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.

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!

sushi with sprouts & tahini miso ginger sauce

Oh my goodness gracious garbanzo beans. Make this NOW. You can taste the energy in this recipe, especially because of the sprouts. The sauce brings everything together deliciously with a savoury, sweet and salty flavour; the avocado adds a rich creaminess, the bell pepper gives you that juicy crunch and finally; the cucumber makes it all taste hella fresh. 

I made this as soon as I got up, to take pictures while the light was good, because I wasn't going to have another opportunity all day (it was a VERY busy day). I didn't want to eat it for breakfast so I have been craving it all day, until the moment I stepped back in the door a couple hours ago and was able to eat it. It's fun and easy to make, no special equipment necessary, and not much mess either. 

Let's roll, baby. 

raw sushi with bean sprouts & tahini miso ginger sauce: makes 2 rolls or more

Sushi rolls:
1/2 avocado 
1/3 cucumber
1/3 bell pepper
2 cups mung bean sprouts (or other fresh sprouts)
Seaweed sheets, like nori

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.

To make the sushi: slice the cucumber, avocado and bell pepper very thin, and add anything else you want to. Now spread some sprouts evenly over a sheet of seaweed, but leave a bit of space at one end and drip a tiny bit of sauce all over the sheet. Place in your veggies and roll up like a pro! Keep doing this until you use all your stuff. Then with a sharp knife, slice carefully present your beautiful sushi to the lucky folks you're sharing this with. If that's just you - pretend to surprise yourself and get really excited. 

Vegan sushi just magically appeared from nowhere.

chocolate tahini caramel delights

imagine a giant peanut butter cup... change the peanut butter into tahini-cashew butter. add a bite of caramel in the middle. turn it into an ice cream version. then make it vegan and raw. the final result is this recipe.

i wanted to do something with the sesame seed butter we had, and also make a fancier spin on a PB cup. so here ya go. i hope you like them... okay, you'll love them. unless you're crazy, or have a phobia of chocolate (actually a legitimate disorder, it is called xocolatophobia). the raw caramel is also divine in the middle. i ate the extra on it's own with an organic apple.

the ice cream part was actually a mistake, but the kind that makes things better (don't ya love those? they're kinda rare). my chocolate recipe had too much liquid and so didn't solidify like normal chocolate. i had to freeze it to make it harden, but it ended up even more delicious as a frozen treat. let's hear it for helpful mistakes!

these photos were taken with my brand new camera (new to me anyway... got an excellent deal on good ole craigslist for a basically unused canon T2i... thank you, internet!) and i couldn't be happier with them. such an improvement not only over the little beginners one i have been having to use the last couple months, but even my previous DSLR! i am a happy camper.

a funny thing to note: i prefer using a picture quality setting called "RAW", it essentially means the photo is unprocessed and completely unedited, saved just as i took the photo whereas JPEG photos are changed slightly to be saved as such. it is funny because (as your clever little mind may have figured out) my photos are just like my food! RAW and UNPROCESSED.

time to giggle. 

my weekend has been pretty lovely. we are back to normal vancouver weather - rain. i love it. i missed it. i am glad it's returned. have you noticed the rain makes everything cozier? when you are inside anyways... getting stuck in the pouring rain and wind while waiting for a bus doesn't exactly compare to snuggling with your boo by the fire with raw hot chocolate and a kitten...

everything is better with a kitten.

ginger chocolate cups with sesame-cashew butter & caramel: makes about 9

ginger dark chocolate:
1 cup dates, soaked in just enough water to cover them
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup cacao 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 teaspoon shaved ginger root)
1/8 teaspoon salt

sesame-cashew butter:
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed butter)
1 cup raw cashews

raw caramel:
1 cup dates, soaked in water for few minutes
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup/raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil

to make the chocolate, blend all ingredients (including the soak water from the dates) until smooth. you may need to add some more water if it's too thick. you could also add a liquid sweetener. set aside in a bowl.

to make the nut butter, blend together the tahini and cashews until smooth. set aside in a bowl.

to make the caramel... you guessed. blend all ingredients until smooth. and yes... set it aside in a bowl.

now the assembly *cue epic music* cover the inside of lined cupcake tins with half of the chocolate. put in the freezer for 10-20 minutes until hardened. put in a layer of sesame-cashew butter, then a dollop of caramel. put back in freezer for 10 minutes. then cover the top with another layer of nut butter and then chocolate. let them set in the freezer overnight, somehow they are better the next day. i topped mine with a cashew to make 'em cute.