Vegannosaurus Rex

The Atlanta raw food gathering we had all hoped one happen someday finally did, last Friday, July 11th, 2008. I’d love to say that I have a particular talent at building community, or even say that I have unique experience in building community, but, alas, neither of those would be accurate. I spent the bulk of my time trying to figure out how to bring all of the local raw food enthusiasts together that I have met through various online networks. A few on MySpace, a smattering on eat.rawfood.com, a skoche from Facebook, and then, of course Give It To Me Raw. Well, all of those problems were solved when we collectively caught a small case of the Dhru that swept through Atlanta last weekend.

There were pictures taken. (thanks Audry)

A video was produced. (thanks Beth)

In the aftermath, many a blog post was written:

Atlanta Raw Food Meetup July 11, 2008; by Bunny Berry

Day 14, Fun in Atlanta and SLUMBER PARTIES!!; by Audry

ATL represents; by Dhrumil

Atlanta Raw Gathering…; by April

As promised…; by Sunshine

A huge thanks to Chadd! : D; by Sunshine (alright, i’m kinda patting myself on the back with this one)

And a few thanks need to be given:

A special thanks to Jim Thomas of R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill for taking such good care of us.

And, most importantly, to Dhrumil. My feelings are best summed up by a text message i sent Dhru later that night:

‘Tonight was really inspiring, thanks for helping us see our potential’

I’ve seen, and eaten, a few ‘tempura’ dishes over the last 6 months, but have never found a recipe. To be honest, i didn’t look very hard for a recipe, i was interested in the challenge of trying to create this one on my own. A special thanks to my sister to lending her nose to identify an ingredient or two that made the recipe close to perfect.

• 1 cup raw pistachios (soaked for at least 2 hours)
• 1/2 cup pinenuts (soaked for at least 2 hours)
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2-3 Tablespoons Nama Shoyu
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 4 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 lemon (juice only)
• nutmeg (will explain later in the post)
• pepper
• sea salt
• cayenne
• 1/2 cup water (max, this is added as needed)
• 1 head of Cauliflower

This recipe is super easy. If you subtract the dehydrating time you could accomplish the whole mess in about 10-15 minutes.

1. Soak pistachios and pinenuts in water for at least 2 hours, the longer they soak the creamier they become, which can affect how much water you use in the final mix (this will make sense later).

2. Chop the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. This solves two problems, one, you want them to be able to fit in your mouth, and two, you have to cut them relatively small to fit in the dehydrator.

3. Put everything else in the food processor. Pistachios, pinenuts, dash of sea salt and pepper, cayenne to taste, olive oil, turmeric, Nama Shoyu, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice. For the nutmeg…I took a nutmeg seed in one hand and a microplane in the other hand and ground a dusting over the top of the other ingredients

4. Turn on the food processor. As ingredients are blending add water as needed to create a creamy consistency. I’ve never used more than 1/2 a cup of water. Depending on how long you soak the pistachios and pinenuts you may not need to add any water at all, but even after allowing nuts to soak overnight I still needed 1/8 to 1/4 cup of water. Altitude and ingredients play a factor, as always.

5. Pour the blended mixture on to the chopped cauliflower and mix together.

6. Stick the whole mess (i’m not kidding here, its a mess) in the dehydrator for 2 hours or longer depending on the type of dehydrator being used.

Enjoy. You may want to vary the amount of apple cider vinegar depending on how your palate reacts to the taste, i happen to like it, many don’t.

My take on simple and quick Tabbouleh.

• 1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
• 1 head of parsley, chopped
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 4-5 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 cucumber, seeded and chopped

put it all in a bowl, mix, eat. Flavors integrate very nicely overnight.

I have a minor hemp seed obsession (maybe ‘addiction’ would be more appropriate in this case), i’ve been finding ways to include hemp seeds as an ingredient in almost everything. Hemp seeds work especially well as a substitute for bulgur wheat in tabbouleh.

Sooo…

I walked into Arden’s Garden, a local fresh juice/smoothie chain here in Atlanta, the other day while I was out running errands. Not only am I addicted to their juices and smoothies, but they also carry raw desserts and snacks, one of which I am particularly fond. Nori Bites. Yes, I know, double entendre. They’re actually quite delicious. Several different kinds of nuts ground into a powder, blended with water, spread on a sheet of nori, topped with another sheet of nori and dehydrated.

To make a short story exceptionally long…I order Nori Bites to go along with my smoothie. While employee number one made my smoothie, a guy, employee number two rang up my order and commented on the Nori Bites and the fact that she had always wanted to try them. I took the opportunity to open my package of Nori Bites and offer her one. She looked over her shoulder, to make sure employee number one wasn’t looking, hesitated again, then decided to dive in.

Her eyes lit up with surprise, as employee number one walked over and handed me the smoothie,

‘they taste like food!’

I looked at her kinda half cocked, and started to laugh.

‘You know, like food…food on a plate!’

At which point I really started to laugh…employee number one didnt find the exchange very amusing, as he interrupted, and said ‘have a nice day, sir.’

Raw food, its taste’s just like food on a plate…

Thanks to the raw community at GITMR.com we’ve managed to take our first steps toward what we hope will become a regular event: a raw meetup for us Atlantans. We’re going to take it easy this first time, and let someone else do the work for us, namely, Loving It Live restaurant in East Point. This is a little self serving, i must admit, for I have yet to dine at Loving It Live and really can’t wait much longer. So…I’m dragging everyone with me.

Everyone and anyone is invited to join us, Friday February 29th, 7:30pm at Loving it Live.

Just like everyone else, there are times when I am just too busy, or lazy, to prepare a meal for myself. Or, more accurate perhaps, I simply enjoy having someone else do the work for me from time to time. Beyond that, i really enjoy experiencing the creativity of others. It’s inspiring.

When I’m between trips to the farmers market, or simply feeling lazy, i call Living Food Delights, a mere 2.5 miles from my house. If I time it right I can call in my order, get in my car and drive to Living Food Delights, and walk in the front door before they have hung up the phone.

Great people and great food, in a non-descript storefront in Grant Park. I only have two complaints, there hours are short, the close at 8, but my attempts to call in an order at 7:30 in the past have been met with grunting and mumbling sounds until i have offered to call back another day, and they only make 4 of each entree each day, so if you try to catch them later in the day your options can be severely limited, as in you have 2 options out of the usual 10. Neither of those are reasons to stay away, and they aren’t really complaints to be honest, they’re observations. I understand limiting the amount of orders, its far to expensive to throw it away and the end of the day, and I trust they know their business far better than I do.

To get a taste of what their wares, take a tour of my most recent visit:

(You can see detailed notes on the flickr version of this picture.)

What you see here is the three course dinner, $17.50.

Choice of entree:

• Barbeque Mushrooms
• Lasagna
• Lentil Patties
• Marinated Kush with Topping
• Spaghetti
• Stuffed Tomatoes
• Sun Burger Patties
• Tempura Vegetables
• Walnut Steak
• Wild Rice Medley

Choice of side dish:

• hummus
• wild rice
• cracked wheat

I have found that almost never have the cracked wheat, but always have a more interesting special side dish.

Choice of green/salad:

• Spring Mix Salad
• Collard Greens
• Seaweed Salad
• Romaine Cesar Salad
• Spinach Cesar Salad

It’s truly a delight to have someone else prepare such a delicious living food meal for me.  If you’re in the are definitely pay them a visit.

I really have nothing poignant to say in this post, except that i have ‘discovered’ another great recipe.  I’ve been super busy with moving and work related BS and have been sitting on this one for a few weeks, while i had a second to breathe i thought i would get it out there in the ether for all to enjoy.

I found a great ’snack’ at a local health food/co-op grocery here in town. Sevananda carries some prepared raw dishes from a local catering company that i have been giving a try lately. The stand-out of the bunch is curried cabbage. At $4.99 for what amounts to about a cup or two of curried cabbage, i set out to reverse engineer this dish.

Curried Cabbage:

1/3 head cabbage
1/4 cup sprouted lentils
4 green onions
2 cloves garlic
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 red bell pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
juice from 1.5 lemons
1 serrano chile
salt to taste

Directions: blend until desired consistency. Serve on green leaf lettuce, or just dig in with a spoon.

I was quite fortunate this holiday season. My family was amazing in their support of my dietary decisions, and made it damn near impossible for me to look back now. I was on the receiving end of a dehydrator (thanks Lauren!), a high speed food processor (thanks Mom and Bill!), a very sharp kitchen knife (cut my finger within 5 minutes of first use, thanks Mom and Bill…for the knife, not the cut), and a mini food processor (thanks Erika!). All in all, everyone was amazing and I am quite fortunate to have such an understanding and supportive family.

I’m warming up to the dehydrator (pun intended) after many initial experiments. It takes a few failures before you realize what is possible and what isn’t possible. Failed experiments include a baby bella mushroom jerky (dont ask), and and eggplant facon recipe i found on gone raw (i know how i screwed this one up, user error, not the recipe’s fault). I’ve had a few successes as well.

I found a veggie burger recipe on gone raw, but, to be perfectly honest, it was quite bland, so i spiced it up, in the process doubling the amount of ingredients.

Mung Bean Veggie Burger (Raw Veggie Burger, Way #1)

• 3 cups mung bean sprouts
• 3 cups carrot, shredded
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup sage, oregano, thyme, any combination of the three, totaling 1/2 cup
• 1/2 cup fresh ground flax seeds
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• dash teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon pepper
• salt, to taste

Super simple to make. I bought my mung bean sprouts at the farmers market, if you are going to sprout them yourself let them grow to 3″-4″ for this recipe. Ground the flax seeds in a food processor or coffee grinder. Shred the carrots, doesn’t really matter how you perform this task, vegetable grater or a food processor will work. Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend. Place in the dehydrator for 6 hours on one side, then flip and dehydrate for another 6 hours.

**Note about dehydrating times**

I’ve only had a dehydrator for 2 weeks and I have already figured out one important fact about dehydrating times listed in recipes. Similar to the times i have seen listed in sprouting directions/instructions, the dehydrating times used in recipes are merely guidelines. Each dehydrator is different, and I’m sure that climate and elevation play a role as well. Basically, use your best judgment, and check progress often.

**end of dehydrating note**

Sprouted Lentil Veggie Burger (Raw Veggie Burger, Way #2)

• 2 cups sprouted red lentils
• 2 cups carrot, shredded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup sage, oregano, thyme, any combination of the three, totaling 1/2 cup
• 1/3 cup fresh ground flax seeds
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon pepper
• salt, to taste

Obviously, i didn’t make many amendments. I cut the recipe by a third, more or less, and I substituted sprouted red lentils for the mung bean sprouts. I’m not really sure which recipe i like better, or if i do at all. I definitely like the color of the lentil burger better, and i added a little more cayenne to that version which spiced it up a bit. Try them both, you be the judge.

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: