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.

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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!!

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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.

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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! ;)

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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.

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One-bowl Lunch

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

Simply delicious!

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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

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