Strawberry coconut basil ice kream!

Making ice cream chez moi

This Christmas my wonderful grandmother gave me a Cuisinart ice cream maker! Wahoo! Isn't she a stylish beauty? (The ice cream maker, see picture on the right. My grandma is a stylish beauty too, but I don't have a photo to share with you). I couldn't wait to experiment and make a rawkin' ice cream, despite the weather in Connecticut being below zero.

At the same time, my sister was in from Manhattan and kindly scoured the city to bring me two young coconuts. Did you know there is a shortage of young coconuts in NYC? Well, there was in mid-December. I was equally excited to experiment with coconut, as it is not an ingredient I commonly have on hand in Paris.

First step was figuring out how to open the coconut. In my excitement I started hacking at the first one, and finally found the soft spot on the bottom of the nut. While this enabled me to drain the water, it did not help me open the shell to get the meat out. My dad came to the rescue, wrapping the nut in a bag and smacking it with a sledgehammer. Ah, yes, preparing raw food can be entertainment for the whole family! To open the second coconut, I took a more judicious approach and pulled up The Raw Chef YouTube channel for some video schooling. Here is a super resource for how to open a young coconut, thanks to Russell James.

And to complement the video, here is a step-by-step photo stream of a successful, and less eventful, coconut opening:

Finding the soft spot after shaving the top of the husk, and pouring out the water.

Cracking open the top of the coconut to be able to scoop out the meat.

Fresh young coconut meat cleaned and ready for tasting!

First Mix of Raw Ice Kream
Why is it spelled kream and not cream? It's a raw vegan thing, a way to differentiate from animal products (like saying nut cheeze and mylks).

Again, in my excitement to see how the ice cream maker worked, I did not follow a recipe, and instead threw a bunch of ingredients into the mixer: coconut meat + water, handful of cashews, big handfuls of strawberries, 1/2 T of coconut oil, raw agave and vanilla. I was concerned that I did not have enough mylk for a creamy consistency, or enough liquid, but I thought, well, let's just give it a mix and see what happens. Once I had poured the mixture into the ice cream maker, I added in the chopped basil.

You can see the blended concoction in the picture below, and the following pictures of the mix being turned into ice cream; the machine took 25 minutes from liquid to frozen block.

Liquid concoction in the blender

Ice cream maker starting to mix the liquid

After mixing for 15 minutes

Completed ice cream spread in a glass pan

Two scoops!

 

The end result was a delicious ice kream, which was easy to make. It tasted great, though I will work on improving the creaminess of the texture the next time. Perhaps I will follow a recipe.  :)

• If you have a yummy raw ice kream recipe, please share! You can share it in the comments section.
  
• Do you have a tip on how to increase the creaminess of raw frozen desserts?

Catch a Herbal Tonic

Raw vegan cafe and community builder!

 Happy holidays to all!

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a great evening at Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe in Fairfield, CT with  a delicious meal and a great talk on herbal tonics by George J. Lamoureux, CEO of Jing Herbs.

My mom and dad, always up for a culinary adventure and for learning something new (I love that about them!), accompanied me, and they truly enjoyed their meals. Did they love them enough to start delving into raw food preparation? Only time will tell! Mom had olive ravioli, which is an approach to making rawvioli that I have never seen before. Impressive! Glen, the owner of the cafe, shared the trick with me to making rawvioli skins out of olives. If you'd like to know, post a comment and I will share!

Olive puttanesca rawvioli

I had the veggie and nut burger on onion bread with avo, cashew cheese, shiitake bacon, mustard and ketchup. When eating out, that is, when someone else is preparing my raw food, I tend to order the meal which has the most parts requiring preparation as I am least likely to have all those components ready for assembly at one time. Dad had the zucchini spaghetti with marinara sauce and raw meatballs, because he wanted to compare it to the version I made this past week. I liked that he was able to see the variety of tastes and textures that raw food offers depending on how the food is prepared--dehydrated or not, noodle thickness etc. 

Seed and nut shiitake bacon cheezeburger

For dessert mom and I had chocolate chia pudding and dad had raspberry chocolate pie, they were both delicious. Just check out their amazing spread of raw desserts!

Rawlicious desserts

Herbal tonics

My first introduction to superherbs was by David Wolfe in Paris last autumn. So I was excited to have the opportunity to advance my learning tonight by listening to George Lamoureux, one of the country's leading herbalists. He opened with an explanation of the 3 Treasures: jing, qi, and shen. I like to remember the 3 Treasures via the analogy of a candle: the jing is the wax, or the body's genetic state that we inherit from our ancestors; the qi is the flame that the jing supports, which is aided by our air and food intake; and the shen is the glow or aura that the candle emits. I may get this wrong--word of warning, I am not a herbalist!--but my understanding is that the herbal tonics address your jing, qi, and/or shen. Another component to consider is whether the herb promotes yin, which is moist, nutritive, cooling, and targets the body substratum (such as organs), or promotes yang, which tonify activity and functions by creating fire.  

When getting started on integrating superherbs into your diet, remember that they are digested like food, meaning they can be taken at any time and for extended periods of time. All herbal tonics do no harm, and they all take your health up a notch to the next level.

To provide my personal story on introducing superherbs to my diet... I struggled my first winter on a high raw diet as I was often cold and damp and craved warm cooked food. Last winter I added astragalus, reishi and D3 drops to my diet and I grew much stronger. I had no problems staying raw through the cold winter months, and my circulation was great with no cold fingers or toes. So what's next for this winter-- the winter of 2012? George told me that they (Jing herbs) are looking to help us truly transform our health and our lives. It is time to transcend and transform! So I will upgrade my daily addition to my smoothies from 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp, and I will begin to brew tonics of multiple herbs and make delicious elixir drinks. Tonight we had a warm elixir of reishi, chaga, cacao powder, almond milk, stevia, and a bone building tea of nettles and horsetail.  This tonic kept us up until well past midnight awake, alert, and feeling creative! 

George Lamoureux, CEO of Jing Herbs

If you would like to get started using superherbs, I recommend you check out the Jing Herbs website, and then call them. They have trained herbalists on hand to talk you through which superherbs can benefit you. As George said: they want to take us to the next level! Here's to your SUPER health in 2012!

• Do you have a personal story about how superherbs have impacted your health or your spirit? Please share with us in the comments section.

• Which superherbs do you plan to take this winter?

Mid-afternoon snack: Maca mylkshake

I love a mid-afternoon snack during the workday. Today my kitchen is a bit bare, so I made a yummy shake by combining a few basic staples. It was my first time using walnuts in a mylkshake, definitely adds a different flavor!

My trusty owl of wisdom from Lyon, Athena
watching over the maca mylkshake

Maca mylkshake
1/3 cup walnuts
1 cup water
1 ripe banana
2 tsp maca
1 tsp cinnamon
1 T raw honey
6 small ice cubes

Blend!

Enjoy... and get back to work!

Raw Creativity, thank you Ani Phyo

I recently went on a new recipe rampage... sometimes I am enamored with simple salads, sprouts, smoothies and juices... and then other times, I will have the creative urge to make a smorgasbord of raw gourmet meals. Isn't it great to be able to hear what your body wants, and then to have the means and ability to satisfy that craving? I count this as a true blessing!

Raw Inventor at work with her cat

I love the creative energy inspired by with food preparation. One of the reasons I enjoy exploring raw food so much is that many culinary adventures can be taken in largely unchartered territories. For example, the other day I was wondering if there was a raw recipe for bread pudding. As I have not been able to find one online, I have started brainstorming what ingredients and processing techniques would be required to create a similar texture and taste to the cooked version. (Stay tuned!) I feel like a mad scientist in the laboratory concocting yummy dishes with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

My camera and photography skills are not satisfactory at capturing the true beauty and deliciousness of recent concoctions, but I thought I would  share anyway. Reviews and links to recipes provided. A special thanks to Ani Phyo for her delicious creations and the creativity they inspire in us food lovers!

Ani Phyo Cauliflower Mash and Miso Gravy from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

Ani Phyo's Cauliflower Mash and Miso Gravy

I have been obsessed with Ani Phyo's miso gravy since last November. The combination of miso + orange creates a deliciously unique flavor. This was my first time making her cauliflower mash, and I will definitely be making it again. It looks just like mashed potatoes (does it not?), and has a beautifully creamy texture coupled with a light cauliflower flavor. Plus, the added bonus of psyllium powder really helps your intestines clean themselves out over the next few days...

Miso gravy recipe online here.

Variation of the cauliflower mash recipe available here.

Strawberry white chocolate cheezecake posted by Vanessa Sherwood on GLiving Community Forum

Strawberry White Chocolate Cheezecake
First,  I am a huge fan of heavy, creamy-textured food - for example, raw chocolate mousse made with avocado is one of my all-time favorite meals. So the fact that I made this cheezecake 4 times in the past month is not surprising. It's that good. I brought one cheezecake to Easter dinner at a friend's house, and it was well received. Sharing raw desserts is such a great way to turn people onto raw food!

Strawberry white chocolate cheezecake recipe and discussion online at Raw Freedom Community here.

Raw veggie burger!

Raw Veggie Burger
There is something about a yummy burger in the summertime that puts a smile on my face. And Ani Phyo has a good raw veggie burger recipe. It is very tasty, not nut-based, and super simple to make - no dehydrator required meaning you can be eating a veggie burger within 20 minutes of craving one. I would like to find a recipe for a slightly thicker burger, next I would like to try Café Gratitude's veggie burger recipe.

I double layered this raw veggie burger on top of a celeriac/carrot pulp flax bread, with pineapple, homemade ketchup, tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, lettuce, and sprouts. I was introduced to burgers with pineapple and beet root while in Australia many years ago, and was hooked. These two additions take any burger to the next level - whether that burger is raw, veggie or cooked meat!

Raw Ketchup recipe
Blend 1 tomato together with 1 date, 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1 T olive oil, and a pinch of salt. If too runny, add more sun-dried tomatoes. If too thick, add some water. Blend again.

Ani Phyo Sun Burgers recipe online at Raw Freedom Community

Ani Phyo Donut Holes from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

 

Donut Holes
Don't they look so cute? These donut holes are a great option to take to a raw food potluck or a friend's house for tea and coffee. They are easy to make and use simple ingredients. I ate them with a raw strawberry compote, as suggested by Ani Phyo, which nicely complemented the texture and flavor of the donut holes. 
  
Ani Phyo Donut Holes recipe online at Raw Freedom Community here.

Zucchini-ccini with sun-dried tomato pesto and cherry tomatoes

 

Pesto Tguch Style
There are so many varieties of pesto to make. This is my own recipe:
 
* In a food processor, process 1 clove garlic, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 2/3 cup basil and 1/2 cup spinach until leaves are well torn and mixed. 
* Add 1/3 cup shelled pistachio nuts and 8 sun-dried tomatoes. Process until well mixed, then slowly begin to add in olive oil as the mixture continues to process. 
* Drizzle oil slowly and stop when desired moisture level has been reached (I estimate about 1 T).

I make my zucchini-ccini using a peeler from Williams Sonoma. I think the "pasta" looks like real linguine in this photo!

What recent creations have inspired you? Share the creative energy!

 

Straight from the Olive Grove

My very own olive oil, straight from the olive grove

This past Christmas my lovely sister adopted me my very own olive tree, from a grove in the Italian Apennines. This excellent marketing initiative (check it out: http://www.nudo-italia.com/) helps small artisanal olive oil producers stay in business. In addition  to knowing that I am contributing to sustainable development for an oil that I love and use daily, I also receive two deliveries a year of fresh, cold-pressed olive oil from my grove. My first delivery arrived last week! 

I recommend only eating fresh, cold-pressed oils that are not cooked or broken down by heat. Oils that are extracted using heat and then sit in plastic bottles under fluorescent lights in the supermarket have gone rancid. Think how your car would react to dirty, sluggish oil being run through the motor - it may still run, but its performance would be reduced and it wouldn't look too pretty in there. Oil is so good for your skin, your brain, your hair, your flexibility, your nails, etc., and if you are eating clean oil, you will look and feel all clean and shiny. Pay attention to the quality of the oil you consume, it is worth the price to your health! And don't cook with oil, as heat makes the oil rancid (yes, even olive oil!). Suggest to steam, broil, grill etc. and then drizzle oil on top.

Raw pizza with olive oil drizzled on top.
Base of celeriac/carrot pulp + flax seeds, layered with macadamia nut cheeze, pistachio pesto, basil, marinated onions, tomatoes, and capsicum.

Sian's Maca-Powered Birthday SuperCake!

 

Happy Birthday Sian!

Sian made a supercake for her birthday--crust of almonds and raisins, cashew filling with tons of maca and honey, and a cacao honey goji berry frosting. After 2 gigantic pieces of this heavenly dessert, I was up til late in the early morning inspired to work on different projects. Ahhh the power of maca... and cacao... goji berries... and time with girlfriends!

Thank you Sian a great birthday tea party and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!