Onion and Olive Socca

I have been meaning to post this for a while now (about 3 weeks...) and I am finally getting around to it! This socca accompanied me during an all-nighter trying to finish writing a 15 page paper. It was delicious and oh so satisfying. Quite different from my skillet socca and I have to say, I do prefer the texture of this method (baking) compared to preparing it omelette-style.

The inside was like custard. Drool.

Custard-y friggin' goodness.

Ingredients:

1 c chickpea flour (I made mine by food processing dried chickpeas)

1 t salt

1.5 c water

1-2 T oil

a few thin slices of red onion

a few olives, finely chopped

optional: a few sage leaves, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Add oil to a 9-10" pan (I use a skillet because that's all I have)

Mix together flour and salt.

Whisk in water until batter is clump-less (this will be very thin).

Pour batter into pan/skillet.

Place onions, olives and sage thoughtfully into batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until socca has a crust but is soft to the touch.

Optional: Turn oven to broil and bake for 3-5 more minutes for crispiness.

My unsuccessful attempt to remove it from the skillet...

 Horrible picture thanks to the quality of the pictures taken on my phone...

...oh how I wish I hadn't broke my camera.

Red Pepper Deli [Northville, MI]

My mom had a couple of Groupons to Red Pepper Deli, an organic raw vegan eatery in Northville, so this Saturday we ate (an enormous) lunch there. It was so delicious! 

*One main concept to remember is that for raw foodists, nothing can be heated above about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. It is believed that above this temperature the living enzymes in the food are killed making it more difficult for the body to digest.

Whenever I go out to eat with my mom there is one rule: you are not allowed to order what you can make at home. This narrows down the selection quite a bit because we both really enjoy cooking/un-cooking. It helps us to discover new types of food/flavor combos so we can happily scurry home and try to recreate on our own.

It is always such  pleasure eating at raw restaurants because of the thought and energy that goes into all of the food. For example, raw baking recipes usually uses a dehydrator and takes hours (sometimes days) to complete! Between the 3 sandwiches we tried (that's right, we ate 3 sandwiches between the 2 of us...) there were 3 different kinds of breads! Rye, house-made seed, and pizza bread. Needless to say, we stuffed our faces and also bought some house-made seed bread to go.

My mom refused to open-mouth smile because she

was afraid that she had spinach in her teeth haha

MOCK TUNA ON RYE- SUNFLOWER DILL PATE, TOMATO,

SPINACH and SPROUTS. The special of the day!

N.Y. SUN BURGER- MACADAMIA and CASHEW MOZZARELLA, CASHEW PESTO,

SUN-DRIED TOMATO SAUCE, TOMATO, ROMAINE and SPROUTS

GREENWICH- SEED CHEESE, SPINACH, CUCUMBER, AVOCADO and SPROUTS

We also had a side of house-made sauerkraut and a double shot of wheatgrass. All of it was delicious but we both agreed that we liked the mock tuna salad sandwich the best. It tasted unbelievably similar to traditional (i.e., full of meat, dairy, eggs...) tuna salad!

The Red Pepper Deli Hours: Monday - Wednesday 10:30 - 7:30, Thursday - Saturday 10:30 - 8:00, Sunday Closed.

Located at 116 West Main Street, Northville, MI. 48167 248-773-7671

Zucchini Pasta with Pesto Sauce

Zucchini made into "pasta" = the best. It is water rich, alkaline and nutrient rich. I have been on a serious pesto kick lately, pureeing just about any leafy green and nut that I can get my hands on. 

Based off of Pesto Pasta in Raw: The Uncook Book. This is a much more allaborate recipe than my typical one

For Pasta:

1 zucchini, cut lengthwise into pasta-like strips

1/4 of a red pepper, thinly sliced

1/4 c of marinated onions*

1/2 tomato, diced

5 basil leaves, chopped

leaves from 1 sprig of oregano

leaves from 1 sprig of rosemary, chopped

8 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes, chopped

1/4 jalapeno, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

juice from 1/2 lemon

Pre sauce

Mix together and set aside.

*1 onion thinly sliced and marinated in 2/3 c tamari for 10 minutes - 8 hrs

For Sauce: (This makes more than you need for the pasta so add as much as you desire!)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 handfuls of walnuts

1/4 c basil leaves

2 handfuls of baby spinach (MI spinach is finally in season!!)

1 heaping T miso

2 T olive oil

1 t salt

8 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes

Blend sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Add water to reach desired consistency (I used 1/2 c).

Pour as much as you want onto the pasta and refrigerate the rest.

Remember how I actually eat my food? Pasta curled up on my couch with my laptop ;)

This is not an all local recipe but all ingredients can be bought trash free. For Ann Arbor residents:

-Herbs can be bought unpackaged at Sparrow Market.
-All vegetables can be purchased packaging free.
-Tamari, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, miso, salt, olive oil can all be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op.

Raspberry Fudge Ice Cream

This takes less than 5 minutes to make and only 4 ingredients!!! I have made it 3 times so far and plan on making it again... tonight.

RECIPE HERE!

It's from Chocolate Covered Katie and is really really amazing. It's so rich that it's almost unbelievable that it's healthy!

• Cacao powder is friggin' PACKED with antioxidants. Packed as in it has the most antioxidants compared to all other foods, teas, etc. Also it has lots of soluble fiber, magnesium, chromium, iron, and has more vitamin C than any other common nut or seed.
• Raspberries have phytonutrients for antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic protection. The are an excellent source of manganese, dietary fiber and vitamin C, as well as a good source of riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, potassium and copper.
• Coconut butter is thought to be anti-aging and although they contain mostly saturated fats, they are unlike the saturated fats in meats because they are short to medium chain fatty acids which are more water soluble than longer chain fatty acids and thus require less energy for the body to absorb and utilize. Coconut butter actually helps to lower cholesterol.

Cheezy Dorito Sauce

Source: wired.com

Yeah you heard it. This sauce taste exactly like Spicy Doritos. It is SO bizarre. It has been quite a while since I have eaten a Dorito so I wouldn't have completely thought my opinion to be valid however Marcy was there to confirm it. Dorito.

When I ran across it on Averie's blog I had to try it ASAP and I'm so glad of that. Also, Marcy is brilliant for suggesting that we actually attempt to make Doritos. Well we attempted alright but we failed.

The failure sure is tasty though! Not crispy like a Dorito and has less of a punch but I would guess that rolling the dough thinner and adding more cheesy coating and we'd have one hell of an all natural, gluten free, vegan Dorito! (The picture above is particularly appropriate since we created the S&M Doritos instead of going out on a Saturday night. We party hard.)

“Spicy Doritos” Spread
Raw vegan and based off of this recipe.

Ingredients:

1/3 c sunflower seeds, soaked
1/2 c nut/seed of choice, soaked (I used more sunflower but cashews, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, etc. would work just as well)
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/2 of a red pepper
3 T apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1 t cayenne

Directions:

Blend it up!

Sam and Marcy's (S&M) Doritos Attempt 1.

Based off this recipe to make homemade gluten-free cinnamon toast crunch (yeah the sound of that blew me away too...). These measurements ended up with a Doritos-flavored, pita bread-textured treat! If you play around with it and make something more Doritos-like, please let me know.

Ingredients:

1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
1/2 c millet flour (or dried millet ground in a spice/coffee grinder or food processor)
2 T coconut oil, melted
3/4 c water
1 T nutritional yeast
1 t cayenne
1/4 t salt

"Spicy Doritos" Spread (recipe above)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix together flours, oil, nutritional yeast, cayenne and salt.

Whisk in water until smooth.

Pour batter into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (Looking back on it, this was our fail. The batter we made was not of a pourable consistency. Add more water!)

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until starting to brown.

Remove from parchment paper and spread with a decent amount of "Spicy Doritos" Spread.

Score into triangle and return to oven for another 5 minutes.

Snack away!

Sweet Potato Ravioli Stacks

Boy do I love playing with my food. The colors of this far from traditional lasagna makes playing way too easy.

Based off of Rawxy's Ravioli Stacks who I currently have a blog crush on.

Sweet Potato Ravioli Stacks

Ingredients:

1/2 of a sweet potato

4-5 T Goaty Seed Cheese (recipe below)

4-5 T Spinach "Ricotta" Stuffing (recipe below)

1 T salt

Directions:

Slice the sweet potato as thin as possible with a mandolin or a sharp knife and steady hand.

Dissolve the salt in water and soak the sweet potato slices for 2 hours.

Rinse the salt off of soaked slices.

Layer the cheeses between the sweet potato slices.

Garnish* as you wish and enjoy!

*Try lemon zest, pesto mixed into olive oil, chopped olives, parsley leaves...

Goaty Seed Cheese

Raw vegan and based off of Melody's recipe.

Purple from using homemade red cabbage sauerkraut!

Ingredients:
1 c raw sunflower seeds, soaked for 4 hours
1 c sauerkraut (if you don't make it yourself, make sure it's unpasteurized)
2 T miso (make sure it's unpasteurized)
2 t Dijon mustard
1 t apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Spoon into a bowl and cover with something breathable (cheesecloth, dish towel...).

Allow those lovely bacteria cultures to proliferate!

...AKA let it ferment on the counter overnight.

Spinach "Ricotta" Stuffing

Raw vegan and also from Rawxy

Ingredients:
1.5 c sunflower seeds, soaked

3-4 c packed spinach

1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes
1 T kalamata olives

1 garlic clove, chopped
2 T nutritional yeast
1 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1 T dried Italian herbs
3/4-1 c water (enough to move in blender)
sea salt to taste

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients except the water and salt in a food processor or blender.

Slowly add in enough water to create a smooth and creamy texture.

Taste and add salt to your liking.

 

Oreo-style

Two Minute Peanut Sauce

Chomp.

One of my favorite "oh, duh!" moments was when I found out large leaf veggies like swiss chard, cabbage, and lettuce, can be used to make sandwiched and wraps. Leafy greens are way more nutrient dense than tortillas or pita bread, you can buy them without packaging, and let's not forget that they are way easier to make (wash and cut off stem v. make dough and bake)!

Now that the weather is getting nicer (65 degrees outside yesterday?!), I am moving from my I-want-soup-all-day-everyday phase into one involving oodles of fresh, raw veggies.

Enter: Rainbow Chard Wraps

 Rainbow chard.

Microgreens. 

Sliced red cabbage. 

Soaked and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. 

But here's my mantra: the sauce is always the best part. Averie from Love Veggies and Yoga has become my new sauce guru. I made 3 different sauce recipes of hers last weekend and there have been times this week that I have just stuck a spoon in the sauces and ate it straight up.

Averie’s 2 Minute Peanut Sauce
[Original recipe here]

1/3 c nut butter
1/4 c raw honey (or other liquid sweetener of choice)
1/4 c sesame oil (for that asian flavor)
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 t powdered ginger

Just whisk it together!

Drink your greens.

As I said yesterday, when I know I have a stressful week coming (i.e. midterms and a mondo paper), I stuff myself with vegetables. Here's another (sneaky) way to do just that!

The combination of the pink raspberries and green chard creates

a lovely chocolate hue... that looks nothing like pond scum...

Chocolate Raspberry (and Greens) Smoothie
Don't limit yourself to what I did. The idea is to drink your greens so add whatever else you like after that initial ingredient! The chocolate raspberry mixture is delicious but don't be afraid to experiment with other fruits, no fruits, nut milks, nut butters...

Ingredients:
2 bunches greens of your choice (I used rainbow chard)
2 handfuls of frozen raspberries (or blueberries, strawberries, rasberries...)
a heaping spoonful or two of unsweetened cocoa powder
optional: natural sweetener of choice (honey, maple syrup, stevia...)
water (or juice or non-dairy milk of choice)

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
Add enough water to achieve desired consistency.
Drink your greens and cheers to your health!

Macadamia Medallions

It's a crazy week for me. A midterm in my hardest class and a 15-page paper due. Yikes.

A lot of times when people get stressed, the first thing that takes a toll is their health. Not only because sleep and exercise are usually given up, but also healthy eating habits go out the window. This is the last thing you want to do in stressful situations. You want to be ready to take on the world, not be pissed off, fatigued, and needing a nap.

My #1 method for staying healthy when crunched for time: Have all the makings of a kick ass salad ready. That way if I have to wake up early and prepare lunch in a stitch before heading out the door or if I get home after a loooong day, it's a no brainer what to do: stuff oodles of vegetables into me and let the chlorophyll brighten my life!

Wash and chop your greens ahead of time, have salad dressing on hand, chop veggies to throw in, cook beans and whole grains... Just make sure you have everything that you need for a salad that you actually enjoy eating.

Mixed greens, microgreens, cooked beets, pesto,

homemade salad dressing, Macadamia Medallions

Macadamia Nut Medallions

For a little extra salad oomph. [From Rawmazing]

Ingredients:
1 c macadamia nuts, soaked at least 6 hours, rinsed and drained (you are soaking the nuts for texture, do not omit this step)
juice from1/2 lemon
2 t dried Italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pulse ingredients in food processor until fluffy texture is achieved.

Shape into medallions for immediate use or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

The best thing that I have ever made...

Sweet Potato Gratin
Vegan, Gluten-free, and soy-free. [From GLOW]

Ingredients:
Cream
1 3/4 c boiling water
1 c raw cashews
1/2 c sesame seeds
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg

1 large sweet potato, sliced as thin as possible
dried italian herbs to taste
additional salt and nutmeg
1/2 c hazelnuts, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F
Put cashews in a bowl, pour boiling water over them and soak for 30 minutes.
Grease a casserole dish.

Assemble gratin as follows:
Layer of sweet potato slices.
Sprinkle of salt and nutmeg.
Layer of cashew cream.
Sprinkle of herbs.
Sweet potato
Salt & nutmeg
Cream
Herbs
Sweet potato
Salt & nutmeg
Cream
Herbs...

Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with ground hazelnuts.
Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve warm!

And a special thanks to Marcy Zatz for making this with me!

In case you were wondering...

...this is how I typically eat my meals.

Straight from the saucepan. Or tupperware container. I'm classy, I know.

Oh, bring us a {Chia Pudding} and a cup of good cheer!

Chia seeds are fascinating. When soaked in water (or non-dairy milk) they turn into a gelatinous blob right before your eyes. Yup, they're able to absorb 9x it's weight in water! Therefore prolonged hydration. Plus it's chalk full of nutrients and the richest vegetable source of essential omega-3 fatty acid.

Apparently the Aztecs used to treat these puppies like gold, which says a bit on their value. It's said that they would eat one teaspoon of chia seeds (and nothing more) before a 24-hour journey to maintain endurance.

(Read 10 more benefits here!)

And let's not forget about this... (Cue 90's flashback)



Chia Pudding

Ingredients:
1/4 c chia seeds (can be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op)
3/4 c water
flavorings of your choice

Directions:
Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes.
Watch closely while the transformation happens right before your eyes!
Mix in flavors of your liking (I did a sweetener, cocoa powder, and raspberries)

*The seeds stay a little crunchy so if this bothers you, dump the pudding in your blender to smooth it out.


Now time for my picture taking bonanza!

Plain Chia seeds

Gettin' gelled up in water...

Look how gelatinous it gets!

Trifle Time!

I layered chia pudding, raspberries (frozen from the summer), and dessert socca to make a lovely whole food, healthy trifle (which is usually made with cake and whipped cream, psshhhh)

Love and veggies, Sam

Guest Recipe: Veggie Socca with Savory Almond Sauce

Martha Johnston, also known as my mom, made a socca of her own! Different veggies but same basic socca recipe. Here's her experience:

Mine was a comedy of errors. I did not have a non-stick pan and should have used more oil. I did it on the stove, could not flip it so I popped it in the oven. I ended up scraping it out and reforming it into 2 small pan cakes and re frying it. It still tasted great. 

The veggies in it I used was portabello mushrooms, red peppers, onions and dried basil.

Lookin' good garnished with sprouts, chopped scallions,

and raw almond spread (recipe below)

And here is the recipe for the dollop of goodness on top. Based off Yuri's cleanse recipes.

Almond Sauce (raw vegan)

Ingredients:
1 c almonds, soaked overnight
2 T sesame oil
3 T Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 dried dates, soaked for 2-3+ hours
½ lemon, juiced
¼ t cayenne, or to taste (or pinch red pepper flakes)
Coconut water (or water)

Directions:
Pulse all ingredients, except water, in a food processor.

Add water until desired consistency is reached, smooth and creamy.

Vegetable Pulp Crackers

I am very blessed to have a juicer. I love fresh veggie juice and it is super healthy for you, however it is a bit of a wasteful practice. Separating plant juice from it's biomass just to drink the juice? Wasteful.

However this little recipe is making me sing a different tune! Crispy and tasty and oh so frugal.

Kristen's Raw is a raw food blog so the cooking is low heat for a long time. The thought process behind this is to not heat your food above roughly 115 degrees so that the living enzymes in food will not be killed. These enzymes help to digest the things that you eat so your body will more energy to do other important processes. I personally do not have a dehydrator so I just cranked my oven down to it's lowest temp (200 degrees) but if you don't really care or don't have the time, turn up the heat! The high fiber from the veggies and omega-3's from the flax certainly won't hurt you ;)

Veggie Pulp Crackers
Ingredients:
2 c vegetable pulp from juicing
1/2 c flax meal (flax seeds ground in a food processor)
1 T tamari
spices (I used chili pepper, cumin, garam masala, and turmeric)

Directions:

Preheat oven to lowest temperature.

Mix together ingredients (For some reason a potato masher just felt right to use for this...)

Roll out dough (or smoosh with fingers) REALLY THIN onto a cookie sheet.

Score with a knife to the size crackers that you desire.

Bake for an hour or two until crispy, flipping halfway through.

**Alternative Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together ingredients (For some reason a potato masher just felt right to use for this...)

Roll out dough (or smoosh with fingers) REALLY THIN onto a cookie sheet.

Score with a knife to the size crackers that you desire.

Bake until crispy, 5-15 minutes depending on the oven.

Croutons for Max

I stayed with my brother for a night over the weekend, meaning I spent time with his two kittens (well they're a few months old so not exactly kittens- but they will always be kittens in my mind!). Unlike a "normal" college kid, I am unable to sleep in. So waking up hours before Max, I entertained myself in the kitchen.

Max is far from a healthy eater, well I guess he would be considered "normal" as far as college kids go. You know, ramen and carry-out and the occasional spaghetti and store-bought meat sauce. However he does have one habit that I 100% approve of. Just like my dad, Max likes salad. Not as an everyday, more than once a day thing like I enjoy but not once in a blue moon either.

Anyways, the inspiration for making croutons at 9 am came from trying to promote this behavior and the excessive amounts of bread in Max's apartment (Really? Four loaves of bread for one person??).

Croutons
AKA a great way to use up stale bread


Ingredients:
bread
oil
seasonings (I used dried basil and oregano)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Cut bread into cubes and dump into a bowl.
Drizzle with oil and toss well to coat.
Sprinkle with seasonings and toss some more.
Pour onto a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Bake until crispy and golden brown, flipping halfway through (Mine took about 10 minutes but be careful not to burn them!).

Use liberally on salads, soups, or when you get the munchies!

Love, Jayne and Kaylee and Sam