Spicy Basil Mango Dressing

Happy Earth Day! This seemed like a good day to end my 6 month blog hiatus. I had been working very long hours on a TV show that took all of my time and creative energy, and now that the season has ended, I am finding so much joy in coming back to my happy place- the kitchen! Now I can resume experimenting with and sharing all the yummy food with you guys that I can. Today I even planted an herb garden in my kitchen window box, so I am ready to jump back in.

I’ve seen a lot of mango dressings floating around Instagram and could never really imagine if it would be good or not, I always thought it sounded too sweet or odd on a salad. Yet now I can say that this is my new all time favorite dressing. Better than my beloved pesto or curry sauce even. The flavor is HUGE, bringing your salad to life with sweet, spicy, garlicky goodness. Not only is it delicious but this dressing is like a magic health elixir- with all raw ingredients, turmeric, lemon, garlic, the digestive enzymes of the mango- it’s incredibly good for your body! I poured this mango dressing over a big rainbow salad of arugula, diced tomatoes, shredded carrot, diced yellow bell pepper, micro-greens, and avocado with crushed almonds. Amazing!

Spicy Basil Mango Dressing

Makes about 4 servings

1 whole peeled and seeded mango, cut into chunks

4 tbs tahini

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 tb minced jalapeno

6 big basil leaves

1 tb fresh raw ginger

1 tb fresh raw turmeric

1 tb fresh raw garlic (about 2 cloves)

3 tbs of balsamic vinegar

pinch of salt

Throw everything in a blender and process until smooth! You don’t really need to pre-chop anything, just peel and break off knobs of the turmeric and ginger and toss them right in. Keeps in the fridge for about 5 days.

 

Golden Gazpacho

Welp, I meant to do a daily post chronicling my raw cleanse but I got a new job with very long hours and got off track! Oh well, sometimes life gets in the way. I often surround myself with perfectionists but am not one myself. Very often I can’t hep but stop and think how grateful I am to NOT be one. What a waste of time and anguish! I like my imperfections and find that I tend to be a much happier person on average than my perfectionist friends, although that might be because I’m driving them crazy with my ways of doing things, haha.

So I did keep up my cleanse for a total of 3 days, not too shabby I guess. And as a general rule going forward, I like to subscribe to the ‘raw ’til 4pm’ concept. Not that I particularly follow the fruit centered, high carb, low fat principle, but I do like the simple concept of eating 2 raw meals a day.

We had a lovely taco party last night for my family, we made Cuban black beans, guacamole, and all the usual fixings, and I made this Golden Gazpacho as an appetizer. We also set up a huge screen and projector in our backyard and watched movies. We have spent the last month trying to beatify our backyard and turn it into an awesome wonderland. In addition to the 103″ ‘swim-up’ movie theatre,  we turned our once-grass dirt patch into a container vegetable garden, complete with string lights and a fire pit. We planted herbs, corn, watermelon, zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, butternut squash, tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, eggplant, onions and lettuces! We also installed a drip system so we use much less water than normal watering methods. I can’t wait till something produces a crop so I can make some fancy homegrown recipes to share with you.

I have never actually had gazpacho before, the idea of cold soup did not interest me, but as I was cooking in the hot kitchen yesterday it started to sound like a pretty good idea. The sweeter the corn you can find, the better.

Golden Gazpacho

Makes 8 servings

3 ears of corn + 1 for garnish

2 gigantic heirloom yellow tomatoes

1 cucumber, peeled

1 serrano pepper, deseeded

1 yellow bell pepper, deseeded

3 tbs coconut sugar or raw brown sugar

1 tbs salt or to taste

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 yellow onion

10 cloves of garlic

black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp paprika

1 avocado, diced for garnish

1 bunch chives, diced for garnish

 

Combine everything but the garnish items in a high speed blender and blend until smooth- this took mine 5-10 minutes, a pretty long time!

Taste and adjust seasoning as you see fit.

Store in a big bowl in the fridge for about an hour so it chills and the flavors mingle.

To serve, ladle into individual bowls and garnish with raw corn kernals, avocado slices, and a sprinkling of chopped chives.

sorry it’s blurry, but here’s our new outdoor movie theater!

here is our veggie patch, all the boxes built by my handy husband! top left is the before picture, with my brother and husband dutifully getting the dirt patch and boxes ready. top right and bottom are after!

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.

 

 

Rainbow Crunch Asian Slaw

As the weather heats up, I always start to crave raw food. Something light, crunchy, and flavorful that comes together easily without bustling around in a hot kitchen. This slaw has it all, protein, fiber, anti-oxidants, sweet and spicy flavors, and a nice big crunch. It’s also mayo-free so it’s less fattening and can survive a cook out a bit longer than most cole slaws. It’s great to make ahead of time and have ready for lunch everyday, or bring it to your next barbecue to add some color to the table.

Rainbow Crunch Asian Slaw

Makes 8 servings

2 cups purple cabbage, shredded

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup shelled edamame (optional)

1 bunch chives, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 serrano pepper, minced

1 fresh organic ear of corn, shucked and cut off the cob

Dressing:

1/2 cup white rice vinegar

1/4 cup raw agave

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbs chili sesame oil

2 tbs soy sauce or nama shoyu or coconut aminos

1 tsp sesame seeds

optional: add some crushed peanuts on top

Note: A mandolin helps shred the cabbage and carrots in seconds. Combine all the slaw ingredients in one big mixing bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Then mix them together to thoroughly coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

This goes well with a big teriyaki grilled tofu steak! You can also use the dressing ingredients for any asian salad or even as a marinade!

Chimichurri Sauce

I really love sauces. I think everyone in the world could be a happier plant-eater if only they would explore the magic of homemade sauces, dips, marinades, dressings, and spreads. The right sauce can turn a measly little carrot into a succulent morsel of the gods. It makes all the difference. Chimichurri sauce (one of my favorites) is a fantastically aromatic Argentinian sauce that is traditionally used as a marinade for steak. But of course, it is a mind-blowing condiment for veggies as well! Typically, it is bright and green and spicy, but there are also deep red variations with tomato and peppers. Everybody makes it a little differently and it’s the kind of sauce that you just cannot mess up. It’s delicious to sop up with a hunk of crusty bread, or brushed onto some roasted potatoes hot out of the oven. I also love tossing a pile of brightly colored veggies in a bowl of chimichurri, then threading them onto skewers and barbecuing until they reach a fragrant charred perfection.Give them another quick brush of the sauce right when they come off the grill. It even makes a bright and tangy salad dressing.

Chimichurri Sauce

makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup packed flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup packed cilantro

4 cloves garlic

1 cup first cold pressed olive oil

1 tsp fresh oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp red chili flakes

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 small shallot, roughly chopped

Throw everything in a blender and blend until well combined.

Of course eggplants seem to be having a moment in my kitchen this month, so I just had to make some super delicious baked chimichurri eggplant fries. chop an eggplant into thick fry-like sticks and toss them in the chimichurri sauce. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Give them another brush of sauce after you flip them. They should get crispy and charred when they are ready to come out. I seriously just ate an entire eggplant all by myself, it was too good.