Strawberry shortcake- YUM! Also, marinated mushrooms with broccoli & brazil nut mash and mushroom gravy for dinner.

This picture is not doing it justice!

Last night I made one of my favourite raw dinners, that I hadn't had for a while- marinated mushrooms with broccoli & brazil nut mash and mushroom gravy. It is delicious! It's another one from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen and it's so good, but the mash is very filling and I ate way too much of it! I couldn't get organic portabello mushrooms again though so did it with small organic mushrooms- it still tasted delicious, but you don't get that lovely rich deep texture you get from the portabello ones. The photo is rubbish, it doesn't look that good- I don't think I have a talent in making my food look appetising in pictures! But I swear it's really tasty. So here's the recipe (makes 4 servings):

Steak
4 portabello mushrooms, stems removed
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c Nama Shoyu (It's a soy sauce but I've never seen it over here. I use Tamari instead, or you could use Bragg's Liquid Aminos though there is some controversy around the rawness of this)
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary or 1 tsp dried.

In a large bowl, coat mushrooms in oil, tamari, and rosemary. Set aside for an hour or two to marinate and soften.

Brazil-Broccoli Mash
1 clove garlic
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt ( I use a lot less than this, or it tastes way too salty. I think you only need a dash)
1 c brazil nuts
2 c broccoli, chopped

Process the garlic, pepper, and salt into tiny pieces. Add brazil nuts and process into a powder. Empty this powder into a bowl and set aside. Next, process the broccoli while slowly adding the brazil nut powder back in.

Mushroom Gravy
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c mushrooms, any kind
1/3 c water
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend olive oil, mushrooms, water, vinegar, garlic, and salt until smooth.

To serve, slice each mushroom into 4 or 5 thick strips and serve on top of a scoop of brazil-broccoli Mash. Drizzle with mushroom gravy, garnish with a sprig of rosemary before serving.

Strawberry shortcake

Then, this afternoon I made raw strawberry shortcake. The last time I made it, I put a photo of it up on facebook and was told it looked like alien sick! So this time I have attempted to make it look a bit prettier! It's based on this recipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC_r4m6oAzk and if you watch the video you'll see his looks a bit of a mess too! But it really doesn't matter, it tastes fantastic.
 
I made some little changes to the amounts and ingredients in his recipe but it's basically the same. I also don't have a vitamix so I did everything in the food processor which worked just fine. Here's what I used:
 
About 25 strawberries
1 1/2 c nuts (I used hazelnuts and brazils- the hazelnuts gave it a lovely flavour)
1/2 c medjool dates
2 tbsp raw honey (or agave if you don't do honey, or more dates if you don't do agave!)
2 dashes salt
1 dash olive oil
 
Process the nuts and a dash of salt, then add the dates and 1 tbsp raw honey and process until soft and will come together when you pinch the mix, into a kind of dough. Press this down in the bottom of a flan dish or similar.
 
Then process the strawberries (reserving some to slice and put on top for decoration) with a dash of olive oil, dash of salt and 1 tbsp raw honey until it turns into a creamy sauce.
 
Pour the strawberry mix over the base and decorate with remaining strawberries.
 
I thought I'd just taste a little bit while running the washing up water, and ended up having 3 portions! I couldn't stop. I had to cover the rest and put it in the fridge to stop myself. I really recommend this dessert!