I got a new cookbook! Its by a man named Juliano Brotman and he’s totally unique and wonderful.  I simply cannot WAIT to dive into this and (not) cook up some new meals!

I can’t get enough of R. Thomas! For the first time I ordered their raw Walnut Sunflower Pate and was floored by its deliciousness! I must get the recipe!! It is served with some flax chips and a side of raw guacamole with carrot, zucchini and jicama slices.  When ordering this appetizer, be sure you also order an order of flax chips. They only give you about 3 chips with this dip and clearly that is not enough.

I got the idea for this meal from Matt Amsden’s book, ‘RAWvolution‘.  I used some of his basics but then added a few things of my own.

To start, you will need 3/4 head of cauliflower ground up in the food processor. You will want to pulse the cauliflower because you want it in tiny pieces, not creamed together like raw “mashed taters“.  Put the ground cauliflower in a large bowl and then add 1/3 of a 7 oz jar of pitted kalamata olives cut into fourths, a handful of pine nuts (depending on your taste), the juice of 1 lemon, and a bunch (chopped) of the following herbs: basil, Italian parsley and mint.   Add some fresh ground black pepper as well.

I look forward to the next time we eat this! It’s so good!

In honor of NMD, I made raw-cos this evening.  You know, now that I think of it, I think raw-cos have become a Friday staple.  Like I’ve said before, I dig Mexican food.  Friday to me = kick back and relax with some party food (tacos are totally party food)!

This evening for our raw-cos, I used fresh corn off the cob, cilantro, sprouted black eyes peas, sprouted lima beans, sprouted peas, sprouted lentils, chopped red onion, chopped green pepper, chopped avocado and shredded broccoli.  We used washed romaine lettuce leaves for our taco shells.  Make your raw-co however you want to with the above ingredients and then sprinkle some cayenne pepper and cumin on top.

You know, these were the best raw-cos EVAR!  I’m comfortable with that statement.

I decided to try to make raw ‘mashed taters’ again but with a few differences.  Last time all I could taste was the olive oil so this time I opted to not put any in.  The cauliflower on its own has such a strong, rich flavor and creams naturally so you really don’t need olive oil at all.

In the bowl of a food processor put half a head of cauliflower (ground), 1/3 cup of raw macadamia nuts (ground), 1 garlic clove (pressed) and a teaspoon of sea salt. Once plated, add some fresh ground black pepper.

This will yeild 3 servings.  I could only eat half of what was featured in this photo.  I served the taters along with a salad that had romaine, tomatoes, red onion, shredded carrot, red cabbage and avocado.  And of course, some organic chardonnay.

The other day after a long run, I just couldn’t decide what to have for dinner. Nothing sounded good but fruit…a big ole bowl of fruit.

You can always substitute fruit for a meal. In this particular fruit salad I had a red delicious apple, orange, mango, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and banana. I got full about half way through so I passed it off on my partner. He graciously accepted and finished it off in no time.

Holy smokes! I just finished the #1 best meal ever! Tonight I created Rustin’s Raw-violi!

For the pasta I used a a mandoline slicer and cut long oval shape pieces of a jicama (Mexican potato). Simply cut a jicama in half (down the middle vertically) and peel the skin off. Run each half over the slicer resulting in thin, paper like slices. The slices have to be thin so they fold easily instead of snapping and breaking.

For the filling I made raw ‘ricotta cheese’. In the bowl of a food processor put 2  1/2 cups raw macadamia nuts, 2 small garlic cloves (peeled), 1/2 cup water, 1 teaspoon of sea salt and 1 teaspoon Italian herbs. I put 1 teasooon Italian seasoning and 3 fresh leaves of basil in mine (always try to use fresh herbs when cooking or blending. It makes the food taste much better). Purée the ingredients for a couple minutes, stopping every once in awhile to push down the ‘cheese’ that has risen up the processor wall. The ‘cheese’ will be done when you feel small to no nut partials left. If you want to add a little more water to achieve a super creamy texture, go for it (just don’t put too much in…start off small)!

Once finished, put a small spoon full of the ‘cheese’ onto one half of the jicama slice and fold the other side over; it will stick to the cheese. I sprinkled a little more Italian seasoning over the top once mine were finished. I added another photo at the bottom so you could see what they look like individually.

I served this raw-violi with some asparagus. I washed and cut the asparagus and placed them inside some Tupperware. I drizzled (very lightly!) some raw olive oil on top, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder and some sea salt.  Put the top on and shake, shake, shake (shake your booty!)!

Delicious!

Ah, Valentines Day. If you ask me, everyday should be Valentines Day.  I like a good theme so I couldn’t resist serving pink and red menu items.

Today started out with some strawberry banana nut smoothies for breakfast. Soak 8 walnuts (per smoothie) in water for about 10 minutes. While they’re soaking cut up about 1 cup of strawberries (per smoothie) and place them inside the blender. Next add 2 bananas (per smoothie) and about 1/4 cup of water (per smoothie).  Blend until…blended!

For dinner I made raw spaghetti take 2. I made the noodles using peeled zucchinis sliced in my spiral slicer. For the sauce I pulsed 1/2 cup white onion, 2 garlic coves (peeled), 2 tablespoons Nama Shoyu, 2 tablespoons raw olive oil, 4 basil leaves, 1/2 cup of green pepper, 3/4 cup shredded broccoli and the juice of 1 lemon in the bowl of a food processor. Next I added 1 cup of raw sun dried tomatoes (soaked) and 3 tomatoes cut into 4ths. I pulsed this until the tomatoes were chunked but not blended.

Plate the “zoodles” and pour some sauce over. Once plated, I added some dried oregano and red pepper flakes to my bowl.

*kissing babies photo courtesy of trekearth.com

Yesterday when I went to the grocery store I found myself wanting to be a little creative with dinner  so I bought some things I don’t usually buy: red cabbage and nappa cabbage.  These two things will now become staples in my house–I couldn’t believe how amazing this salad turned out to be just because of those two ingredients.

For the salad (2 servings) I mixed together: shredded carrot, shredded broccoli, shredded nappa cabbage, shredded red cabbage, finely shredded basil and mint, celery, 1/2 cup raw unsalted peanuts, and 1  zucchini (cut using the spiral slicer so they were noodle-like size).  I don’t have exact measurements because I just winged it.  While I chopped, I thought about the amount I had made, splitting it into 2 bowls and if it was enough.  I basically just eye balled everything.

Mix all of those ingredients together in a big bowl.  Now for the dressing!

In a blender, mix 2 garlic cloves (peeled), 2 teaspoons ground ginger (or a 1 inch long piece of ginger), 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, 2 tablespoons agave nectar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, a little less than 1/4 cup Nama Shoyu, a little less than 1/4 cup raw olive oil, and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Hit go on the blender and get the bowls ready for the salad.

I strained my dressing through a little hand strainer while I poured it on top of the salad.  You never know when some garlic doesnt grind up all the way.  Once you’ve poured the dressing on the salad, mix well! Serve using a strainer spoon so you dont have excess dressing at the bottom of your bowl.

I have had no luck on my quest to find sprouted chickpeas. I found some sprouted peas and 2 kinds of lentils. Naturally I made a delicious salad to put them on top of!

My salad consisted of spinach, shredded carrot, grape tomatoes, sprouted green and red lentils, sprouted peas, green pepper, cilantro, red onion, asparagus, fresh corn (cut off the cob), avocado and the juice of 1/2 a lime per salad.