Archive for the ‘food’ Category

Ingredients:

1/2 c cashews, soaked (raw, unsalted whole cashews)

1/2 c agave nectar or raw honey

1/3 c cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c desiccated coconut

2 TBS coconut oil

This recipe makes about 2/3 c to 3/4 c nut butter.

Directions:

Soak cashews in water for at least an hour (4-6 hours, or more, is ideal).  Remove the soaked cashews and add them with the remaining ingredients to a high speed blender, or food processor.  Blend until mixture is smooth.

If you don’t have a high speed blender it won’t be very smooth and will taste crunchy. That’s also ok.

If the nut butter seems too thick and your machine is having a hard time really blending the butter, add a bit more agave, honey or coconut oil to make blending easier.

What is Buckwheat?

Buckwheat, which is commonly found in raw food diet recipes, has a slightly deceptive name that can easily cause confusion. Buckwheat is not wheat, nor is it related to wheat. It is neither a grain nor a cereal and is gluten-free. So where does it come from? Buckwheat is derived from the seeds of a flowering plant.

Culinary Uses of Buckwheat

The triangular seeds, known as buckwheat groats, are frequently made into flour for use in noodles, crepes, and many gluten-free products on the market these days. For those practicing a raw food diet, raw buckwheat groats can be found in many recipes for things like granola, cookies, cakes, crackers, and other bread-like products. Buckwheat is a good binding agent and, when soaked, becomes very gelatinous. Soaking, rinsing, and re-drying the groats produces a crunchy buckwheat crispy that is nice as well.

Raw Buckwheat and Kasha

Toasted buckwheat is used to make traditional dishes in several different cultures. Generally toasted buckwheat is referred to as kasha. If you are looking for raw buckwheat groats, you’ll want to avoid kasha. You can always tell by the colour and the aroma. Kasha is a much darker reddish-brown colour and has a strong nutty, toasted scent to it. Raw buckwheat groats are light brown or green and don’t have much of an aroma at all.

Nutritional Benefits of Buckwheat

Buckwheat is high in protein and fibre. It also is rich with magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, omega 3 and 6, niacin and folate. Buckwheat is fantastic because it is so versatile and can be used in numerous ways.

Interestingly, buckwheat is currently being studied for its nutritional benefits. It is used to relieve some of the symptoms of Type II diabetes as well as high blood pressure. Buckwheat contains rutin, known to strengthen capillary walls.

on our recent trip to joburg to launch shamballah tribal community gatherings, we took a few days out to visit with our friend ingrid litman, chef at leafy greens cafe in muldersdrift, gauteng. we discovered a raw vegan haven/heaven that we’re definitely looking forward to frequenting on future visits.  despite several comments that muldersdrift was “way out there” we really enjoyed the scenic half-hour drive from sandton and it was definitely worth it!

we drove down the dirt road, parked in a lot rimmed with trees blossoming with fluffy white cotton-ball puffs, and walked down the shady tree lined path suggested by the arrow pointing to leafy greens cafe.  it was sweltering hot, but we were surrounded by rows and rows of vegetable garden, ancient trees, and the sounds of children in a jumpy castle.

we came up on the cafe and were greeted with a smile by our lovely friend ingrid, who offered us a special green smoothie of kale and strawberries.  we were parched and starving and this was just the thing to kick off our special pig-out raw food day.

 

 

she introduced us to antonia de luca, the radiant and friendly owner.  antonia was trained in raw food living and nutrition at hippocrates health institute in florida, while ingrid completed programs at  gabriel cousens’ tree of life institute in arizona.  their combined expertise and knowledge is evident in the artful variety of love-filled organic raw and vegan food they offer, both to nourish the body and delight the tastebuds.

there is a menu as well as the buffet table which is R80 a plate and there is an amazing variety of options, based on whatever is fresh in the garden.

 

 

there is something for everyone, from the seasoned raw foodist, to those just testing the waters.  we loved absolutely everything we tasted, especially the desserts!

 

 

after our meal, we had the pleasure of being taken on a tour of the organic gardens by ingrid.  the farm grows all of their produce according to organic standards and principles of permaculture and the life force coming from the fruit, herbs, veggies, flowers, and trees is so evident!

if you’re in the area, please make it a priority to support this restaurant and shop.  they have a well appointed shop complete with all of your superfoods, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, supplements and more!

next time i’d love to bring back some banana bread spiced walnuts and vanilla maple brazil nuts. YUM!

during our last visit to cape town, we had the pleasure of having raw buffet breakfast with noel and natalie of earthshine at their home in pinelands.  it was a raw foodists’ dream!  laid out on the table before us was everything that we could’ve asked for before a 5 hour drive home to plettenberg bay.

for R100 each we enjoyed a green juice with wheatgrass, buckwheat muesli with seeds and dried fruit, almond milk, the most delightful raw pancakes with cashew maca cream and maple syrup, a tropical fruit salad with pomegranate arils, and topped all of it off with hemp powder, goji berries, and cacao nibs!  it was a breakfast to remember, and we’re still dreaming about it!

if you’re in cape town and free on a tuesday morning, this is your chance to try out raw food at it’s best, and see how delicious even raw breakfast can be!  and if you’ve been dabbling with raw foods and haven’t yet figured out what to make for breakfast, get some inspiration!

noel and natalie are also pioneering raw food convenience foods and have a selection of organic raw crackers, aubergine biltong, pizza bases, sauerkraut, and buckwheat muesli for sale.  our favorite was the pink sauerkraut and the red onion and chive crackers.  you can also take away an amazing raw pizza to munch on throughout your day!  we’re totally looking forward to tuesdays in cape town!

for more info or to order foods from earthshine, visit their facebook page, or contact natalie at natalie@earthshine.co.za or on 074 167 9792 !

one of my weaknesses has always been quiche, and since going raw and vegan, i’ve yet to have quiche.  needless to say, this was one small bit of bliss that was missing from my life. during my days in seattle, i would often stock up on these frozen quiches from trader joe’s.  i probably ate these every day for breakfast on my way to work!

craig and i attempted to make this raw vegan quiche and it immediately brought me back!  we didn’t get the cheesey-egg base quite right yet, too much lemon.  but i think next time a bit less lemon, a touch of nutritional yeast, and about 2 more hours on the dehydrator and we’ll have it spot on!  when we get it right, we’ll post the recipe.

YAY!

love,

v

our latest shamballah gathering in cape town, held 5th june at novalis ubuntu institute was a successful evening filled with magic and heart connections!  we received a mini golden pyramid of peace that arrived from the airport in cape town and brought straight to the event!  we had luscious raw food from earthshine!

for more photos see our album on facebook here.

two nights in a row i’ve made this simple and satisfying dessert, and we literally licked the bowl clean!

sliced apples with magick yum creamy caramel sauce!!!

creamy caramel sauce (serves 2)

4 big fat organic dates (soft)

1/4 cup cashews

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 tsp himalayan rock salt

blend all ingredients in your power blender (we use a vita-mix) and serve with fresh fruit.  also would be delicious in many other ways, pour it over your raw ice cream!  YUM!

try it, you’ll like it.

love,

v

we are discovering the abundance of wild food in south africa, especially after a trip to kirstenbosch botanical gardens in cape town, where we strolled through the edible plants garden and discovered portulacaria afra.  this cute jade plant-like succulent is also called “spekboom” or “elephant’s food,” or “olifantskos” in afrikaans.  on our recent road trip from plett to johannesburg, we found this plant, in the purslane famly, growing in abundance along the N1, especially in the free state and eastern cape.

though this highly nutritious plant is a favorite of many wild animals in the region including elephants, kudu, rhinos, ostriches, and goats, the zulus and khoisan tribes have been known to eat the leaves raw and it is traditionally used to increase milk supply in lactating women.  it’s high in vitamin c and i suspect it’s rich in omega fatty acids, as well as being a wild food, which makes it even more nutritionally dense.

the flavor is very similar to purslane, which is lemony and green, so i created these 2 recipes using spekboom just as i would use purslane, in a salad and a soup.

wild spekboom & sesame salad

1 packet mixed green leaves (spinach, rocket, watercress)
handful spekboom leaves cut from stems
1 avocado, diced
shredded cabbage
julienned carrot
sesame seeds
sesame oil
garlic
ginger
agave
himalayan salt

toss all ingredients as a salad, chopping as finely or coarsely as desired.

olifantskos & baby marrow soup

4 medium zucchinis/baby marrows
1/2 cup of olifantskos leaves cup from stems
1 small onion
1 clove garlic (or more if you love garlic)
250mL warm water
dash of thyme
splash of olive oil
himalayan salt to taste
dash of bragg’s amino liquids to taste

blend all ingredients in high speed blender until frothy and warm and garnish with julienned baby marrow and spekboom leaves.

the raw food world in cape town is ever expanding, much to our delight!  after teaching our 2nd smoothies class with smashing success, we drove off to pinelands to pick up our takeaway pizza made lovingly by natalie reid of earthshine.  she snipped fresh chives from the garden just out the kitchen door onto the artfully scrumptious pizza and tucked it into its cute brown takeaway box and we were off to devour the precious pie at home!

the crust was delightfully crispy and light which was a nice compliment to the richness of the tomatoes and olives.  the fresh and fragrant basil and chives were just the extra magick that filled our mouths with joy!  the cheese was a little on the sweet side but went well to balance all of the other flavours.  well done, natalie!  sign us up for next time!

ok, another trip to kwalapa’s raw food wednesday buffet and we were in heaven!  we’re so glad that raw food is catching on here in cape town.  so above, clockwise from left is mini pizza on essene bread, stuffed mushrooms, crackers with cauliflower pate, massaged cabbage, apple, and fennel salad, and summer veg salad!  yum yum yum…  can’t wait til next time!