RUBIES {what my regular cooked dinner looks like}

For whatever reason, I was having trouble titling this post; should I name the recipe that is included? Should I call it "What I Ate For Dinner"? Em was stumped. Then she remembered that while she was eating this giant bowl of colourful goodness (and inexplicably talking in third person), she couldn't stop thinking it was like she was eating jewels! Not in a "My Strange Addiction: Can't Stop Eating Precious Stones" way, but more in a "these colours are so vibrant it's like I am eating rubies or gems" kind of way... you dig? 

Anyhoo - the point of this post is to show you guys what an average dinner looks like for me these days. As most of you know - I do not eat a 100% raw diet anymore. I believe everyone should eat to feel their best and be their happiest; I've learned that a mostly raw diet does this for me. And no matter what, I always eat whole foods and vegan. 

So this recipe is a perfect example of what an "regular" dinner is for me right now. Sometimes I will go through phases where I just eat salad for dinner, or smoothies, or fancy raw meals or what have you; but generally-speaking it's a lot like this: steamed veggies with beans or tofu, and occasionally whole grains. 

I pretty much eat fruit all day, and then make sure that the majority of my dinner is straight-up vegetables (making my diet primarily fruits and veggies); I almost always steam my veggies, but sometimes I'll cook them at a low temperature in the oven. I aim to stay away from oils but occasionally I'll add a teaspoon of olive oil to soften up eggplant or tomatoes, etc.; and lately I haven't been making sauces either, instead just using a bit of Himilayan pink salt for enhanced flavour. I eat as many veggies as I want, but moderate the amounts of denser foods like whole grains and high-protein foods. Sometimes I'll just have a huge bowl of only vegetables like broccoli or potatoes; in fact, that's what I have been doing recently because I haven't wanted to cook brown rice or quinoa. Note: when I say "veggies" I am including non-sweet fruits in there too; like tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. Let's keep life simple, shall we? 

Summing it up: I eat raw all day, and basically all of that is fruit and greens in the form of juice, smoothies, or giant bowls of fruit. My dinner is a huge portion of lightly cooked vegetables, usually followed by a raw dessert since I always have one around (plus that's where I get my nuts and seeds in for the day). If you have any questions: please ask! I know many of you are new to this kind of lifestyle and could be confused about how and what to eat. I am here to help! *big smile*

Now onto the recipe. 

I used heirloom tomatoes from our garden and beets and yams from the farmer's market. I threw in some organic chickpeas - because why the heck not? The beets and yams were steamed. The tomatoes were drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, then cooked at about 200 degrees until they softened up and got juicy. They are LIKE CANDY when you prepare them this way. Also: tomatoes, when gently cooked with olive oil, have more absorbable lycopene. Boom!

slow-cooked tomatoes with chickpeas, steamed beets & yams

1 cup cooked or sprouted chickpeas

2-3 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes

1 large peeled beet

1 peeled yam

Spices, salt, olive oil

Rub the tomatoes with olive oil and salt and then cook in the oven at about 200 degrees until they start to smell amazing and get juicy and soft. You can take them out whenever you want but I usually leave them in for 30 minutes or so. Steam the yam and beet until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Toss the chickpeas with your favourite spices (I used cumin, coriander and turmeric) and salt, if desired. Throw everything together and sprinkle on salt, pepper, curry powder, peanut sauce, or whatever else you want. Now nourish your body and soul. 

baked yam & tofu with purple rice, kale pesto & sprouts

This recipe is super simple and super delicious! This a prime example of how to eat a whole foods, plant based diet with an emphasis on raw food. After working out, I enjoyed my regular green smoothie. An hour or so after that I was needing something heavier, with a fair amount of protein to rebuild my muscles. The perfect meal for this is some thing that has a vegetable, a grain, and a protein - top it all off with something green and your body will be praising you! 

baked yam & tofu with purple rice, kale pesto & sprouts: serves two

Kale pesto:
5 cups kale
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon walnut oil 
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Salt, to taste
Water, as needed

The other stuff:
1 yam, peeled
1 package of tofu
1 1/2 cups cooked purple rice
Handful sprouts 

To make the yam and tofu: cut them into bite size chunks and toss in a tiny bit of olive oil, tamari, maple syrup, liquid smoke, and salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until the yam is soft. 

To make the pesto: pulse all in the ingredients in your food processor until it becomes pesto. SO GOOD. Serve with the yam, tofu, rice and sprouts - enjoy!

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

curry with tofu & grilled vegetables

this curry is delish! mom wasn't here for dinner so it was my turn to make something. brown rice had been cooking and i figured some spicy curry with broccoli, leftover grilled veggies and tofu would hit the spot; since it has been raining all day here.

everyone said it was really great, in fact - jasper used the word "addictive". can't argue with that. we all took seconds. i'm glad it was so tasty because i didn't use any conventional curry recipe. i didn't even have curry paste. so if you're in the mood for warming curry, crispy tofu, tender veggies and rice; try out this funky recipe!

yellow curry with tofu, veggies & rice: makes a big ole pot

1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 head broccoli
1 grilled red pepper
2 grilled zucchinis
2 packages tofu
1 can coconut milk
6 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons raw sugar (or other sweetener)
3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon each of coriander, paprika, cumin, turmeric, garlic, and onion powder
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, chili flakes, and dill
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

prepare the tofu: sautee it on med-high heat with a bit of olive oil, rice wine vinegar and tamari (soy sauce) until it browns. set aside.

chop all the veggies. in a large pot, sautee the onions, garlic and all the spices together with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar until they're translucent and softened. add the remaining ingredients, including the tofu and veggies. let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or so, until the broccoli is cooked enough for you. see you if you like it! curry is easy to change.

serve with whole grain brown rice in bowls with chives, hot sauce, sweet basil, and gypsy kings. yeah man!

oh and i have some news: I GOT TWITTER! it's mainly to get my blog out there more (by "there", i mean the world wide web). so follow me, please! it's so weird that i have a blog and a twitter account now. i feel like such a participating member of my generation, a feeling that is rare for me. i'm a bit of an enigma... if you haven't noticed.

happy father's day

sorry in advance: i haven't posted in awhile, this isn't raw, and the pictures are bad. BUT ANYWAY...

i hope your dad enjoyed his day! mine did. it was sunny here for most of the day, some friend's visited, greg made a great breakfast, we bought a new barbeque and grilled veggies, and i made him a cake.

oh... and he got to eat meat -.- hmph! seriously though, if this was 2 years ago... the fact that my dad eating meat on father's day was a big deal and a treat for him would be pretty much unbelievable. i'm so happy we've come this far. i'm very proud of my family.

anyways - cake.

two of my dad's fave things are marzipan and chocolate (two others are beer and BMW motorcycles). so i made him a chocolate cake with marzipan and chocolate frosting. it's baked, but i used organic whole wheat flour and raw sugar. yay!

it was... very good. if you love cake - make this! :) i used a recipe that was already on the blog.

Chocolate Cake (with chocolate and marzipan frostings): makes 1 cake

2 cups cashew milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup cane sugar/brown sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract 

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cocoa/cacao 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp (or more) each of cayenne, ginger and cinnamon powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients from first list together, and let sit for 5 minutes. Sift in other ingredients and mix until smooth. Taste it... yes. Orgasmic, probably because of the straight-up sugar. 

Pour evenly into two circular cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, but check it yourself every few minutes after 20 minutes or so. (while they're baking, make the frostings)

When they look done, do the tooth-pick test to see if it comes out clean. Let them sit out in the pans for 10 minutes or so, and then naked on a cooling rack for like 5 minutes.

 -

Chocolate frosting:

1 cup cashew milk

1/2 cup softened Earth Balance 

2/3 cup cocoa/cacoa 

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

 -

Marzipan frosting: 

1/4 cup cashew milk

1/2 cup softened Earth Balance 

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups marzipan

1/2 teaspoon salt

(Make each frosting in their own bowl.) mix all the ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until the cakes are ready to be iced. use the marzipan in the middle of the two cakes, then frost the rest with the chocolate frosting. yahoo! 

 -

in other news - check out this thing! it's called "cleanse america". it's a 10-day raw food (or liquid if you prefer) cleanse taking place from june 20th to june 29th and there's 1,000,000 americans participating! it's really exciting to see initiatives like that this one gaining followers. i think i'll take part too, even though i live in canada. but i think this will be the perfect preparation for my 21-day water fast. i can do a mainly liquid, 100% raw cleanse for 10 days, then my fast. 

gah im so stoked!!! i know my parents aren't particularly keen on my decision to do this but it's my life and i have a good head on my shoulders (thanks in part to mom and dad!) if i start to lose too much weight or anything else seems funny, then i will stop! 

simple as that.

-

triple cinnamon rolls

these are a baked food worth eating. 

my friend amanda was at my house the other day and suggested we bake something. we decided on cinnamon rolls. i put cinnamon in every layer - the dough, filling and icing - and they turned out divine. literally, these guys are holy saints. angels sing when you eat them.

i love tons of stuff in everything (really trying to work on appreciating simple recipes... failing) so i put walnuts and raisins in the filling. the dough is totally whole grain and the icing has coconut yogurt and ginger in it!

they don't need too long to bake, and the dough is gonna be a little tough to roll out just because of the whole wheat flour. but be patient and you will be rewarded! cinnamon rolls bring back all kinds of memories for me - special birthday breakfasts, christmas morning after opening presents, holidays, etc. so with all the delicious flavour and texture comes nostalgia. it makes for an amazing experience.

having said that - i've eaten way more cooked food than normal this weekend (it was all totally worth it though) and now my system is in a mess. back to raw! =)

okay... maybe after one more cinnamon roll....

triple cinnamon rolls: makes 14 or so
(adapted from smitten kitchen)

Dough:
1 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons earth balance
3 1/2 cups whole grain flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tb flax seed mixed with 2 tb water (egg!)
2 tb yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:
3/4 cup raw sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup melted earth balance

Glaze:
2 ounces coconut yogurt, at room temperature
1/4 raw sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tb cinnamon
1/2 t ginger power
1/4 cup honey/maple syrup/agave syrup 
1/4 cashew butter

For dough: Combine coconut milk and earth balance and melt together. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, "egg", yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add additional 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. (You may also use a KitchenAid’s dough hook for this process.) Form into ball.
Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling: mix dry ingredients together, set aside.
Press down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle. Spread melted earth balance over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle dry mixture evenly over earth balance. Starting at the longer side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, slice with floss into into equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).
Divide rolls between baking dishes lined with paper, arranging cut side up. Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 45 minutes or so. Don’t skimp on the double-rising time!
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and flip onto rack. Cool 10 minutes.

For glaze: blend all ingredients until smooth, it should be a little more liquid than desired because the coconut oil will harden up again in a few moments. yumm!!!

noodles with creamy almond ginger sauce, stir-fried veggies & crispy tofu

*clearly, not raw

Tonight was my night to make dinner, and I decided on a pretty simple yet (apparently) tasty meal.
I made a sauce with almond butter, ginger, garlic and other spices and poured it on whole wheat noodles. I also stir-fried a bunch of veggies and crispy tofu. My parents said it was really good!

It seems like an excellent dish to feed anyone you care about, especially if you're trying to get them to eat more veggies - AND see how delicious vegan food can be.

This meal is easy, scrumptious, and good for ya. Eat your veggies!

Noodles with Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce, Stir-fried Veggies & Crispy Tofu: makes about 5 servings

Crispy Tofu:

2 packages of chopped tofu 

Put oil in pan and heat. Add tofu and let cook, stirring/mixing often to get them all crispy. It'll take awhile. The secret is medium-high heat, oil, and time. (I added some soy sauce to the tofu while it was cooking, to add salt)

This method is the best way to evenly cook food in a pan. It's what I do. 

(Side note: check out these photos of food from the Modernist Cuisine cook book. They're so cool!)

Stir-fried Veggies:

4-5 mushrooms

1 onion

2 bell peppers

2 carrots

2-3 cups broccoli 

1 eggplant, if you have it

Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. (When the water is boiling and you have about 10 minutes left until your veggies are done, put the noodles in the water). 

Chop all veggies and add to a different heated, oiled sauce pan. Stir-fry until they're cooked as you like. I added soy sauce and hoisin sauce as they were cooking for more flavour. As the tofu and veggies are cooking, make the noodle sauce. 

Creamy Almond Ginger Sauce:

1 cup almond butter

2 cloves garlic

1 T ginger

Sriracha (or other thai hot sauce)

2 T sweetener

3-4 T soy sauce

1 T salt

1/4 oil (or use more water)

1/4 water

Blend all ingredients together and see if you like it, change it if desired. I also added mustard, chili, and some other things. When the noodles are ready, pour sauce on them until they're evenly coated. 

Serve with the noodles as the base, with a helping of veggies, and a bit of crispy tofu to top it off! Enjoy!

I had an avocado for dinner, as my family enjoyed the noodles =) 

And I drank this delicious smoothie earlier today:

It had a kiwi, 3 cups of kale, an orange, some frozen strawberries, water and stevia in it. I topped it off with some dried coconut and goji berries. YUM!

bad girl

I'm the worst raw foodist ever! A couple nights ago, I was really hungry and since I don't fall asleep until around 3 AM now - don't ask - I wasn't going to go to bed for several hours. What was I craving for no reason? A big, fat sandwich (I don't even GET cravings, let alone eat sandwiches, so it was truly bizarre). What'd I decide to do? Make a big, fat sandwich.

It was so comfort food-y. Delicious.
First, I toasted some organic sprouted chia bread and put on lettuce and avocado. Then I baked some butternut squash mac n' cheese leftovers, and sauteed some tofu in Bragg's, homemade breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast. Stacked it all up and cut it in half - then sat down and enjoyed.
I know! Even typing this out makes me feel indulgent. Oh man. This is the most unhealthy thing I've eaten in... forever.

 I'm comfortable with this, occasionally. I've written posts about this before: there's many reasons I'm not 100% raw. My living situation, my family, my lifestyle, and also what eating all raw means to me - because sometimes it's NOT for the best. When I eat 100% raw, I unfortunately become a little obsessive about it, to the extreme. I get too idealistic. This isn't healthy. Ultimately all I want in my diet is health. So for me, eating a percentage of cooked food is healthier mentally, than eating totally raw.

In the future I do want to become pretty much 100% raw, after I move out and buy all my own food (another reason I'm not all raw - it stresses out my family). But I need to get comfortable with myself and how I think of the diet before this happens, otherwise I'll be doing it for the wrong reasons. 

Note: If you don't care about raw food, sorry you have to read this! It probably sounds insane. If you're a raw foodist, I hope you know what I'm talking about.

At the end of the day? Loved every bite of this sandwich.