raw vanilla chocolate torte

The dessert from my raw dinner party. This torte had many sauces and many steps and by the end I couldn't be bothered! So I just whipped some coconut cream and left it at delicious that.

ingredients
yield 1 9 inch pie

the crust
1 1/2 cup pecans
3/4 cup raisins, roughly chopped
2 tbsp coconut oil/butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt

chocolate filling
2 cups raw cashews
1 cup water
2 cup cacao powder (I used cocoa powder)
1 1/2 cup cacao butter, grated
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar (I used diluted maple syrup)
1⁄2 tbsp lemon juice

coconut cream
1 400gm can of coconut cream (no name brands tend to have the most "cream")
dash of vanilla

method
1. Refrigerate the can of coconut cream for as long as you can (at least a few hours). Open up and scrape the coconut fat from the lid and scoop as much fat from the top of the can as possible. Whip the fat and get it as smooth as possible, adding the vanilla and a couple of tablespoons of the coconut milky water to thin it out. Whip it for a few minutes until light and fluffy and chill while you are making the pie.

2. Make the crust by pulsing all the ingredients until it resembles a crumb. Press into the base of your pan.

3. Make the filling (I melted/softened the cocoa butter in the sun - you could soften over some warm water) by blending the cashews, water, vanilla, agave nectar and lemon juice until smooth.

4. Add the cacao butter and cacao powder and blend to combine.

5. Smooth the chocolate mixture into the pie base and refrigerate to set for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of coconut cream.

tomato and macadami mozzarella pasta

Another winner from the Raw Chef - Russell James' free e-book. I really loved this dish, it was quite light (I find a lot of raw dishes to be heavy) and was really easy to prepare. I'm still getting the hang of my mandoline so my 'linguine' was thicker and harder to handle but it still tasted delicious and even better the next day. The kicker? I have found a way to eat parsnip that I LOVE!

ingredients
yields 4 dishes

linguine
4 medium carrots, peeled
4 medium parsnips, peeled
1/2 tbsp salt
15 large basil leaves, sliced thinly
2 tbsp dried italian seasoning
2c baby plum tomatoes, cut into small sections

macadamia mozzarella
3/4 cup macadamias
3/4 cup cashews
1 tbsp tamari
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

capsicum sauce
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 capsicum
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp agave (I used maple syrup)

method
1. Slice the carrot and parsnip thinly on a mandoline (or make spaghetti on a spiraler). With the thin strips slice them vertically to make linguine. Combine linguine with salt and let stand whilst you make the mozzarella.

2. Combine mozzarella ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy. Add extra water if needed to help blend, the mozz should still be thick.

3. Combine all the capsicum sauce ingredients in a food processor until liquified. Add extra water if needed to get a sauce consistency.

4. Rinse the linguine and dry in paper towel or a salad spinner. The linguine should be softer and appear 'cooked'. Toss with the remaining linguine ingredients.

5. Mix in the mozz with the linguine until well combined.

6. Serve with the capsicum sauce drizzled over the stack.

rawsagne

I've been meaning to experiment with more raw food. I had a dinner party coming up and couple that with discovering the Russell James' absolutely amazing website I did the whole party raw. First problem was I didn't read the recipe properly and the original serves 9 people! (who does that?) so I have halved the quantities here. Also I did a 4 course raw meal which took almost 5 hours to prepare so probably won't go that far again OR will prepare the dessert the day before so I'm not spending so much time in the kitchen. It was nice on such a hot day to not have the oven on. Small servings of each went a long way and these core recipes taught me so much about raw food. Hit Russell James' website, sign up to his newsletter and get the free recipe book.

ingredients

walnut meat layer
3/4 cup walnuts, soaked 1 hour or more
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour or more
1 tbsp dark/brown miso
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried sage
2.5 tbsp nama shoyu (I used tamari and would use less next time)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp agave nectar (I used maple syrup)
1 tsp sea salt

tomato sauce
3/4 c sun dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour or more
1 soft dates
1 cloves garlic
1 cup tomato, seeded and chopped
3/4 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

basil pesto
I like my recipe better so use this one.

nut cheese
1 cup macadamias
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 yellow capsicum
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
1⁄4 cup water as needed

spinach layer
3 cups torn spinach
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

lasagne sheets
5 medium zucchinis

method
1. walnut meat layer - pulse ingredients in a food processor till combined but still quite chunky.

2. tomato sauce layer - process in food processor until smooth.

3. nut cheese layer - process all ingredients until fluffy using as little of the water as possible (I found I needed to use it all).

4. spinach layer - toss the spinach in the salt and olive oil and leave to marinate for an hour or more (the spinach should wilt).

5. assembling the whole lasagne - Assemble individually on plates. Slice the zucchinis as thin as you can on a mandolin. Build the lasagne with zucchini, walnut meat, cheese, tomato sauce, pesto then spinach on top. Top with more thin lasagne sheets. Refrigerate to firm up.

notes: Next time I will add more lasagne sheets into the process. I'm still getting the hang of my new mandolin so the sheets are too thick.

raw fettucine with cashew alfredo

Inspired by the Vegie Bars raw menu I have started experimenting at home. I had a raw uncookbook about 8 years ago, put it in storage when I went overseas and it never surfaced again (seriously where did it go?). I also had a dehydrator for 3 years but used it twice and sold it. So the interest has been there, but much like veganism in the beginning it just seemed too hard.

This recipe is ridiculously easy, though I have to admit I don't know what I'm doing wrong because all of the vegan alfredo recipes I've made I've found them too thin. So I subtracted 1/2 a cup of water from the recipe if you find it too thick you can always add more. This recipe has been adapted from The Rawtarian.

ingredients - serves 3-4 people

2 cups soaked cashews (soaked for 20 minutes)
1/2 cup pine nuts (or just use more cashews if you don’t have pine nuts)
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tbsp miso*
1 tbsp nooch
4 medium zucchinis
1/2 cup of packet, washed, spinach leaves
5 large basil leaves, shredded (I roll really tighter and snip with a pair of scissors)

method
1. Whizz the cashews, pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, water, salt, miso and nooch in a food processor until smooth. Add another handful of raw cashews if its too thin for your tastes.

2. To make the zucchini 'noodles' peel the skin and slice the whole zucchini thinly on a mandolin or use a vegetable peeler. If you use a vegie peeler, peel down to the seed core - don't use.

3. Toss the noodles, spinach and basil in a 1/4 cup of sauce, adding more if you need it.

note: omit miso paste to make meal soy free. This made A TONNE of sauce which I later used for a mac'n'cheese bake, you might want to halve the recipe if you only intend on making one meal out of it.

tahini balls

I am currently obsessed with tahini I drizzle it on everything. Tahini on toast with sunflower seeds and LSA is my favourite breakky in the world! I've been trying to incorporate more raw foods into my diet lately and after meeting Miss Organic at the first shoe party I started looking at her website and of course this recipe caught my eye! These are SO delicious and SO filling! I pack 3 for a snack when I'm at work, they have replaced chocolate for me (which is a good thing). Quick and easy, I store them in a air tight container in the fridge. Nom nom.

Recipe from the Miss Organic Website

Ingredients
1/2 cup tahini
3/8 cup raw agave syrup*
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup mixed pre-soaked chopped nuts (e.g. macadamias, almonds, brazil nuts)*
1 cup finely chopped mixed dried fruits (e.g. apricots, figs, currants)

method
1. Pulse in a food processor until combined. Roll into walnut size balls and toss lightly in coconut.

notes: I used 1 1/2 cups of raw trail mix. If you cant find raw agave syrup, I'm sure maple would work just as well.