Kitchen Ranch

Simple Salads

Well, no problem posting that last post so here is round two of this post:

Despite my need to dust off the keyboards and just plain post I have been eating. Summer-ish weather ushers in great simple fresh salads such as:

Mix tomato, red onion, basil and feta...

Or summer bean mixes with lemon, pepper and salt (why is this underlined? I am not underlining this???)



NEVERMIND, I'll post more tomorrow.

Raw Chili

Compliments of the lovely Kirstin who creates stunning mosaics check them out here.

Makes a big pan/bowl of chili

This chili tastes fresh and sprouty but like authentic cooked chili at the same time. This one is a winner! Whole, soaked cashews are a lovely addition to this dish

• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup cashews, soaked
• 4 cups lentils, sprouted with just a hint of a tail
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1½ cups sun dried tomatoes, soaked in water ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1½ teaspoons chipotle powder
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional)
• salt to taste

Soak the cashews. Chop the bell pepper into small pieces. In a food processor, blend the shallot, garlic, tomatoes, 1 cup sprouted lentils, spices, sun dried tomatoes (and enough of their soak water) to achieve a thick, chili like consistency. Mix the remaining sprouted lentils, the blended mixture, the cashews, nutritional yeast and the bell pepper together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt. Eat immediately or place mixture in a lasagna pan and dehydrate till warm.

Variations…add a jalapeno or two to the food processor while blending. Add the kernels of a cob or two of corn.

Enjoy!

Bruschetta

It was a raw foods dinner that was once again a party on my palate.   

I don't really know what made these raw fajitas so darned good....... Mushrooms?  Thank you Kirstin for the yummy food.

And the following bruschetta was simply lovely...Yes, those crackers are raw, and like the fajitas, the result of a dehydrator.

Still, bruschetta can be enjoyed beside or on top of so many different foods. What makes this bruschetta really good is the fresh heaps of basil...

• A few ripe tomatoes, diced small
• A few cloves garlic, diced small
• A whole bunch of basil, julienned
• Generous drizzle extra virgin extra nice olive oil nice salt, nice fresh pepper
• Mix all together, spoon onto bread or crackers, or serve as a dip with crackers

Stuffed Tomatoes

The following recipe for stuffed tomatoes is very delicious especially beside a salad. If you need a delicious appetizer I suggest you stuff cherry tomatoes. 

Stuffed Tomatoes

4 Large Tomatoes
3 Cups of Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup of Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Basil Chopped
2 Garlic cloves Chopped
A handful of Kalamata Olives
Salt and Pepper to taste

• Soak the sunflower seeds in water for 6 hours
• Cut off the tomato top and scoop out the seeds in the middle.
• Blend the sunflower seeds and sun dried tomatoes.
• Mix with olives, basil and garlic.
• Stuff the tomatoes and replace the lids

Thai Coconut Soup

We recently enjoyed another raw dinner around here with our raw foodist pals. Preparing raw food is always a challenge and adventure for me and on this occasion it just so happened that I was preparing a Thai Coconut Soup that would compliment a Thai dish that Ryan and Kirstin were bringing over. The plate on the right was their smashing dish of coconut meat, black sesame seeds, shredded zucchini, raw noodles and more. Quite gourmet and frankly far beyond my raw food prep skills. I made the soup on the left.

Raw soups are rather great because of three reasons:

1. Just put all the ingredients in a blender
2. Clean up is a simple rinse of the blender
3. Raw soups taste fresh and delicious

.

2 Garlic Cloves
1  Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Thumb of Fresh Ginger
The Juice of 2 Limes
1/2 Cup Basil
Cayenne Pepper to Taste
1/2 Cup Cilantro
1 Cup of Diced Tomatoes
1/3 Cup of Green Onions
1 Thai Pepper
1 Can of Coconut Milk
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Chuck it all in a blender and hit Go! Garnish with chopped veg or cilantro or even a beautiful edible flower.

Raw Nacho Cheese

I had the pleasure of dining with two friends that eat a raw foods diet. My contribution to the dinner was downright embarrassing beside the creamy and savory nacho cheese drizzled over broccoli.   

A many thanks to Kirstin for sharing her raw nacho cheese recipe, if only I could talk her into a raw guest post occasionally...

Try this raw nacho cheese and drizzle it over whatever you like, I promise you won't believe how amazing it is. Beware, you may keep dipping and dipping...

2 Cups Cashews (soaked for 1-2 hours)
1 Red Bell
3/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 clove of Garlic
Juice of 1 Lemon

Combine above ingredients in a blender. Add water as needed until the nacho cheese consistency is achieved. Salt or Braggs L. Amino to taste.