RAW VEGAN HERB-INFUSED SPECIAL BROWNIES

Look at my GIFs!!! 

I'm gonna start off by saying you can use whatever herb you like to infuse these brownies with... I certainly have my favourite. You can make them special or "special" - if you catch my drift - it's really up to you, as always. I am sure that mint, basil or rosemary would all taste great. Hehehe. 

I've made many raw brownie recipes before but this one turned out uniquely delicious, most likely due to the undertones of infused coconut oil. That's right, kids. Today we will be infusing coconut oil with herbs! *WOAH SIDE NOTE I JUST HEARD MAJOR THUNDER OUTSIDE THE WINDOW*

Okay I'm back. Just to note: you strict raw foodies will be mad at me for calling these 100% raw because infusing the coconut oil requires mixing it with boiling water and letting it simmer for a few hours. But can we please all chill and understand that coconut oil and boiling water meeting is not the end of the world? Still mega healthy. The plan for this batch of raw brownies involves friends and anime movies. Oh and a record player. It's gonna be a good night. Let's get unbaked!

raw vegan special brownies

brownies:

3/4 cup rolled oats (or hemp seeds)

3/4 cup walnuts

1 cup dates

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 heaping tablespoons Jump Up and Go Go (or cacao powder) 

Pinch of salt (optional) 

3-4 tablespoons coconut oil infused with herbs of your choosing (recipe below) 

glaze:
1 tablespoon each of almond butter, maple syrup and cacao powder

To make the herb-infused coconut oil: bring a small pot of water to boil; add in 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil, along with however much of your dried herbs you like. Lower the temperature to simmer and let the herbs and coconut oil get to know each other for 2-6 hours, but check frequently to add water as needed (because it will evaporate). Once you want to take it off the heat, let the water evaporate completely, then let the mixture cool. Strain, disgardng the herbs and keeping the liquid coconut oil (which will now be greenish). Now it's ready to use! Let's get funky! 

To make the brownies: pulse the oats and walnuts in your food processor until they become a powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it all sticks together and tastes OUTTA DIS WORLD. Press into a lined baking dish and put in the fridge to set for a few hours. Spread on your glaze and munch munch munch. 

SUN-DRIED TOMATO TART WITH ZUCCHINI HUMMUS

To quote my wise mother: "This one's a keeper." I concur. If you love hummus, tomatoes, and freshness; you're gonna freak out when you bite into this. If summer were a pizza,  it would taste like this tart. If you need to prove to anyone that raw vegan dinners can be delish, serve them this. If I continue with these "If" statements... where will we end up?

After making at least one dessert every day over the summer (not just because I am a glutton, but also because I was writing my raw dessert uncookbook), I am kind of going through withdrawal from the - albeit healthy - sweets. At the same time, I gotta keep making recipes for you guys! So I'm getting back to savoury-type dishes. This recipe was inspired by a tomato tart I saw on Sidesaddle Kitchen. And yes, by the way, Laura Miller IS the ultimate vegan babe / bad ass. I suggest you serve it with raw crackers or something else crunchy, to add another texture. It's also best after being refrigerated overnight; that extra time allows it to develop flavour and thicken up. 

You can find the recipe for this scrumptious baby over at one of my fave healthy food blogs, Ascension Kitchen, where I did it as a guest post for the always-gorgeous Lauren. But first... scroll through all the food porn photography. Wink. 

SAVOURY GEM JUICE

Normally I like super sweet juices, but this one is more on the savoury side. The flavours of this recipe remind me of pizza because the juice includes tomatoes, basil and garlic. Even though I am finished my juice and fruit fast, I still incorporate juice into my everyday diet, and of course fruit continues to make up the majority of what I eat. 

I talked about this briefly in my last post about my cleansing, but I wanna go back to it now since it's important to me: I really am not a fan of calling this a cleanse. I'd rather just say I felt like consuming only juice and fruit for awhile, so I did, and now I am back to my regular diet. If I call this "cleansing", it implies that my normal diet is dirty. This is sooo not true. I also don't wanna call it a "detox" because it implies my regular diet is toxic! See what I mean? It just doesn't work for me. (But keep in mind that for some people, this could indeed be the case and they are starting off a new healthy life with a juice detox or smoothie cleanse. Yay for those guys!)

The only change now compared to when I was "cleansing" is that I am back to eating stuff like steamed veggies, whole grains, fermented soy, nuts and other fab foods. I absolutely love these foods (I could probably live off steamed broccoli and raw chocolate) and they certainly are a necessary part of a healthy diet - but every now and then I simply like to give my body a break and stick to the "cleanest" stuff with the highest water content and antioxidant amounts - fruit and juice! I love feeling lighter and refreshed after only having juice and fruit for an extended period (this time it was about nine days, but to be honest I lost count). In any case, I am LOVING this song at the moment. 

savoury tomato basil juice

1 large heirloom tomato
5-7 kale leaves, stems removed
Handful basil leaves
1 red bell pepper
1/2 pineapple
2 apples
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1 cucumber (optional) 
3 carrots 

Wash, peel, and cut your produce as needed. Put everything through your juicer, strain and enjoy!

basil + peanut butter cookies with coconut + chili ice cream

This recipe and post is a big thanks to you. Thanks for what? Voting me FIRST PLACE in The Vegan Woman's 2013 Vegan Food Blog Guide. I had no idea I was even a contender so I was absolutely shocked, honoured and flattered when I saw my placement. I love you all so much, not only for supporting me, encouraging me, and constantly sending me your love from around the globe - but also because you are such beautiful, caring, positive people. You make the world a better place, and I am forever grateful to share this green planet with you.

The reason I continue creating, photographing and sharing the recipes I do, is because you are here to see them! You are my inspiration and every day I work hard to think of recipes that will help make you happier, and make your lives a bit sweeter (literally and naturally). I cannot believe I am where I am today - being acknowledged as the #1 vegan food blog of 2013, having emails and and wonderful comments flooding my inbox, blog and Facebook page daily, and seriously thinking of making this my professional job - but I am so thankful I am. Without you, I wouldn't be here. So thank you... thank you.

I give all my love to you.

Now that the mushy love stuff is over (boo), I will give you the food porn (yay)! I was actually inspired by photos and flavours in this recipe from Desserts for Breakfast (notice the gorgeous photography all over the website) but I didn't have any fresh rosemary. I did, however, have fresh Thai basil! So I thought "Hey, basil and peanut butter would taste great together, right?" Yes. Then my mom gave me the idea to make the whole thing Thai-themed by adding chili to the coconut ice cream. HECK YA. Now we're cooking (or rather, un-cooking).

I know the flavours are little funky slash exotic but TRUST ME - the result is amazeballs. The ice cream is made from coconut milk (not technically raw) and raw cane sugar, but if you want to use banana ice cream or my other raw ice cream recipe - go right ahead. Just make sure to add some chili powder! In the cookies, the peanut butter flavour comes through right away and then you are hit with the flavour of basil - it works.

It works deliciously.

basil peanut butter cookies with coconut chili ice cream: serves five lucky people

Cookies:
3/4 cup buckwheat groats (or oats)
1 cup dates
1 cup fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons peanut butter (or your preferred nut butter)

Ice cream:
1 can full fat organic coconut milk
1/4 cup raw cane sugar (or your preferred sweetener) 
1-2 teaspoons chili powder, to taste!

To make the cookies: pulse the buckwheat groats in your food processor until they become a rough flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until you can press the mixture in your hand and it sticks together. Press into 10 cookies and dehydrate for a few hours if desired. Or put them in the fridge.

To make the ice cream: blend all ingredients until smooth. It will taste SO GOOD. If you have an ice cream maker, use it. If not, Put the ice cream mixture in a container and put it in the freezer, stirring it every 30 minutes until it's all solid.

Assembly: you know what to do. Cookie. Ice cream scoop. Cookie. Bite. Smile.

eggplant, mushroom & pesto pizza

ooooooh boy.

this pizza is SO not raw. i adore raw pizza though, but haven't made it in awhile (so actually you should prepare for a recipe soon). anyways, this is very baked. but hey - i feel good about putting this in my body. homemade, whole wheat crust; fresh organic veggies; a bit of tofu; and hand-picked basil. not too shabby. 

as you may know, every saturday is family movie night here in the von euw household. for years we've been enjoying good company, beverages, film and triangular food once every week. when i went vegan, i just veganized my pizza...

that's right, it's crazy up in here.

tonight i made a pesto sauce from basil and pine nuts and topped it off with marinated eggplant and mushrooms from the farmer's market. oh, i added some sauteed tofu as well. although this would be delicious without cheese (daiya is great, but we can't deny it's processed) i find it holds the toppings together better. otherwise you've got a mess on your hands - and i need to pay attention to the movie! 

must keep things organized.

eggplant, pesto & mushroom pizza with tofu: makes one pie

crust:

buy one pre-made (easy to be gluten free) OR use this gluten free recipe, OR:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt & pepper
dried herbs of your choosing (i like basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme) 

pesto:

1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup pine nuts

salt & pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

5-6 olives

3 garlic cloves

vegan milk, as needed to make it creamy

toppings:

1 small eggplant

4-5 mushrooms

5 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1/2 package tofu

2 tablespoons tamari

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

salt & pepper

make the crust: combine the yeast and warm water in a warm mixing bowl. sprinkle on a tinsy bit of sugar to feed the yeast. let it rise for about 10 minutes. add the other ingredients and kneed the dough or mix in your mixer (we have a kitchen-aid) until it's soft and elastic; 8-10 minutes. let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in size - A GOOD TIME TO PREP THE PESTO AND TOPPINGS, HMM? - then roll it out into a pizza crust! partially bake it for 8-10 minutes at 425 degrees. 

make the pesto: in your food processor, blend all ingredients until spreadable and delectable. mmm it's so good. spread it on your par-baked crust.

do the toppings: first sautee the tofu and garlic slices in 1 tablespoon each of tamari, olive oil and maple syrup. let them cook until they brown. next slice the eggplant and mushrooms very thin and rub in the remaining tamari, olive oil and maple syrup. throw in some salt and pepper and other spices if you like. when the tofu is done, add it to the eggplant and mushrooms and let it marinate until your pizza is ready to be dressed 

(yes, your pizza was naked.)

throw everything - add a bit of vegan cheese if you like - on the crust and pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees. then... cut and eat. you got this. 

xox, em

garden herb salad

i beg you, grow your own tomatoes. they're pretty easy as long as you don't over water them... and they taste HEAVENLY. really... they should be golden with holiness, not red. i've been eating them like candy. some of ours are cherry tomatoes and some are larger. either way - ridiculous.

today i made a salad with rainbow chard, oregano, basil, and tomatoes from the garden. i also added some bell pepper, dried figs, avocado, and leftover gardein. the dressing is sooo good. it has mustard, miso, walnuts, garlic and fresh basil in it. sweet basil is probably my favourite herb. i left whole leaves of oregano and basil with the rainbow chard greens too, i think it's lovely when you get a bite and suddenly it's a herb-filled explosion of flavour!

garden herb salad with tomatoes: serves one

salad:

4-5 cups rainbow chard (or your fave greens)

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1 bell pepper

1/4 avocado

handful basil leaves

handful oregano leaves

2-3 dried figs/dates

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 dates

2 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

handful of walnuts (around 1/4 cup)

handful basil leaves

water, as needed

chop up the greens, tomatoes, pepper, avocado and figs. set aside. to make the dressing, blend all the ingredients together, adding as much water as needed. pour the dressing onto the greens and mix in. top it off with the remaining goodies and enjoy!