Raw Recipes

I've been taking a class on raw foods for the past few weeks and it's been really exciting to cook new dishes for dinner and having a new way of thinking about food. I don't feel like I'm really cooking at work so as soon as I come home at night I start on dinner and, if I do say so myself, we have been eating like kings. I keep telling Jon how lucky he is to have such great food every night. But he does all the dishes so we're both lucky.
I thought a new feature on this blog could be some recipes that I have tried out that we have really enjoyed. Tonight we had raw mushroom soup (which can be heated if you want it hot) and crackers with beet tamarind dip. These recipes come courtesy of my raw class with Roger Melvin from Wild Health (wildhealth.co.nz)

Mushroom Soup

300g (about 25 each) mushrooms, crimini or button, roughly chopped
1/4 cup brazil nuts, soaked in water overnight
2 tablespoons karengo (seaweed), soaked 20 minutes in 1/2 cup water, drained
10-12 black olives, pitted
2 tablespoons white miso
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
garnish:
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped
chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, marjoram, or thyme

1. Combine soup ingredients in a blender or food processor, blend until smooth.
2. Add more salt or miso depending upon your taste. Add more water to thin the soup to desired consistency.
I added some fresh thyme with all of the ingredients. The more powerful your blender the smoother your soup will be.

Beetroot Tamarind Dip
use this as a side dish, serve it on crackers, or as a dip. thin it out with water and olive oil to use as a salad dressing

2-3 medium sized beets
1 tablespoon tamarind paste (found in asian food stores)
juice of 1/2 lemon, 2 tablespoons
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
1 knob ginger, sliced
1 apple, grated
2 teaspoons white miso
optional: 1 red chilli, chopped

1. Grate the beet and apple in the food processor (or by hand).
2. Combine with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth in a food processor.


perhaps the most amazing recipe was this chocolate mousse (actually healthy!!)

Chocolate Mousse:
2 medium avocadoes
1/2 cup whole cane sugar or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder (scharffen berger of berkeley is a great brand)
3/4 cup water
a pinch of salt

1. Process all ingredients in a blender. Add additional water if necessary to thin to the desired consistency. It can be frozen in an ice cube tray as 'fudgesicles.' Again, the more powerful the blender, the smoother the result.

Bon Appetit!