Deliciously Raw Summer Squash Hummus and a Mediterranean Avocado Wrap

Day 2 of my raw food cleanse and I slept like a baby. In fact, I slept in till noon (which felt fantastic, thank you!) so I skipped breakfast and went straight for lunch. First up I knew I had promised a fresh made hummus recipe yesterday, and then I thought a nice sandwich would be just the thing to go with it. How do you get a sandwich on a high raw diet? I found these amazing raw wraps at Whole Foods, made from flax, apple, and zucchini, they taste like sweet whole wheat tortillas. However if you can’t find something like this, big swiss chard leaves make the perfect wrap too.

The key to raw hummus is switching the chickpeas out for summer squash. This is great for those who don’t easily digest legumes and it also drastically reduces the calorie content. The best part is you really wouldn’t know it isn’t a chickpea-based hummus unless you were told. I love how it has a looser texture too due to the moisture in the squash, making it easier to use as a dip– no broken off chips!

The Mediterranean Avocado Wrap below looks…’too healthy to taste good’…I am aware. But, it really was a superb combo of flavors! The flatbread I used had a lot of sweetness to it, so if you are going with the chard leaves, I recommend adding a diced up date to balance the acidic and savory flavors.

Here is my detox meal plan for day 2:

Breakfast: skipped, but had some lemon water first thing

Lunch: A Mediterranean Avocado Wrap with extra sprouts

Snack: 2 cups red grapes

Dinner: A Sunny Curry Crunch Bliss Bowl without the quinoa, and add some pumpkin seeds

After dinner: 2 scoops of sun warrior protein with almond milk, (it’s like chocolate milk) 🙂

For a workout, I’ll just do some upper body weights because my legs are killing me from yesterday’s run. I like to do interval sprints when I run so it’s not just a long monotonous slog, and it leads to very sore muscles!

Ok, back to the food, here is the hummus recipe and sandwich/wrap recipe:

Deliciously Raw Summer Squash Hummus

makes about 1.5 cups

2 summer squash (either yellow crookneck squash or zucchini)

4 cloves of garlic

6 tbs tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

a big pinch each of coriander, cayenne, and cumin

salt to taste

a dash of Paprika, cold pressed olive oil, and 1 sprig of parsley for garnish

Peel the squash and chop into chunks, removing the stem. Combine everything in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Taste and see if you want to add more spices, I like a lot of cayenne and coriander, but just that initial sprinkle of cumin is enough for me.

Sprinkle the top with paprika, drizzle with the oil, and add some fresh chopped parsley on top.

Now for the wrap!

Mediterranean Avocado Wrap

Serves 1

1 WrawP flatbread or several chard leaves, rinsed

4 tbs Deliciously Raw Summer Squash Hummus (as above)

1/2 avocado

1 handful of lettuce greens

3 slices of portobello mushroom, marinated for at least an hour or overnight in a small amount of balsamic and olive oil

5 green olives, pitted and slivered

5 cherry tomatoes, slivered

a small handful of sprouts, I used alfalfa

Sriracha for drizzling, if desired

Lay your flatbread or chard leaves out. If using chard, remove the tough ribs and lay the leaves slightly overlapping until you have roughly the area of a burrito tortilla.

Starting about an inch in from one side, spread the hummus over 3/4  of the surface.

Lay the rest of the ingredients out in little vertical rows, very close together. Then drizzle with sriracha.

Gently start rolling the bread/leaves in from one side to the other, tucking the ends in as you go like you would a burrito. The hummus acts like glue, so you might want to dap some on at the end to hold it together.

Gently cut it in half with a super sharp knife if desired.

 

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Dream Pie

As you might have noticed, last Saturday was March 14, 2015. That means it was Pi Day! (3.1415926 if you count the time.) That only happens once every 100 years and it also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. So, naturally my friends and I had a huge pie potluck on Saturday night to celebrate, and it was a great success if I do say so myself. We had a vegan sweet potato lentil shepherd’s pie, 2 different kinds of Thai pot pie, 2 kinds of pizza, a jalapeño popper pie, a Frito pie, a Boston cream pie, an apple pie, a key lime pie, and plenty of champagne. This raw vegan banana cream pie was my contribution, (and I apologize for the bad photograph, but it’s hard to have a proper photoshoot with guests around.)

I hope you had a fun Pi day as well!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Dream Pie

Makes 1 9″ Pie

Crust:

1/2 cup cacao, ground

1 big cup of raw nuts, I used almonds

9 pitted dates, soaked in warm water for 1 hour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil

a dash of salt

Filling:

1 cup raw almond butter

1/3 cup maple syrup or agave

1 dash salt

1 and 1/2 bananas

1 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 5 hours

1/3 cup coconut cream (refrigerate a can of full fat coconut milk over night, then scoop out the thick white cream, reserving the clear liquid for another use.)

1 tsp vanilla extract

juice of 1 lemon (mine was not very juicy, you might only need half, taste after the first half to check)

1/4 cup maple syrup (or agave)

a dash of salt

a tiny pinch of cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 banana, thinly sliced

1 can of coconut cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave

1/2 banana, thinly sliced

1 recipe for magic shell chocolate sauce

 

Start by combining all the crust ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until a ‘dough’ forms. Press this into the bottom of a pie pan and stick it in the freezer.

Combine the almond butter, maple syrup and salt, and beat with a fork until combined. Spread this on the crust layer and refreeze.

Next, blend all of the remaining filling ingredients together, pour this onto the crust, put back in the freezer.

Wait 1 hour or up to a week for the banana filling to freeze.

Then, scoop the thick creamy part of the coconut milk out of the can, reserving the clear liquid for another use. Put it in the bowl of your stand mixer, or use some good old fashioned elbow grease and beat it by hand with a big fork. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and beat until combined and fluffy.

Take the pie out of the freezer and pipe (or just scoop) the coconut cream on top. I used a $5 pastry bag from the store. Lay the banana slices in a circle around the pie. Put the pie in the fridge while you make the magic shell chocolate.

Drizzle the chocolate over the pie. Keep it in the fridge. I like to serve it after it’s been taken out of the freezer and thawed about 1 hour in the fridge. It depends on how soft you like the filling, but this gives a firm cheesecake consistency.

You could always sprinkle some crushed walnuts on top, or add some instant coffee to the crust. It may take some time but this is easy as pie!

 

Grapefruit Body Scrub

I could have sworn I posted this before, but apparently not! The fastest and easiest way to get beautiful, glowing, touchable skin is by exfoliating with an oily scrub. And b-b-b-b-b-bonus: a study by the Smell and Taste Institute of Chicago found that when women smelled like grapefruit, men guessed their ages to be 6 years younger than they really were. This also makes a really great and affordable gift during the holidays. Smooth skin, the perception of youth, giftable, and all natural ingredients? You’re welcome, from the bottom of my big shiny heart.

Grapefruit Body Scrub

makes enough for 2-3 uses

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup salt, I used pink Himalayan sea salt

30 drops of grapefruit essential oil

1 tsp grapefruit zest

Mix everything together. Before your next hot date, get into a steamy shower and scrub yourself from head to toe, being very gentle on your face and chest. You can rinse off the salt and shave your legs because they will be nice and slick. You can use a little soap to wash it off after if you don’t like that greased up body builder look, but it will absorb within a few minutes when you get out of the shower and have more moisturizing power if you leave it on. It makes a fantastic foot scrub as well.