SUN-DRIED TOMATO TART WITH ZUCCHINI HUMMUS

To quote my wise mother: "This one's a keeper." I concur. If you love hummus, tomatoes, and freshness; you're gonna freak out when you bite into this. If summer were a pizza,  it would taste like this tart. If you need to prove to anyone that raw vegan dinners can be delish, serve them this. If I continue with these "If" statements... where will we end up?

After making at least one dessert every day over the summer (not just because I am a glutton, but also because I was writing my raw dessert uncookbook), I am kind of going through withdrawal from the - albeit healthy - sweets. At the same time, I gotta keep making recipes for you guys! So I'm getting back to savoury-type dishes. This recipe was inspired by a tomato tart I saw on Sidesaddle Kitchen. And yes, by the way, Laura Miller IS the ultimate vegan babe / bad ass. I suggest you serve it with raw crackers or something else crunchy, to add another texture. It's also best after being refrigerated overnight; that extra time allows it to develop flavour and thicken up. 

You can find the recipe for this scrumptious baby over at one of my fave healthy food blogs, Ascension Kitchen, where I did it as a guest post for the always-gorgeous Lauren. But first... scroll through all the food porn photography. Wink. 

SAVOURY GEM JUICE

Normally I like super sweet juices, but this one is more on the savoury side. The flavours of this recipe remind me of pizza because the juice includes tomatoes, basil and garlic. Even though I am finished my juice and fruit fast, I still incorporate juice into my everyday diet, and of course fruit continues to make up the majority of what I eat. 

I talked about this briefly in my last post about my cleansing, but I wanna go back to it now since it's important to me: I really am not a fan of calling this a cleanse. I'd rather just say I felt like consuming only juice and fruit for awhile, so I did, and now I am back to my regular diet. If I call this "cleansing", it implies that my normal diet is dirty. This is sooo not true. I also don't wanna call it a "detox" because it implies my regular diet is toxic! See what I mean? It just doesn't work for me. (But keep in mind that for some people, this could indeed be the case and they are starting off a new healthy life with a juice detox or smoothie cleanse. Yay for those guys!)

The only change now compared to when I was "cleansing" is that I am back to eating stuff like steamed veggies, whole grains, fermented soy, nuts and other fab foods. I absolutely love these foods (I could probably live off steamed broccoli and raw chocolate) and they certainly are a necessary part of a healthy diet - but every now and then I simply like to give my body a break and stick to the "cleanest" stuff with the highest water content and antioxidant amounts - fruit and juice! I love feeling lighter and refreshed after only having juice and fruit for an extended period (this time it was about nine days, but to be honest I lost count). In any case, I am LOVING this song at the moment. 

savoury tomato basil juice

1 large heirloom tomato
5-7 kale leaves, stems removed
Handful basil leaves
1 red bell pepper
1/2 pineapple
2 apples
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1 cucumber (optional) 
3 carrots 

Wash, peel, and cut your produce as needed. Put everything through your juicer, strain and enjoy!

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! 

mango salsa and guacamole with tomato onion tortillas

I do enjoy me some Mexican food - I could eat endless bowls of guacamole and probably still be asking for more. You really cannot go wrong with loads of fresh tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, avocado, mango, lime, onions and garlic. The mango adds a sweet factor that brings the salsa to a new level... OF AWESOME.

I didn't really know what to call the cracker type recipe so I named them tortillas because if you cut larger circles of them, you can use them as a tortilla and fill them up with salsa and guac. This was my favourite way to eat it. The smaller circles are fun for dipping, and if you dehydrate long enough they get crunchy! Enjoy. 

mango salsa and guacamole with tomato onion tortillas: serves two to four

Tomato onion tortillas:

1 mango, peeled and chopped

½ onion, peeled and chopped

¼ cup each of hemp seeds, flax seeds and sun dried tomatoes

Guacamole:

1 avocado

1 tomato 

¼ onion

¼ cup fresh cilantro 

3 garlic cloves, finely minced 

Juice from ½ lime

Chili powder and salt, to taste

Mango salsa:

2 tomatoes

1 mango

¼ onion 

Juice from ½ lime

½ cup fresh cilantro

3 garlic cloves, finely minced 

½ cucumber 

Chili powder and salt, to taste

To make the tortillas: pulse all the ingredients in your food processor until they are blended and become a thick, wet mixture. Spread this thinly on dehydrator trays, and dehydrate for a two hours, then punch circles (you choose what size) in the drying mixture and flip these circles over to dehydrate on their other side. Continue dehydrating until they are flexible and chewy, another two hours. These are your tortillas! Alternatively, you could cut very small circles, dehydrate them until crunchy, and use these as chips. 

To make the guacamole: peel and chop the avocado, tomato, onion, and cilantro accordingly. Add to a bowl with the garlic, chili powder and salt, then mix in the lime juice and stir until the avocado starts to get mushy. Set aside.

To make the salsa: peel and chop everything as needed, then mix together in a bowl. 

Assembly: use the tortillas as you normally would; stack the guacamole and salsa high in the middle then fold in half and enjoy the delicious fresh flavours. 

potato salad with cilantro, dill, tomatoes + raw mayo

Mmm... I love potatoes. They are easy to grow, hearty and delicious to eat, and super versatile in the kitchen. You can do SO MANY different things with good ole taters. Today, I keep it simple with a whole food potato salad, complete with fresh herbs, tomatoes and a raw mayonnaise dressing; it's a bit different from my usual raw dessert recipes but hey - variety is the spice of life.

This recipe is great for a summer dinner, or really any occasion. My unexpected inspiration was found on this page, where a there's a list of the top chef restaurants in Vegas. One of them was Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. WELL. I went ahead and veganized one of his recipes. The result was mega delish. If you have time to get some chives and red onion, I'd recommend adding them. Enjoy! 

high raw potato salad: serves three or four

Salad:

1 pound new potatoes 

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

1 cup cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

Raw vegan mayo:

1/2 cup cashews

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 garlic cloves

Juice from 2 lemons

Water, as needed

Prepare the salad: put the potatoes in a pot with water to boil. Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Cut each in half and throw in a bowl with the other salad ingredients. Set aside.

Make the mayo: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water or other liquid as needed and adjusting to your taste. Toss the mayo with the salad until evenly coated and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired.