So, I love indian food. Before going raw I would eat it all the time and I was starting to develop a strange addiction to curry. Using the cauliflower samosas recipe from Raw Food Real World I made this smaller, bite size dumplings that are perfect for bento boxes. Served with mango chutney they are decadent and very, very flavorful. On the top layer there is almond-cashew butter (better than roasted), cherries and pieces of one of those organic raw bars that are actually not 100% raw but are deliciously similar to chocolate chip cookies.
Juicing
So, my birthday was almost three weeks ago. I got two presents (and some money from my wonderful mom). I love when I get presents from people that know me very well. They know exactly what makes me happy. My friend Brian gave me a chess board, the cutest chess board on earth. My friend Rodrigo gave a JUICER! And I’m having a wonderful time with it.
Now I’m very ready for my juice fast. Next week. 10 days. Might go for longer.
And just to share some happy memories, I went to Quintessence for my birthday dinner. The people sitting next to us heard it was my birthday and congratulated me. When my friends and I were done with dinner, the waiter (who was a great guy, by the way) brought us tiramisu and banana-strawberry ice cream. The people next to us had got it for my birthday. Oh, how wonderful is to share! And how beautiful would be a world were we could all love each other.
Food Gallery
Hey, I haven’t been doing too much bento lately, I got very much into salads (I guess is the season). I will do some now that summer is coming (yeah!)
But oh well, I have a nice camera and lots of nice food, so I created a food gallery that I will kip on updating with everything from simple juices, salads and smoothies, to every gourmet creation that I attempt. I recently got the desserts book from Cafe Gratitud and I have yet to try it. My best friend’s birthday is next week, so I might be preparing a cake this weekend…
For the gallery, click here, or just go the the top of the page.
Water
So, let’s talk about water.
I have been reading Eating for beauty, by David Wolfe. One of the things he talks a lot about is water.
I went to High Vibe the other day to try to get a juicer, (but I didn’t get it because I had less money than what I thought) and I was kind of shocked to see that they sold bottled water.
For people like us, who are very concerned about their health, is totally understandable to try to get the cleanest water possible, but… does that means bottled water?
I live in New York, the city with the cleanest tap water in the country, so I’m not all that worried about my water, but I am very worried about water in general.
So, the bottled water issue is not only about the plastic (which is a HORRIBLE problem in the world) but mostly about the idea of… buying water.
Do you want to know some reasons for not buying water?
Here you go.
Because water is a human right and not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit;
Because bottled water corporations are changing the very way people think about water and undermining people’s confidence in public water systems;
Because up to 40% of bottled water in the U.S. and Canada is sourced from municipal tap water;
Because some bottlers have run over communities’ concerns and the environment when they extract water and build bottling plants to get local spring and ground water;
Because bottled water travels many miles from the source, results in the burning of massive amounts of fossil fuels, and contributes to the billions of plastic bottles ending up in our landfills;
Because worldwide there is a need for investments in public water systems to ensure equal access to water, a key ingredient for prosperity and health for all people; and
Because solutions to ensuring water as a fundamental human right require people acting together and standing up for public water systems.
If you want to find out more about corporate abuse of water, clic here.
If you are worried about your water to be clean, you and get a Brita Filter or boil it.
Last, I would like to share some pictures from the Tap Water Challenge in my school.
Pasta
Pesto pasta, mango, raspberries.
The smoothie was coconut, coconut water, blueberries, almonds, vanilla.
The Sandwich Bento
On top:
Baby carrots with lime juice and cayenne pepper.
Bottom:
A sandwich!
With tomato and avocado slices, spinach and sunflower seed pate.
The Green and Red Bento
This went surprisingly good for someone that doesn’t have a mandoline slicer.
TOP LAYER:
Green grapes and sliced red apple
BOTTOM LAYER:
Zucchini rolls
Inspired in the lasgana bites of Vida Foods.
I’m broke until graduation, which won’t happen for another year an a half if it happens. This week was particularly bad and I couldn’t afford to buy any nuts and I didn’t have half of the ingredients for this recipe, so I change it around.
1 medium zucchini sliced as thin as possible (The best if to use a mandoline slicer, I don’t own one, so I just spent a lot of time cutting)
The tomato sauce
2 small tomatoes
1 cup of sun dried tomatoes, I use the ones from Trader Joe’s. They are packed in oil and they are delicious. If the tomatoes are dried, soak for 2 hours or more.
1/2 of olive oil if tomatoes are not packed in oil
1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
A pinch of pepper
Mix all the ingredients in a high speed blender.
Sunflower pesto
Pesto usually is made with pinenuts and I usually make it with pistachios with Sarma’s recipe from Raw Food, Real Word, but I didn’t have either of those things. I just had sunflower seeds, which are very cheap.
2 packed cups of basil
1/2 olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
Process in food processor or, what I do, I put the stuff in my vitamix at speed 3 or 4 and then I raise it to 5 or 6. Leave it slightly chunky but with no leaves wondering around.
Assembly
Slightly marinate zucchini with a little bit of extra olive oil. Put a layer of tomato sauce and on top a layer of pesto. Keep the end clean so it sticks together more easily. Roll and enjoy.
Stuffed Mushrooms
I wanted to put something else in the bento, so I just took two white bottom cap mushrooms and stuffed one with pesto and the other one with tomato sauce. It was rather late at night, so I just put them in the dehydrator and left them there all night. I liked them much better when they are more dehydrated, they have more flavor and them absorb the flavor from the tomato and pesto.
The other thing in the box are tomato flax crackers (my favorites). Super easy, pretty much the same than every other kind of flax cracker. Soak the seeds, add some lemon juice and blended tomato. Salt. I like to dehydrate them for a long time. Crunchier.
Sushi/ stuffed mushrooms/ Almond Butter & Jelly
I had been wanting to make some sushi for a long while. Last summer, before I went raw, I used to eat sushi everyday. I loved the avocado/cucumber rolls. I tried some raw nori rolls but I didn’t like them too much. I missed the rice. When I got Sarma’s book and I saw her sushi recipe it looked pretty awesome, but I didn’t know where to find jicama because I never saw it in New York. I finally took the time to go look for it and it was surprisingly easy to find in Whole Foods.
TOP PART:
Almond Butter (I added some salt and a little bit of raw honey)
Sliced apples
Blackberry/Cherry Jelly:
Dried unsweeten, pitted cherries
Fresh black berries
Agave Nectar
Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and chill.
Cinnamon Flax crackers:
Golden Flax seeds, soaked for at least 1 hour
Agave nectar
Sea salt
Cinnammon
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Spread on a teflex sheet and dehydrate for 4 hours. Flip. Dehydrate for 4 more hours (You can cut them into shapes when they are still a little bit moist.
BOTTOM PART:
Kappa Rolls:
The rice recipe is from Raw Food, Real World.
6 cups of cubed jicama
1/2 cup of pinenuts
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
3 tablespoons agave nectar
Jicama and pinenuts to the food processor till rice-like size. Press the mixture between clean towels to remove excess of moisture.
In a large bowl combine mixture with the rest of the ingredients. Spread mixture in the dehydrator and dehydrate for 2 hours at 115º F
For the filling I just used thinly sliced cucumber but you can put anything you want. I didn’t add nama shoyu because I thought the brown rice vinegar gave the sushi enough flavor.
For the assembly you just need to spread the rice in half a nori sheet and roll it with a sushi mat. Just like making normal sushi but easier because this rice is more sticky.
For the stuffed mushrooms:
Remove the steams of any kind of mushrooms. I used common white bottom mushrooms.
Marinate in nama shoyu and a bit of olive oil for 2 hours or more.
I stuffed them with pignoli riccotta, also from Sarma’s book.
For the riccotta:
2 cups of pinenuts, soaked for 2 hours or more
Juice of one big lime or 2 little ones
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
Process all the ingredients not too smooth. I like it more chunky.
For the assembly stuff the marinated mushrooms with the riccotta and sprinkle with chopped chives. Dehydrate for 3 hours at 115ºF
First Bento
So, I got my first bento box from my friend Jeff. I got really excited because I had been wanting to get one to pack my lunches to school. I love the idea of this really cute lunches, I feel it reminds me of the value of food, of having something to eat. It’s like a treasure in a little special package.
In the top I had the sweet stuff: Almond butter, raspberries, blackberries and sliced apple.
In the bottom part I had cauliflower couscous and chickpeas fritters.
The cauliflower couscous was:
Cauliflower
Lemon juice
Sea Salt
Chopped tomatoes
Chives
Tahini
I didn’t messure anything, but it’s easy to calculate.
The recipe for the fritter is in The Daily Raw Cafe blog:
http://www.thedailyrawcafe.com/2008/04/freestyling-garden-chickpea-fritters.html
