Archive for the ‘recipes’ 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.

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!

i can't believe it's raw, i can't believe it's vegan creamy caramel sauce

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.

craig and i have discovered the rumours are true and young green coconuts are here in SA from mozambique! you can get yours at  sage organic cafe in town, at the saturday market at the old biscuit mill, and also peter & beryn are running a special for the month of october offering a free coconut when you spend a minimum of R70 at their store in newlands.

a-bashed young coconut (a little messy) & our new machete

if you haven’t yet experienced young coconuts, their deliciously creamy flesh, and nutrient and electrolyte dense water, you’re in for a treat! we got ourselves a nice hefty machete from the hardware store and are busy hacking away at coconuts in our garden. our fruit and veg are now threatened to be overtaken in our fridge by these buggers.

raw cacao pistachio ice cream with chocolate sauce!

while at woolies today we were inspired by the raw pistachios glaring at us from the snack aisle and we decided to concoct a delectable raw chocolate-young coconut-pistachio treat for dessert.  so i popped some bananas in the freezer, soaked some of the pistachios and some dates, and got busy hacking coconuts.  after what seemed like hours waiting for things to soak/freeze, i whirred up young coconut water and flesh, soaked dates, soaked pistachios, frozen bananas, and raw cacao powder and put the mixture in the freezer in a bowl.  then more waiting.  hmpfh.  finally craig whipped up his trusty raw cacao, cacao butter, coconut butter, agave chocolate sauce, and we drizzled that over the ice cream and sprinkled it all with chopped pistachios.  oh my goodness.  thank you, mozambique.

love,

v + c

when it comes to making magick in the kitchen, rather than being a recipe kind of girl, i’ve always been the type to whip up something amazing and random with whatever i happen to have sitting around. that was the case with this quick and easy meal i made.

craig has made me acutely aware of how blessed i’ve been to live in california, where i’ve been able to find an abundance of raw-friendly, vegan-friendly pre-packaged foods and snacks to make my raw food transition much more convenient and also delicious! so before i make the move to cape town, i’ve been making a concerted effort to consume my share of my favorite delicacies while i still can. don’t be surprised if i continue to post more and more of these precious gems.

also, it’s summer here in the northern hemisphere, and it’s been HOT. it’s been in the 90s here, while craig was bundling up in cape town in the low 50s at times during the week. that’s fahrenheit, of course. summer here means yummy produce, and part of that harvest is corn, a plant food i’ve immediately fallen in love with eating raw!

the scrumptious dinner above, dinner for one, was made with the following ingredients, chopped roughly, and again i don’t use recipes, so here goes:

1 ear of fresh white corn
1/2 of a yellow bell pepper
handful of cilantro/coriander
handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
piece of red onion
drizzled with olive oil
juice of half a lime
sprinkled with sea salt

and the crowning ingredients:

pesto pumpkin seed crackers from livin’ spoonful in portland, oregon
some of the best raw crackers i’ve ever tasted, they are raw, sprouted, and contain organic pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, basil, olive oil, dates, lemon juice, garlic, celtic sea salt, jalapeno pepper

a big happy glob of sundried tomato jalapeno garlic paste from majestic garlic, a california-based company that makes the most deliciously creamy raw vegan garlic pastes around. my raw foodie sister cassandra got me hooked on this stuff, and we eat it with everything, as a condiment, and as a food in general, by the spoonful–er, by the tub actually. i will have to experiment with craig in duplicating this product. wish me luck.

and last but not least, a generous handful of rainbow microgreens, from sungrown organics, a san diego based company that offers the most amazing array of microgreens, microherbs, sprouts, micro mixes, specialty greens and shoots, and edible blossoms. adding sprouts and micro greens to any soup, salad, or even in your smoothie is an easy way to make any meal super gourmet and super nutritious. ha! superfoods!

it will be hard to leave the convenience and availability of these things behind when i make the leap to south africa, but it only gives me more inspiration to make creatively delicious and amazing things with craig. no doubt, we’ll be busy whipping up some tasty delights in our cape town kitchen, and we’ll be sure to let you know what we come up with. but until then, i’m gonna savor the local delights i’ve come to know and love!

much love,

vanessa