Raw Vegan Sushi Rolls

Sushi. yesssss!

To make this happen, you need to buy fresh sheets of Nori seaweed and Nama Shoyu, or raw soy sauce.

The creativity involved with making your own sushi is unlimited. You can pretty much add anything that can be rolled up in the Nori. It's always fun to mix and match different veggies, fruits and other ingredients... you'll most likely create an interesting flavor combination that'll tantalize your palette;)

Proper sushi isn't sushi without rice. Therefore, the first step to making your own raw sushi rolls is to create a rice as a base. This can be done in a number of ways, but for this particular recipe I used:

1 cup cauliflower
1 cup cashews
1 Garlic clove
1 Lemon
A small handful of fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

In a food processor, chop the cashews up until they are basically a powder. Then add the cauliflower,  garlic clove and parsley. Turn the food processor back on and while it's chopping, squeeze in the lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste.

The mixture should turn out looking a lot like rice, and tasting even better. Awesome!

Then, lay down a sheet of Nori, and within the top 1/3 of the sheet, spread across some rice. Top with the ingredients of your choice.

I used:

1/2 romaine leaf
Shredded carrots
Fresh grated ginger
Celery
Red bell pepper
Beets
Cucumber
Avocado


There are sushi-rolling kits you can buy, but I don't bother with those shenanigans... Just roll it up with your hands carefully to make it even across. Once the seaweed makes it around once, I cut off the remainder of the sheet and lightly wet the roll to make it seal at the end.

Cut your roll up with a super sharp knive, and place the pieces onto a plate. I topped my pieces with some leftover avocado mush, and some mango salsa I had in the fridge leftover from my Sweet n' Spicy Lettuce Wraps. Garnish the plate with some freshly sliced ginger and Namu Shoyu sauce.

Time to bust out the chopsticks!

Sweet n' Spicy Lettuce Wraps

These bad boys are a bit messy but super refreshing and bursting with flavor! They actually got my nose to drip, which is a sign of a good meal;) Perfect for a hot florida day...

Get that food processor, and throw in:
2 Garlic cloves
1 Vine-ripe tomato
1/2 Jalapeño
A big slice of red onion
1/2 Handful of fresh cilantro
1 Skinned lime (pulp and all)
A few cracks of salt and pepper
A shake of chili powder
A shake of garlic powder

Process until it's not quite puréed, and pour into a mixing bowl...


Then, peel and chop up a ripe mango and 1/4 pineapple. Throw them into the bowl, add 2 tablespoons agave nectar, and toss it all together.



Lay romaine leaves onto a plate and scoop a nice portion of the mango salsa onto each of the leaves.
Slice up 1/2 avocado and place on top of the salsa.



Finally, garnish with a dash of chili powder and raw sunflower seeds.

These things are freakin delicious!

Raw Marinated Veggies

This dish is super easy to make, but requires you to plan ahead, as it needs a full day to marinate in the fridge.

Choose your favorite veggies, chop 'em up, and toss 'em in a casserole dish or large bowl. For this dinner I used:
     Broccoli
     Red bell pepper
     Garlic cloves
     Crimini mushrooms
     Zucchini
     Yellow squah
     Cherry-tomates
     Peas

Then squeeze 3 lemons over the veggies, add a nice pour of cold-pressed olive oil and a large scoop of Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Pesto.  Mix up the veggies to coat them evenly, cover and pop them into the fridge for a good 24 hrs.
You'll be glad you did the next day when you have ZERO preparation for dinner;)

  

Carrot and Ginger Salad

Do you know what's awesome? Ginger. This stimulating spice has so many health benefits, it makes my head spin! To name a few, ginger has been known to enhance digestion, decrease nausea and vomiting, soothe coughs and chest infections, relieve headaches, migraines, and painful periods, invigorate the reproductive system (that's why it's an aphrodisiac), reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, enhance clarity of the mind, inhibit free radicals, and slow down the aging process!

With that said, let's whip together a delicious miracle-food lunch!

Food process a nice size chunk of ginger. You'll have to scrape off the skin first, I do so by using the backside of a butter knife. It should come off rather easily.
Then, attach the shredding blade onto your food processor and shred 4-6 carrots.

Place the ginger and carrots into a mixing bowl and add:
A scoop of raw honey
2 tablespoons of raw agave nectar
2 tablespoons of cold-pressed olive oil
A handful of sun-dried raisins
A handful of chopped apple
A handful of crushed raw pecans
A tablespoon of ground cinnamon

Mix it all up, and enjoy the invigoration ;)

Raw Veggie Hummus

I love hummus. The first thing I thought of when deciding to go raw for two weeks was that I will probably go through hummus withdrawals... Think again!

Grab that food processor and toss in:

1 large handful of raw sesame seeds
3 large garlic cloves
2 lemon's juice
A couple tablespoons of cold-pressed olive oil
1/2 peeled zucchini
1/4 red bell pepper
1/2 avocado
A small handful of fresh parsley
1/4 jalapeño (if you like the kick)
A few cracks of salt, a couple of pepper
A couple dashes of cayenne pepper and garlic powder

Process until puréed.

Garnish with a dash of paprika (or a few), and enjoy with carrot sticks, cucumber slices and anything else you like!

Extreme Garden Salad

This salad is so fulfilling and awesome. It can be easily altered to include any other ingredients that you have or want to throw in. Just think of what you like, chop it up, toss it in, and enjoy!

For this particular version of the Extreme Garden Salad, I chose to use:
     Romaine Lettuce
     Vine-Ripe Tomatoes
     Kalamata Olives
     Red Onion
     Celery
     Broccoli
     Cucumber
     Carrots
     Avocado
     Raw Flax Seeds
     Radish

We also created a delicious dressing to drizzle over our veggie feast...

Lemon and Garlic Salad Dressing
In a food processor, combine:
3 large garlic cloves
Fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1 large pinch of raw sunflower seeds
A few fresh parsley leaves
A few tablespoons of cold-pressed olive oil
A couple cracks of salt and pepper

Pour the dressing over the salad, and top with some crumbled Cashew "Cheese."  Yum!

Raw Mediterranean Fettuccine

For our first raw food dinner, we decided to combine some of my favorite flavors of the mediterranean to create an awesome "pasta" dish!  I started by making a homemade pesto in the food processor...

*Note: As with all of my recipes, this creation was made completely by taste. If you're like me, you'll use TONS of garlic in EVERYTHING. You don't need to though.. All measurements are total estimates, please create your food with your own personal taste in mind.


Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Pesto
1 Huge handful of fresh basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
3 kalamata olives
4 big pieces of sun-dried tomato
1 small handful of raw sunflower seeds
A few tablespoons of cold-pressed olive oil
A light sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
A couple cracks of salt and whole peppercorns

Voila! Makes about 4 ounces of delicious pesto, ready to top anything your heart desires!

Then, we used a vegetable peeler to cut long thin strips of zucchini and yellow squash. Put them into a colander in the sink to drain out their bitter liquid.

I created a Raw Cashew "Cheese" to crumble on top of the pasta. Here's what I did:
Throw a handful of raw cashews into the food processor. While it's still on, squeeze a fresh lemon over the cashews, throw in a garlic clove and a couple basil leaves, crack some salt and pepper. You'll know it's done when it resembles crumbled feta cheese. Awesome! Set aside.

Chop up some fresh cherry-tomatoes, kalamata olives and red onion. Put them into a mixing bowl.

Use a paper towel (made of recycled materials, of course) to soak up and dry the zucchini and squash noodles, then throw them into the mixing bowl as well. Toss in a nice scoop of the pesto and mix it all up. Place your pasta onto a plate and top off with some crumbles of the cashew cheese. Delicioso!

Live Chocolate Granola and Fruit

The first day of eating only raw was great. Really great. Yesterday, my girlfriend and I wrote up a week of meal ideas and went to the Farmer's market downtown Sarasota, and to Wholefoods to stock up. Preparation is key. This morning we had a delicious breakfast of raw chocolate granola, homemade raw almond milk and local berries, topped with local raw honey. Check it out..

We threw a couple handfuls of raw almonds into the food processer until they were like powder. Then, we slowly added water until it turned out like this. Mmm fresh and frothy.

We picked up some raw honey made

from the wildflowers of the

Apalachicola Forest. I know, I know.

Honey isn't technically vegan. But I

don't follow that rule since bees

live and love to collect flower pollen

and fill their hives with it. As long as

they aren't poisoned with gas like

 most conventional beekeepers do, nothing was hurt. This honey is pure nature...


And here we have it! A delicious raw breakfast, the perfect way to start the day.

Raw Food Challenge!

I'm starting this blog with the announcement that my love and I have decided to challenge ourselves with a 14 day vegan raw food cleanse challenge! I love eating raw, but never have I ONLY eaten raw food, especially for the straight duration of two weeks. It's not very long, but certainly long enough to expand our raw food preparation skills:) I'm excited for this challenge, and I think it's the perfect kickoff to an awesome eco-food blog!
For this mini-cleanse, I will only be eating fresh vegan raw foods. This means that no food can be heated to a temperature of over 118 degrees fahrenheit. Because of this, the live enzymes in the food are not destroyed, therefore our bodies get the ultimate nutrition possible, straight from our earth. There are many benefits to eating all raw living foods.. it increases energy, improves digestion and frees our bodies of the many acidic toxins that come along with eating cooked foods. It also helps the cells in our bodies heal, renew and refresh.
As far as raw food cleansing, there are many different technical factors that I'm not really bothering with. For this challenge I'm just focusing on eating all of my favorite veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and hopefully a few fresh sprouts from whole grains, lentils and beans. The challenge isn't only eating all raw, but getting as creative as possible with an assortment of preparation methods.
I will be posting my favorite recipes I come up with along the way, so make sure to keep checking back for some awesome raw dishes!