January 24, 2012

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

This lovely dish was inspired a salad that is served regularly at the coffee house at my university. I've been meaning to try and recreate it because I love it so much, and I finally got around to it!

Ingredients:
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked & cooled
1 can black beans
1 can corn
2 jalapenos (seeded)
1/2 bell pepper (any color, I used orange)
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or more to taste)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt

In a food processor, chop the jalapenos, bell pepper, & cilantro into tiny bits.
Add this and all the other ingredients to the quinoa and mix mix mix.


January 12, 2012

Chipotle Kale Chips

Just when I thought raw cheezy kale chips couldn't get any better, I made a batch with chipotle peppers. Oh. My. God.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked overnight)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2-4 dried chipotle peppers (soaked to soften), chopped & seeds removed
2-3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
1 whole bunch of curly kale, washed/de-stemmed/torn into pieces

Place all the ingredients (except for the kale) into your food processor like so:

Blend for a few minuted until smooth (you might need a couple teaspoons of water to get it going):

Put the kale into a big bowl or pot:

Add the cheezy chipotle mixture to the kale and work it around with your hands to coat evenly:

Spread the yummy kale bits onto a parchment paper-lined oven rack (or into a fancy dehydrator):

Dehydrate them in the oven (on the lowest possible setting). After a couple hours, flip them over and then let them dehydrate overnight or until crispy.

So good!!

January 7, 2012

Epic Greenery

Today's green smoothie was especially awesome:

Lacinato kale, purple kale, spinach, red chard, microgreens, goji berries, tangerine juice, coconut water, banana, strawberries, blueberries, maca powder, cinnamon, & Lydia's green powder.



January 6, 2012

Raw Banana Bread

One of my friends and I had a carrot-juicing party last night, so I had a ton off carrot pulp that I at least wanted to *try* and do something with. So I tried making raw banana bread!

Ingredients:
1 cup carrot pulp
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup raisins
3 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. agave (or a date or two)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves

Blend the carrots, bananas, water , agave, and spices in a food processor until smooth (the amount of water you need may vary). Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the raisins and flax until well combined. Add the chia seeds and stir completely so they are well-distributed.

If you have a dehydrator (you lucky person, you!), use that.
But if you're like me and don't have a dehydrator, just use your oven on the lowest possible setting. I spread the 'dough' onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. After a couple hours I flipped it over onto a new piece of parchment and let it dehydrate overnight. And it worked!


It's all banana & carrot-y, not too sweet, and a little chewy. Pretty ok for my first attempt at making raw bread! ;)

January 4, 2012

Avesa's Miso Soup

Miso soup is a wonderful thing. And I love sea veggies! It's a perfect snack, or side to a meal. Or add enough veggies to make a meal out of it (I do!)

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons yellow miso (adjust to taste)
5-6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
a few pieces of wakame, torn up

Heat liquids and miso until the miso is dissolved. Add mushrooms and wakame, serve when wakame is soft!

 It's great.

January 3, 2012

One-bowl Lunch

Just squish an avocado into a bowl, cover with spicy hummus and radish sprouts (or some kind of sprouts).
Simply delicious!

January 1, 2012

I've discovered Instagram!

As always, I'm behind the technological times.
If you would like to see pictures of my all-vegan mostly-raw kitchen adventures, do follow me on Instagram!
My user name is @Avesa