Vegannosaurus Rex

I took a second shot at my Raw Lemongrass Jicama recipe last week. Flavor was never an issue, but i wanted to improve on the consistency. I used 1 cup of sprouted sunflower seed in place of the ½ cup of dry sunflower seeds i used in the original recipe. This prevented me from having to use as much water as well. Due to the lack of jicama at the farmer’s market last week i had to freestyle on that ingredient as well. I chose to chop zucchini into chunks and dehydrate in the oven at 100 degrees for 2-3 hours. I think I prefer the zucchini to the jicama, but i’m going to work on the jicama one last time before making the final call.

The recipe now reads:

• 3 stalks of lemongrass (use only the ‘meat’ from the bottom 2-3 inches)
• 1.5 tblsp nama shoyu
• 1 serrano chile
• 1/2 tsp chili flake
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 green onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp basil oil
• 1 cup sunflower seeds, sprouted
• 1/4-1/3 water cup of water

I amended my lasagna recipe tonight, with some success.

I added a layer of spinach on top of the rawcotta (see previous post for full, blow by blow, instructions), and also added a layer of Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein’s rawmesan. Mmmmm, both excellent additions, if i may say so myself.

Rawmesan:

• 1 ½ cups rejuvelac
• 2 cups pine nuts, soaked at least six hours in water
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt
• 1 ½ Tablespoon large flake nutritional yeast (i couldn’t find large flake so i used the ‘regular’ kind)

In a food processor, blend the pine nuts and rejuvelac until creamy. Poor in small bowl and cover with a kitchen towel for approx 12 hours, or until mixture starts to smell yeasty, this is the point at which it has begun to ferment.

Stir in yeast and salt, mixing carefully. The directions call for dehydrating for 10-14 hours in a dehydrator at 105 degrees. I dont own a dehydrator, so i used my oven at about 100 degrees, and it took about that long, 12 hours or so.

The previously unpublished rawcotta recipe (drum roll please…):

• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup water (see below)
• ¼ cups nutritional yeast
• 2 cups pine nuts, soaked
• 3 cups macadamia nuts, soaked

Soak pine nuts and macadamia nuts in water at least 6 hours, but the longer you let them soak the creamier they become.

Blend (in food processor) all of the ingredients except for the water. Add water as necessary after all other ingredients are blended, to desired consistency. Enjoy in moderation, this stuff is addictive.

The final product:

I’ve been craving comfort foods lately, i’m blaming it on the holidays. I decided to attempt a macaroni salad substitute. My craving was extremely pleased with the results of this experiment.

The recipe

• 2 zucchini’s worth of elbow noodles (preparation notes below)
• 1 cup raw mayonnaise (preparation notes below)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
  (mix 2 1/2 tablespoons of mustard powder with apple cider vinegar until it forms the consistency of mustard paste)
• 1/4 cup (approx) apple cider vinegar (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 5-6 green onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• dash of cayenne

The preparation

First I made the mayonnaise, borrowed from RAW by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein:

• 1/2 cup pinenuts (soaked for at least 6 hours in water)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• sea salt

blend pinenuts, water, olive oil and lemon juice in a blender until you achieve the desired consistency, then add salt to taste.

Next I made the noodles:

Start by peeling two zucchini

cut the peeled zucchini into quarters

cut out the seeds so the remaining zucchini quarters form the shape of a ‘u’

slice the zucchini with seeds removed into small pieces that mimic macaroni elbow noodles

And last i assembled all the ingredients:

chopped red bell pepper

chopped 2 stalks of celery

1 grated carrot, prepared mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, raw mayonnaise, agave nectar, cayenne and green onions. Voila, rawcaroni salad: