rainbow noodles with spicy jungle peanut sauce

Nom! This is a simple clean dish that will fill you up with positive energy, vitamins, nutrients, and joy. I always have a giant smile on my face when I eat raw veggie noodles because... well... they make me happy. The day I made this, I had just received some raw jungle peanut butter and olives from the wonderful Natural Food Shop and really wanted to try them in a recipe. Both are used in this one. I wasn't sure how raw olives would taste and at first the flavour was pretty strong and took some getting used to, but now I love them. I've tried raw jungle peanut butter before and very much enjoy it. It doesn't taste like regular peanut butter, it's more bitter - a little like tahini.

I also added some cilantro, black sesame seeds and hemp seeds because A) it makes the dish look that much prettier, and B) why not? You can use a spiralizer for this recipe, but sometimes I prefer my noodles wide and flat, so I used my mandolin to slice the veggies up this time. Anyway you slice it (haha... get it? Slice?  'Cause. You're. Slicing...) this is a fab meal for lunch or dinner and everyone around you is gonna be jealous. Unless you're kind and give them some, but that would basically make you a saint because this recipe is extremely hard to share due to it's amazingness. You're gonna want to keep that amazingness ALL to yourself.

rainbow noodles with spicy jungle peanut sauce: serves one or two

Noodles:

1 sweet red pepper

2 zucchinis

1 carrot

Peanut sauce:

1 tablespoon raw jungle peanut butter

1 tablespoon miso

Juice from ½ lemon

2 dates

Chili powder, to taste

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional) 

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (optional) 

Water or orange juice, as needed

Garnish:

¼ cilantro leaves

6 raw olives cut in half

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

To make the noodles: cut the veggies lengthwise into thin strips on a mandolin or spiral slicer, then mix in a bowl and set aside. 

To make the sauce: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water or orange juice as needed to make it creamy. 

Assembly: pour the sauce onto the noodles and evenly coat. Give it a few minutes for the flavours to develop, and then sprinkle with hemp seeds, raw olives and cilantro leaves. Gobble it up! 

apple sandwiches with date caramel + almond butter

These are really fun to make, and super healthy. Oh and as you can tell from the photos - so easy they hardly need instructions. Slice up some apples and layer them with caramel and almond butter. Yum! Make these with kids and you will make some new little friends. 

They actually taste like candy or something... it's almost too good to be true. But then - isn't zucchini pasta almost too good to be true? Yes. Yet it exists. Thanks, Mother Nature and innovative kitchen equipment. So eat as many of these as you want and feel great afterwards about yourself and your awesome healthy, humane, eco-friendly choices.

apple sandwiches with date caramel + almond butter : serves 2 to 4

4 apples
Almond butter or other nut butter

Caramel:
1/2 cup dates
2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil (or use water... won't be as creamy though)
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Make the caramel: blend all ingredients until smooth. 

Assemble: Slice the apples thinly from bottom to top and then core each piece. Now layer each slice with alternating caramel and nut butter. Enjoy!