Sunday 6 February 2011

Raw crackers, tapenade and sundried tomato cheeze

Okay, so these don't look all that appetising but I blame my phone! My battery charger has packed up so can't use my camera til I get some new batteries. And these crackers are also very messy looking and free-form because I just snapped the big sheets of dehydrated cracker into random bits to make the crackers! But they taste so good, and are very addictive.


So first things first, the crackers. I based these on Kate Magic's recipe for Crackables, which you can find on her website, with a few additions. Basically, soak 250g of flaxseeds in a litre of water for 12 hours until you get a gloopy mixture. To this add the juice of 2 lemons, a couple of spoons of green powder, and a chopped red onion. Then I also added 1/2 red and 1/2 green pepper, chopped, 1 red chilli, a few grinds of black pepper and a pinch of salt. You can vary this recipe and add what you like really, fresh herbs are especially good. Mix this all up well, spread over 3 dehydrator trays with teflex sheets on, and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 12 hours. Then flip them over and dehydrate for another 6 hours or until crispy. Then break them up into bits like me- or try and make nicer proper square cracker shapes if you can!


Tapenade
This is scrumptious! I got this recipe from a girl called Natasha at a raw food meetup, and she got it from Cafe Gratitude (San Francisco), it's official name is 'I Am Opulent' Olive Tapenade and is my new addiction. It's totally delicious. Although, she put a bunch of fresh coriander in hers, and I didn't have any so missed that out. All you do is blend together a jar of raw olives- I used these Raw Health organic kalamata olives which are divine- with a red chilli, a clove of garlic and enough of the olive oil from the jar to create a smooth mixture- but not too smooth, I like it with a few little olive chunks in. Simple but beautiful, really fresh and succulent tasting, with a spicy chilli kick. It's also really good spread on romaine lettuce leaves with mashed avocado and rolled up.
The sundried tomato cheeze is my old favourite from Ani Phyo's recipe in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes and is made with brazil nuts, lemon juice, garlic, water, sea salt and sundried tomatoes. Another really easy one but very flavoursome and moreish.

Key Lime Pie

I've been wanting to make some kind of lime tart for a couple of weeks and finally got round to it yesterday. I have to say, it was delicious, I think it's the tastiest raw dish I've made so far. I've already eaten half the pie! I first started thinking about it at a raw food potluck meetup at Heleana's place a couple of weeks ago, where one of the guests brought her lime pie and was kind enough to provide the recipe later. I then found a different recipe in Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People, Jennifer Cornbleet's book which also sounded good. So in the end, I took the best bits out of each recipe, changed some things, added some new twists of my own and came up with this recipe. If you only make one raw dessert, make this, it's amazing, you would never know it was raw, and actually healthy! It tastes indulgent, rich, sharp and sweet, and the crunchy base is a great contrast to the smooth zestiness of the lime mousse.
Base:
1/2 cup macademia nuts
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup medjool dates
1 capful natural vanilla extract

Put it all the food processor and mix together until nuts are coursely ground (it's nice if they're still a bit chunky) and the mixture is starting to stick together.
Press it down firmly in a flan dish and put it in the freezer or fridge to chill while you're making the filling.

Lime mousse:
1 1/2 cups mashed avocado ( about three- I used two massive ones and one little one)
1/2 cup sweetener of your choice (I used a combo of half raw honey and half agave nectar)
Fresh lime juice- I started with 1/4 cup then upped it to almost 1/2 cup, but anywhere in between these amounts would be fine, depending on how sweet or tart you like it- taste it and see!)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 capful natural vanilla extract

Blend all this up until smooth, then pour it over the base, smooth over wit the back of a spoon and leave to set in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

I decorated it with some lime slices too. Then enjoy! x