Raw chocolate-covered bananas

Something amazing happens to bananas when you freeze them.. the texture becomes like a fancy dessert. It also seems to become sweeter! They are *perfect* for a frozen dessert. (Don't forget to choose organic. They're still cheap, for an organic food, and they taste SO much better than conventional bananas. Even when they're green, they taste good.)

So, I decided to try another of Ani Phyo's frozen treats. I'm glad I did! I think it will be easy to keep our freezer stocked with frozen, yummy, raw desserts.. making it easier to eat more tasty raw foods. ***If you're transitioning to raw foods or just want to eat more raw foods, this may be a great way to start! Eat your raw banana, covered in raw chocolate - but dipped in your now-favorite cooked or otherwise junk-food toppings!.. like sprinkles? or other candies?*** You can transition into more raw foods one step at a time. YOU CAN DO IT!

INGREDIENTS
Frozen bananas, skewered
Ani Phyo's liquid chocolate (or similar)
Toppings: goji berries, other small dried fruits, crushed nuts or seeds

To start, peel and freeze bananas. Cut them in half if they're too big. Freeze at least 4 hours before covering with chocolate. I had to use some chopsticks because I don't have skewers yet. They worked fine, though. And in the meantime gather your toppings and make your liquid chocolate.



Liquid Chocolate INGREDIENTS
3/4 c cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 c sweetener: raw sugar, agave or maple syrup (if you use raw sugar, you may have to add a little more olive oil to your mixture)
1/2 c raw cacao powder
1 T mesquite and/or maca powder (optional)

Blend your liquid chocolate ingredients together. It's easy to dip your frozen bananas into a cup of chocolate, so keep your chocolate in a tall cup.



Have your toppings ready. (I chose goji berries and cacao chips.) Choose any toppings you like!



First, dip each banana in the chocolate.



Next, sprinkle your toppings onto the chocolate-covered bananas.



Freeze for a little while before serving. These are absolutely amazing! The frozen banana is similar to ice cream and the chocolate and toppings give the banana a very rich, sweet, unbelievable flavor.

It's a fancy dessert.. but super easy to make!

Raw ice kream sandwiches!

Adapted from Ani Phyo's ice kream sandwich recipe! First, you'll make the lime ice kream, then the easy cookie crust.

Cashews really do taste like dairy ice cream!



Serves many.. This recipe makes 3 large ice kream sandwiches. One sandwich is big enough to share. Try this once and you may find yourself doubling or tripling the recipe!

INGREDIENTS
1 c raw cashews
1/4 c freshly squeezed key lime juice
zest of 2 key limes
1/8 c raw sugar or agave nectar
1/8 c cold-pressed olive oil or coconut oil
1/4 c water (or a little more, as needed to makes smooth)

Blend all of these ingredients together until smooth. Pour into a square dish and freeze. Try to choose a dish that is shallow. You can also line dish with plastic wrap before pouring in the ice kream. That'll make it easy for you to slice your frozen kream into bars and remove from the dish.

Freeze for 3+ hours before cutting into bars.

Now, make the cookie crust when you're ready to make and serve your ice kream sandwiches!

INGREDIENTS
1 c dates
3/4 c walnuts or pecans or your favorite nuts
1/4 c cacao or carob powder
1 t mesquite powder (optional)
1/8 t salt
dash of water, as needed

Blend all of these ingredients (except water) together in food processor. Only add water once the ingredients are blended and only if you want the cookie crumbles to blend more. Add a dash, blend. Test the texture and add a little more water if needed.

Now, form your cookies into the same shape as your ice kream bars. I used the lid of the container that formed my ice kream to make the cookie part of the sandwiches. Then, I laid the ice kream across the cookies and sliced to be the same size.



Voila!



Turn into sandwiches. Wrap with plastic wrap or in plastic containers. ENJOY! You can roll the edge of your sandwiches in your favorite crumbled, dried fruit or nut or even cacao nibs.



Next time I want to try a vanilla ice kream with chocolate chips. Sounds yummy.

Raw corn chowder

Adapted from Ani Phyo's Sweet Corn Chowder (pg 122). I added a bit and adapted the serving size.

Serves 1 hungry raw foodie

INGREDIENTS
Base
1/4 c pecans or walnuts
1/4 c cold-pressed olive oil
1/2 c water
1/4 clove garlic
1/2 ear corn, shaved
1/2 avocado, diced
dash salt

Toppings
1/2 ear corn, shaved
1/2 avocado, diced
small handful cilantro leaves, minced
1/4-1/2 t cracked black pepper, cayenne, salt



Blend all base ingredients .



Put your topping ingredients into your bowl. Pour blended base on top! Mix with your spoon to spread pepper, cayenne and salt around.



NOTE: I'm still getting used to cold soups. It's quite good! But I'm not used to a soup being room temp or slightly cold.. I'm working on it. More soups to come! I really this will be an easy way to eat raw, in a hurry.

Crunchy, chocolate banana bites

EASY!

Make your chocolate mix:
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c agave nectar (more for a lighter, less-rich chocolate)
up to 1/4 c cacao (more for a richer chocolate)

Optional ingredients:
1 t mesquite powder
1 t maca powder



Slice your bananas. Pour your liquid chocolate all over the bananas. Sprinkle with raw cacao nibs!



Serve!

In preparation for tomorrow's dessert, peel, skewer and freeze bananas! (I don't have any skewers so I used some extra chop sticks.)

Ginger nori rolls + Thai spring rolls with nutty dip

From Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

First, make your nori roll pate. Serves 2.

INSTRUCTIONS (Ginger Almond Pate)
1 T ginger
1 clove garlic
1/2 t sea salt
1 c cashews (her recipe called for almonds)
up to 1/4 c water

Throw all pate ingredients, except water, in a food processor and blend to desired texture. Add water as needed to create a sticky texture.

Roll in your nori with mung bean sprouts, celery and other veggies if desired. Try avocado, bell pepper or your other favorite ingredients.



Now, make your Thai dipping saue.
INGREDIENTS
1/8 c olive oil
1/2 T nama shoyu
2 Thai red chilies
1/4 c raw almond butter
juice 1/2-1 lemon
up to 1/3 c water

Blend! Add just enough water to make it creamy.



Let your dressing settle while you cut your spring roll ingredients: zucchini, mung bean sprouts, basil, cilantro and mint leaves, extra crushed Thai chilis.





Serve!

We had three small bowls for dipping with: nama shoyu, thai dipping sauce and one with crushed red peppers. You can pre-wrap the spring rolls .. but we like to make our own. So, just layer the zucchini, herbs and sprouts in your wrapper (we used romaine lettuce but Ani Phyo's recipe uses collard green leaves.) I'm sure the spring rolls would be great with any green wrapper you can come up with.

Enjoy!

21 Days to a NEW YOU!

Visit this website:

http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart

Easy bruschetta

You can make home-made bruschetta in just a few minutes. Make it as oily or low-fat as you like!

Ingredients for 6 bruschetta slices:

5 small tomatoes (or 3-4 roma, or 2 large)
1-3T olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (to taste, really)
1/4 c fresh basil, finely chopped
Dash or more of balsamic vinegar (this really made the dish!)
Vegan cheese (try Teese!)

Directions:

Mix ingredients (except the vegan cheese). Let marinate:



Lightly toast sliced bread on broil for 4 minutes. Open oven.

Now, pile your toppings onto the slightly-toasted bread:



Use a little (or a lot) of vegan cheese. Cook on broil until melted! (Takes 5-10 minutes)



Enjoy!

Lavash bread wraps

I totally love this lavash bread! It's only 100 calories for each wrap. And they're so big you can actually split with someone.

Fill with tofu (baked with soy sauce and a little olive oil), tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and your favorite sandwich veggies. Slice and serve with raw or steamed broccoli and cabbage.



Easy and delicious!

Also great sliced and baked. They're crunchy and super low-cal. I add them to my plates of raw veggies.. because they're great dipped in my raw macadamia-red pepper dip. It's soooo yummy together.

Cilantro-lime salad with mint lemonade

Having a personal blender is awesome! Throw together your raw dressing, so even if you're putting cooked toppings onto your salad you can still benefit from a healthy, raw dressing. Yum!

Dressing:
Several T cold-pressed olive oil
Juice 1 lime
Handful of fresh cilantro
Small dash apple cider vinegar

Blend dressing until smooth and creamy!

Goes well with brown rice and black beans on a bed of organic lettuce, tomato and avocado!



I've also mastered the baked chip! Slice your corn tortillas into small chips. I've noticed that more, smaller chips make you feel like you're eating more than you actually are. :)

Now, lay out in your toaster oven. Spray lightly with olive oil sprayer. Sprinkle with salt. Toast lightly, on 3 (about medium). Flip all slices. Spray lightly again, sprinkle with salt if you're like me and love your salt! Toast on 3 (about medium), twice.

This last step is crucial - do not open the oven door! Let it continue cooking while you finish making your salad. Peek into the oven until the corn slices begin to get darker.

These are SO fantastic!

Drink ingredients:

A few fresh mint sprigs
Juice of half a lemon
Dash of raw agave

Mix! This is an amazing fresh mint lemonade. Enjoy it every day! Lemons have more vitamin C than oranges.

Easy, awesome soup

I used pre-made organic veggie broth, so this was super easy.

INGREDIENTS
Broth (4 cups)
Spices: 1/4 t cayenne powder, 1/2-1 t chili powder, 1/4 t garlic powder, fresh parsley or cilantro
Veggies: new potato, carrots, tomato, broccoli, cabbage, mung bean sprouts, kale
Tofu



Keep in mind that the more veggies you use, the more broth you'll need.

DIRECTIONS
Put broth in big pot. Bring to boil and add 1 diced new potato. Boil for 5-8 minutes until not-quite-soft. Then, add thinly sliced carrots. Cook another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, put your tofu in a cast iron skillet and cook in a bit of soy sauce. That's it! (I used pre-fried that I picked-up at the Asian Market. It's made in Houston and SO good.)



Now, add tomatoes and any other veggies along with spices - cayenne, chili and garlic powder. Cook to desired tenderness. This will really only take a few minutes.

Put mung bean sprouts and tofu on bottom of bowl.. then pour soup on top!



You won't believe how great this soup is! Serve with toasted, whole-wheat, nutty bread. Add more of your favorite veggies.. I love cabbage so I added quite a bit. I also like it spicy so I added a bit more cayenne to mine than my husband's.

Seven-layer dip (with chips)

Cheezy Dip Ingredients
1 c water
1/8 c raw almond powder (simply grind your almonds in a coffee grinder or similar)
dash garlic, onion powder, salt
squeeze 1/2 lemon
1/8 c nutritional yeast

Blend your cheezy ingredients in a blender until smooth. Now, cook on the stove (preferably in a cast iron skillet) until thickened. Stir continuously.. it won't take long!

Now layer on your plate:
beans (refried or whole)
corn (preferably shaved straight off the cob)
diced tomatoes
black olives
shredded lettuce and cabbage
avocado
top with your cheezy dip!

YUM!