Recipes

Recipe: Fix it fast riced cauliflower protein smoothie faux-chino style

2020-06-23 by laura

Sneaky faux frappacino riced cauliflower protein smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
12 fl oz “milk” (dairy or non) or liquid of choice (I like cashew with some leftover coffee for a mocha!)
1 handful of frozen riced cauliflower
1 serving of your favorite flavored protein powder (I like chocolate when I make mocha. I vary. I might also use berry or vanilla. I will have a good list of flavor variations in the “Fix it fast” ebook I’m writing.
ice (optional)

Instructions:

Blend the heck out of it. Enjoy!

Notes:

This recipe really only works with frozen riced cauliflower due to the goal of making it a cold frothy special drink. Pre-riced fresh cauliflower tastes a little stronger. It can work but you need to adjust your ultimate texture expectations and manage the stronger cauliflower taste by including add ins like stevia, spices, extracts, etc.

Here’s a recipe to use riced cauliflower in a icy cold creamy drink (call it a smoothie, call it a fake frappuccino, call it whatever suits). Riced cauliflower is my biggest tip for getting extra vegetables into your diet, especially if you hate vegetables. It has a mild, nearly neutral, taste. It blends well. And there are a few different ways to riced cauliflower lends itself to being prepared with a different

I love riced cauliflower, especially the frozen kind. I’ve been a fan since I became a raw vegan chef back in the aughts. It got popular and there were fans fighting each other for the supply of pre-riced veg. Now I see it everywhere in fresh and frozen forms. Yay. Easier cheesier peasier.

It’s easy to rice your own cauliflower at home but pre-riced is the way to go. Ricing your own is messy, takes time. It is one of my key foods to have on hand that I recommend in the “Fix it fast” series. I will be posting more sneak-in-the-veg recipes to the blog which use riced cauliflower.

Recipe: Keto PB cookies

2020-06-09 by laura

I love keto peanut butter cookies. They’re a very simple, 3-ingredient, kill a sweets craving, snack dessert.

I use the Low Carb Peanut Butter cookies recipe from Hip2Keto.

I occasionally go down the well into ketogenic eating. Before anybody gets all, “what? that’s a fad and you’re not the coach who recommends any specific diet,” Keto/paleo are prescribed to me by my M.D. based on lab tests and my neurological condition.

It helps me. My chronic pain decreases, my anxiety disappears, as do my gut issues.

I still like my sweets though. Peanut butter cookies are quick to whip up and not to bad on the net carbs. Caveats – using erythritol or monkfruit sweeteners can cause gastric distress especially in larger quantities. Don’t go nuts on them (hah! bad pun). These are highly processed foods and not that healthy as a regular thing. They sure do make good craving busters though.

Like all keto baking, it’s going to have a slightly different texture than “normal” pb cookies. That’s the trade-off my friends. Use as needed to stay on track if you’re a carb counter.

Fix food fast: strawberry kefir shake

2020-05-21 by laura

I keep making kefir and my results are getting better but still not quite there. I’ll talk details on next month’s Fermenting Fridays. Meanwhile, I need to consume the 1/2-1 cup that I produce every day.

It’s a natural step to make smoothies with kefir, especially if you’re one who wants to cover up the sour tart flavor. I like plain yogurt and kefir but I also like variety.

My kefir has been coming out with a lot of effervescence. Using bubbly kefir in a smoothie gives the drink a very airy texture which is almost like whipped cream.

I use thick smoothie shakes to quell ice cream cravings. Strawberry “ice cream” from frozen berries is a favorite. I’m liking this variation quite a bit and foresee making more kefir shakes with different fruits throughout the summer.

Ingredients

1 cup kefir
1 serving protein powder (optional – I like to use strawberry/berry powders to compliment the fruit)
1 cup frozen strawberries
to taste frozen greens (optional)
to taste stevia (optional)

Instructions

It’s pretty basic. Place ingredients into high speed blender. Blend to desired consistency.

Tips

Put the liquid in first to keep things moving better.

Put in the protein powder second it incorporates better on it’s own. When you put everything in together the powder may not incorporate and and you’ll get a thinner result.

Notice how bubbly it gets from the effervescent kefir!

Today I felt like having a milkshake not a smoothie so didn’t add my usual greens. In fact, I made it as thick as a “frosty” from a well known fast food chain.

Frozen fruit is preferable but you can use fresh. The more you add in the thicker your shake will be. You can also keep it thick while exercising portion control if you start with less liquid. Today I felt like having a milkshake not a smoothie so didn’t add my usual greens. In fact, I made it as thick as a “frosty” from a well known fast food chain.

If I wanted to make it more interesting I could have put toppings on it like nuts or coconut or goji berries or …. and I would have had the home version of those super expensive smoothie bowls at trendy juiceries.

This hit the spot and made it way more pleasant getting into the office earlier.

Tamarind Caesar Dressing: The art of living cuisine by Renee Underkoffler

2020-04-14 by laura

Living Cuisine by Renee Loux Underkoffler
Tamarind Caesar Dressing
Renee Loux-Underkoffler. 2004. Living cuisine: the art and spirit of raw foods. 1st ed. New York: Avery, p. 300

.25 cup raw tahini
.25 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
2 each green onions
1 each lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1.5 tablespoons maple syrup, or raw honey or 2 soft dates pitted
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons tamarind paste, if unavailable use 2 dates, 1 teaspon lemon zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups water, or as necessary

Blend all ingredients until smooth. The dressing should be quite thick. Add more water to thin as desired. Store in a glass jar with a lid in the refrigerator.

I used to be raw vegan, which is a post for another time. This book by Renee Loux Underkoffler was my absolute favorite living foods recipe book. Alas, I lost it in the great mouse invasion of my pantry cookbook shelves in 2012. This recipe, along with her Salad Nicoise were my top go-tos. It’s so good it’s tagged things I love 🙂 .

Cashew cream

2020-04-07 by laura

Cashew cream is one of the staples of vegan and raw vegan cuisine. Technically it’s nut butter. We call it cream because the fat content and texture of cashews creates wonderful mouth feel of dairy. It’s neutral flavor makes it more versatile than a standard nut butter.

It can be whipped to a fluffy replacement for whipped cream. It can be substituted for melted cheese. IMHO it is the best way to create vegan mac’n’cheese. It can be used as a binder in raw vegan deserts. It can be fermented into a tasty spread or mayo. Sky’s the limit with imagination.

The basic version is stupid simple to make. Two ingredients, a high speed blender, five minutes hands-on time including clean-up, and some patience to wait while you’re soaking the nuts. Caution! Cashews become saturated faster than other nuts. The longer you soak the the softer they become and the texture may no longer be suitable for your application.

Conversely, if you don’t soak or blend long enough the texture may be slightly gritty. I use a high speed blender because I get better results than a food processor. Others swear by the food processor.

Here’s the template:

Soak the cashews for a few hours.

Use a high speed blender or food processor to blend.

Add small amounts of liquid to get your desired texture from paste to sauce, if desired. Do not add liquid if you want fluffy whipped cream.

Add flavorings.

That’s it! Your cream should keep in the fridge for at least a week. I’ve gotten several out of mine but YMMV. Let your nose be your guide. If it smells off don’t eat it.

I made a lemon-maple cream sauce the other day and it was amaze-balls. I made a shredded carrot and walnut salad with cardamom and ginger. Reminiscent of carrot care and a great way to sneak in more vegetables. I would have posted that but I ate it before snapping a photo. Besides, there’s really no recipe. Mix stuff together to taste.

Enjoy!

Fermenting Friday: Sandor Katz

2020-03-06 by laura

One of my favorite recipe books is “Wild fermentation: the flavor, nutrition, and craft of live-culture foods” by Sandor Katz. I was a fan of home fermenting before probiotics became trendy. Fermented foods are good functional nutrition. I try (but often fail) to put up some cultured food every Friday. So far, I’ve only fermented saurkraut, yogurt, and rejuvelac. Successfully. Plus I’ve read a few books about other types of home-fermenting.

Book. Sandor Katz. Wild Fermentation 1st ed The gut microbiome is integral to health and initial exploratory research is associating with a variety of conditions such as IBS, and depression. At it’s most basic, the bacteria in your gut are a requirement for optimal digestion. Making probiotic rich foods at home is both easy and fun and doesn’t require a big outlay of money.

This book by Katz is the best I’ve read IMHO. I’ve owned a copy since the first edition was published. It’s not your typical recipe book. It takes a more narrative approach which includes Katz’s journey to becoming well-known in culinary circles for his advocacy of ferments.

Another thing I like about it is that includes basic instructions. It’s well suited to a total beginner. I also like that it covers a variety of fermented foods. Fruits, vegetables, grains, beverages (including brewing alcohol), are all included.

Overall the author’s style is engaging. The book is a short read at 187 pages. Sadly, my first edition was destroyed when field mice invaded my house. I’ve since replaced the book and it’s becoming as well worn as my original copy.

Good probiotics are expensive. Spending your hard earned cash isn’t required. Making fermented foods at home is a good way to stretch your supplement budget.