we will share our feelings and help each other pump up the energy for feeling and looking better and bump up our energy to eat better.

Book Review by Peggy

(From April’s Green Smoothies group meeting)

Title: Super Foods; Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life
Author: Steven G. Pratt, M.D., and Kathy Matthews
Purpose: To help people choose foods that will let them live a healthy and disease-free life. This book discusses the qualities that are in what is called “Super Foods”. These foods have some of the best disease fighting properties as compared to other food choices that we make.
Organization of Chapters:
The first part of the book talks about the how our diets are creating chronic health problems; the principals of great health; micronutrients; and how to incorporate super foods into your diet. The second part of the books talks about each of the super foods as separate chapters. It tells what each food does for your body and even give alternatives called “side-kicks” to give you variety. The third part gives menu planning ideas and additional nutrition information.
Fourteen Super Foods:
Beans Blueberries Broccoli Oats Pumpkin Wild Salmon
Soy Spinach Tomatoes Walnuts Yogurt Turkey Tea
My Opinion:
I really love this book! I have taken a lot of time to study this book and feel that it offers excellent information that I refer back to often. My only issue is that I don’t drink tea.

RAW Cheesecake - minus the cheese!

This recipe comes from Raw for Dessert by Jennifer Cornbleet
I doubled this recipe to make a 9" cheesecake

Cheesecake

Crust
1 c raw walnuts (unsoaked)
1/4 c unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1/2 c whole cane sugar (sucanat)
pinch salt
1/4 c raisins
4 pitted medjool dates

Filling:
1 c raw cashews (soaked 8 - 12 hours)
1/2 c young coconut meat (from 1 coconut)
1/2 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 c light agave syrup
1/4 c Date Paste (see below)
1/8 t salt
1/2 c virgin coconut oil
1 Tbsp soy lechithin powder (healthfood store)

Crust - place walnuts, coconut, sugar, and salt in food processor w/S blade. Process until finely ground. Add the raisins and dates and process until coarse crumbs begin to stick together. Press into bottom of 6 or 7" springform pan

Filling - place cashews, coconut meat, emon juice, agave syrum, Date Paste, and salt in a blender and process until very smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the blender w/a rubber spatula. Add the coconut oil and optional soy lecithin powder and process until blended. Pour the filling into the crust and spread it evenly. . .

I like topping this with Jennifer's Raspberry Coulis. . . 2 - 10 oz pkgs of unsweetened frozen raspberries process these through a food mill or push through a strainer with the back of a spoon. This deseeds the raspberry mush, then wisk in the agave syrup and I put this into a squeeze bottle and can make the pretty swishes on the plate before plating the cheesecake. YUM!

Date Paste - ok this is kind of a bummer on this recipe. This makes a lot of date paste and is used in several of the recipes in the book. . . and unfortunately it doesn't work well when I cut it in 1/2 because there isn't enough volume for the dates to get whipped up nice and smooth. It can be kept in the freezer for a month or two. . . Use it for a natural sweetener

32 pitted medjool dates
3 c filtered water

Place the dates in a medium bowl, cover with water and let soak for 20 minutes. Drain the dates but reserve the water.

Place the dates and 1/2 c of the soaking water into a food processor fitted w/the S blade. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the processor and process. . . Now ready for use in other recipes or use as a natural sweetener.

More RAW Desserts

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tarts compliments of GLiving.com Click here for yummy gorgeous pics of this dessert.
Makes about 4-5 5” tarts; mine made 6, or one large 9" torte

For the Crust:
1 c almonds
½ c Cacao Powder (can use cocoa powder)
¼ C virgin Coconut Oil
¼ C raw Sucanat sugar (organic evaporated cane sugar; healthfood store)
2 T Maple Syrup
2 T Cacao Nibs (healthfood store)
2 t Vanilla Extract
1/8 t Sea Salt

Step 1 Place the almonds in a food processor and process until coarsely ground. It’s ok if there are bits of almonds not broken down, this will add extra crunch and texture to the crust.

Step 2 Add the cocoa powder, sugar and salt and process to combine lightly, then add the rest of the ingredients and pulse several times until incorporated and slightly damp.

Step 3 Line your tart pans w saran wrap and then on top of it, gently press the crust mixture into the bottom and sides

Step 4 Place them in the freezer while you prepare the fillings

For the Chocolate Filling Layer:
1 c Young coconut meat (healthfood store or Asain Market)
¼ c Virgin Coconut Oil
2/3 c maple syrup
½ C Agave Nectar
8 oz. Dark Bittersweet Chocolate (Greens & Blacks)
¼ t Sea Salt
2 T Vanilla Extract

Step 1 Melt the chocolate by chopping it and melting it over a double broiler or make your own double boiler using a heat safe bowl over a pot of hot water. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Step 2 Scoop out and clean the meat from a young baby coconut (the ones with pointy tops and shaved white)

Step 3 Add the coconut meat along with the rest of the ingredients to a high speed blender and blend on high until everything is completely smooth and creamy with no lumps. Set aside to cool.

Note: One of the best coconut oils is Virgin De Coco Crème. If you can’t find it, get a virgin centrifugal coconut oil with a very light scent to almost no scent.

For the Peanut Butter Layer:
1 c natural smooth peanut butter
1 T Virgin Coconut Oil
¼ c Agave Nectar
¼ t sea Salt

Step 1 In a small mixing bowl, mix in the coconut oil, agave and sea salt with a large spoon.

Putting it all together:

Step 1 Take out the tart pans out of the freezer. On the bottom of crust spread a layer of Peanut Butter Mixture.

Step 2 Pour the chocolate mixture on top.

Step 3 Place these back in the freezer to set overnight. You can garnish them however you like. I like a lot of chocolate, so I garnished mine with chocolate shavings and chocolate sauce.

RAW Desserts

So tonight is our RAW Dessert night and I've vowed to get the recipes up sooner than I did after last month. . . Was it just yesterday I finally posted my salad recipe???

I just finished up the Peanut Butter Fudge and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tarts. MMmmmm.....

Peanut Butter Fudge AKA Chi Snowballs compliments of Green Smoothie Girl Holiday Recipe Book

She rolls her's into balls and rolls into unsweetened shredded coconut (people in this house don't like coconut especially if they can see it) so we skipped that part and just cut it into 1" squares like fudge.

1 c peanut butter (pref. natural unsweetened)
1/2 c honey
1/4 c brown rice syrup (found health food store, I personally think it doesn't need it)
2 1/2 c puffed brown rice cereal (found as above but is needed!)
1/2 c rolled oats
1 - 2 Tbsp chia seeds (health food store)
optional: 1 c finely shredded unsweetened coconut

Mix all ingredients together except for the coconut. Roll the mixture into balls and then roll in the coconut. Or press into an 8 x 8" pan and let sit until soft about an hour. I put mine in the fridge. Comes out nice and firm like fudge. . .

Let's keep our fingers crossed that if I leave my camera out tonight, I might remember to take pictures.

GSG Kale Salad! Mmmm!

Marilee emailed me and reminded me that I hadn't put up the Kale Salad recipe I did for Salad night. This recipe comes from the Green Smoothie Girl's Holiday Recipe Book. This is SO yummy!

Colorful Christmas Salad *
This salad presents well. It looks like Christmas, with vibrant greens and reds! Take this
to your next holiday party.
4 C kale and/or collards, cut into ribbons (LD's note: I just chop this up into little shreds w/my chef's knife)
1 C green cabbage, finely chopped
1 C red cabbage, finely chopped
2 lrg. tomatoes, chopped
1 C radishes, finely chopped or julienned
2 apples, shredded
1 large mango, finely chopped
seeds from ¾ of a pomegranate
2 avocados, diced
Note: To save time, I chop by hand only the kale, collards, mango, and avocado. The
cabbage, apples, and radishes I coarsely grate in my food processor. (LD's - this works great in the food processor)Mix all well. The Tangy Dill Dressing (below) is perfect for this salad.

Tangy Dill Dressing *
¼ C fresh lemon juice
¼ C fresh orange juice
½ C extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos
¼ C apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp. dried (or ¼ C fresh) dill weed
Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender.

Reminder

Next Thursday, April 8th is RAW Dessert Night, MY house @ 7:00 pm. If you are interested in helping to make a RAW dessert I could email you a recipe. I will demo how to make a pie crust using nuts and dates in a food processor. Sometimes the biggest hurdle in transitioning to RAW food is wrapping your head around how to make these food items in a new/non-traditional way. . . I will also demo how to open a Young Thai Coconut.

Here is are a Salad Recipe helpful and ideas from Jodi

My "salad" if that is what you can call it.
I break apart several broccoli spears into bite size pieces
Add fresh strawberries cut into quarters
slivered almonds
Use your favorite vinaigrette dressing to top and voila a side dish that is yummy, colorful and different.

Then I like to keep a mix of peppers (all three colors), green onions and carrot in a container in the fridge. I only keep enough to last a few days. When I am busy I can just throw these veggies on some greens, add a fresh tomato, and a few almonds and I have an instant salad. I have used it as a base to many other things also.

Also, Teresa learned why we use a Salad Spinner, because the oil in our vinaigrette won't stick to wet leaves . . .

More Salads

These recipes are from Lara . . .

Grapefruit Salad

greens
grapefruit
pecans - saute in a pan with a couple tablespoons of honey and coconut oil
top with honey vinaigrette dressing

Dressing - Honey Vinaigrette

This is my standard dressing that I eat on my greens every day.

Blend:
1 cup olive oil (you can substitute half of this with water if you want a lighter dressing)
1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar (or any other type of vinegar, lime or lemon juice)
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey

Lemon Tahini Dressing

Blend:
1/4 - 1/2 cup water or raw olive oil (I usually use 1/2 cup water)
1/4 cup raw tahini
juice from one lemon
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I usually use 1/2 tsp)
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt (I usually use 1/2 ts

I think tahini is an acquired taste. You can also grind up your own sesame seeds instead of buying tahini.

Sunflower Seed Salad Dressing (Vegan Ranch)

We also use this like sour cream on veggie fajitas or dip our veggie pizza in it. If we're eating taco salad I mix in some salsa and it tastes just like the spicy ranch dressing from Costa Vida or Cafe Rio.

1 cup raw sunflower seeds (soaked in water for a couple hours and drained if you can but you don't need to soak them first)
1 cup water
4+ Tablespoons lemon juice
1 or 2 cloves of fresh garlic
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.