More Raw Cooking
Is that an oxymoron? Or can cooking justifiably be applied to the creation of a meal or snack out of food regardless of whether heat is applied? Just something I was wondering...
Anyway, in my quest to stay motivated to eat healthy, I have signed up for a slew of health emails to be delivered to my inbox. This keeps me inundated with information to keep me on track. I currently am receiving emails from the following:
Renegade Health
Dr. Mercola
World's Healthiest Foods
Natural News
Raw Family
Former Fat Guy
Raw Mom
Dr. Fuhrman (author of Eat to Live)
Beautiful on Raw
Hallelujah Acres (this one has been a link to a daily online video during the 60 day challenge, which is almost over!)
I love having the information waiting for me everyday in my email. If anyone has other recommendations, I would love to know about them!
Sometimes if life is too busy, they just get deleted or put in a save folder to read later if it looks interesting or has a good recipe. One of these that I saved was from The World's Healthiest Foods. He sent out a recipe for 15-Minute Dark Chocolate Truffles. Here is the recipe:
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Well, sounded yummy to me and I had just bought prunes so I had all the necessary ingredients. We were on!
We just put the whole thing in the Blendtec and it whipped it up in no time at all. The girls loved helping to coat the balls in coconut. Our batch ended up making 24 little truffles. Our whole family liked them except for Angelina. That really surprised me because she is our little prune eater.
Funny side note: I found that out on a road trip back to Maryland a couple years ago. I had brought a big bag of mixed dried fruit for snacking on. Angelina was just a little one then, but boy, did she love them prunes! Unfortunately, too many prunes for a kid still in diapers is NOT a good combination. I could smell a diaper change was in order and pulled over at the next rest stop. Boy, did I have NO idea what was in store for me. It was a diaper explosion! I had to strip her completely bare and used up the rest of my wet wipes in the diaper bag getting her clean. Just an FYI for other moms out there. ;) It is funny looking back on it now, but was decidedly NOT funny then!
So back to the truffles. I did like the truffles, but I am not so sure that the long list of ingredients garnered that special of a taste or texture to go to that effort. They tasted very much like any of the chocolate treats I have whipped up before. Raw almond butter is very expensive to get unless you have a Trader Joe's nearby. (which I don't, boo-hoo!) So if I could make something equally good without it, that would be my preference. I probably won't make this particular recipe again. I usually just mix dates, walnuts, and raw chocolate to make a "raw brownie" and they taste almost identical to the recipe. I don't usually roll them in coconut, but that would definitely be an option. I also have done the same thing with raisins, walnuts, and raw chocolate for a "chocolate covered raisin" flavor.
Actually, I think this recipe ended up tasting very much like the raw bar recipe I posted on here.
On to the second raw recipe attempt.
I have read a lot of rave reviews on Kale chips, even seeing them referred to as Raw crack. Apparently, these are the addictive, can't stop eating them or even wait for them to finish dehydrating, raw version of potato chips. Now that Kale is showing up in the stores at reasonable prices, I was ready to give it a go.
I cleaned my kale and massaged in the oil and spices.
Anyway, in my quest to stay motivated to eat healthy, I have signed up for a slew of health emails to be delivered to my inbox. This keeps me inundated with information to keep me on track. I currently am receiving emails from the following:
Renegade Health
Dr. Mercola
World's Healthiest Foods
Natural News
Raw Family
Former Fat Guy
Raw Mom
Dr. Fuhrman (author of Eat to Live)
Beautiful on Raw
Hallelujah Acres (this one has been a link to a daily online video during the 60 day challenge, which is almost over!)
I love having the information waiting for me everyday in my email. If anyone has other recommendations, I would love to know about them!
Sometimes if life is too busy, they just get deleted or put in a save folder to read later if it looks interesting or has a good recipe. One of these that I saved was from The World's Healthiest Foods. He sent out a recipe for 15-Minute Dark Chocolate Truffles. Here is the recipe:
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup pitted prunes
- 1/4 cup pitted dates
- 3 TBS almond butter
- 1 TBS maple syrup
- 3 TBS unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut
Directions:
- In a food processor, drop the prunes and dates through the feed hole one by one. Scrape the processor bowl and run until the prunes and dates are smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients except for the coconut. Run until smooth and scrape the processor bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Roll the mixture into 12 one-inch balls and roll in coconut to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Well, sounded yummy to me and I had just bought prunes so I had all the necessary ingredients. We were on!
We just put the whole thing in the Blendtec and it whipped it up in no time at all. The girls loved helping to coat the balls in coconut. Our batch ended up making 24 little truffles. Our whole family liked them except for Angelina. That really surprised me because she is our little prune eater.
Funny side note: I found that out on a road trip back to Maryland a couple years ago. I had brought a big bag of mixed dried fruit for snacking on. Angelina was just a little one then, but boy, did she love them prunes! Unfortunately, too many prunes for a kid still in diapers is NOT a good combination. I could smell a diaper change was in order and pulled over at the next rest stop. Boy, did I have NO idea what was in store for me. It was a diaper explosion! I had to strip her completely bare and used up the rest of my wet wipes in the diaper bag getting her clean. Just an FYI for other moms out there. ;) It is funny looking back on it now, but was decidedly NOT funny then!
So back to the truffles. I did like the truffles, but I am not so sure that the long list of ingredients garnered that special of a taste or texture to go to that effort. They tasted very much like any of the chocolate treats I have whipped up before. Raw almond butter is very expensive to get unless you have a Trader Joe's nearby. (which I don't, boo-hoo!) So if I could make something equally good without it, that would be my preference. I probably won't make this particular recipe again. I usually just mix dates, walnuts, and raw chocolate to make a "raw brownie" and they taste almost identical to the recipe. I don't usually roll them in coconut, but that would definitely be an option. I also have done the same thing with raisins, walnuts, and raw chocolate for a "chocolate covered raisin" flavor.
Actually, I think this recipe ended up tasting very much like the raw bar recipe I posted on here.
On to the second raw recipe attempt.
I have read a lot of rave reviews on Kale chips, even seeing them referred to as Raw crack. Apparently, these are the addictive, can't stop eating them or even wait for them to finish dehydrating, raw version of potato chips. Now that Kale is showing up in the stores at reasonable prices, I was ready to give it a go.
I cleaned my kale and massaged in the oil and spices.
It sure looks yummy. There is a recipe for cheesy kale chips made with nutritional yeast, but I was too impatient to wait for my nutritional yeast order to arrive, so I plunged ahead without it. These kale pieces went on a pan and into the convection oven at 100 degrees.
My verdict was...
Do have an incredible potato chip like crunch? Yes!
Are they addictive? Not so much.
I did not like the flavor one bit. No one in the house liked them and a whole bunch of kale was wasted. A real shame. I am hesitant to try this one again, but I may try just a small batch of a cheesy kale recipe and see if that improves the flavor, because the crunch was indeed lovely.
So there you have it... 2 new raw recipes tried, and 2 recipes that won't be made again. I will continue searching to add to our repertoire of quick, easy, and delicious raw food.
Posted in: kale, raw chocolate, Raw_Vegan Lane, recipes on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at at 9:00 AM
well, eating "new wave raw" is hit or miss, eh? remember the raw (dehydrated) "falafel" you made way back when we were roomies? it wasn't falafel--it was FULL-AWFUL. taken out of the raw food book, RAW by Juliano, I believe.
Oh yes, how will I ever forget those!? In fact I recently was looking at a falafel recipe on rawmazing.com, but I have been so tainted by that experience, I can't even think about trying anything remotely close.
Blessings!
Amy
Hi Amy!
I am really enjoying your blog. I just had to tell you about the fabulous chocolate truffle recipe from the book Raw for dessert : easy delights for everyone by Jennifer Cornbleet. Easy, rich and yummy! Even non-health nuts love them. I got the book from our local library.
Blessings to you and your family!
Annette
Thanks for the book recommendation, Annette. I'll have to check the library and see if they have it here.
Blessings!
Amy