Happy Birthday to ME! Raw Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake!

So I have been having a LOT of trouble lately with allergies and not knowing what I am allergic to food wise... Hopefully my test comes back soon!
So I decided to make a birthday treat that I knew I could have and not feel sick after! :)

I give you RAW Chocolate Raspberry "Cheese"cake!

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
1 1/3 cup raw pecan halves
1/2 cup raw cocao powder
1/4 cup raw honey (can use agave or maple syrup)

Filling:
2 cups raw cashews (soaked in water for at least 2 hours and drained)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbl coconut oil
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup honey (can use agave or maple syrup)


Process:
Blend pecans until fine. Some small chunks are ok and give the crust a nice texture. In a bowl, mix ground pecans, cacao, and honey until well combined. Smush into the bottom of a glass pie dish so the bottom is evenly coated. Place all ingredients for the filling in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour over crust and freeze for at least 2 hours . ENJOY!!! :)

 ♥ E

Raw Carrot Cake Balls with Pineapple Cashew Cream

Happy Easter everyone!! I love Easter! I love celebrating and thanking God for the sacrificial gift of His son on the cross in payment for the sins of all man, mine included. I love that the sun is shining and spring is in the air, and I love being with my family.

We have some serious allergies in this family, plus a vegan (that's me)! Allergies include eggs, dairy, wheat, corn, yeast, citrus, soy, peanuts, and about 35 other things! I wanted to make something sweet, Easter-y and allergy friendly. I give you: Raw Carrot Cake Balls with Pineapple Cashew Cream.

Raw Carrot Cake Balls 

Ingredients:
2 Cups dried dates - pitted
3 Tbl coconut oil (softened - I just put it in a glass cup and set it on the hot oven for 3-4 mins)
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (look for this in the bulk section)

Process:
 Throw dates and coconut oil in the food processor. Blend until fairly smooth. Put in a medium bowl and add shredded carrots and cinnamon. Take around 2 tsp of mixture and roll into a ball. Gently roll the ball in shredded coconut to coat. Refrigerate.

Pineapple Cashew Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for 1 hr or more- if more, refrigerate)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
2 Tbl pineapple juice

Process:
Put all ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. If it is hard to blend, add a little bit (1 tsp) of pineapple juice at a time until it blends. refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to help become more solid.

Serve cake balls with cashew cream on the side.

Enjoy!

 ♥ E

Hummus Pizza

Hummus Pizza 

BASE SOCCA:
1 1/2 cups garbanzo (chickpea) bean flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 T olive oil
1/2  tsp salt

HUMMUS:

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans or 1 can (rinsed and drained) 

2 Tbl olive oil 

1 tsp (1 clove) minced garlic

2 Tbl lemon juice

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbl Italian seasoning 

2 tsp paprika

Toppings:
1 Tomato (diced)

1/3 cup Kalamata olives (halved)

1/2 cup chopped spinach 

1/2 cucumber  (sliced and halved)
1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)

Process: Mix all socca ingredients in a container that can be covered or has a lid. Let the mixture sit for one hour to overnight (if sitting over night put in fridge). Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drop a tsp of coconut oil in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish and put the dish in the oven while it heats. When the oven is all warmed up to 500 degrees, pull out the dish and move it around so that the oil gets all over the bottom. Pour socca batter into the dish. It should sizzle. Bake for 6-8 minutes. The top of the socca should start to crack. If not golden and cracked, bake for up to more 4 minutes.  Remove. While the socca is baking, place all hummus ingredients into a food processor or blender, I use my Magic Bullett. Blend until smooth. Spread over socca crust and top with the fresh toppings!

Serves 2-4 people

Socca crust can be made ahead and stored without toppings and toppings can be added just before serving. Makes a FANTASTIC easy lunch! :)

TIP: Get the perfect beans every time. Take one bag of dry beans. This works for any dry beans- garbanzo, black, pinto, kidney, you name it. Rinse the beans well. Place in the bottom of a medium-large pot. Cover with water about and inch and a half above the beans. Bring water to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the beans. Let the beans sit for an hour. After the hour, dump the water and rinse the beans. Put the beans back in the pot and add water to cover with an inch and a half more water on top again. Bring water to a boil. Simmer on medium-low for 3 hours. Dump water and rinse beans. These beans will be soft and ready to eat! DO NOT.... I repeat DO NOT salt the beans at any time during this process. It will cause a chemical reaction that will not allow them to soften. Once  the beans are fully cooked you can salt away! :)

 ♥ E

Sun-dried Tomato and Artichoke Risotto with Mushrooms and Truffle

Risotto is a fragrant, creamy rice dish that is usually cooked on the stove in a sauce pan. However, risotto can be really tedious because you have to stir it constantly the whole time it is cooking.. Ain't no body got time for that.

My risotto is done in a rice maker, which you can get for as little at $20 at Target or Walmart. If you don't have a rice maker and don't want to get one (seriously get one you can use if for all kinds of things), you can do this on the stove, but you'll just have to watch it and make sure that it is stirred constantly so the bottom doesn't burn!

Ingredients:
1 cup wild grain or brown rice
1 yellow onion (chopped)
8 oz mushrooms (sliced) ... I used baby bella
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1 clove garlic minced or 1 tsp minced garlic
2 TBL dried Italian spices
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 TBL olive oil
5 drops white truffle oil -- use sparingly.... it is very powerful (optional - a bottle is pretty expensive but will last FOREVER)


Process:
Place all ingredients in rice maker. Push "white rice" button and guess what? You're done! I pop in the kitchen and stir it every once in a while - maybe 2-3 times during the 45 minute cooking cycle.
Once the rice maker is done, fluff the rice and put it over fresh spinach or kale. The greens will wilt because the rice is so hot, YUM!

NOTE: If you are using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil or artichoke hearts packed in oil, don't add another TBL of oil. Also, be really careful with the truffle oil. If you can smell it, thats enough. You can ALWAYS add more to the dish at the end.

 ♥ E

Spaghetti Squash {Two Ways}

Tangy Balsamic Spaghetti Squash:

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash (cut down the center long ways and seeds discarded)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1 TBL coconut oil
1red pepper (sliced)
4 oz. mushrooms
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic minced (1tsp)
2-4 TBL balsamic vinegar






Process:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the halves on the baking sheet - bowl side up and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for an hour, checking at 30 and 45 mins to make sure that it's not cooking too fast. The squash is done when you can stick a fork in and pull across the flesh and it shreds to look like angel hair pasta. When the squash is nearly done, saute pepper, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in the coconut oil. Just before removing from heat glaze with balsamic vinegar.

Remove from oven and fork the squash until removed from skin. Top each squash half with pepper, mushroom, balsamic mixture.

Serve along side a fresh salad or steamed kale.


Latin Chimichurri Spaghetti Squash:


Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash (cut down the center long ways and seeds discarded)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper


1 TBL coconut oil
1/2 yellow onion
1 clove garlic
1 cup  black beans

1 bunch cilantro removed from stem
2 TBL white wine vinegar
2 TBL olive oil
1 tbl lemon juice
salt and pepper
dash crushed red pepper
1 avocado


Process:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the halves on the baking sheet - bowl side up and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for an hour, checking at 30 and 45 mins to make sure that it's not cooking too fast. The squash is done when you can stick a fork in and pull across the flesh and it shreds to look like angel hair pasta. While the squash is cooking, saute onion and garlic in coconut oil. When tender, add the beans and cook until warm. In a blender or food processor, add cilantro, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Blend until smooth.

Remove from oven and fork the squash until removed from skin. Top each half with beans, chimichurri, and 1/2 diced avocado.



Serve along side a fresh spinach salad.

 ♥ E

Vegan, Gluten Free, Spicy Cilantro Avocado Pizza

I seriously want to take a bath in cilantro... Is that wrong? Then I don't want to be right. 

Spicy Cilantro Avocado Pizza

Ingredients:

BASE SOCCA:
1 1/2 cups garbanzo (chickpea) bean flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 T olive oil
1/2  tsp salt

TOPPINGS:

1 onion (diced)

1 clove (1tsp) garlic minced

1 cup kale (chopped)

2 bell peppers (cut into strips)

8 oz mushrooms 

SAUCE:

2 bunches cilantro

1/4 serrano pepper seeded

1/4 cup olive oil

2 TBL lemon or lime juice

salt and pepper to taste 

AVOCADO CREAM:

1 ripe avocado 

2 Tbl non dairy milk (coconut, almond, rice)

1 Tbl lemon or lime juice

2 Tbl cilantro 

salt and pepper to taste 

Process: Mix all the socca ingredients in a container that can be covered or has a lid. Let the mixture sit for one hour to overnight (if sitting over night put in fridge). Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drop a tsp of coconut oil in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish and put the dish in the oven while it heats. When the oven is all warmed up to 500 degrees, pull out the dish and move it around so that the oil gets all over the bottom. Pour socca batter into the dish. It should sizzle. Bake for 6-8 minutes. The top of the socca should start to crack. If not golden and cracked, bake for up to more 4 minutes.  Remove. While the crust is baking, saute the onion, garlic, pepper, mushrooms, and kale until soft. For the sauce, place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Spread sauce over socca crust. Top with sauteed toppings. Place pizza back in the oven for 5-8 minutes. This allows the sauce to soak into the socca and the toppings to get extra crunchy. While pizza is in the oven, throw all of the ingredients for the avocado cream into the food processor or blender (don't bother cleaning it after the sauce- the cilantro will just add more flavor to the avocado cream).  Blend until smooth. Place in a plastic baggie and snip the very tip off of the corner of the baggie to create a piping bag. Once pizza is done. Remove and plate. Top with avocado cream just before serving. I served mine with a side of steamed kale. 

Serves 4-6 people. 

♥ E

Creamy Butternut Squash Quinoa

I will literally put this sauce on anything and everything. Quinoa, rice pasta, cooked zucchini shavings, toasty socca... It is a super healthy comfort food.

Ingredients:
1 Tbl olive oil
1 butternut squash (cooked -- see instructions below)
1 Tbl Coconut oil
1 meduim yellow onion
1 clove (1tsp minced) garlic
3/4 cup coconut milk (from a carton, or almond milk)
1 Tbl arrowroot powder (or constarch)
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 Tbl smoked paprika (I like it spicy and smokey use less and season to taste if you like it more mild)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups kale (cooked just before serving)
3-4 cups cooked quinoa for serving


Process:
Peel and chop squash. Cook squash either by steaming in a rice maker with 3/4 cup water for 20 mins, or bake in oven at 425 degrees drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. While Squash is cooking, heat coconut oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and garlic. Saute until soft. In another bowl, add coconut milk and arrowroot. Whisk until smooth. Add to sautéed onion and garlic along with the dijon lemon juice, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked squash to a blender or food processor along with 1/2 of the coconut milk mix. Blend until smooth. Serve over cooked quinoa and kale.

♥ E