Popcorn-ish (Raw)

I think that the absence of a cafeteria, my curious nature, and cravings for various cooked foods have all encouraged me to experiment a lot more with food lately. And you all are the lucky benefactors, spared of having to try all of my not-so-successful attempts. While having a Pirate marathon this weekend, one of the aforementioned cravings hit me like a ton of bricks: popcorn. Alas there is no popcorn in the raw world, but I have found an alternative that I like. You guys should all give it a try as a healthier alternative to that buttery, salty, calorie-laden gook that is microwave popcorn.

Tools: A large ziplock bag, knife, cutting surface, dehydrator (optional - this stuff is great fresh!)

Ingredients:
One head of cauliflower
Cayenne, to taste
Nutritional yeast, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
1) Cut off the leaves of the cauliflower. Personally, I don't like the trunk part very much, so I usually cut that off too, but you don't have to.
2) Put the whole head down, and cut into slices. cut these slices into pieces. If you imagine the whole head, you should cut it up into small, uniform cube-ish shapes. Or at least attempt to. Leave the pieces fairly large, a little large than real popcorn is fine. If you plan on dehydrating, leave them much larger, as they shrink dramatically when dried.
3) Dump all the pieces into the bag. Sprinkle some salt, cayenne, and nutritional yeast into the bag. Start with tiny amounts; you'd be amazed how far a little of each goes! When you zip it closed, make sure to leave some air in the bag, and then shake! (Kneading the bag works well, too) The cauliflower should turn yellow-orangish.
4) Once the cauliflower seems evenly coated, taste a piece. Add more of anything as desired, and shake some more. Repeat as needed. If you plan on dehydrating, you'll want to be very light with the spices, because the taste will be much more intense after the cauliflower shrinks.

And, a very exciting development is that I bought myself a camera! So from now on, there will be lots of pictures to go with these posts, so you will be able to tell if you are horribly screwing everything up. Here they are:

My "popcorn" in the dehydrator.

Up close. It's orangish!

Sorry I have no "after" pictures. Somehow, none of the pieces made it past a few hours. The downside to dehydrating stuff like this is that it's just so tempting to reach in and grab a bit before they're done. After all, a day is a long time to wait for popcorn! Hope you like the recipe, and wish me luck on continuing this awesome streak of updating.

Strawberry Vinaigrette (Raw)

I'm back! And you should all be proud of me for remembering to post over summer. Horray! I even have a new recipe for you guys. As a raw vegan, salads are a big part of my diet. One of the most important parts of a salad, at least to me, is the dressing. In the interests of having a new recipe to post, along with the desire for some variety in my dressings, I have concocted a spiffy strawberry version of my favorite raw dressing.

Tools: Blender (a normal blender should do fine), container for storage, knife, cutting surface, 1/2 or 1 cup measure.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c agave nectar
1/8 c apple cider vinegar
Pince salt
1/2 green onion (cut off the white part, then use about half of what's left)
Strawberries (I used 4 large ones, but just keep adding until you get the desired taste/color)

Directions:
Blend everything until you don't see any strawberry or onion bits. Store in the refrigerator, and mix well before using, as the oil will separate.

If you want a blander dressing, use less vinegar or onions. Add agave to make it sweeter, olive oil to thin it out a bit, or add vinegar and onions to make it more flavorful. I'll probably tinker with this recipe more, so I might come back and change the ingredients. Also, experiment! Try using apples or raspberries instead of strawberries. Go wild and try whatever veggies or fruits you have on hand. If you find something that works, comment to let me know!

Peace out.

Chocolate Pudding (Raw)

I can't resist giving you all a recipe. This is the only raw vegan recipe that I know isn't like, copyrighted or anything, and has the added benefit that you don't need anything super fancy to prepare it, so all of you VitaMix- and dehydrator-less readers out there can still enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 very ripe avocados
1 cup maple syrup (pure maple syrup - read the ingredients to make sure it's not maple flavored corn syrup)
1 cup raw cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder, which is much cheaper)

Tools:
Bowl
Fork, blender, or electric hand mixer
Measuring cup
Spoon
Knife
Refrigerator

Directions:
1) Cut open the avocados, discard the nut in the middle, and scoop out the meat (the green inside stuff). Put this into your bowl or blender if using. If using just a bowl, mash the avocado with a fork.
2) Measure the maple syrup and cocoa powder, add them to the bowl or blender.
3) Mix/blend until smooth. Refrigerate what you don't eat.

Just as a note, this is extremely chocolatey. If you're not used to dark chocolate or raw food, you might want to try like 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and then add more to taste. I actually was told this recipe last year, and it might have been 1/2 cup cocoa, or 3/4, but I made it with 1 cup and like it fine that way. Also, if you are not a raw vegan, don't eat too much of this. Avocados have a lot of fat, especially saturated fat, so if you eat a non-raw or non-vegan diet, your saturated fat intake is probably higher than raw foodists or vegans. But this is a delicious, filling, craving-bashing recipe that I highly recommend you try.

Raw

Well, it is summertime again, which for me means going raw! I am totally excited. And this summer, I have my trusty Vita-Mix blender and Excalibur dehydrator to make the whole process that much easier - and fun. I have already made dehydrated chips and pinapple, raw brownies, and blended pudding, my favorite raw salad dressing, and raw "mashed potatoes." How did I ever survive last summer?

Anyways, for any of you who don't know, going raw means that in addition to all of the food that I don't eat, I will now exclude anything cooked or processed (as in store-bought processed, anything I blend, chop, or dehydrate myself is fine). Technically I can't heat things to above like, 115 degrees F or something like that. The theory is that if you don't heat foods above that temperature, you will not damage the vitamins and minerals and blah blah blah so it's healthier. Personally, I think it's more the lack of corn syrup, sugar, gluten, and just general nastiness that is in ALL processed foods, along with the extra vitamins and minerals from eating only fruits, veggies, and nuts that makes you feel better. But last summer when I tried it, I lost a bunch of weight, felt really good, had tons of energy, and it was just generally awesome. Now I don't know how much of this was attributed to the raw diet and how much was because of my regular sleep schedule, but I know that the rawness helped. Perhaps at the end of the summer I'll post before and after pics or something. Until then, I will only providing you all with raw vegan recipes. Until next time, happy summer, and go raw!

Peanut Butter!

Hey! Liana bugged me to update, so here you go.

Remember that banana sugar cookie recipe from a while ago? Well, I made those cookies again, but this time filled them with peanut butter. Let me tell you, they were delicious! So, here is the recipe (add this to the cookie recipe because I'm not going to re-post)

Peanut Butter Filling:
Peanut butter (the bad, corn syrup kind, not the natural stuff)
Powdered sugar

Start with a cup or two of peanut butter, and add an equal amount of powdered sugar, and mix. After a little bit, it will get difficult to mix with a spoon, so just use your hands. The mixture should be extremely stiff and taste, well, like really sweet peanut butter. If it's still really sticky, add more powdered sugar.

Now, after you make the dough for the banana cookies, divide up the banana cookies into balls of 2tbsp each. Divide up the peanut butter into little balls of about 2tsp each. Put a ball of the banana cookie dough in the palm of your hand and squish it with the heel of your hand so that it's kind of flat and round, but the edges curve up a bit, like a shallow bowl. Then pace a ball of the peanut butter mixture in the middle and flatten it a bit with your thumb. Fold over the edges of the banana cookie bowl, and press them together to seal the cookie. Place the cookie on a cookie sheet, seam side down. Do this for each cookie, and bake each tray for around 8 to 10 minutes. (350 degrees) Viola! You now have peanut butter filled cookies.

So, for all of you who actually read this blog, if you ever get fed up with me not posting in a while, just IM me or something and tell me to do so, because apparently I suck at doing it on my own. I promise I have recipes, I'm usually just too lazy or too forgetful to post. Happy baking!!

Olive Garden is Vegan-Friendly

Google search "Olive Garden vegan" and you'll come up with a whole long list of people saying that Olive Garden is awful for not being vegan or even vegetarian-friendly. That is utterly, completely, totally wrong. At least as far as most typical American restaurants go. All of their pastas, besides the gnocchi, are eggless, the bread is eggless, they have vegetables (quite rare, I assure you) and generally friendly staff (in all of my experience). I went there with my omni brother, dad, grandparents, and vegetarian mother, and everyone found something to be happy about.
I had the Bruschetta, toasted bread with tomato topping, for an appetizer, and the Pasta alla Marinara with a side of grilled vegetables (zucchini) for my main course. We asked our server to bring us two bowls of salad, one with dressing and one without (their house dressing is not vegan), so I ate the plain salad. You can probably ask for a dressing without cheese and egg, just a basic vinaigrette would work. If your not a salad person, their Minestrone soup is vegan. Also we asked for the server to bring a basket of bread sticks without butter and cheese on top - they just have to nab a couple before they get topped, then they bake them and viola! Vegan bread sticks. Overall it was delicious, and a great place for everyone to get something to eat.
I know this isn't a recipe, but it's still important. I wanted to set the record straight for any other vegans out there. So any vegans with omni friends, or omnis with vegan friends, can happily dine at Olive Garden without fear.

Oreos and Cake: A Match Made in Heaven

Seeing as today is my birthday (yay!) I was busy this weekend baking my favorite dessert - chocolate oreo cake with cookies 'n' cream frosting. Let me tell you, this stuff is addictive. My brother (nonvegan) can't stop eating the frosting. The height of decadence is dipping unused oreos in the frosting. I basically used the chocolate cake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (a must-have for vegan chefs), but have altered it enough that I don't feel too bad sharing the recipe with you. Here it is!

Tools: Oven, microwave, electric hand mixer, two large bowls (for frosting and batter - I use one bowl, and wash it before making the frosting), cake pan or muffin pans, ziplock bags, someting to mash cookies with, bowl for melting butter, large (at least 2 cup) wet measuring cup, 1 cup dry measuring cup, teaspoon measure, large spoon.

Ingredients (I made 1 and 1/2 recipes for a big cake, but this should make a smaller cake or about 24 cupcakes)
Cake:
     2 c non-dairy milk (I use almond)
     2 tsps apple cider vinegar
     2 and 1/2 to 3 c sugar
     1 and 1/2 c vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
     3 tsp vanilla extract
     1 and 1/2 c cocoa
     2 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
     1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
      large pinch salt
     3 c flour
     2/3 of a package of oreos
Frosting:
     2 c vegan margarine
     2 c shortening
     1/2 c (ish) non-dairy milk
     5 c (ish) powdered sugar
     1 tsp (ish) vanilla extract
     Oreos to taste, at least 1/2 of a package

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk in the measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Melt the margarine in a bowl.
2) Mix the milk mixture, sugar, margarine, and vanilla together in the bowl. If the milk is cold, the margarine may resolidify. If this happens you may want to use the electric hand mixer to break up the chunks, but don't worry, by the end of the recipe the butter will be incorporated.
3) Add the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
4) Add the flour, one cup at a time, to the mixture.
5) In a plastic bag mash the oreos. I like largish chunks in the cake, but not larger than 1/6 of a cookie.
6) Bake the batter. I used two circular springfoam pans, which took about 30 minutes. (Just check it periodically - I don't really remember how long it was.) Cupcakes take about 10 to 12 minutes for each batch. If you're using something different, just cook the cake for 20 to 25 minutes, check it, and go from there.
7) While the cake is cooking, make the frosting. This is really subjective - that's why all the measurements have "ish" next to them. Melt the butter and the shortening (seperately - Earth Balance shortening takes forever to melt), then add the milk, sugar, and vanilla. Mix with the electric hand mixer until well incorporated. If it's too thick, add more milk, too thin, more sugar. Basically just keep adding stuff until it tastes good, but a bit of advice, leave it slightly runny. If you want it more buttery, add more butter, if you want it to taste more like commercially available frosting, add more shortening. When it tates good, crush up the cookies into fine crumbs (I put them in a bag and used a rolling pin on them) and add them in. Keep adding cookies until you get the desired taste.

Here's a pic!