Vegannosaurus Rex

Whew, big food preparation night. I got home from the gym around 5:30-5:45, and didn’t stop until 11pm. I did take a break to eat, and drink a few beers, but otherwise did a lot of food preparation. A lot. I tend to plan meals for the week, sometimes longer, then do all of my shopping at the Dekalb Farmers Market on Monday afternoons, then doing as much of the preparation on Monday or Tuesday as possible. The rest of the week, if not longer, is a breeze as all I am doing is assembling meals or snacks. As much as I like playing around in the kitchen, i also like making it easy on myself by getting a lion share of the work done in one…errr…standing.

First off, i made the quinoa tabouli from ‘RAW FOOD real world’ cookbook. I am in love with this recipe. It’s simple, and delicious, plus it yields quite a bit, so you can snack off it for many days.

I also made a new version of rawcotta. I plan to try it out in an heirloom tomato raw lasagna later in the week. This rawcotta is sunflower seed based.

[i'll provide the recipe as soon as i receive approval from the creator]

I also made the sun-dried tomato ravioli recipe provided by Hi-Rawkus for dinner tonight. As i mentioned in a comment on the Hi-Rawkus MySpace page ’twas delicious’.

I only had one zucchini to make the ‘noodles’ for the ravioli, and due to some technique experimentation, it didn’t yield enough noodles to satisfy my hunger. This is where I decided to freestyle. I didn’t have a second zucchini, but i did have a squash, as well as some organic grape tomatoes I bought from the East Atlanta Farmer’s Market about 10 days ago. The tomatoes were slightly under ripe when i bought them, but perfect tonight. I made a little platter of finger food, almost like passed hors d’oeuvres. I sliced thin ‘crackers’ of squash, topped them with a small dollop of the sun dried tomato rawcotta cheese, then some Italian parsley, a piece of the grape tomato and sprinkled with olive oil. Turned out great, and was super simple.

Today was a great food day. I went to the Dekalb Farmer’s Market to load up for the week. I did some prep work for the week’s menu. First on the agenda was hummus, I decided to throw a little spinach in the processor for some color…it worked, i’m digging the color:

I have often purchased items with ’spinach’ flavor in the past, tortillas, hummus, whatever. For the most part i find that it adds absolutely nothing to the flavor. I love spinach as much as the next person, but i don’t think it has a strong enough flavor to really add anything extraordinary to a tortilla. Enough commentary. This hummus was actually really good, best i’ve made yet. Hummus is so easy, and so rewarding. I make it at least once a week. Try some combination of the following:

[i neglected to give credit where due when i first published this blog post, that would go to Erlene Zierke, Thanks!]

• 15oz can of organic garbanzo beans (strained)
• olive oil (1/8 cup-ish)
• sea salt (3/4 tbsp)
• cumin
• white pepper (to taste)
• spinach (your call)
• garlic (one or two cloves)
• tahini (1/8 to 1/4 cup)
• paprika (to taste)
• cayenne (to taste)
• 1/2 lemon
• water (to texture)

Honestly, just wing it. Put some garbonzo beans, garlic, and tahini to a food processor then go to work on the rest. I have yet to find two people that have the exact same taste in hummus. Its as if hummus had some kind of unique fingerprint, no two are alike. Anyway, play around with it and have fun. I managed a really good combination of ingredients tonight. The above is only a rough outline, i have no idea what my final mix contained, i was throwing ingredients in left and right, tasting often.

I also made the cashew based ‘ricotta’:

[pre-prcoessing]

[post-processing]

from the Hi-Rawkus Raw Food Blog’s sun dried tomato ravioli recipe, I’ll be eating that for dinner tomorrow.

For lunch/dinner today i had sushi. I used a raw pate recipe that was generously given to me by Katie. I have a sushi experiment planned for later in the week. I’m going to make a quinoa tabouli, the raw pate mentioned above, and the jicama ‘rice’ recipe from the ‘RAW FOOD real world’ cookbook, and use each as the base for raw/vegan sushi. I’ll report findings here.

Thanks for tuning in.

The first book I referenced in beginning my raw food experimentation was ‘RAW FOOD real world‘ from Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis, the founders of Pure Food and Wine in New York City. First of all, this book is beautiful, perhaps one of the most beautiful cookbooks i have ever seen. The design and layout is intuitive, there are ample pictures, all extremely appetizing, and the book as a whole is full of color.

The pictures in this book are beautiful, i wanted to make every single recipe in the book the first time i laid eyes on it, then i started reading the recipes… With eyes popping out of my head, and beads of sweat forming on my brow, i expressed slight trepidation upon first glance at this challenging cookbook. Katie offered sage advice, ‘I use it as inspiration.’ Well spoken. That’s exactly how i have been using it, and it works. The pictures of the final products are so beautiful it is very tempting to attempt to make each and every one of them from start to finish, but i’ve found it far more rewarding, at this early stage in my raw food experience, to use the recipes more as a guideline. Many of these recipes have multiple parts that each have their own recipe and come together to make a greater whole. Instead of diving in and trying to create the masterpiece, i have started by making some of the pieces of the puzzle and applying them to meals in my own way. Its a great way to become familiar with both the book as well as some of the ingredients and techniques, as well as build my confidence, which leads me to my next point.

For some reason i get an incredible sense of accomplishment when i make food from this book. I’ve never had issues cooking, or following recipes, in fact i think i’m pretty good in the kitchen, but i get an elevated sense of accomplishment when completing these recipes. I’m still fascinated by what can be done with raw food, i’m sure that is a contributing factor, and i have someone i can lean on for guidance, which is motivating. Whatever the case, this book continues to provide inspiration.

As amazing as the recipes are in ‘RAW FOOD’ the ‘real world’ section is fascinating. The authors illustrate the path upon which the traveled to a raw diet and lifestyle, and it proves very educational. I’m a huge fan of the tone of these sections of the book, the authors don’t preach, they merely explain the route they have taken. I have referred back to these sections many times, its a fun read. They are honest, sometimes a little too honest, and self deprecating, two characteristics I appreciate in people.

I took the raw ricotta i used in the lasagna from the previous post, blended it with fresh thyme, basil and oregano and wrapped it in spinach and voila, rawvioli!

add a little raw marinara…

I made my first attempt at raw lasagna. It was better than any lasagna i have ever eaten. I was craving it so much the next day that i made it again. And…its super easy.

Not only am i obsessed with food, but i am obsessed with taking pictures of food. Following is my step by step instructions for raw vegan lasagna, in pictures:

[step 1] chop fresh oregano, basil and thyme. Slice zucchini into thin lasagna ‘noodles’

[step 2] raw ricotta (recipe courtesy of Katie Foerter, seeking approval to publish here)

[step 3] thinly slice an heirloom tomato. For the record, I did NOT make this lasagna in a bowl that is the exact same color of this heirloom tomato on purpose, and i wish i hadn’t made that mistake, the lasagna gets lost in the pictures.

[step 4] cover bottom of dish with sliced zucchini

[step 5] spread a thin layer of raw marinara over the zucchini

[step 6] cover raw marinara with a layer of raw ricotta and sprinkle some chopped oregano, basil and thyme over the raw ricotta

[step 7] add a layer of thinly sliced heirloom tomato

[step 8] add a second layer of zucchini

[step 9] more raw marinara

[step 10] more raw ricotta and hopped herbs

[step 11] a final layer of heirloom tomatoes and chopped herbs

ENJOY!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dulce Vegan at the East Atlanta Farmers Market this past Thursday (9/20/07). Dulce Vegan makes delicious vegan desserts available at Inman Perk coffee shop (280 Elizabeth St./ Atlanta, GA 30307), the East Atlanta Farmers Market, or ordered directly from the source. I can attest to the deliciousness of the cupcakes if nothing else:

I have an unhealthy obsession with tacos. At one point in my life i would come home drunk and bid on various taco memorabilia, tools, accoutrements, anything you could imagine. Whatever my drunk ass bid on was greeted with surprise upon arrival as I never remembered bidding on any of the items i ultimately purchased, and that was half the fun. None of these items amounted to much, it was just a pile of taco crap, most of which has since gone the way of the dodo bird. Anyway, you get the idea, i like tacos. As I have adjusted my diet I felt this was an obsession that was going to have to fade, and have had some reservations about losing this dear friend. Well, i made my first stab at a raw vegan taco last night. I’ll admit that my expectations were low, but that didn’t stop me from putting some thought and energy into making the best raw/vegan taco possible. And it worked. SOOOOO simple, and so good. You could make these in your sleep, which is convenient because i had a dream about them the night after i made them.

Delicious, absolutely delicious. I surprised even myself yet again. I made two fillings, one was a pretty basic guacamole:

• cilantro
• avacado
• roma tomato
• red onion
• salt
• serrano chile
• garlic
• lime juice

and the other a salsa/pico de gallo mixture:

• roma tomatoes
• cilantro
• red onion
• garlic
• sweet white corn

The guacamole is the same basic recipe (i add a touch of this or that from time to time) that I have been making for 10 years, as you can see from above, its nothing extra special. On paper, the salsa mixture looks super simple as well…its all in the corn. I kept the corn kernels whole, right off the cob, and i cut the tomatoes fairly large, you could fit 3-4 pieces on a fork, keep it nice and chunky:

This meal wasn’t totally raw, i did use a tortilla, slightly toasted. Line the bottom of the tortilla with some guacamole, top with the pico de gallo mix. Absolutely delicious. Enjoy.

I had an epiphany tonight. Raw corn on the cob.

I didn’t discover this on my own, mind you. That honor goes to the beautiful and multi talented Katie Foerter, a raw/vegan chef here in my hometown of Atlanta. I need to get that introduction out of the way because she will appear in many posts moving forward. She’s my raw diet spiritual advisor. I ask her endless questions regarding a raw food diet and raw food preparation, and she is always more than gracious in responding to my inquiries and encouraging my experimentation. I owe her a debt of gratitude i will never be able to repay.

ON WITH THE CORN…

I have always loved corn, especially on the cob. I remember watching my father have to cut the corn off of the cob when i was a kid due to his dentures. It was too painful for him to eat the corn directly off of the cob. I always thought he was missing out on something special, and as odd as it sounds, i think about my father meticulously (he does everything in this manner) cutting the corn off of the cob so as not to miss a single kernel. Its as if he was eating the corn off the cob, but with a knife instead of his incisors.

‘JERSEY CORN’

My father’s side of the family is from New Jersey. Anyone that has spent any time in New Jersey understands three things, New Jersey is proud of their corn, their tomatoes and the fact that New Jersey is considered the ’safest state.’ That last distinction is a reference to the fact that they have the lowest amount of car insurance claims per capita than any other state. Jersey Corn, white and sweet. I’ve never met anyone from New Jersey (most of the people are relatives) that wasn’t proud of ‘Jersey corn.’ And, to be honest, for good reason.

My grandmother used to make this wonderful dish for Thanksgiving every year, Jiffy Corn. Whew, its corn nirvana. A box of Jiffy Corn mix, creamed corn, multiple ears of fresh corn, cheese, butter. Oof, i need a nap. My grandmother’s Jiffy Corn always seemed like dessert, in fact, i used to get a second helping in place of dessert. I actually made a vegan version of this dish for Thanksgiving last year, its was surprisingly close to the original, and was a huge hit with everyone, carnivores included, but that’s a post for another day.

REKINDLED LOVE AFFAIR

Recently, this past summer in fact, my love affair with corn was rekindled, in the form of grilled corn. Myself and another friend, Erlene Zierke, had an ever so slight obsession with ‘grilled cron.’ Many (and by ‘many’ i mean 3) a summer night were spent grilling corn over the gas grill at Erlene’s apartment. Techniques were researched and studied, the corn was shopped for at multiple venues, and most importantly, cron was eaten in abundance. I really like corn.

Enter Katie. Upon meeting Katie she began her slow (4 week) sales pitch of raw corn on the cob. I was surprisingly skeptical. I literally never even considered eating corn on the cob raw, until, and i’m not kidding about this, the week before meeting Katie, and then it was only in passing, because, quite frankly, it sounded ridiculous. So, back to the sales pitch:

‘try biting into corn on the cob raw, its so sweet and so juicy. The first time i had it the corn juice was running down my arm and it was a really bright yellow, when have you ever seen bright yellow juice come out of cooked corn?’

I was still skeptical. Biting into a raw ear of corn just seemed…odd. Well, i bought two ears of corn yesterday at the Dekalb Farmers Market with the idea of using them in a salsa i was making for raw tacos. I made the ‘mistake’ of articulating how proud i was of myself for buying, and intending to eat, raw corn while on the phone with Katie this evening. Oops. The gauntlet was dropped. It was demanded that i bite into a cob of corn right there on the spot…while on the phone with her. I resisted, hemmed and hawed for a bit before deciding it was much easier to just agree with said female than try to resist.

Ummm….Raw corn is an elevated experience. Take a boiled, or grilled, ear of corn and elevated all of the aspects of the experience. The texture, juiciness, flavor, sweetness. Raw corn is amazing, truly. Its everything corn is, then add a little more. Crunchy, juicy, sweet, uber-flavor. I was truly overwhelmed by the sweetness. I think i said, about eight times, ‘its so sweet’ on the phone.

Try raw corn on the cob. Its rawsome.