BODACIOUS BANANA BOWLS with STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Mmm. The best meals are the simplest. And evidently, in this case, the cutest to look at. JUST LOOK AT THIS... SO CUTE. Once you get over the adorable factor, you can eat this and realize that it's also outta-this-world-delicious-and-nutritious. Hyphen. 

This recipe is 100% fruit and 100% easy to make. You don't just have to use strawberries, I'm sure any berry would work beautifully. And you can use the sauce on more than just bananas! Whatever your healthy heart desires... go for it. Honestly, I have nothing else to blab about right now so I'll leave you with the recipe and a cyber hug. *HUG* 

BODACIOUS BANANA BOWLS with STRAWBERRY SAUCE

2 sliced organic bananas

1/2 cup organic strawberries

1 teaspoon coconut nectar (optional) 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) 

2 tablespoons dried mulberries 

Place the bananas and mulberries in a bowl. Put all the other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over your bananas and mulberries. Chomp. 

BANANA ICE CREAM SUNDAE with CHOCOLATE SAUCE

I hope I made your mouth wet with these photos. Wink wink. Best part of this recipe is that it's incomparably healthier than the average breakfast. It's basically just bananas and a bunch of super foods like coconut oil, almonds, cacao powder, and mulberries. You can add whatever else you like (ideas: goji berries, coconut flakes, maca powder, fresh fruit, dates, etc.) I ate this for dinner. 

It's a beautiful world we get to party in. 

That's right. GIFs are happening right now. I saw them on this blog awhile ago and immediately realized how genius it was for food photography. A huge component of the appeal of food is texture! You can show it perfectly with moving images. Plus, they're really fun to photograph and put together. Besides, I know you like 'em.

I stayed home from school today because I think my mono might be coming back (I know - coming BACK... this isn't the first time I've suffered this throat torture) and figured I'd better rest to keep it maintained. Banana ice cream is the perfect soother because it's cold and creamy. Ahh. It helped me get through my last Mononucleosis bout.

Mononucleosis kind of sounds like a super power... Or is that just me who thinks that. I cannot explain my own cognitions. Moving on.

banana ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce

Ice cream:

3 frozen bananas 

Chocolate sauce:

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon cacao powder

1 teaspoon agave syrup or preferred sweetener

Toppings:

Almond butter

Mulberries

Anything else your heart desires

To make the ice cream: put the bananas in a high speed blender and blend until they become a creamy, fluffy, white soft serve ice cream. Nom. Scoop into a bowl.

To make the chocolate sauce: whisk the ingredients together. Drizzle over your ice cream along with the rest of your toppings. Time to spoon. 

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! 

raw nori wraps with red cabbage, cucumber, carrots, zucchini & spicy dipping sauce

Oh I love mah LIFE. These are super delicious and super nutritious. Bam bam! Jam-packed with raw veggies and wrapped in seaweed, they deliver one heck of a meal that is sure to impress your taste buds and perhaps dinner guests? You could actually eat this recipe all by yourself because it's so low in calories (naturally) but I dare you to try... I couldn't even do it and I can eat a LOT.

I forgot to add avocado (doh!) but the recipe was wonderful even without my creamy green friend. Having said that, if you've got an avocado handy, use it. I ran out of nori sheets so I used rice paper to wrap some as well. Rice paper is so fun and easy to use, and it lets you get a sneak peek of what's inside your roll! Colours abound in the plant kingdom. 

I was pretty busy in the kitchen today - I made four recipes (this one for you, and three for my cookbook) so I am looking forward to a relaxing evening hanging out with an old friend... and maybe watching Tarzan or Aladdin. Shh... Disney movies are great okay (you cannot argue). Actually, last night I watched Atlantis with my girl friend and it was awesome. Sure, there are plot holes - but what is a plot hole when you get to relive your childhood in technicolour with an original soundtrack!?

Right. Back to food... make these.

raw nori wraps with red cabbage, cucumber, carrots, zucchini & spicy dipping sauce 

Wraps:
1/2 head red cabbage
1 carrot
1 small zucchini
1/2 cucumber
2 kale leaves 
1 avocado
3-4 nori sheets and/or rice paper sheets

Sauce: 
1 tablespoon tahini
Chili powder, to taste
1 tablespoon miso
2 dates
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 small garlic clove
Water, as needed to make it creamy and smooth

Make the sauce by blending all the ingredients together until smooth. Now make your wraps: shred the veggies thinly on a mandolin, but chop the cucumber by hand. Tear up the kale leaves and slice the avocado. Lay your desired fillings on one side of your nori sheet, and on the opposite side spread a little sauce to seal together the ends when you roll it up. Roll everything up tight and set aside. If you're using rice paper, dip the paper in hot water until it's pliable, then place everything you want in the middle. Wrap up like a burrito. Dip your wraps in your sauce and get this party started.

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! 

zuke pasta with tahini sauce & other goodness

I used basically the same recipe for the sauce that I made for my raw sushi recipe. It is so TASTY. This creamy, filling meal will leave you satisfied and full of energy. I could eat like 3 bowls of this - oh and guess what, I can! Ah, life is good. Enjoy!

zucchini pasta with tahini sauce, olives, cilantro & avocado: serves one or two

Pasta:
2 zucchinis
1/2 avocado
handful of olives
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 cup sprouts

Tahini sauce:
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon miso
2 tablespoons peeled ginger root
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/8 cup water (more or less)

To make the sauce: blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding liquid as needed. Set aside.

To make the pasta: slice your zukes on a spiral slicer or mandolin. Put in a bowl and pour your sauce on, rubbing it in with your hands or two spoons, until every noodle is covered. Cut up your avocado and throw it on along with the other toppings. Let it all sit for a minute to marinate then dig in!