Kale Lentil Rice Bowl

I have discovered that I am not a master chef who enjoys creating masterpieces. I do however love to cook myself yummy, healthy food. I'm coming to the conclusion that since I will never be an amazing recipe blogger, this section will serve more as a template to view how I think about ingredients and food preparation for the meals that I eat. Pretty much all of these recipes can be modified to suit personal taste buds. They are merely templates. This is no exception.

Bowls are a pretty big rage these days. Which is funny because it's basically about presentation. Whether in a bowl or on a plate, the basic concepts of combining a grain, vegetable, protein and healthy fat is fantastic. Here's one of mine.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Black Rice

1/2 bunch of Kale

1/4 cup Lentils

1/4 cup frozen Corn

1/2 Avocado

Salt, Pepper

Directions

Prepare rice as directed. Personally, I like using a dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with my rice.

While rice is cooking, cook lentils as directed.

When rice is half done, de-stem kale leaves and steam them.

When lentils are about done, toss in frozen corn to cook for the final few minutes.

When everything is cooked (hopefully ending approximately the same time): toss rice, lentils, corn, and kale together. Salt and Pepper to taste. Top with sliced avocado. Voilà!!

Sweet Potato Chips

Here is another deliciously simple recipe!

For fans of sweet potato fries: I bring you Sweet Potato Chips!

(Essentially, I find chopping sweet potatoes into thin chips way easier than cutting them into nice looking fries.)

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Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes
• Coconut Oil
• Sea Salt
• optional: other spices

Directions

(You can make as large or small of a batch of chips as you like)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Wash the sweet potatoes first and slice off any weird spots or points.
3. Slice the potatoes into very thin chips.  
4. Lay the chips out on a rimmed cookie sheet. -If you are making a large batch, you may need two cookie sheets because the chips won't get as crispy if you pile them up too high on top of each other.
5. Melt coconut oil and brush both sides of the chips with a light coat of oil.
6. Sprinkle sea salt over top of the chips (+ any other spices of choice)
7. Bake at 400°F for approximately 30 minutes.  (can be longer or shorter depending on desired crispiness, size of batch and how thin the chips were sliced.)

Raw Vegan "Cheesecake"

I have talked about the wonders of raw desserts on the food blog before and this is one of my favorite raw desert recipes created by Paul Jarvis.  This is a raw version of a cheesecake.  It is delicious, easy to make, and contains no processed sugars.  It should still be treated as a dessert, but it contains lots of nutrients, as opposed to typical processed desserts, which do not. This cake has healthy fats, protein and fiber.  

Ingredients

• 2 cups of raw cashews (soaked, rinsed, drained)
• 1 cup of almond meal
• 3/4 cup of dates (de-pitted)
• Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

For the crust, blend almond meal and dates together until mixture sticks together. Smush mixture into a 6-8 inch pie dish.

For the filling, blend cashews, lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla until silky smooth. Scoop filling over crust.

Freeze for at least on hour. Defrost cheesecake in the fridge for 45-60 minutes, until the center is cold but not frozen. 

High Protein Coconut Muffins

These delicious and satisfying coconut muffins are high in protein and gluten-free.  Each muffin has half an egg and the flour is coconut flour, which is naturally gluten-free, high fiber, and yummy.  Coconut four is my favorite gluten-free flour.  This recipe also comes courtesy of Myra Kornfeld.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 3 T maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan (or use silicon cups)

Whisk together the eggs, butter, coconut milk, maple syrup and vanilla.  In another bowl, mix together the coconut flour, salt and baking powder.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until they start to brown on top. Makes 12 muffins.

© Myra Kornfeld. Author of The Healthy Hedonist, The Healthy Hedonist Holidays, and The Voluptuous Vegan.

"Cookie Dough" Dessert Hummus

Raw cookie dough is delicious.  Unfortunately, it is also not one of the wisest choices of desserts.  Which is why I think that this hummus recipe from The Wannabe Chef is clever and awesome.  It is a hummus.  Yes!  It is made with chickpeas, but honestly tastes like peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough.  The key is to peel the chickpeas after you cook them.  That little layer can really destroy the texture and taste and make it obvious that you are eating chick peas.  Otherwise, I think it is great and can be a fun snack or dessert.  I like to put it on celery like a traditional hummus or even just eat a spoonful- raw cookie dough style!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked and PEELED chickpeas
  
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter 
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
  
• 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract 
  
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

In a food processor, add the first 4 ingredients and process until the hummus is smooth and emulsified. Stir in chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of www.thewannabechef.net

Fermented Ketchup

Fermented Foods and all of their probiotic-filled goodness should be a part of our regular diets. For info about why fermented foods are so good for us, read my post about fermented foods here.   For fermented food newbies, ketchup is a great way to sneak some ferments into your diet.  Consider this an easy diet hack.  And don't be scared of the fish sauce, it tastes great in the ketchup, but if you are a vegetarian you can leave it out.

Ingredients

Makes 1 quart

• 24 ounces of tomato paste (buy it in jars, rather than cans, if possible)
• 1/4 cup of whey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 T sea salt
• 3 clove garlic mashed
• (optional: 1/3 cup fermented fish sauce) 

Mix ingredients together. Fill jar. Sit in room temperature about 2 days. Transfer to fridge. If you prefer thinner ketchup, add water after fermentation.

**Recipe courtesy of With Love from Grandmother's Kitchen: Traditional Cooking Techniques for Well-Being by Monica Corrado.

Awesome Raw, Vegan Nut Burger

Inspired by the deliciousness that is The Nut Burger at Follow Your Heart located in Canoga Park, CA.  If you are in the Los Angeles area- go to Follow Your Heart and get The Nut Burger.  

If you can't make it to FYH, you can make a homemade version.  You can use any type of nuts and seeds that you prefer, but personally I think the tahini and coconut aminos are required.  I recommend using at least 2 different types of raw nuts/seeds for best flavor.  I use 2-4 different types of nuts/seeds at a time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of presoaked mixed raw nuts and seeds (ex. almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds)
• 2 Tablespoons of tahini
• 2 teaspoons of coconut aminos

Process the presoaked nuts in a blender or food processor first until they are in small pieces.  Add the tahini and coconut aminos.  Process again until a chunky paste forms.

That is your "burger patty meat."

Then top with avocado and sprouts.

You can make a burger, an open faced version on one piece of toast, or cute hor d'oeuvres on crackers as shown in the picture.  Depending on your bread/cracker choice, they can be gluten-free and/or raw.

Enjoy!

Protein Packed Banana Pancakes

I love pancakes.  Unfortunately, pancakes can be a sure fire way to send your blood sugar soaring.  Not these puppies!  These pancakes are completely grain-free, therefore also gluten-free, and loaded with more protein than your average carbohydrate-filled breakfast.  And they are super simple to make.  Just combine all of the ingredients below into a blender or small food processor and your batter is ready to go.  

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 1 large ripe banana
• 1 serving of protein powder (I use Innate Response's vanilla, vegan pea protein powder, it has 32 grams of protein)
• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
• 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• A bit of almond/coconut milk to thin batter to ideal consistency

Blend in your blender or food processor.  Pour batter in pools of desired size on a hot grill or skillet. (For convenience, make sure they are an appropriate size for your spatula.) Allow for a few bubbles to appear in batter and then flip over.  When they are cooked through- enjoy!

I love to top these with coconut oil.  You can use whatever toppings you want- even add sliced bananas for a real banana pancake feast!

Raw Vegan Brownie

Are you ready for the dessert recipe for Raw Foodie Beginners?  The Raw Vegan Brownie is super simple and super delicious. Sure to win over any doubter.

Ingredients

• 1 cup walnuts (or almonds, pecans, cashews)
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

other optional ideas: shredded coconut, honey/maple syrup/agave, salt.

In a food processor, process nuts until small and crumbly. Add dates and process again until mixture sticks together.  Add remaining ingredients and process until a nice crumbly/sticky mixture forms.  Press into a pan.  Put in refrigerator to chill.  Cut and serve. 

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

I love homemade chocolate pudding.  It can be made many different ways.  It can be made raw, and all versions are vegan and gluten-free.  They all also pack in a bunch of super nutrient dense foods.  I tend to make it as a breakfast because it has raw cacao in it (which contains caffeine) so I don't like to eat it late in the day.  But, for those of you who metabolize caffeine quickly and can consume caffeine late in the day without affecting your sleep- feel free to eat this as a snack or dessert later.

I've included a few different ways that I've made chocolate pudding. For all of the following recipes, simply put all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor.

Simple Banana-Avocado Chocolate pudding

(This one is Raw)

• 1 avocado
• 1 ripe banana
• 2 dates (or 2 tsp of maple syrup)
• 2 Tbs raw cacao
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Simple Coconut-Chia Chocolate pudding

• Cream from 1 can of full fat coconut milk that was put in the fridge overnight (the cream will separate from the water in the fridge and rise to the top)
• 2 Tbs chia seeds
• 2 Tbs raw cacao 
• 2 tsp maple syrup (or 2 dates)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• possibly: some coconut water from the coconut milk can if pudding is too thick

---Or you can do a combination of those two and make other versions such as:---

Coconut-Banana Chocolate pudding 

• Add banana to the Coconut Pudding. 

Coconut-Avocado Chocolate pudding

• Add avocado to the Coconut Pudding

Banana-Avocado-Chia Chocolate pudding

• Add chia seeds to the Avocado-Banana Pudding

You can add in additional goodies if you want, such as protein powder or maca powder.  You can also top your pudding with goji berries or other fruit.  Have fun! 

Almondbread

In a twist to a more traditional gingerbread, this is what I have deemed Almondbread because it uses predominately almond flour.  It looks kind of like corn bread but tastes sweeter.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of coconut flour
• 2/3 cup of maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (dairy, almond or coconut)
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

In a large standing mixer bowl, cream butter and maple syrup together.  Beat in eggs. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add to wet mixture.  Blend until fairly smooth.  Pour into a pan.  (I used 13 x 9, slightly smaller would also work.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Recipe modified from Bob's Red Mill.

Breakfast Oatmeal Bake

One of the world's greatest warm, satisfying breakfasts!  It's very convenient: you make one batch and then you have breakfast for the week.  It is a balanced breakfast of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats.  And best of all, this recipe can be modified in lots of different ways to suit your tastes and the ingredients you have.

Ingredients

• 3 cups buttermilk
• 2 3/4 cups gluten free oats
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

Directions

Soak oats overnight in buttermilk in a covered bowl.

Next Day:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Butter/oil an 8 x 11 baking pan
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. 
4. Stir in the soaked oats with the raisins, and hazelnuts. 
5. Spread evenly in the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until firm.
6. Cool and serve with extra butter.

Keeps refrigerated up to 1 week.

NOTE: You can add whatever you want to this recipe in terms of fillings.  You can swap the hazelnuts for another nut and/or swap out the fruit.  This raisin-hazelnut version just happens to be one of my favorites.  Get creative! 

Recipe modified from © Myra Kornfeld.  Author of The Healthy Hedonist, The Hedonist Holidays, and The Voluptutous Vegan.

 

Homemade Granola Bars

Granola bars can make great snacks and on-the-go mini meals.  Unfortunately, most packaged granola bars that you can buy at the grocery store are full of added sugars and other potentially unsavory additives.

This recipes has no refined sugars and is full of healthy powerhouses such as chia seeds, cacao, coconut and raw nuts.

Dry ingredients

2/3 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup raw buckwheat groats
1/2 cup chopped almonds/walnuts/raw nut of choice (preferably pre-soaked)
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
4 tbsp chia seeds
3 tbsp cacao nibs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

Wet ingredients

3/4 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup natural peanut/almond/other nut butter
2 T brown rice syrup
1 T maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8-inch square pan with coconut oil
2. Grind the raw buckwheat groats in high-speed blender/food processor until a fine flour forms
3. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
4. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.
5. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well until combined.
6. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
7. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the bread is firm to touch.
8. Cool in the pan completely before removing and slicing into bars.

Recipe modified from ohsheglows.com