marinated zucchini noodles with tomato basil sauce, dried baby tomatoes & garlic portobello meatless balls

Today is an exciting, calm, warm, cool day. It is merely overwhelming. For the first time in weeks it is raining gently outside the office window and I can see the driveway and our enormous twin cedars getting showered lightly. I slept in and woke up to the bountiful gray skies and pitter patter of raindrops. Then I had a lavender bath which has now placed me in a meditative-like, contented emotional state. I am also listening to cathedral music and that only helps to ground my spirit more.  Sipping lemon chili water, skin moisturized with vanilla-scented coconut oil, mind in a perfect place - I am where I want to be on this glorious day.  

What makes me even more blissful is that I get to share these photos and this recipe with you! Can't deny that I am very pleased with the photographs. But of course I can't take much credit - when you have beautiful life to photograph and the lighting is just right, your photographs will show beautiful life. That is what happened yesterday while I made my dinner. I began preparing the meal at around noon because it required some drying of food (specifically portobello meatless balls and baby tomatoes).

Although it takes several hours to dry the meatless balls and tomatoes, altogether there's hardly any hands-on time. All you need to do is whip up a sauce and slice your zucchini into noodles. This recipe is great for anyone to try: seasoned raw foodists, whole food veggie people, skeptics of raw veganism, even my cat was trying to snag some. The dish is absolutely bursting with fresh flavours and you can taste how nutritious ever bite is. The food speaks to me! Maybe I should call myself the vitamin C whisperer. 

Most of the ingredients came from my family's garden (tomatoes, basil, onion and garlic) or the farmer's market (zucchini) and this makes me smile. Local, organic plants grown with love are the best foods you can give your body and your self; and they are best at keeping healthy our animal friends and terrestrial home. 

The photo directly above is one of my favourites I have ever captured. I can't really say why - perhaps because of it's immediate appearance of simplicity and softness; but the hidden implication of the complicated and intense journey it took to exist here now. Of course, I suppose you could say that about all photographs. Or going further - all that is! Our world is full of light and darkness because without one, the other cannot be. Evil and good, right and wrong, love and hate - all necessary parties in this great game of life (and death). 

The acknowledgement of the equal importance of good and bad in spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism show humankind's ancient awareness of the beauty and need of earthly and universal balance. Understanding and remembering this reality helps to keep me calm, of clear mind, and euphoric. Although I don't believe we should promote the undesired suffering of others, or negativity in general; we cannot ignore that there will always be suffering and negativity. Remembering that without them happiness and positivity could not exist, can help you appreciate the vastness and harmonic simplicity and complexity we live in. It personally gives me peace and, as they say in Buddhism, brings me back to opening my heart for emptiness. 

Now, on to dinner.

 
marinated zucchini noodles with tomato basil sauce, dried baby tomatoes + garlic portobello meatless balls 

portobello meatless balls:

1/4 cup walnuts

1 portobello mushroom

1 very small onion

1-2 dates  

Dash of coriander

Salt + pepper, to taste

dried baby tomatoes:

3 cups halved baby tomatoes (approximately) 

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of salt

marinated zucchini noodles:

1 large or 2-3 small zucchinis

1 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 

Pinch of salt

tomato basil sauce:

1/2 cup of your dried tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped zucchini (I use the leftovers after making my noodles) 

1 tablespoon tahini
Small handful fresh basil leaves 

1 date

1 garlic clove

Salt + pepper, to taste

To make the portobello meatless balls: process the walnuts into powder in a food processor, then add the rest of the ingredients and process until it becomes a grayish mush. Not very appetizing in appearance but it smells great! If your mixture is too wet, add some ground flax seeds and let it sit for a minute or two. Form into balls and dehydrate (or bake at your ovens lowest temperature) until they have darkened in colour and hardened on the outside (about 5 hours), or until you want to take them out. 

To make the dried baby tomatoes: cover your hands in the olive oil, then rub down all the tomato halves until they evenly coated. Sprinkle them with salt and mix 'em up. Dehydrate the tomatoes for about 5 hours until they have lost most of their moisture but still have some juice in the middle; or until you want to take them out. 

To make the noodles: slice your zucchini(s) on a mandolin or spiral slicer to create noodles. Rub the noodles evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Let these sit out for 30-60 minutes so they can soften and develop flavour. 

To make the sauce: put all the ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth and saucy, adding whatever else you like. 

Assembly: I think you can handle throwing everything together but... toss the noodles in the sauce then top off with the meatless balls and baby tomatoes. Use some fresh tomatoes too for extra noms! 

creamy mushroom soup with avocado + miso

I love raw soups. They are basically savoury smoothies that you top up with herbs and veggies and eat with a spoon. Okay, maybe that isn't the most appealing way to describe them, but my point is: they are full of only the healthiest whole foods your body wants, and served in a way that is easy for your system to absorb. You get excellent nutrition that much quicker... and it tastes freaking amazing.  

My favourite type of raw soup (although there are several worthy competitors) is mushroom soup. I tried adding an avocado this time and the result was magnificent. I think my mom was reading my mind the day I made this because I was going to use the normal white mushrooms we usually have in the fridge, when she came home with fresh shitakes and portobellos. Shitakes are my all time fave shroom! I highly recommend marinating the mushrooms you will use for the garnish. All you have to do is rub them with tamari and a bit of olive oil, then leave them in the dehydrator or on the counter while you make the soup. It brings out their rich flavours and softens them.

creamy mushroom soup with avocado + miso: serves two to four 

Soup:
1 portobello mushroom 
3 shitake mushrooms
½ avocado
1-2 tablespoons miso
2 cups hot water
3 dates (optional) 
1 teaspoon walnut oil (optional) 

Garnish:
3 sliced shitake mushrooms, marinated in tamari for a few minutes 
Salt + pepper
¼ fresh cilantro leaves 

Blend all the ingredients until smooth and adjust according to taste. Pour into bowls and top with mushrooms, cilantro and sprinkle on salt and pepper, if desired. 

raw pizza with spinach pesto & marinated vegetables

every saturday for as long as i can remember, we have family video night. this entails pizza for everyone and a good movie or two. it's the night of the week where we can all relax and be together. since adopting a vegan diet, my family has naturally stopped eat most processed foods as well as most animal products. most of the time our meals are vegan now. yahoo! so as you would assume, our pizza nights now include vegan pizza (which is always delicious). the carnivorous men of my family are usually merrily surprised with the taste. this week i decided to make a raw version because, ya know... raw food is totally rad and stuff.

i wish we had some raw cheese to top this off with but alas, not this time - anyway it was delectable sans aged nut cheese. i could seriously eat a bowl of the pesto by itself, i luuuurve me some spinach. and as for the crust - i was schnarfing spoonfuls while i put it in the dehydrator. if you don't have a dehydrator then just use your oven at its lowest temperature. i do this all the time and never fret; work with what ya got. 

one thing (of the plethora of things) i LOVE about raw food - you can eat as much as you want, but often that isn't as much as you might predict because the food is so nutrient dense! it fills you up super fast. so as you can see, these pizzas are pretty small, but very satisfying. i do warn you, don't expect this to taste just like cooked pizza. in all honesty it has nothing to do with it except the inspiration and general shape. it is DIFFERENT and delicious... 

so open your mind (and your mouth). 

raw pizza with garlic & seed crust, spinach pesto and marinated veggies: makes four small pizzas

crust:

1/2 cup each of hemp seeds, raw pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

1 cup walnuts

1 teaspoon salt & pepper

2 teaspoons dried basil (or a handful of fresh, lucky you)

1 tablespoon agave/maple syrup or a few dates

1-2 tablespoons water, as needed

1/2 onion, sliced

4 peeled garlic cloves

spinach pesto:

4-5 cups organic spinach
1/2 cup raw pine nuts

1 peeled garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
1/4-1/2 cup water, as needed

1 teaspoon agave/maple syrup or a couple dates

toppings:

3 mushrooms

1 bell pepper

1 tomato 

1 teaspoon tamari

1 teaspoon fave dried herb blend

to make the crust: pulse all ingredients in your food processor until it sticks together (and tastes delicious!) now divide the mixture into four and shape each of them into your desired pizza crust shape with your hands on dehydrator trays or parchment paper. dehydrate (or cook in your oven at the lowest temperature) for 4-5 hours, or until crispy. 

to make the pesto: put all the ingredients in your food processor (no need to wash it after making the crust) and process until it reaches that yummy pesto consistency - not totally smooth, but still quite creamy. mmm. put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. 

to prepare the veggies: cut them all into thin slices and mix in with the tamari and herb blend.  marinate them in your dehydrator (or oven) until they are soft and taste freaking amazing. 

put it all together: when the crusts are finished, gently spread the pesto on all of them, followed by the veggies. if you have any raw vegan cheese that would be a tantalizing addition for your taste buds. 

EAT. BE HAPPY. YOU ARE WELCOME. 

veggie wrap & miso mustard gravy

we got these radishes from the farmer's market and they were so pretty i had to take pictures; they aren't actually in today's recipe, but i bet they'd be a delicious addition!

veggie wrap with miso mustard gravy: serves one

miso mustard walnut gravy:
1/4 cup or so of walnuts
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons miso
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/2 teaspoon each of salt & pepper, other fave spices/herbs
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons tamari
water, as needed (probably a several tablespoons)

nori veg wrap:
3-4 mushrooms
3 leaves dino kale
1/4 avocado
2-3 dates or some raisins
1/2 raw or grilled bell pepper
1 nori sheet 

to make the gravy: blend all ingredients together until smooth and like gravy dressing. if it's too thick, add more water; if it's too liquid, add more walnuts or maybe a date. whatever you think it needs.
to make the wrap: slice the veggies and what not, length-wise. then layer them all on your nori sheet and spoon on some "gravy".

*i made this again today and used cilantro instead of kale, and zucchini instead of mushrooms.
FRICKIN' AMAZING. as usual, you can basically do anything to this recipe and it'll be insane.

the pics of the food aren't that good today so i'll make up for it with these lovely photos of BLOOMING LIFE in our garden. ahhh, i adore my home.

don't ya love summer? vibrant new creatures, plants and energy growing everywhere you look. my chakras are vibrating like crazy. the prana is strong. speaking of prana, i'm going to get the sanskrit version tattooed on my wrist soon! what do you think? by the way, it symbolizes the vital life force in the universe:

प्राण