The Raw & The Cooked received it’s name because when I do prepare cooked meals they usually have some type of raw component. This above dish would be a perfect example of a raw & cooked dish. As I mentioned in my Raw Vegetable/Raw Vegan Post. I’m on a cleanse this week naturally I’m still preparing meals because my daughter is not doing a juice cleanse. I made this meal for her yesterday. I used zucchini to make the noodles.

Curried Zucchini Noodles w/Steamed Vegetables

• 2 cups of zucchini noodles
• 1 tsp curry
• 1/2 cup sweet peas
• 1/2 cup yellow onion
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup mushrooms
• 1 tsp raw coconut oil
• 1 tbsp Earth balance (optional)
  
• Salt to taste (optional)

If you want an all raw dish don’t cook the vegetables and nix the coconut oil. It’s still delicious!

Directions

1. Put noodles & tomatoes in a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a skillet add raw coconut oil
3. Add remaining ingredients stir for a few minutes
4. Remove from heat
5. Combine with noodles and tomatoes

 



6. If you want a buttery taste to your noodles add Earth Balance

Results

Aiyana, my daughter, raved about this dish and said it was very yummy. I had to take her word for it. I’m only drinking juice this week so I did not taste it.

Spiral Vegetable Slicer

How Did I Make The Noodles?

I use the spiral vegetable slicer. Initially when I started switching to raw foods I tried the saladacco. It’s about fifteen dollars cheaper but I was disappointed with the noodles it produced. I thought they were too thin. I stopped using it. In my opinion it wasn’t worth the money I spent on it.

I did a lot of research and finally purchased the spiral vegetable slicer. I had my reservations thinking of the saladacco but I decided to give it a try. The reviews were great and some of the raw food chefs that I think are top notch were using it. Guess what? There is no comparison. The noodles actually look like noodles.

The saladacco noodles were a lot thinner and I did not think it looked like traditional pasta. Since I occasionally prepare meals for people who are looking for something that looks like traditional pasta that was important. I’m not going to even link to it because I don’t like it. Also, unlike the saladacco the spiral vegetable slicer has three different “plates”. The plates determine the thickness of my noodles. Sold!

Eventually I’ll break down and purchase the Stainless Steel spiral slicer but that costs over $400! I know it will blast through anything I toss at it but for now I’m content with my plastic spiral vegetable slicer. I bought it for 34.95 at Amazon. It normally sells for $41.18 but Amazon has been selling it at 26% off the purchase price. It’s a good deal.

How To Video

Although the process is simple if you are new to raw pasta it might seem complicated. I’ll actually be shooting a few videos when I’m on holiday and I plan to be making raw pasta. This will be one of the videos that I’ll eventually put up here.

Technorati Tags: curried zucchini noodles (raw), main course, raw pasta

ShareThis

Vegan Sausage

I made this dish well over a year ago. I prepared this while I was on vacation in South Carolina. We stayed in a condo that had a full kitchen. Yes, I actually prepare meals, if I can, when I’m vacationing. I love uncooking/cooking. The vegan sausage was homemade. It didn’t last long. Relatives dropped by and although they aren’t vegetarian this didn’t last long. I thought I would have leftovers.

I don’t have the exact recipe. It’s made with marinated vegetables (pureed and chopped), freshly ground flax seeds, yellow onion, sage, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, and a few other spices that I cannot think of presently.

When I prepare make my burgers an sausages I stay away from textured vegetable protein (tvp), soy, and wheat gluten because I personally don’t think they have a lot of nutritional value. I use vegetables (chopped and pureed.) Occasionally I’ll grind up nuts and seeds and add it to creations. Fresh spinach greens accompanied this dish along with a tall frothy fruit smoothy.

As I mentioned in my Raw vegetable wrap post I’m on a cleanse this week so my meals will be liquid. I started my cleanse yesterday.

Technorati Tags: vegan food, vegan recipe, vegan sausage

ShareThis

Raw Vegetable Wrap, Vegan

Raw Vegetable Wrap

• 5 large leaves of green leafy lettuce, coarsely chopped
• 2 collard leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 3 medium carrots grated
• homemade mustard (optional)
• homemade tarter sauce (optional)

Wrapper

Large leaves of lettuce, Collard, or Raw Nori

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in mixing bowl
2. Spread vegetables on your greens or nori
3. Roll
4. Add condiments, if desired
5. Enjoy

I made this simple meal yesterday. Aiyana, my daughter, love it. I was out of raw nori so I used collard leaves. My daughter loves nori and snacks on it throughout the day. What’s nori? It’s a seaweed. I order mine from Amazon it is good for you. It arrives in a dried form.

In the Journal of Applied Phycology and article was published about nori. I decided to include a small paragraph below.

The title of the article is Health benefits and nutritional properties of nori

A sulfated galactan, similar to agar, occurs in relatively large quantities; this is a water-soluble dietary fiber that has important functional activities such as an antiblood coagulant, antihypercholesterolemia and shows antitumor activity. Minerals which occur at relatively high levels in nori include Zn, Cu, Mn and Se. It is concluded that nori is a valuable health food in human diets.

Next week I’ll be embarking on a week long cleanse. The remainder of this week I’ll be eating raw foods only although my diet is high raw I do make cooked foods.

I’m looking forward to the cleanse not only will it give my body a chance to take a break from solids foods it’s also a great and gentle way to cleanse your body.

ShareThis

My daughter calls this vegan curried sticky curried rice and beans. The beans in this dish are garbanzo beans. I let them soak overnight before adding them to a pot. I really need to invest in a pressure cooker. It would definitely cut down on my cooking time.

I made this dish last week and unfortunately it did not last too long. I was thinking I would have leftovers but I had family stop by and it did not last too long. My daughter has been asking for apple crisp. I haven’t made it in a long time. I promised her I would make it later this week. Apple crisp, like many other dishes can easily be “veganized”.

ShareThis

Pizza Soup

Pizza Soup (Vegan)

• 1 1/4 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cups water
• 1 cup apple juice
• 3 cups stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves crushed garlic

Directions

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
   
2. Stir-fry onions & garlic until clear
3. Add mushrooms cook until soft
   
4. Add tomatoes, stock, and basil.
   
5. Cook until heated through.

This soup was originally called tomato soup. The above recipe is what I originally prepared a few weeks ago. I added freshly juiced apple juice because I wanted the tomato soup to have a sweet taste. This made a lot of soup for my daughter and myself. The remaining tomato soup was packed up into my pyrex glass containers and put into my deep freezer.

A few hours ago I pulled it out of our deep freezer. I put it on my stovetop and revived it with a little bit of oregano, chili pepper, and some miso (about 1 tbsp.) I also added some Kal’s nutritional yeast. Kal’s nutritional yeast gives your food a “cheesy” type taste.

My daughter loves it and so I add it to all sorts of dishes that require a “sauce”. I even add it popcorn. We don’t use it often but when my daughter is craving something that she thinks is “cheesy” she asks for this. My daughter has never eaten real cheese.

Although it does not taste exactly like “cheese” (at least how I remember cheese tasting. It’s been about seven years since I’ve had cheese.) It does have a “cheesy” type taste. I turned my father onto this brand of yeast flakes. He buys it because of the vitamins and nutrients it possesses. It has more nutrients than brewers yeast, something he would take religiously, because of it’s beneficial ingredients and he prefers Kal’s cheesy taste. I buy it for him. I purchase at least five 22 oz. cans at a time.

Anyway I let our soup simmer for about ten minutes. Aiyana, my daughter tasted this and said, “Mmm! Mommy, this tastes like pizza!” Tell them it’s pizza soup, mommy!” Alright baby, it’s pizza soup. I think it’s the yeast because she had this a few weeks ago and never said it tasted like pizza soup, lol.

ShareThis

Vegan Curried Hominy

I made Vegan Curried Hominy a few days ago and my daughter loved it. It seems as if I’ve been away for a long time however when I look at my last post, which I still haven’t added the dish I prepared I realize it hasn’t been that long. Holidays are fast approaching and my daughter and I will be headed south, South Carolina to be specific.

Hominy is a favorite staple for some of my family members and I’m always looking for ways that I can add a new twist to a dish that I don’t particularly care for. They eagerly await what weird things I’m going to do with this dish.
I used real curry leaves in this dish. The hominy wax drained, rinsed and added to a skillet that had about a tbsp of olive oil. a little heat was added by tossing in tsp habanero pepper, grated carrots were added to add some color, and I added an orange tomato freshly picked from the vine.

This meal was simple and served in under 10 minutes.

Technorati Tags: vegan curried hominy, vegan recipes, main course

ShareThis

What I love about curries is that there are numerous ways you can prepare them. Pete of My GPS Camera Phone asked me if I made curries when he visited my website Vegan Momma. The answer is I do.

Currently the rice and garbanzo beans are soaking. Why the rice? My daughter has been on a brown rice kick recently so I’ve been adding that to our meals. I’ll be adding fresh vegetables to the curried dish and you even might see me sneak some dried fruit in there also (raisins.)

Several years ago I had curried vegetables (Jamaican) that had raisins. It was delicious. I’ll be taking photos of the dish, before I serve it, and I’ll be sure to post the photos here at The Raw & The Cooked.

The foods that I eat are mainly raw but occasionally cooked dishes make their way onto our plate. I’ll be making a raw fruit smoothie. I’ve put bananas in the freezer and will add them to some delicious smoothie later today. It’s still up in there air what type of fruit smoothie I’ll make but it will be delicious. I’ll also be tossing greens into the mix. It’s a delicious way to add vegetables to your meals.

Technorati Tags: vegan curry, vegan recipes, vegetarian, raw fruit smoothie

ShareThis

Black Bean Chili & Brown Rice

My daughter and I love chili even though we don’t eat it too much. I made this dish yesterday. The weather was chilly thanks to the rain we received. Cold rainy days & spicy bowls of warm & delicious vegan chili seem to go together. I’ll be sure to update with the recipe I created. I never make the same vegan chili and I’ve never followed a recipe thank you very much!

The black beans I use are dry beans. I usually let them soak overnight. I toss out of the soaking water (helps eliminate the gassiness some people might experience.) I add fresh water to the pot when I cook my beans.

I also go another step to eliminate gas. I always add ginger root or Japanese kombu (sea vegetable) to my bean dishes. Not only is ginger effective in eliminating gas it also aids in digestion. Guess what? We’ve never had a problem when consuming my delicious bean dishes.

We always eat brown rice. It is a healthier choice than white rice since none of the nutrients are stripped away. I don’t prepare my rice with water I use herbal tea it adds a nice flavor to the dish. What was this flavored with? Lemon balm. I picked it from my herbal garden.

My daughter said this tasted better the second day and I would have to agree with her. The above pictures is a fairly large bowl and my daugher, Aiyana, was the one that ate it. My bowl was a lot smaller. I made about two quarts of chili yesterday. The smell of this dish even when it was cold was truly delightful.

Anyway the rest of our vegan chili is packed away in one of my pyrex glass storage containers. I started using pyrex glass containers to store my food several years ago. I became concerned with plastic containers and the possibilities of some of the chemicals leaching into my food. I haven’t looked back. Guess what? Most of my close family/friends have jumped on the bandwagon and you know what even though my daughter was a grabby toddler not one of my glass containers has been broken. I have a feeling we’ll be pulling some of the chili out this weekend.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to make burritos (we’ll see how that goes) and once again I’ll be making food in bulk. Why am I making so much food in bulk? The next coming weeks are going to be extremely busy. I’m a business owner. I make natural beauty products sales are usually high at the end of October well into the beginning of the new year. I want to be prepared.

Technorati Tags: vegan, black bean chili & brown rice, vegan recipes, nutrition, main course, japanese kombu, ginger root

ShareThis

Potatoes & Greens

• 3 Medium Potatoes
• 2 cups of collards
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 3 cloves freshly ground garlic
• 1.5″ freshly ground ginger
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili pepper
• Celtic sea salt to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Add olive oil to skillet
2. Add onion, garlic, and ginger sautee until onion is clear making sure garlic does not stick.
3. Add potatoes cook until tender, stirring constantly
4. Add cumin & chili pepper
5. Add tomatoes & collards, stir mixture
6. Cook for two - three minutes
7. Serve & Enjoy

The orange and black, in the picture above, really make me think of Halloween! I really need to get creative with my titles. I just never know what to call the meals I create, lol. Our first meal is usually a raw vegan dish. It usually consists of fruit or a smoothie.

Guess what? It’s a great way to start our day & It’s also easier on your digestive system. However last evening my daughter requested some type of potato dish as her first meal. After asking my four year old daughter what type of restaurant she thought she was in (I was joking) I instantly thought of this dish.

My daughter loves it I’ll be sure to make it again. The great think about it is you can add or subtract vegetables depending on your preference. Yesterday I made a black bean chili. There are plenty of leftovers and the majority was packed away in the freezer. It will come in handy when I’m too busy to prepare meal. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to post a picture along with the ingredients that went into the dish later today

Technorati Tags: Potatoes & Greens, vegan, recipe, diet, vegetarian, raw vegan

ShareThis

Green Smoothie

• 4 cups freshly juiced apples (or you could use 100% apple juice)
• 1 cup frozen bananas (you could use bananas that have not been frozen)
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Directions

1. In a blender add apple juice & baby spinach
2. Blend until smooth
3. Add bananas and nutmeg
4. Blend until smooth
5. Serve & Enjoy

I made this delicious smoothie a few moments ago. Guess what? If you juice your apples you have a deliciously all raw vegan smoothie.

I love greens and I eat them raw however not everyone shares my love for greens. Adding raw greens to your smoothies is simple, effective, and tasteful way to incorporate more greens into your daily eating regimen. Don’t stop at the spinach! You can also add other greens to your smoothies. Two of my favorite greens to add are collards and kale.

Greens are high in fiber which helps keep us regular. Greens are packed with nutrients that are bodies crave. Instead of reaching for that sugary drink that has no nutritional value why not try making this smoothie instead?

Aren’t the flowers lovely? They were picked from my garden.

Technorati Tags: green smoothie, raw vegan, recipe, health, nutrition

ShareThis