Sunday, 22 Dec 2024

It must be that I know the end of summer is upon us because I have been having this weird craving for cucumbers.  I bought 3 of them at the market the other day and less than 2 days later they were gone.  I’ve been eating them with everything and sometimes I just chop them up and eat them raw.  My husband has been obsessed with Chef Matthew Purnell’s Raw Tacos and we’ve been eating them almost every night for dinner.  I wanted to get my cucumber fix in so I decided to whip up this light and refreshing cucumber salsa.  I used the last of the cherry tomatoes from my garden and got the other ingredients fresh from the market.  It made for a delicious end of summer meal.  Enjoy!

I’m a crackers and dip kinda girl.  When I made my Rawesome Crackers last week for Vegan MoFo, I knew I would need a tasty dip to go with them.  Normally I would whip up a batch of Homemade Hummus but I was out of chickpeas so I had to get creative.  I literally threw this recipe together by mixing a few of my favorite things.  I love sweet potatoes and the Asian flair added such a great flavor.  While I used this as a dip for my crackers and veggies, it would be perfect as a healthy alternative to traditional mashed potatoes too.

I almost always have a large bowl of cooked brown rice on hand at home.  My husband is a big fan of rice and we usually have Crispy Fried Rice for dinner at least once a week.  I had a bit of leftover rice left at the end of the week and threw together this delicious cold salad.  For a bit of fun I decided to take half of the recipe and make it into cute bite sized rice balls.  This salad is also super yummy wrapped in a Nori wrap.  Any way you serve it it’s sure to be delicious.

Aren’t these beautiful?!  I had a version of these a few weeks ago that were made by my very good friend, Chef Matthew Purnell from Living On The Veg.  He made these during a raw foods class that he was teaching and they were amazing!  The original recipe featured a wrap made of coconut meat that was created by dehydrating it until it was a pliable wrap.

This is my favorite time of year and Thanksgiving my favorite holiday but after the feasting is over I like to cleanse my pallet with more refreshing flavors before thoughts of the next holiday meal take over. This cauliflower dish is light and bright and just the thing to offset some of the heavier holiday fare. It makes a great side dish or it can be made into a meal by adding chickpeas or serving over a grain like orzo, barley, farro or whatever you prefer.

Everybody loves a good massage, right? Did you know that even your salad greens can benefit from one too? Massaging greens especially tough, coarse or bitter ones make them more palatable by breaking down the fibers and softening them almost as if they had been steamed.  Also, some of the bitterness mellows and lets the real green flavor shine through.So get your hands on those greens and start massaging them for a truly delicious taste experience.

It’s a new year and one of the most popular resolutions is to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I happen to love salads but sometimes you can only handle so much lettuce and dressing before it just gets boring.  This salad is a great way to pack your meal with loads of healthy RAW vegetables and it’s delicious and flavorful too!  In this recipe I used a vegetable spiralizer to make the ‘noodles’ but if you don’t have this fun kitchen gadget on hand you can always use a sharp knife and thinly julianne the zucchini yourself.  Either way you’ll have a fabulous meal that is perfect for lunch or dinner. Enjoy!