Dark chocolate truffles with balsamic & tamari

Though I've never actually made a list, this is definitely one of my top 5 all time favorite recipes. I make these truffles for exquisite parties, as gifts for family and friends, and sometimes just to have on hand for when I'm in need of a decadent & healthy treat.

This recipe for dark chocolate truffles was inspired by the talented Renee Loux. The truffles are vegan, gluten-free, and raw with the exception of maple syrup and vanilla extract. Notes of balsamic vinegar and tamari bring out an incredible tang in the chocolate and the magical synergy between raw cacao and vanilla bean give them further complexity. Try them once and you'll never forget them.

Dark chocolate truffles with balsamic & tamari

• 2/3 cup raw cashew butter or raw almond butter
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 4 Tbsp. coconut butter
• 1 Tbsp. good quality balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. good quality tamari, Nama Shoyu is best
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Seeds from one vanilla bean
• 1.5 cups raw cacao powder, plus for as needed
• Cacao powder for dusting

Begin by softening the coconut butter in a heatproof jar or glass placed in a bowl of hot water. Combine the nut butter, maple syrup, coconut butter, balsamic vinegar, tamari, vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a medium bowl, stirring until well mixed and smooth. 

Sift the cacao powder (this is important to remove any lumps!) into the bowl and mix to thoroughly incorporate. Use a sturdy spoon as the mixture will get quite stiff. Add more cacao if necessary to achieve a smooth thick base. If the mixture is not stiff enough to handle, refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour to help it solidify.

Roll 1.5 Tbsp. into balls and roll in a shallow dish of cacao powder to coat. Alternately roll in coconut flakes or hemp seeds. Store in a sealed container the fridge or freezer. For best flavor, allow the truffles to return to room temperature before eating. Makes about 24 truffles. Enjoy!

Raw mini cheesecakes with spiced raspberry & cherry sauce

These mini cheesecakes are delightful! So cute, fun to make, and perfectly delicious. They are raw, vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom infuse them with a holiday spirit and they're a great dessert to add to your friendsgiving and thanksgiving spread. The recipe was inspired by Elenore Bendel Zahn of the Earthsprout blog.

Raw Mini Cheesecakes

makes seven minis

Fig Crust:

• scant cup of dried figs
• 1/2 C. pepitas, preferably soaked and dried
• 1/4 C. sunflower seeds, preferably soaked and dried
• 1 Tb. ground flax seed
• pinch good quality salt
• 1-3 ts. water, as needed

Remove the tough stems from the dried figs and give them a rough chop. Place in a food processor and grind into a paste. Add the pepitas, sunflower seeds, flax, and salt and pulse until a dough forms, adding water only as necessary. Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out in to a square of 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into seven long strips. Roll them up, pressing the ends together to form cylinders. Refrigerate while making the filling and sauce.

Lemon Cardamom filling:

• 2 small ripe bananas
• juice + zest of half a lemon
• 1/8 C. coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 C. coconut butter, softened
• 1 ts. ground cardamom

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined. Put the filling in the freezer to firm up while making the sauce.

Spiced Raspberry & Cherry Sauce :

• 1/8 C. dried tart cherries, soaked in water for 10 minutes 
• 3/4 C. raspberries (thawed if using frozen)
• 3 medjool dates
• juice of 1 orange + 1 Tb zest
• 1/2 ts. ground cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2 Tb. ground flax
• 2 ts. psyllium husk

 Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until well combined. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the flax and psyllium to thicken the sauce, adding more if it is still too runny.  

Assembly:

Spoon some of the lemon cardamom cream into each of the little cheesecake crusts. Top with a dollop of the raspberry sauce and drizzle a bit on the side. Garnish with more dried cherries and a few goji berries for color. Enjoy!

Fall cleansing

Happy fall equinox! When the length of day and night are equal we celebrate the coming of autumn and the transition from the warm expansive months of spring and summer to the darker, more inward fall and winter months when night predominates.

The changing of seasons is always a good time to recharge, to take stock of our habits and to reset our intentions. For me, part of this process included a four day juice and smoothie cleanse, book ended with several days of raw foods. 

The purpose of my cleanse was not to starve myself or to loose weight, but to simplify my food intake for maximum digestibility and clarity of mind and body. During my cleanse I stuck to a raw vegan liquid diet of a combination of juices, smoothies, and blended soups. These foods are filling, yet light, gorgeously colored and jam packed with nourishment. Here are a couple of my favorites from the week:

 

 beet + carrot + grapefruit + ginger juice

 

Blended soup of spinach + cucumber + baby bok choi + cilantro + avocado + miso +lime

 

 Purple power juice! Cabbage + carrot + cucumber + burdock + apple

 

 raw vegan tomato + avocado bisque with lotsa good garden herbs

This cleanse taught me to be more adventurous with my juice combinations and exposed me to some delicious raw blended soup recipes. Simple fresh soups like the recipe below are easy on the digestive system, a welcome break from complex food combinations. This one is full of live enzymes and lots of vitamins and minerals plus the healthy fat needed to absorb them. Raw soups are so so easy to make and clean up after. All you really need is a blender!

Raw Tomato + Avocado Bisque

• 11/2 cups tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1 small clove garlic
• small handful of fresh herbs (think basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, thyme)
• 1/2 ts. sea salt
• cracked black pepper
• 1 cup filtered water
• sprinkling of nutritional yeast
• wedge of lemon or lime

Put the first seven ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. As always, taste and adjust the proportions to your liking. Garnish with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, a wedge of lemon or lime, and herbs. Simple and delicious.

Butter lettuce rawvioli with carrot almond sauce

I love food that comes in packages. Not the plastic kind, mind you, but the kind you can eat. Spring rolls, collard wraps, raw raviolis! There's something so special about the making of these foods, a magic in wrapping and sealing up something delightful, like a secret. Only to release it again as the flavors unfold on the tongue.

Here is a second version of Rawvioli for the jewel house blog. This one features butter lettuce, a creamy walnut red pepper and oregano filling, and a delectable carrot almond sauce. It is really very simple to make, though it helps to have a food processor and a juicer for the carrots to make the sauce. You can use store-bought carrot juice if you must.

Butter Lettuce Rawviolis with Carrot Almond Sauce

adapted from The Raw Food Primer  by Suzanne Alex Ferrara

For the sauce

• 1 cup carrot juice
• 4 Tb. almond butter
• 1/2 a ripe avocado
• 2 Tb. shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce) or tamari
• 1 Tb. miso
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 Tb. maple syrup (not raw) or raw honey
• 1/2 ts. turmeric powder

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and adding water to thin to desired consistency


For the rawvioli

• 1 cup walnuts, soaked in water 8 hours (or use sprouted walnuts)
• 1 cup chopped zucchini (about 1 medium)
• 1 Tb. miso
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tb. fresh oregano
• 1 Tb fresh rosemary
• 1 Tb. nutritional yeast

• 1/2 cup minced red bell pepper 
• 1/2 cup minced celery
• salt and cracked black pepper

• wilted butter lettuce leaves
• basil, thinly sliced

Leave the butter lettuce leaves out of the refrigerator long enough to wilt. This gives them a slightly elastic quality that keeps them from tearing as you wrap the rawviolis.

Put the walnuts, zucchini, miso, garlic, herbs, and yeast in a food processor and blend until creamy.  Place the mixture in a bowl and stir in the finely chopped bell pepper and celery. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the heavy center vein from each leaf. Place about a tablespoon of filling on a leaf and roll up into a little package. Serve atop the carrot almond sauce and flecked with basil ribbons.

Peach chia porridge

I've been making this chia-oat porridge lately in place of the cooked oat porridge I enjoy when the weather is cooler. It is easy to make and tastes fabulous! 

Chia seeds are an amazing food to include regularly in your diet. These wondrous seeds originated in South America have been a staple in native american diets for centuries. They are one of the richest plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids which reduce inflammation in the body, improve brain function, and reduce high cholesterol. They are a great source of fiber, helping to regulate the bowels and promote good digestion. Chia is rich in antioxidants that protect the body from free radicals and carcinogens, and contains minerals including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and manganese. Chia's combination of protein and fiber, and their gelling action gives a long lasting feeling of satiety, reducing food cravings between meals.

Basic chia porridge recipe

• 3/8 cup oats (or just a little less than 1/2 a cup)
• 3 Tb. chia seeds
• 1 cup almond milk (more on how to make your own in a future post) 

Place oats and chia in a bowl and stir in the almond milk. In just minutes the chia will have soaked up much of the liquid! Let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight to fully hydrate. I like to set mine out the night before so it's all set when I'm hungry for breakfast.

 

From there, the possibilities for toppings and flavors are endless! Sweeten to taste with fresh and dried fruits and/or a nourishing sweetener like maple syrup, honey, coconut palm sugar, or stevia. Add a little something for texture and your favorite spices.

For this bowl I used:

• 1 ripe peach, sliced
• 1 Tb. dried goji berries
• pinch cardamom powder
• a sprinkling of hemp seeds
• a couple drops of liquid stevia
• Teensy bit of sea salt

This porridge makes a fabulous to-go breakfast too! Here's a snapshot of my post-yoga/pre-work breakfast this morning

In this bowl I added

• dried figs
• dried coconut
• 1 ts. Maple syrup
• Sea salt
• Pinch of cinnamon
• and a fresh red plum

Other flavor ideas: 

Banana + sprouted almonds + cinnamon

Coconut butter + fresh fig + vanilla bean

Dates + hempseed+ lemon zest

Dried apricot + orange zest/fruit + grated nutmeg

Fresh mango + cashews + goji berries

Cherries + Cacao nibs + cardamom

Blonde macaroons

 

These little treats are easy to make and super delicious. In this healthy update of a classic recipe, good fats and whole sweeteners replace refined flour and white sugar. They are gluten-free and can be raw and/or vegan as you choose. This recipe is a great one to make with a child because it is so simple and rewarding. Another plus is that they travel well. I sent some on the plane with my dad, and wrapped some up in parchment as gifts for friends.

Coconut is a great source of healthy fat that nourishes the body. Though saturated fats sometimes get a bad rap, coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids that have no negative affect on cholesterol ratios and actually help protect against heart disease. Our bodies use the medium chain fatty acids for energy instead of storing them as fat so it supports improved endurance and relieves fatigue. Coconut contains a large amount of lauric acid, the predominant fatty acid found in mother's milk, which exhibits antiviral, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal and antifungal properties and supports the immune system. Coconut is high in fiber and has a low glycemic index, helping to slow the body's absorption of sugars. This nourishing fat supports the absorption of many nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Coconut oil is also a wonderful moisturizer for the skin and hair, especially during the summer months when we are exposed to more sun. It acts as a sunscreen, improves the lipid content of the skin, and contains antioxidant vitamin E. I love to use it on my whole body!



Blonde Macaroons 
based on a recipe by the fabulous chef Renee Loux

• 3 cups dessicated coconut
• 2 Tb. raw cashew butter
• 2 Tb. coconut butter
• 4 to 6 Tb. raw honey and/or maple syrup (to keep it raw use honey, to keep it vegan use maple syrup. I used a combination of the two)
• 1 ts. vanilla extract or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean
• 1 ts. ground cinnamon
• Pinch of good quality sea salt

Grind 1 cup of the coconut in a food processor until it becomes a fine powder. 

Add the cashew butter, coconut butter, sweetener, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and blend well. Place mixture in a large bowl and fold in the rest of the shredded coconut. I found it easiest to use my hands to really get in there and mix it up! 

Roll the dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls. For raw macaroons dehydrate at 112 degrees F for 12-24 hours until they are as dry as you desire, or place in the freezer until firm. Alternately, bake them at your oven's lowest setting for 2 hours until a crust forms. 

Young coconut bounty in Bangalore India where you can buy them on the street for about 30cents! I miss thiss!

Raw ravioli

Raw vegan ravioli featuring

watermelon radish + almond "cheese" + flat leaf parsley + smoked sea salt

and a light arugula salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil, spirulina, and smoked salt

Got some gorgeous watermelon radishes and I decided to try them as a variation of the raw foodie classic beet rawvioli. Who wouldn't love their bright green rims and rosy pink cheeks? 

Watermelon radishes are members of the Brassica family of vegetables. They contain the anti-oxidant sulforaphane which is shown to protect against numerous cancers. Fresh radish is rich in vitamin C, and contains folates, riboflavin, thiamin, and minerals including iron, magnesium, copper, and calcium. Paul Pitchford writes in Healing with Whole Foods that radish has a cooling thermal nature that moistens the lungs, cuts mucus, removes stagnation and detoxifies. Radish can relieve thick mucous (often associated with over consumption of dairy and animal products), clear the sinuses, relieve indigestion, and cool heat-induced conditions, and aid the body in purging toxins.

The radish rawvioli turned out fabulous! The lemon marinade softened them just enough to make them easy to eat with a knife and fork and kept their pink color vibrant. And the almond "cheese" is absolutely delectable. The combination of the garlic, nutritional yeast, and smoked sea salt gives it a satisfying, almost meaty depth. I really recommend using smoked salt if you can find it (Austinites won't have trouble locating it in the bulk spices at Wheatsville, Whole Foods, or Central Market) as the aroma it brings is almost intoxicatingly good. Served with a little side salad it made the perfect light supper for a warm summer evening.

Raw Ravioli

1 large watermelon radish
juice of ½ lemon
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Almond “Cheese”
Smoked sea salt, parsley and green onions for garnish

 1. Slice the radish into thin rounds. Ideally one would use a mandolin slicer, but if you're careful you can do it with a very sharp knife. You want them as thin as possible so take your time. Leave them circular, as I did, or stack and trim them into squares for style.
2. In a bowl, dress the radish rounds with the lemon, olive oil, and  a pinch of salt. Marinate for 1-2 hours.
3. Spoon a dollop of the almond "cheese" on one beet slice, then top it with a second slice. Repeat until you have the amount of Rawviolis you desire.
4. Garnish with parsley, green onions, and smoked sea salt.

Almond “Cheese”
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds, soaked and peeled
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. green onion, minced
1 Tbsp.  nutritional yeast
zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 
Smoked sea salt (or regular sea salt)

1. Soak almonds in water for at least 8 hours. Drain, rinse well, and remove almond peels.
2. In a food processor, place all ingredients and blend to mix to the consistency of a thick spread, like goat cheese. Adjust seasonings to taste.