Garlic-Tahini Kale Salad
(serves 2, depending on appetite) 

For the salad:

2 bunches lacinto kale

several pinches sea salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1/2 c sundried botija olives (or however many you like)

2-4 T Spirulina Crunchies

optional additions: sprouts, saurkraut, other fresh herbs (basil or dill especially), sundried tomatoes, cucumbers, etc

Garlic-tahini dressing:

1/2 c stone-ground tahini

4 T freshly squeezed lemon

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 T chickpea miso

4 T extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp tamari

1 tsp tumeric

1/2-3/4 c water  (depending on desired consistency, I used 3/4 c)

First, tear the leaves of kale off of the stems. Place them in a large bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and lemon, and massage well to break down the kale (be sure you don’t have any cuts on your hands or this will hurt!). This will take a few minutes to really get it soft but it’s worth it.

massaged kale

Once soft, set aside to make the dressing. For the dressing, simply blend all ingredients in a high speed blender and pour over the salad. You will most likely have some dressing leftover, it’s great as a dip or a sauce for raw or steamed cauliflower.

garlic tahini dressing

Massage dressing into salad to coat the leaves. Top with Spirulina Crunchies, chopped parsley, olives…

garlic-tahini kale salad

…and any other additions you would like.

topped with spirulina crunchies and ruby kraut

Enjoy!

Maple Cream Maca Bars

Maca Bars

1 c soaked almonds (you will need 1 c dry almonds total for the bars and the cream)

1 c coconut flakes

5 T lucuma powder

3 T super maca powder

6 T maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

3 T coconut sugar (adjust to taste, omit for less sweetness)

2 T raw almond butter

6 T melted coconut creme

12 drops vanilla stevia (english toffee flavor is great too)

First, you will need to soak your almonds for 24 hrs. Rinse them first and be sure to change the soaking water and rinse again at least once during the 24 hours. You will have approximately 1 1/2 cups after they’ve been soaking. Use 1 c for the bars and the other 1/2 c to make the almond milk. Add 1 c of the soaked almonds to a food processor and grind until well broken down but not liquified. Add the coconut flakes and lucuma powder and process again to combine. Next, add the remaining ingredients and process again until the mixture clumps together. You may need to stop during the processing to scrape down the bottom and sides to make sure everything is incorporated. Next, remove the batter to pan lined with wax paper (no need for the wax paper if you’re using a glass or non-stick dish) and press down. To smooth the surface, place another piece of wax paper over the top and smooth out with your hands or the back of a spoon. I used a large loaf pan but you can use any medium sized pan or dish and vary the thickness accordingly. Place in the fridge to chill while you make the maple cream.

Maple Cream

1/2 c almond milk*

1/4 c raw cashews

5 T maple syrup

1 T + 1 tsp lucuma powder

1/8 tsp salt (add more if needed)

1/2 c melted coconut creme

maple extract, optional

*Almond milk:

Blend 1/2 c soaked raw almonds with 2 c water and strain through a nut milk bag.

Add almond milk, cashews, maple syrup, lucuma powder and salt to the blender and blend until smooth (if you don’t have a high speed blender you will need to soak your cashews for a minimum of 4 hours before blending). Add the coconut creme and maple extract if using and blend well again. Pour over the chilled maca bars and return to the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours (overnight is best). No need to chill the cream if using as a topping for pancakes or squash, etc…Serve the finished bars as is or top with an extra drizzle of maple syrup. Enjoy!

Peanutty Chocolate Macaroons

2 c coconut flakes

3/4 c raw cacao powder

1/2 c wild jungle peanuts, ground into flour

1/2 c wild jungle peanuts, chopped

1/2 c  + 2 T wild jungle peanut butter

1/2 c + 2 T raw honey

2 T lucuma powder

1/4 c melted coconut creme

1 tsp pink salt

1 tsp vanilla powder

First, grind 1/2 c wild jungle peanuts to a flour in a food processor or coffee grinder. Chop the other 1/2 c wild jungle peanuts and set aside. Add the peanut flour to a bowl with the coconut flakes, cacao powder, lucuma powder, salt and vanilla powder. Mix to evenly incorporate. Next, add the wild jungle peanut butter and melted creme and mix together with a spoon or your hands. Add the honey and chopped peanuts and continue incorporating. The mixture will be thick so it’s best to just get your hands dirty at this point to really get everything combined. Once everything is combined, scoop batter onto a large plate or cookie sheet covered with wax paper. You can use a small ice cream scoop, a melon baller or just roll them into a ball with your hands and press them onto the plate to flatten the bottom. Chill in the fridge for an hour to set and enjoy! You can also dehydrate these if you prefer a slightly chewier texture. Just set the dehydrator at 115 degrees and dehydrate for 10-12 hours.
Note: You can also make these into bars by pressing them into a wax paper lined dish and cutting them into bars once chilled.

~Wishing you a beautiful holiday season filled with sweetness of every kind!~

“Holiday Survival” Superfood Porridge

2 T chia seeds

1 c water (+ water for soaking gojis)

1/4 c goji berries

3-4 T lucuma powder

1-2 T spirulina crunchies

pinch vanilla powder

jarrah bee pollen, optional

Soak the goji berries for 1 hour or more (I soaked them for 3 hours). Stir the chia seeds into 1 c of water until they start to expand (stir for a few minutes so they don’t clump together). Let soak at least 10 minutes, I find it convenient to start soaking them when I start the goji berries (soaked both for 3 hours). After both are soaked and the gojis have plumped up, stir most of the gojis and all of the lucuma and the vanilla powder into the chia, adding some of the goji soak water to reach your desired consistency. Top with the remaining gojis and the Spirulina Crunchies (or you can mix the Crunchies in to disguise their taste) and enjoy! This is also delicious topped with Jarrah bee pollen

Cherry Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

Sour Cherry Jam

1 c dried golden cherries

1 c water

1 1/2 T chia seeds

1 T raw honey (add more if you like it sweeter)

Soak cherries in 1 c water for 1 hour or more or for 1/2 hour in the dehydrator (do this while making the cookie base). Add the soaked cherries to a high speed blender with 1/2 c of the soak water, chia seeds, and honey. Blend at medium-high speed until well blended but not completely smooth (good to leave it a little chunky to achieve a jam-like consistency. Use to fill indentations in cookies once done and use leftovers as you would any other jam…Or you can add to smoothies or use as ice cream topping. Yum!

Coconut Cookie

1 1/2 c coconut chips

1 1/2 c raw cashews

4 T coconut flour

4 T lucuma powder

4 T raw honey

2 T extra virgin coconut oil

1-2 T water (I used 2)

8 drops vanilla stevia

1 tsp vanilla powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ginger powder

Add coconut chips to food processor and grind to a powder (this will take a minute or so). Remove ground coconut to a bowl, add cashews back to the food processor and grind to a flour (wait until there is no more rattling sounds with the processor on). Add the ground coconut back to the food processor, along with the rest of the ingredients and process to form a dough. Shape dough into cookies and use your thumb or the back of a spoon (or anything else you can think of) to make indentations in the cookies. Fill liberally with jam and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 8-10 hours (you can do more or less depending on your desired cookie texture). Serve with a glass of your favorite milk and enjoy!

Here’s one served plain as a muffin…

And now dressed up for the full effect…

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

Note: You’ll notice that I used carrot instead of pumpkin for these  (I would rather eat raw carrot than raw pumpkin) but you can easily substitute raw pumpkin or squash for the carrot.

1 c pecans

2 c coconut chips

2 c shredded carrots

1/2 c coconut flour

4 T lucuma powder

4 T coconut sugar

3-4 T pumpkin pie spice (will depend on the brand you use)

2 c pitted medjool dates, soaked 1-2 hrs (or soak for less time in the dehydrator)

12 drops vanilla stevia

1 tsp vanilla powder

2 pinches sea salt

In a food processor, grind the pecans and coconut chips to a crumbly powder. Next add the shredded carrot, coconut flour, lucuma powder, coconut sugar, salt, vanilla powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Process until well combined and remove mixture to a bowl. Add soaked dates to the food processor with the stevia and process well to a paste (you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times). Add the dry mixture back to the processor with the date paste and process well until a dough forms. To make muffins or cupcakes, form into muffin shapes and place in paper muffin cups. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 4-6 hours, cool and frost. Alternatively, you can pat into cookie shapes for cookies and dehydrate or simply chill in the fridge.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/4 c raw cashews, soaked 8 hours or overnight

1/2 c + 2 T water

3 T fresh lemon juice

1/4 c raw honey*

pinch sea salt

8 drops vanilla stevia

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

1 T lecithin powder

1/2 c melted coconut oil

1 T melted coconut creme

*This frosting is not overly sweet. Feel free to add more honey if you like it on the sweeter side.

Blend cashews, water, lemon, honey, salt, and stevia in a high speed blender until smooth. Add the lecithin, coconut oil, creme, and vanilla powder and blend again to combine. Pour into a bowl and chill for 2 hours or more in the fridge. You can speed this process by chilling it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so but watch that it doesn’t get too solid. If frosting cupcakes when they’re warm from the dehydrator, serve them immediately as the frosting softens rather quickly on a warm cupcake. Alternatively, let the cupcakes cool slightly before frosting and store in the fridge if not serving right away. Top with pomegranate seeds, cinnamon, or superfood of choice.
Note: You will have more than enough frosting for the cupcake recipe. Use leftovers as a sweet spread for raw crackers or bread, a luxurious addition to your smoothies, or try blending with nut milk to make a rich cream for your favorite coffee or tea drink (amazing with chai).

Enjoy!

Chocolate Superfood Brownies

1 c pecans

1/2 c white mulberries

3/4 c hunza raisins

4 T cacao powder

2 T lucuma powder

2 T honey

4 T green hemp seed meal

4 T (2.5 oz) cacao paste, melted

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

Grind pecans, mulberries, green hemp seed meal, salt and vanilla in food processor until you get a fine crumb. Add the hunzas, cacao powder, lucuma powder and honey and process again until well incorporated. Add the melted cacao paste last and grind again. The batter will still look crumbly but should stick together when you pinch it. Remove batter to a pan or a piece of wax paper and shape into a square by pressing down the top and packing in the sides. Place another piece of wax paper over the top and smooth out with a rolling pin or the back of a knife. Score your brownie square into desired pieces with a knife and place in the fridge to chill. Remove from the fridge for a few minutes to soften slightly before serving (this will give the center a fudgier consistency). Dust with cacao powder or lucuma powder and serve

Wild Jungle Choco Bites

These Wild Jungle Choco Bites are insanely rich and delicious and can easily be made into cookies, bars or balls. Dark, fudgey chocolate embraces subtle peanut undertones to produce a true crowd pleaser that any chocolate peanut fan will love. Try them out and see for yourself!

1 c cacao nibs

3/4 c white mulberries

1/2 c golden cherries (or substitute with hunza raisins)

1/4 c lucuma powder

1/2 c cacao powder

several pinches salt

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

1 1/2 c wild jungle peanuts (reserve 1/2 c for the end)

2 T lucuma vanilla creme

1/4 c extra virgin coconut oil

1 T raw honey or sweetener of choice

1 dropper full English Toffee liquid stevia (or additional honey)

First, grind cacao nibs well in a food processor (this will take a minute- grind to a very fine crumb). Next, add the mulberries, cherries, lucuma, cacao powder, salt and vanilla and process well again. Remove this mixture to a bowl and add 1 c peanuts, lucuma vanilla creme, and coconut oil back to the food processor. Process well until smooth. Add the cacao mixture back to the food processor with the honey and stevia and process again to combine. Taste for sweetness and salt and adjust flavor if necessary. Finally, add 1/2 c wild jungle peanuts and process briefly again to get chuncky bits of peanut (feel free to omit this step if you prefer a smoother texture or a more subtle peanut taste). Remove batter to a large bowl and shape into cookies, bars or balls. Roll balls in lucuma powder or additional chopped peanuts. Chill in the fridge and enjoy!

Before I get to the hummus, however, I must share this special mylk…

Silky Pumpkin Seed Mylk

Pumpkin seeds have so many health benefits. They’re high in protein and minerals like zinc, magnesium and iron; reported to help lower cholestorol; anti-inflammatory; anti-parasitic, etc…Keeping this mylk on hand is an easy, delicious way to take advantage of these health benefits on a daily basis.

1 c styrian pumpkin seeds, soaked 3-4 hours and rinsed

3-4 c purified water (depending on desired thickness)

few pinches salt

1 tsp vanilla powder

sweetener to taste

few pinches cinnamom or pumpkin pie spice, optional

1 nut mylk bag

Blend rinsed pumpkin seeds with water in a high speed blender until smooth (when there’s no rattling sounds and the color looks uniform). Strain well through a nut mylk bag into a large container or bowl and reserve pulp for another use (see below). Return mylk to the blender after it’s been rinsed and add the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust sweetness, spice or salt if necessary. Try adding to chai tea, smoothies, or mix with chia to make chia porridge. Enjoy!

Now on to our next feature…

Pumpkin Seed Pesto Hummus

1/4 c tahini

1/2 c zucchini, peeled and chopped

3-4 T lemon juice (4 if you like it more lemony)

1 small clove garlic

2 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T purified water

1/4 c chopped basil

2 T chopped parsley

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

pepper to taste

3/4 c pumpkin seed pulp (reserved from making nut milk)

paprika for dusting, optional

Blend all ingredients except the pumpkin seed pulp in a high speed blender. Add as much of the pulp as you can to still be able to blend (you’ll need to use the plunger). Remove the hummus to a bowl and stir in the remaining pulp. Alternatively, you can process everything in a food processor, adding the pulp last. Serve as hummus dip, in marinated or dehydrated mushroom caps (top with Spirulina Crunchies), in marinated zucchini ribbons or in nori sheets with sprouts, cucumber and julienned carrot…

The options are endless Enjoy!

I no longer eat a 100% raw diet but will always love my raw desserts. As I’m sure you can tell from my previous post, I’m on a bit of an ice cream kick lately. Nearly all of the desserts I did at the restaurant involved one key component- ice cream or sorbet. I’ve been doing this for a while now but it still amazes me that you can create something so rich and luxurious from such simple, healthy ingredients. Yes, it’s still a treat (I wouldn’t sit down to eat a pint of this in one go) but to me, raw ice cream is the essence of healthy indulgence…ok, maybe raw chocolate too but more on that later

For this recipe, I took a pure classic- vanilla ice cream- and dressed it up a bit. It’s the kind of ice cream I would’ve done for that restaurant in New York and would be equally impressive at any dinner pary…whether a party for many or just for one

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Gingered Cherries

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream:

1 c water

3/4 c raw cashews

1/4 c raw honey

1 T xylitol powder* or lucuma powder

4 drops vanilla stevia

4 drops Medicine Flower vanilla essence (or use alcohol-free vanilla flavoring)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

1/4 c melted coconut creme

1 T melted coocnut oil

Gingered Cherries:

1/2 c dried golden cherries

1/2 c water

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

Blend all ingredients except coconut creme and coconut oil in a high speed blender until smooth. Add the melted creme and oil and blend again. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions or freeze in ice cube trays and blend just before serving. For the cherries, mix all ingredients in a bowl and place in the dehyrator at 115 degrees for 1 hour (best to do 1 hour before serving so the cherries are a bit warm). If you don’t have a dehydrator, simply mix in a bowl and place on the counter to sit for 1-2 hours. The cherries will still absorb the liquid, they just won’t be warm. Serve the ice cream topped with the cherries and enjoy

*Xylitol powder is simply xylitol (widely available online and at Whole Foods) ground down in a coffee grinder, spice grinder or Magic Bullet. Lucuma powder is delicious as well, the ice cream just won’t be quite as white.