Quinoa with Pomegranite & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We got tired of quinoa for a little while, but I admit I perked up immediately when I saw this recipe because we LOVE pomegranate seeds! I changed it around some so that it's more fruity, and added some creamy avocado on the side. Mmmmmmm!

Pomegranate Quinoa Pilaf
3-4 T Vegetable broth
1/2 medium onion, diced small
1 c quinoa
2 c vegetable broth
1 c pomegranate seeds
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 T olive oil, cold pressed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t fresh lemon zest
1 t sweetener (I used part agave and part vegetable glycerin)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2-3/4 c roasted pumpkin seeds (see below)
sliced avocado, if desired

Heat 3-4 T vegetable broth in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until translucent and fragrant. Add the quinoa and stir to coat. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.

In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, pomegranate seeds, parsley, lemon juice, zest, and sweetener. Add the quinoa and season with salt, and pepper to taste. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over it and garnish with sliced avocado if desired.

Veggie Korma

Yes, this is another Indian food post. What can I say? We LOVE it! I spoke briefly about the benefits of turmeric here, but I wanted to continue that discussion in this post. Turmeric has an antioxidant in it called curcumin, which has anti-inflammatory effects. I have a lot of friends who struggle with inflammation, and turmeric has been proven to help with this when consumed on a regular basis.

It also helps clean the blood, keeping the red blood cells from clumping, promoting their formation and increasing circulation and tissue healing. Another benefit of clean blood? Glowing skin. :)

Veggie Korma

*adapted slightly from Kimberly Snyder

5-6 T + 3 1/2 c vegetable broth (divided)

1 onion, diced

1 t minced fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can coconut milk

2 T tomato paste

sprinkle of cayenne pepper

1 1/2 t coriander, ground

1/2 t turmeric

1/2 t garam masala

1 t curry

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 T arrowroot powder

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 cauliflower, cut into bite size florets

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 T nutritional yeast

2 T fresh lime juic

cooked quinoa or brown rice

chopped parsley, optional garnish

Heat 5-6 T broth in large saucepan. Sauce onion, ginger and garlic until soft and fragrant. Stir in coconut milk, tomato paste and remaining vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add spices and stir well. Put a cup of mixture in a bowl and whisk in the arrowroot powder until thick and free of lumps. Add back to the main pot and stir well. Allow mixture to simmer down for 45 minutes until thick and creamy.

Cook rice or quinoa.

Heat water to a boil and steam the sweet potatoes about 8-10 minutes. Remove; steam cauliflower and carrots 5-7 minutes or until they soften, but retain their firmness. 

After 45 minutes, add the nutritional yeast, lime juice and veggies to the sauce. Stir well and simmer for 5 additional minutes. Adjust seasonings if desired and serve over quinoa or brown rice. Garnish with parsley if desired. 

Blender Zucchini Brownies

Blender Zucchini Brownies
1/4 c applesauce
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
2 eggs (or 2 T chia with 6 T water)
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c coconut sugar
1/2 c cocoa
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise
2 c whole wheat flour
1 t sea salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
dark chocolate chips

First 6 ingredients to blender until smooth. Add remaining ingredients(except chocolate chips). Pulse til incorporated. Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 25-30 min. Remove and cover with choc chips.

Pesto with Chicken Sausage and Brussel Sprouts

Next time you make pesto pasta, save some of the pesto. It freezes great! Just thaw and use in this recipe and it's DELICIOUS!

Pesto with Chicken Sausage and Brussel Sprouts
1 lb fresh brussel sprouts, ends trimmed and any yellowed/browned outer leaves removed, then sliced in half
3 T olive oil, divided
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t freshly-ground black pepper
1 lb rice pasta
4 chicken sausage links (I used the hormone-free ones from Publix)
5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Fresh pesto, store bought or HOMEMADE (EVEN BETTER!)
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together brussel sprouts, 2 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Gently stir until well-combined. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spread the brussels sprouts on it evenly. Roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once partway through, or until they are crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside. Remove from oven and set aside. 

Meanwhile, remove sausage from casings. Heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage into crumbles. Cook until browned and very fragrant. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water (reserving 1/4 cup pasta water), and then toss together the pasta, pesto, cooked sausage and garlic, and brussels sprouts. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if needed for extra moisture. 

Serve warm, and sprinkle with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

Fresh Lemonade...WITHOUT SUGAR!

My little gal can't have sugar...which really used to be a pain in the rear but ultimately has guided our family to much better health. Well, the other day there was a little boy in our neighborhood who was selling lemonade to support his baseball team. My oldest child's heart melted and she bought lemonade for all....forgetting that her sister couldn't drink it. Ohhhhhh, the tears! Well, I had just gotten home from my bestie's house where she and her hubs made fresh lemonade almost every day, and it tasted delicious on a hot day! I texted her for the recipe and my little one was, as you can see, pleased with the results!

Fresh Lemonade...without sugar!
2 lemons
water and ice
liquid stevia

Squeeze lemons into quart jar. Fill the rest of the way with filtered water and ice. Add a dropper or two of liquid stevia (to taste! Don't add too much!) and shake it up.
Enjoy!

New Lunch recipes! Energy Bites & Zucchini Carrot Raisin Muffins

 Energy Bites
2 c regular oats
1 c peanut butter (or other nut butter)
2/3 c raw honey
2 c shredded coconut
1 c freshly ground flaxseed
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
1/2 c raisins
2 t vanilla
1-2 T chia seeds

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  I chill the night before, and then roll into balls the next morning.  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. Very filling and delicious!

Zucchini Carrot Raisin Muffins
1 c regular oats
2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c coconut sugar (or sucanut)
1 T + 2 t baking powder
1 c grated zucchini
1 c grated carrot
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t sea salt
3/4 c raisins
3/4 c coconut oil
2 ripe bananas
1/2 apple
1/2 c agave

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Combine the last 4 ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. These freeze well and taste DELIGHTFUL!

Cherry Almond Granola

Cherry Almond Granola
4 c regular rolled oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1 c uncooked millet
1 c dried cherries
4 T ground flax seed
2 T chia seed
1/2 c coconut sugar (or sucanut)
1 1/2 t sea salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cardamom (optional)
dried coconut (optional)
pumpkin seeds (optional)

4 heaping T applesauce
1/2 c raw honey
6 T nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower, etc.)
2 heaping spoonfuls coconut oil
2 t vanilla extract
1 t almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 1 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients until well combined. In a microwaveable glass dish combine wet ingredients-MINUS THE EXTRACTS!. Microwave for 1-2 minutes and stir until well combined. Pour in extracts and stir again. Pour over dry ingredients and stir well until evenly coated. Scott onto baking sheets and bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to cool before putting it into airtight container. It will still be a little bit wet, but will harden up as it cools.

This is delicious with almond milk and fresh fruit. We also eat it over vanilla goat yogurt, too! For most of us...this is our favorite!
Enjoy!

Fun Summer Yummies: Homemade Pickles, Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus and Quick blender Zucchini Soup

 We don't often have years when we have cucumbers coming out of the ying-yang, but this year has been one of those years! We only have 2 plants, but one of the plants isn't really producing a whole lot. However, an average week yields about 30 crisp delicious cucumbers from this one plant. We'll take it, baby!

Have you ever made homemade pickles? You taste one and it's so hard to go back to store-bought!! And it's so easy! Here's how you do it:
10 c cold filtered water
1 c white vinegar
1/2 c Kosher salt
6ish quarts cucumbers, washed and cut into spears, slices or however you like
3 cloves garlic, sliced
6 sprigs dill
Combine first 3 ingredients and stir until salt dissolves. Place in liquid in jars, about halfway up. Add a little dill, your cucumbers until full, a little garlic and 1 more small sprig of dill. Continue filling jars until done. Allow to sit on counter for 24 hours. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus
Red Potatoes
Olive oil
Spices of your choice
Basil
asparagus
shredded parmesan
Scrub and cut potatoes into pieces. Season with olive oil and whatever spices you would like (salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, whatever your preferences are). Spread on prepared baking sheet (I line sheet with foil and spray with baking spray). Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. Add asparagus cut into thirds, woody ends cut off). Bake until tender, 15-20 more minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.

 Creamy Zucchini Soup
1 oz raw cashews
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 medium zucchini
sea salt, fresh herbs
Soak cashews in 1/2 c water for 1 hour. Place remaining water, zucchini, sea salt and fresh herbs (fresh basil is great and so is cilantro! Dill would be fun too!) to blender jar.  Add cashews (with water) to jar. Blend on high until blended through and hot.

Quinoa and Veggies

If you want the quickest of quick meals, this is for you! I just got back from a Momcation and my adorable best friend opened the doors of many possibilities, so many of the following recipes are attributed to her. Thanks, Jessie! xo!

This is quick, delicious, and you can totally be creative with it. A few ideas are listed below.

Quinoa and Veggies
Quick quinoa and rice mix (or make your own and freeze for crazy-busy nights!) I got the Seeds of Change one from Costco. It's expensive, so I think I'll make my own from now on!
Frozen veggies (Costco)
*Sauce (raw honey, coconut oil, ginger, tamari)
raw sesame seeds

Extra things: mandarin oranges, drained, slivered almonds, pineapple, cooked chicken or beef, etc, shredded coconut

Sauce options: clove of garlic, pineapple or orange juice, lime juice, shredded coconut
*My family is big so I did about 2/3 c raw honey, 1/3 c coconut oil, 1/3 c tamari, 1/2 inch ginger, cut into pieces

Blend sauce ingredients in blender...to desired taste and thickness...until smooth. Put quinoa/rice mix in large pan on medium head. Thaw your veggie in microwave and add to pan (or just add straight to the pan). Warm all and add your sauce. Mix well and sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you are adding fruit, add this last and gently stir, or just leave on top and let it warm slightly.

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad

This was a surprise for us! I saw something kind of like this on pinterest and have put off making it. Why???? We LOOOOOOVED it! In fact, the hubs said he liked it better then potato salad. Yeah. Let me know what you think!

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad
2 heads cauliflower, cut into large florets 
1/4 medium-sized red onion, diced finely
6 stalks organic celery, diced finely 
1 cucumber, diced
1 sweet pepper, diced
1-2 carrots, shredded
4 dill pickles, diced
2 t dried dill 
sea salt and black pepper, to taste 
sprouted sunflower seeds, optional (or any sprouted nut or seed!)
1 1/2 c almonaise 
2 T raw apple cider vinegar

Steam cauliflower until tender but not mushy. Rinse with cold water and allow to cool. Crumble the cauliflower into a large bowl, and add all of the ingredients except for the almonaise and vinegar. Thin the almonaise with the vinegar and stir into all of the other ingredients. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

Greek Dip

I happened upon this on pinterest, and just changed it up a little bit

Greek Dip
Favorite hummus (I love Sabra, but Costco has a Rosemary Garlic one that is WONDERFUL with this recipe)
Diced cucumbers
Diced red pepper
Sliced olives
Feta Cheese
1/8 c pine nuts
Stuff to dip! Whole wheat pita triangles, Beanito chips, veggie sticks, etc.

Spread hummus in pan. Sprinkle veggies over and stop with olives and feta. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve!

Creamy Breakfast Quinoa

  Breakfast Quinoa

This recipe isn’t really a recipe in that there are no exact measurements, so make it work for you or your family as needed. This is meant to be fast and to use up what you have on hand, so don’t stress! Just go with it and experiment. You can easily make this every day and change up the flavors so that it tastes like something different each time you make it!

-Rinse (if needed) and cook quinoa according to package directions. (Do this the night before for ease in the morning.)

 -Cut up fruit that you have on hand-fresh, dried and/or freeze-dried. This picture has a mango, a banana and a few strawberries.

-Raw nuts and seeds-I sprout my own and dehydrate them to store in my pantry for a more nutrient dense breakfast, but you can use regular raw nuts and seeds, too! (see below)

-Other toppings: unsweetened coconut, sesame seeds, whatever you want!

-Creamy milk: I used  what I had on hand-1 ½ c almond milk (canned coconut milk would be delicious!), dash of vanilla or almond extract, maple syrup or honey, 1/4 t sea salt, 1/2 t+ cinnamon, unsweetened shredded coconut, dates, whatever! Blend it all up in your blender and taste to make sure it’s the perfect sweet and creamy consistency that you want.

Put quinoa in a bowl, top with fruit and pour milk mixture on top. Sprinkle with nuts and seeds.

Dehydrated Nuts and Seeds

Cover nuts and seeds with filtered water and let it sit overnight. In the morning let it drain and rinse really well . Put on dehydrator sheets and let dehydrate at 108 until dry, about 12 hours. This keeps it raw, and the sprouting makes it a powerhouse of nutrients. Store in airtight container.

**The next time I do this, I will soak the nuts and seeds separately so that I can chop the nuts before storing it. I will also put some raw chia in the jar with the nut/seed mixture. Enjoy!

Veggie Pita and Spinach Pinwheels

 

These two meals are PERFECT for the summer: simple, quick and delicious!

Veggie Pitas
Pita bread, cut in half
Favorite Hummus or leftover cheezy sauce
Raw veggies of your choice: romaine lettuce, baby spinach, sprouts, peppers, carrots, celery, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.

Spread your spread in the pita. :) Follow with whatever veggies you want. This is a great one for kids to build their own!  Enjoy!

I think I will like this one more when I find a great-tasting whole grain tortilla.
Spinach Hummus Pinwheels
GREAT TASTING whole-grain tortilla
favorite hummus or cheezy sauce
chopped baby spinach
thinly sliced avocado
thinly sliced peppers
thinly sliced cucumbers

Spread hummus. Thinly layer veggie. Roll up and carefully cut with a knife. Serve with a fresh fruit salad (mmmmm, peaches and blueberries right now, huh???).

4th of July Nom-Noms

Who said you can't eat healthy during the holidays? We sure did! Here in the south, we had quite a bit of heavy rain on the 4th, so it started out as a bit of a downer. At least for me. However, we quickly changed that with some patriotic food that we got the whole family in on, and in the end, the rain took a break long enough for many neighbors to shoot off fireworks. It was a beautiful day/night!  Here is what we did:

I took THIS potato salad recipe, and instead of using regular potatoes, I found some gourmet potatoes at Costco: red white and BLUE potatoes! Have you ever heard of blue potatoes? I hadn't, but they tasted just like regular potatoes and the kids thought it was the "best potato salad ever"! I scrubbed and cut them into smaller pieces, drizzled with a little bit of olive oil and roasted in the oven until I could easily pierce through with a fork. Let cool and follow the rest of the recipe. Delicious!

 For this one, I bought a (better-for-you) ready made pie crust from Whole Foods (you can totally make your own whole wheat pie crust), and line the bottom of a pie pan. Pit cherries and mix with raw honey or raw agave nectar. Let sit for 20 minutes. Mix a couple of cups of blueberries with agave. Take a piece of cardstock and fold so that it points to 12 & 9. Fill that triangle with blueberries and the rest with cherries. Gently pull out cardstock. Cut pie dough in stripes for your "flag" and use small star cookie cutters to make stars for your blueberries. Sprinkle with raw sugar granules. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown

 This is self-explanatory, right? The kids loved this one in particular. Happy 4th!

 P.S. After all the rain we had, my garden exploded!

Summer Fun!!!

Fresh Georgia Peaches. Oh baby! We had a lot of them, so I decided to try dehydrating them. (If you dehydrate at less then 113 degrees, they are considered raw still! You preserve the enzymes and nutrients! Wahoo!) 

I wasn't patient enough, so after a day of dehydrating, I ate one. It was still juicy in the middle and as sweet as candy. Needless to say, the 4 trays didn't make it to complete dehydration. The kids and I at them all! Yum!

 

 Remember this recipe? We celebrated our youngest's half birthday (poor kid was born 3 days before Christmas!), and we did a breakfast celebration: dessert first! I felt no guilt cause it's so good for ya!

 K, this recipe is compliments of Beachbody Ultimate Reset. I decided to give it a go, and have been pleasantly surprised! I can do this kind of cleanse all day every day!

Black Bean Open-Faced Tacos
3 c black beans (2 cans drained well and rinsed, or make your own!)
1 1/2 t extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t ground coriandor
6 t Braggs liquid aminos
Sea salt to taste
4 1/2 c cooked brown rice
1 1/2 c frozen corn kernels, rinsed in cold water until thawed
1 pkg non-GMO corn tortillas
1 ripe avocado
1 c salsa (fresh is best, but we just did regular)

Combine the first 7 ingredients. Warm over medium heat and fold in brown rice. Remove from heat. Gently stir in corn kernels. Mash avocado and mix with salsa. Put rice mixture in a corn tortilla and spread with some salsa mixture. Serve!

Raw Berry Crisp

This may have been one of the fastest desserts I've ever made, and so delicious and simple!

Raw Berry Crisp
*6 cups mixed berries (whatever you want-see note below)
1-2 T maple syrup, preferrably Grade B
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c raw walnuts
1/2 c-2/3 c chopped dates
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 t chia seeds
*Note: I used frozen berries from Costco, and just ran some cool water on them for a few minutes. Gently place in baking dish. Or use fresh, and gently chop bigger berries-strawberries-and place in baking dish

In small baking dish (7x11 or the like), place berries. Drizzle with syrup and gently mix. Put remaining ingredients in food processor and process until coarsely ground. Nuts should be the size of 1/2 pea, or if you prefer chunkier, process it for less time. Sprinkle over berries. Serve immediately or chill in fridge until ready to serve.

This would be a great dessert or brunch item.

Super Nachos-Healthified

My husband has a favorite dinner that his mother made while he was growing up. Now, I love it too, but it's not very good for you, so I combined a recipe from Simple Healthy Tasty and some of our favorite tastes, and came up with the following:

-Refried Beans (my guess is 1 large can, but I make my own. I use about 3 cups. See here)
-1 recipe of Cheezy sauce 
-1 recipe Sunflower Seed cream (mixed with 1-2 T taco seasoning)
-1 1/2-2 c frozen corn (rinse to thaw)
-1 pepper, diced (I use sweet bell peppers)
-chopped cilantro
-1 recipe of Guacamole (see below)
-1-2 c salsa or pico
-GMO tortilla chips (we just quarter corn tortillas and toast in oven)

optional ingredients: olives, other raw veggies-chopped, black beans

Spread beans and cheezy sauce and broil until cheezy sauce starts to brown. Layer everything else and serve with chips. Yum!

Guacamole
2-3 avocados
2 T lime juice
1/2 t sea salt (to taste)
optional-chopped cilantro
mash with fork or blend in blender

We like to eat this on a hot day, following a cup of ice cold green smoothie!

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

As you can probably tell from my pictures, I'm not a professional photographer. I'm also not one to make something pretty looking, including food. I just kinda do whatever, and it tastes good, so why make it look pretty? It's just gonna get eaten right? Well, I have a sister who can make anything look pretty. Anything! So, every once in a while I decide to make something look pretty, and it's USUALLY when I don't have the camera handy to take a picture, so bear with me while I explain this delectable dessert to you and and how, if you desire, to make it look gorgeous. 

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

1 c quinoa, rinsed well

2 c water

2/3 c almond milk

6 organic free-range eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 c coconut oil, melted

2 1/4 c coconut sugar or sucanut

1 1/2 c unsweetened raw cocoa powder or carob powder

2 1/4 t baking powder, aluminum free

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t sea salt

strawberries for garnish

Combine the water and quinoa in small saucepan. Bring to boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10ish minutes. Fluff with fork and cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or 2 round pans and line bottom with parchment paper. Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in blender and pulse until combine. Add quinoa and coconut oil and blend until smooth.

Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in large bowl. Add blender contents and mix well, adding milk if it's too thick. Pour into pan(s) and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and cool in pans.

At this point, you can serve as is or frost. It's super moist and rich, but we had a birthday in our family when I made it last time, so I did the following:

8 oz good-quality dairy free dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 can coconut milk

1/3 c powdered coconut sugar (just run through your blender until powdery)

1 1/2 t vanilla

Put chocolate in bowl and set aside. In small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the milk and sugar until bubbles appear at the edges and steam rises from surface. Pour mixture over chocolate and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then stir gently until glossy and smooth-this will take a few minutes. Add the vanilla and stir gently. Pour over cake and let it cool & set up a little bit. Cut a piece and add one of these to each serving:

 All you do is take a strawberry and  cut small slices down to just before the stem. Fan out a bit. Pretty, huh?

Red & Green Pasta

Let's talk mushrooms for a sec. I am not a huge fan of them....or so I thought. Turns out, I'm not a fan of white button mushrooms. However, I had no idea the huge variety of mushrooms there are! Lately, I've been reading about shitake (shi-TOK-ee) mushrooms. They are high in vitamin D. As I said in an earlier blog entry, vitamin D is usually absorbed from sunlight through our largest organ: the skin. During colder months, we tend to stay indoors more and don't get this important vitamin which can lead to depressed mood, seasonal depression or full-on major depressive disorder.

So, back to shitake mushrooms. Turns out, they are sometimes used medicinally! So, I went on a shitake hunt...yes, I do try things that previously I haven't liked. You should do it sometime. ;)

I found them at Whole Foods, and I immediately knew I needed to be open. The texture was totally different from button mushrooms! I actually got kind of excited! See recipe below for how I prepared it.

Red & Green Pasta

1 lb pasta (I used brown rice spaghetti, broken into quarters)

2 c diced shitake mushrooms

chopped onions

1/2 c raw sunflower seeds

4 garlic cloves, minced

whole wheat flour

2 c finely chopped broccoli

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, or blend 28 oz fresh tomatoes

2 T extra virgin olive oil

sea salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

fresh or dried basil

a sprinkle of fennel

1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

Cook pasta. While it is cooking, saute mushrooms, sunflower seeds, onions and garlic in oil. Add some flour to thicken. Add broccoli and tomatoes, then season with salt and pepper, basil and fennel. Drain pasta and toss into saute pan. Mix together and sprinkle with cheese.

The result? Shitake mushrooms are on the chewy side...but chewy in a good way! I really liked them and will buy them again. Don't be put off by the price. They were $10/lb at Whole Foods, but I got about 2 cups worth and only paid a few dollars.

Raw Apple Pie

 So, I've tried my hand at raw desserts before, and I have been pretty unsuccessful. However, my last 2 raw desserts have been completely wonderful! This particular pie is soooo easy, and so much faster then traditional apple pie. Give it a go, and let me know how you like it! I highly recommend making it the night before because the apples soften and it's more like traditional pie texture, but you certainly don't have to do that. It's still quite flavorful. 

Raw Apple Pie
2 c raw almonds
1 t sea salt
1 c pitted dates
With a food processor or a high-powered blender pulse the almonds and sea salt together until almonds are about the size of Grape-Nuts. Add dates and pulse until it forms a dough. I had to add some water until the "dough" would fit together when I squeezed a handful of it. But even if it's a little crumbly, that's fine, it still tastes fun with the crumbles. :) Press dough on bottom and sides of a deep dish pie pan to form the crust.

5 organic apples (We used Fuji, which was fine, but I bet honeycrisp would be delightful! If using honeycrisp, only do 2)
1 c dried fruit (I used 1/4 c goji berries and 3/4 c raisins, but do whatever strikes your fancy...or whatever you have on hand, in my case!)
2 T cinnamon
1 orange, peeled
1/2 c dates
water, as needed
Slice the apple very thin (or run through a food processor-I hate to use mine often cause it takes up so much space in the dishwasher). Toss apples, dried fruit and cinnamon in a large bowl until everything is coated well.
Add the orange and dates in high-powered blender, adding water if needed to make it the consistency of a smooth syrup. Pour over the fruit and mix well. Spoon filling into crust and serve immediately or cover and place in fridge until ready to serve. Stores well for a few days, and just gets softer and tastier. :)