Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Spicy summer curry

The sunshine is back and that calls for something light, colorful, refreshing and flavorful! This recipe definitely delivers that.
Raw parsnip rice:
3 parsnips
1/2C of dry coconut flakes (preferably sun-dried)
3 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp ume plum vinegar (or anything acidic)
Himalayan salt, freshly ground black pepper

Pulse the pine nuts and parsnips until they resemble white rice. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Mango curry sauce:
1 large mango
1/8 of a sweet onion or more to taste
Himalayan salt, pepper
Garam masala, ground coriander, cumin
Fresh coriander leaves

Puree mango and onion, add spices. Pour in a serving bowl, stir in roughly chopped fresh coriander. The onion can either be omitted entirely or replaced by spring onions. 


Veggies:
Pea shoots or just peas
Finely chopped raw broccoli
Carrot (we had yellow and red carrot)
Tomatoes

Sweet peppers would have been delicious, but they are not in season yet. Likewise we had to substitute frozen peas for pea shoots, but looking forward to trying this with those later! Alfalfa or mung sprouts would be excellent, unfortunately I didn't have those at hand either. I did serve this curry with a side of curried nut balls, yum!

To serve, top parsnip rice with veggies and curry sauce. It will look something like this:

I had so much fun making this, since my daughter (18 months) got on her tippy toes to snatch my broccoli off the kitchen table. She got such a kick out of munching on it, so cute! As a mom, something inside me lights up every time she enjoys eating something raw and green. She even likes to snack on sunflower sprouts.

Enjoy the summer guys!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Raw onion bread

Raw onion bread:
2 medium sweet onions
1 medium carrot
1C sunflower seeds
1C brazil nuts
0,5C pumpkin seeds
0,5C flax meal
cold-pressed olive oil, water
salt, pepper, dried parsley

Grind nuts and seeds into a fine flour in a food processor. Chop onions and carrot into big chunks and process into tiny pieces, almost mushy. Mix the carrot and onion mixture to the nut flour in a bowl, add flax meal and enough water and olive oil to get a flax gel consistency (batter should only barely moist, so that you can mold it by hand).

Shape into round flatbreads or spread evenly onto a teflex sheet. The thinner you make it the less time it will take to dehydrate. I made them a little thicker because I wanted them soft in the center like bread instead of crackers. Dehydrate at 116F for about 5 hours on one side and then a couple on the other.

The sweet onions lend to an amazing flavor, which softens and intensifies in the dehydrator. Your kitchen will be filled with a delicious scent while dehydrating. I normally don't like raw onion, but using sweet onion really makes all the difference. 

We enjoyed these as raw sandwiches, but also just topped with hummus. This hummus is not raw, but really delicious if your body can tolerate legumes. I have a pressure cooker, and I love that I can boil garbanzos in 15-20 minutes. Not only because it's a time saver, but also because nutrients are better preserved.

Smoked paprika hummus:
1,5 C garbanzo beans
3-4 tbsp cold-pressed sesame oil
1-2 tsp raw honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
fresh spring onions and flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt, pepper, smoked paprika
cayenne pepper (optional)

Blend cooked garbanzo beans, lemon juice, oil and honey until smooth but chunky. Transfer to serving bowl. Add chopped spring onions and fresh flat-leaf parsley and seasonings. Sprinkle some more smoked paprika and parsley on top for garnish.