Dragon Snaps

This is the fourth recipe I had to make to get closer to being able to make the food in the picture in RAW. Maybe by tomorrow I can put it all together.

Soak 1 1/2C Golden Flaxseed in 2 1/2C filtered water for 6-8 hours. Combine in high speed blender with:
2 C water (You can vary this amount depending on how thick you want the mixture to be).
2Tbsp. tamari
2Tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. Thai chili powder
1/2tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. bittersweet paprika (you can try several different spices than these last three..whatever you like)
1/2tsp. minced onion
1/2tsp. minced garlic

***The way I do this is to blend all ingredients except the flax first. I cut the soaked flax into strips and feed them through the top of the vitamix gradually. I wouldn't do this if you have a normal blender because it could burn out the motor. If I didn't have a vitamix, I'd grind the flax seeds in a coffee or seed grinder, blend the other ingredients then slowly add the flax seeds.....even adding them by hand in a bowl is fine, but you need to be prepared to stir or whip like crazy so it doesn't lump up.*****

Spread the mixture 1/8th inch thick on teflex drying sheets. Dehydrate at 105 degrees until firm enough to flip the sheets onto the shelves. Cut into 1 1/2 x 3 inch pieces.

Store in an airtight container. Enjoy the crunch!

*****If you don't have a dehydrator, a convection oven set at its lowest temperature will work. I've never tried it in a regular oven.*****

These chips are snappy!




Have fun making variations. This isn't brain surgery or rocket science!

Cultured Cashew Cheese

This is a cheese press that I normally use for cultured raw goat's cheese. This is the first time I'm using it to press a cultured cashew cheese.

I'm so excited to be making this cultured cheese, because I was sad to think that if I jumped into this raw diet I would have to give up making my coat's cheese. I hadn't considered that one might use a culture with nuts to make a cheese. Roxanne Klein uses rejuvalac, made from wheat. I didn't want to do that. I've used young coconut kefir and it worked beautifully.

Soak 3C of raw cashews for 10-12 hours. Drain.
Add 1/4C. young coconut kefir
1/2tsp. Celtic sea salt
Blend in high speed blender until smooth.
Line a sieve with butter muslin (thicker than cheese cloth). Cover the top with a lettuce leaf, leave to ripen in a warm place for at least 12 hours. Excess liquid will drop out.
Remove the cheese and shape into a log or round or put into a cheese press if you have one. Put it in the refrigerator to firm up. Use within three days. (See if you can actually hoard it away that long). This cheese is delicious!

I've since tried some variations. One was to put the cultured cashew cheese in the blender with red peppers and jalapeno pepper to create a spicy cheese with a zingy red-orange colour. 

This is some interesting research:  Comparing raw and non raw cashews

"Here's a fascinating insight from Habib Bailey, a leader in the raw food movement when it was in its infancy:- I imagine that many of you raw folks have been told that all cashews are not truly raw, because they've been heated in the shell before being opened. Well, I'm here to give you some news that will be very well received by everyone who loves the rich, creamy consistency that cashews bring to many delicious raw recipes.

A long time ago, I also heard that cashews are heated in the shells. I did find out that it is true. But rather than simply leaving it at that, and never eating them again, I reasoned that whether they were truly raw or not depended on whether or not enough heat made it through the shell, to actually alter the nuts themselves. You see,the reason they are heated, is that there is a caustic substance coating the inside of the shell, that will burn the hands of those who open them for processing. They are briefly heated in order to disperse this natural, caustic agent. I heard that the heating didn't need to be very long, in order to accomplish this. This is what caused me to begin questioning how much heat actually made it through the shell, and whether it was of sufficient duration to actually
alter the nut.

So I devised an experiment:

I began making nut cheeses from all different kinds of nuts I could find, using a very simple recipe I have devised to make a cultured nut cheese. Whenever I tried a particular nut cheese, I would make two versions: one batch I would make from nuts labelled "raw" and the other batch I would make from nuts that were NOT labelled raw. For each kind of nut, I gave it several tries, to see if my results were the same each time. And guess what? My results were ALWAYS the same...

The results....

Nut cheeses made from raw nuts virtually always came out right. They tasted good, and had the kind of "pleasantly sharp" taste you get from the growth of healthful, beneficial bacteria. Similar to the kind that grows in good, live sauerkraut.

On the other hand, the nut cheeses made from nuts which were NOT labelled as raw, ALWAYS ended up spoiling. There was in every single case, a bad smell, and a bad taste. They were full of putrefactive bacteria, and had to be thrown away.

NOW FOR THE CLINCHER: If you make the same conclusion from these results that I did, you would also reason that if a nut cultured properly, then it MUST have been raw....

Well, I will tell you: every single batch of cashew cheese that I have ever made from cashews that were labelled as raw, ALWAYS cultured properly, and came out tasting and smelling very, very good... with no putrefactive odor or taste at all. In fact, whenever I have given samples of this cheese to people who haven't tasted it before, their eyes widen, and they have to have the recipe...

AND just like all the other kinds of nuts tested, every batch of cashew cheese made from cashews NOT labelled as raw, ALWAYS SPOILED.

So the only possibility that makes sense to me, is that although cashews are most definitely heated in the shells, that not enough heat makes it through the shell, and not for a sufficient duration, to detrimentally alter the cashew nut itself.

I have shared the story of my "experiment" and conclusions with many raw food teachers. Usually they are very glad to hear of it, because the cashew is an extremely versatile, tasty nut." by Habib Bailey

I 'm glad I waited on making this cheese until my order from a raw food company arrived. I used cashews that are organic, truly raw and hand cracked, from Indonesia. The batch of cashews I bought before that tasted of salt, even though they were supposed to be raw, and I don't know if they would have cultured very well.

Spicy Pine Nuts

This is the next ingredient toward creating the dish I have in mind.

Soak 1C. raw pine nuts in filtered water for 8-10 hours. Drain. Place in bowl and add:
1Tbsp. maple sugar ( I used syrup because it's what I had)
1 1/2tsp. Thai chili powder
1/2tsp. Himalayan salt
1tsp. Bittersweet paprika
Mix, spread on drier sheet and put in dehydrator at 105 degrees for 24 hours or until crisp.

Sprouted Buckwheat Granola (Festive)

I was walking around looking at everything the other day, looking at things not as solid objects but as vibrating textures in space. This coincided with finding a raw granola recipe which inspired this edible texture.
It's more of a list than a recipe.
Sprout these:
Buckwheat (more of this)
millet
amaranth
quinoa
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds

Soak these ingredients:
sesame seeds
currants or chopped raisins
walnuts

It may seem strange to soak a grain or seed, then dehydrate it. Our bodies work with enzymes, which is why raw foods are useful to the body. Not all raw foods though have usable enzymes. As Roxanne Klein says in "Raw" "Nuts and seeds have enzyme inhibitors that prevent them from growing into a tree. Only after they have been sprouted will these enzyme inhibitors dissolve away. This means that unsprouted nuts and seeds are almost as difficult to digest as cooked ones". So all this sprouting and soaking makes the nutrients more bio-available to our bodies. Once dehydrated, although the taste and feel of this granola is crunchy, after a few chews, the texture becomes creamy and it's more delicious that I was even expecting it to be.

Add:
freeze dried angel hair coconut
blueberries, dehydrated (I used frozen, let the juice drip out then dehydrated)
strawberries fresh..they are in season here...slice then dehydrate
vanilla
sea salt
agave nectar
coconut oil (or oil of choice)

Sprout grains for 2 days.
Soak seeds and nuts for 2 hours.

Dehydrate slices of strawberry and blueberries (I used frozen) separately.

Although not essential, I mixed coconut oil with agave nectar and coated the walnuts in this, dehydrating them separately as well so that the nuts are coated. (Really, this is the star part of the ensemble with the walnut crunch and its delicious coating. The little seeds and grains stick to the coating).

Mix all the rest and dehydrate at 110 degreesF on mesh sheets until crunchy 12-14 hours.
Good with fresh almond milk or just plain.

inspiration for this recipe

Cheesy Kale Green Chips

 Cheesy Kale Green Chips


Healthy and crunchy.

(add some tiny red tomatoes as garnish and make it festive!)
1/3 cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours (optional)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 C water: this is to make it the right consistency to massage the mixture on the leaves. (If you like lots of dip on chips, use less water).
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
(or any good salt)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ medium shallot or ½ small yellow onion (optional)
½ tsp. chili powder
Pinch cayenne
Pinch turmeric ( I use fresh, and more than a pinch)
4 cloves garlic (we like garlic)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients well in Vitamix Blender.
Add enough water to make this mixture into a creamed soup texture and pour into low sided bowl.
Dip kale or collard leaves (or Amaranth or Swiss chard, be creative, but the curly kale holds the most sauce) in mixture and massage the mixture onto the leaves. Arrange them on dehydrator sheets. Dry them for
4-6 hours in dehydrator (until crispy). I dehydrate at low temperatures 105-110 degrees so that the enzymes remain intact and this takes up to 8 hours to dry them to a crispy state.

inspiration for these chips from:  Robyn Openshaw

These are utterly addictive and completely healthy. Better and tastier than chips and dip.
In a coastal climate you need to add a desiccant to a tightly closed tin to keep them crispy but if they loose their crisp just put them in the dehydrator or oven at the lowest possible temperature to crisp them up again.

Here are some different kale chip recipes from: Vanessa Nowitzky, a student of Victoria Boutenko
I haven't tried them yet, but here is what she says:
"These chips are so fabulous you will never want regular chips again. Dried kale is surprisingly filling-- these nutritious and rich chips are a meal unto themselves. Each of the following recipes uses about 1 head of green curly kale. Ruffles have ridges, therefore curly kale holds the flavor best. Don't use the woody stems. Tear large bite-sized pieces of the leaves into a large bowl and pour a sauce (recipes below) over the kale, massaging with your fingers until the kale is thoroughly saturated. Spread saturated kale pieces onto dehydrator trays with Teflon sheets and dehydrate at 105° for 12- 15 hours. The leaves shrink and should emerge crispy."

(NB..I like to use whole leaves when making these as appetizers. They are fun to nibble, using the central stem as a handle.)

Cheezy Kale Chips
This rich and flavorful chip is sure to please. Saturate kale in Pine Nut Cheeze Sauce:

• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 large red or orange bell pepper, cut into pieces
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Grind pine nuts in food processor until crumbling into paste. Add bell pepper chunks, lemon juice and yeast, and grind until creamy. A little extra water may be necessary if the nuts don't blend in. Follow directions (above).

Hummus Kale Chips

• 1/2 cup sprouted pumpkin seeds
• optional: 1/4 cup sprouted sesame seeds
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 stalks green onion
• 2 stalks celery
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne

Grind seeds well in coffee grinder. Chop all other ingredients and blend together in food processor. Follow directions (above).

Sesame Kale Chips

• 1 cup sprouted sesame seeds
• 2 medium plums (pitted, about ¾ cup chopped)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, minced
• Cayenne to taste.

Grind sesame seeds in coffee grinder. Blend all other ingredients in food processor, finally adding ground sesame. Follow directions (above).

Fat Free Kale Chips
In the Vita-Mix, blend the following ingredients well without water (use the tamper):

• 1 medium small zucchini
• 1 large red, orange or yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 stalks celery
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• dash of cayenne pepper or to taste. Follow directions (above).

Italian

This tomato and pesto flavored chip is made with Purple Curly Kale.

• 1 large Tomato
• 1 medium small yellow zucchini
• approx. 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 large bunch fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped onion or leek 

I changed this recipe by adding a few tiny tomatoes and some wonderful dehydrated tomato slices, a green zucchini, doubled the garlic, freshly shelled pine nuts, more onion, 1/2 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt, added a jalapeno pepper and nutritional yeast (Making it a "cheezy" Italian, I guess). I also pulled the curly kale into bite size pieces away from the central stem, mostly to save space in the dehydrator but also making the "massaging" of the sauce into the kale easier and faster. Hmmmm.....I guess it's a different recipe now, as I seem to have changed every ingredient.
I like these spicy, tomato flavoured chips. I also like that they are torn into small pieces so they can be eaten like popcorn.....not as formal or beautiful as dipping and dehydrating the whole leaf, but still good. The cheesy kale chips, the first recipe, is still my favourite but variety, after all, is the spice of life. 

Walnut Pate Party Boats

Walnut Pate Party Boats

3 Cups Soaked Walnuts
1/4 Cup Nama Shoyu (Or less, depending on taste)
1-2 Pinches Sea Salt
Cumin to taste
1 Handful of Cilantro
2 Scallions
2 Carrots
2 Celery Stalks

Put all in a food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds. Serve on anything!

Can also add kefir cheese

If you want to get creative, you can add the celery stalks, for the white one, then the carrots and some beets for the orange one, and cilantro, scallions, basil......anything green you like, for the green one. If you feel like it you can add pine nuts. Serve in raw pepper boats or zucchini boats, or wrapped inlettuce or in a wrap or with flax crackers.