Life, Gluten Free

Collard Roll Canapes - Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten Free!

For this month's Go Ahead Honey, Naomi at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried chose Canapes as the theme. We were instructed to create something bite-size that would thrill and excite people. Well, at least be somewhat appealing. I struggled with it for a while, perhaps because I don't usually create meals that are intended to be eaten in one bite. 

What I created turned out to be really "two-bite" size, at least for me. My husband, on the other hand, could accommodate these rolls in one bite or technically, one rather stuffed mouth full.

Collard Roll Canapes with Honey Mustard Sauce

NO: gluten, nuts, eggs, dairy, soy

Sauce:

1 tablespoon mustard (of your choice)

1 1/2 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon onion powder

pinch of sea salt

2 teaspoons dried chives

Mix the sauce well.

Rolls:

Collard Leaves

1 Avocado

1 Carrot

Scallions

Olives

Wash and dry raw collard leaves. 

Cut the leaves into two by removing the stem.

Cut the avocado, carrot, olives and scallions into long thin slices.

Place the ingredients in the leaves and roll them up. 

Cut long slices out of another collard leaf and secure the rolls as you would with a ribbon.

If you want a quick easy way to secure the rolls, use a tooth pick.

Drizzle sauce on top and serve!

-heather

Sunflower Seed Milk

Sunflower Seed Milk

NO: gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked sunflower seeds

2-3 tablespoons raw honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

water

Preparation:

Soak 1 cup of raw sunflower seeds overnight.

Rinse sunflower seeds and add to Vitamix or other high-powered blender.

Fill blender container with water approximately 1/2 full.

Add raw honey and vanilla extract.

Blend until contents are liquified.

Since I didn't measure the water and every blender is different, you may have to add more depending on your blender.

The Vitamix does a very good job of liquifying the ingredients, so there is hardly any pulp.

You can strain the pulp if you wish, but I don't.

Sunflower seeds contain linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. The seeds are also good sources of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin E, B Vitamins, and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc. If that isn't enough, they are also rich in cholesterol-lowering phyotosterols (phytochemicals naturally occuring in plants).

The best way to eat sunflower seeds is raw, not roasted. Raw sunflower seeds have not been heated or treated with salt. You can find raw hulled sunflower seeds at your local natural foods market.

Absolutely great as a drink by itself, added to cereal or smoothies, or simply topped with spices (cinammon, cardamom and nutmeg) and devoured along with some pumpkin spice bread. 

How much protein? 

Sunflower seeds contain 8grams of protein per 1/4 cup.

A great addition to anyone's diet!

How else can I use it? 

Sunflower seed milk can also be used in recipes that otherwise call for dairy or soy milk. We even used it to make potatoes au gratin!

-heather

Chocolate Holiday Rounds

This would be an amazing treat for any holiday party. They are easy to eat and healthy too.

1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked

12 dates, unsoaked

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon raw honey

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons water

Process until smooth, scraping the edges well. Mold teaspoon size drops with your hand. Roll in coconut if desired (or cinnamon).

If you like this dish, my flour-less chocolate fudge cake is similar. 

enjoy!

-heather

Flourless Chocolate Fudge Cake (nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free)

1 1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked

10 small dates, unsoaked

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2-4 teaspoons water

Process in a food processor. Add the teaspoons of water for desired thickness and consistency.

Use a spatula to scrape the filling into a pie or cake dish. Use unbleached parchment paper greased with coconut oil to line the dish with before adding the filling (optional). Sprinkle with shredded coconut or top with berries of choice. Refrigerate and serve!

This was so amazing. Anyone who loves chocolate will love this. Let me know if you try it out. It's incredibly easy to make too. You can substitute the sunflower seeds for nuts if you are able to eat nuts. 

enjoy!

-heather

Raw Dill Cucumbers

Making dill pickles from cucumbers that you get from your local organic farmer's market is a great thing indeed. The guy I bought them from said they are called Oriental Pickling Cucumbers.

They were so good, I could have just eaten slices of them raw by themselves. But instead, I decided to make pickles.

The above picture is of the pickles basking in their salt bath, which is the first step in making the pickles.

4 - 6 organic pickling cucumbers 

Slice thinly and add to a glass container.

Layer the slices, lightly sprinkling celtic salt on each layer

Let sit for a couple of hours

Drain the water that collected. 

Add:

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. brown mustard seed

1 tbs. dill

Pinch of dill seed

Mix together. You can keep it in a glass container or transfer to a glass jar. Let sit overnight for optimal flavor. 

Since the cucumbers are raw, you will need to eat them within a week or two. Enjoy!

-heather

Chocolate Pie with a Seed Crust

After we found out about my daughter's allergy to nuts, I would often think about the raw pies that I would make with a wonderful nut crust (usually cashews and pine nuts). I thought to myself, there must be a way to make a crust without nuts. I could probably use sunflower and pumpkin seeds. But would it be good?

On the notion that it would probably not be very palatable, I kept putting off the idea of making one. The idea came to me again, and I seized the moment of inspiration. I soaked 1 cup of sunflower seeds, 1 cup of pumpkin seeds and two dates overnight. I would have to make something of out them.

What I made was more than palatable, my husband loved it. I have to say, this pie rocks. Please try it and let me know what you think. All you need besides the ingredients, is a food processor to prepare it.

I do have to say though, that this pie cannot be classified as really being "raw" since I used cocoa powder. But, I did not have any raw cacao. Feel free to substitute. 

Crust Recipe:

Overnight, soak 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds along with 1 date

Rinse seeds the following morning. If you don't plan to make the crust in the morning, cover and refrigerate the seeds. I would not recommend leaving the seeds another day, as they could become moldy.

Add to food processor:

1/2 cup of soaked sunflower seeds

1/2 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds

1 soaked date

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon raw honey

Blend well. Stir and keep blending until all the seeds are fully blended.

Add to a pie dish and mold into its contours.

Pie filling:

2 avocados

1/2 cup of liquified coconut oil

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

3 tablespoons of raw honey

Blend until smooth.

Pour into pie dish and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. The coconut oil becomes firm, and in turn the pie becomes firm. It was even great the next day.

Since I originally soaked 1 cup of each of the seeds, I ended up making two pie crusts. I decided to split the recipe for my blog since not everyone needs to make two pie crusts at once.

I got the idea to use the liquified coconut oil in the pie from Kelly at the Spunky Coconut. You can find her blog link on my blog roll. She has some really great recipes. And the coconut oil worked great, my pie was smooth and firm and delicious. I can't wait to make another.

-heather

Carrot Mango Juice

1 organic mango
2 small organic carrots
1 stick of organic celery
7 ice cubes

Add water to get blending started then adjust to desired consistency

Add lime for zing! This is a nice refreshing drink for the summer time. It was hot today, but deceivingly overcast. It looked like a nice day outside, but it was a hot one. Thankfully, the hot temperatures don't last long here.

-heather

A Pie That's Not Green

Lemon Blueberry Pie

This pie was a big hit and it's not green! We don't have a problem with green pies, but if you do, then try this one. It still has avocado, but the blueberries make it a pretty purple color.

While I was making the filling for the pie, I wasn't thinking about posting it on the blog. So, here are my guess measurements:

»Filling:
› 2 Avocados
› 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen, organic...but you can use fresh if you have it)
› 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
› 1 1/2 tbsp Raw Honey

»Crust:
› 1/2 cup Pine Nuts
› 1/4 cup Cashews
› 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
› 1/2 tbsp Raw Honey

here's another pic... :)

-heather

Labels: raw food, recipes

Dairy-free Mango Lassi

To me, there is something very comforting and soothing about mango lassi's. Perhaps because it invokes memories of eating indian food with my parents, the aroma of cardamom and cumin wafting through the air. The choices of different masalas and curries all piled on top of fluffy rice. Then scooping a delectable bite with a piece of papadum and onion chutney.

Ahhhh. I can almost taste it and smell it.

After giving up dairy many many moons ago, I knew that I could still have a mango lassi with soy yogurt. However, now that I am not eating soy, I was left puzzled. But not for long, a thought dawned on me as quickly as flicking a switch: coconut milk. And good it is.

Quite simply, we blended in our vitamix:

2 fresh mango's
Squeeze of lemon
Coconut milk
Raw honey
Ice cubes

We didn't measure, my guess is approximately 1 cup of coconut milk, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a 1/2 tablespoon of raw honey.

Serve. We sprinkled a bit of our own chia spice mix on top.

Enjoy!! It is perfect on this nice sunny day. We have to indulge and bask in the warm weather, for tomorrow and the following day we have snow predicted :)

-heather

Labels: raw food, recipes

Lemon pie with a pine nut crust

Ooh la lemon!

This pie is delicious with lots of zing. And maybe even a little bit of zang! :) So I formulated the recipe as I went along. If you are timid of foods that are green, then you'll be missing out indeed. Pictures below :)

»Why is it green?

Avocado (noun): a pear-shaped fruit with a rough leathery skin, smooth oily edible flesh, and a large stone.

A large stone? Ha, I never knew that was a term sometimes used for a hard seed in cherry, plum, peach and some other fruits (apparently avocado).

Enough of that, let's get to the good part. 

The recipe!

»Crust:

› 1/2 cup Pine Nuts

› 1/4 cup Cashews

› 1 tbsp Coconut Oil

› 1/2 tbsp Raw Honey

»Filling:

› 1 1/2 Avocado 

› 1/4 tsp Lemon Peel

› 1 Large Lemon (or 2 small lemons)

› 1 1/2 tbsp Raw Honey

Okay, so I know that "1/2 tablespoon" is kind of a weird measurement. But that's how I measured the honey. The honey that I use is Raw Honey by Honey Gardens. It is the only honey that we'll use. I know the owner. It is actually the only honey that my husband is able to eat. He would eat other honey (that has been heated and processed) and his throat would get itchy and irritated. 

Also, please note that you can adjust the recipes to suit your individual preferences, for example less lemon, or more sweetener etc. I made the recipe on a whim, so you may want to double the crust recipe to make a thicker crust.

-heather

Labels: raw food, recipes