Thai-Inspired Creamy Bowl of Deliciousness

A soup, that is.  One that you will never forget! Promise. 

I had my wisdom teeth removed (ouch) and I'm still recovering.  Needless to say, I'm on blended foods and since it's day 10, I'm really tired of eating the same stuff over and over.  So, today, I said "This is it, I'm making something different!"  Savory and buttery is what I wanted....And I could have had a gallon of this... It's simply orgasmic!

Thai-Inspired Creamy Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

(Makes about a quart to serve 1, maybe 2)

1 small red bell pepper

1/2 stalk of celery

1 slender (stalk) lemongrass

1/4 of small red onion (or use 1-2 green onions)

1/2 carrot (or a tiny one)

3 cloves of garlic

ginger to taste (I only used a piece the size of a raisin)

1 tiny hot pepper/jalapeno

2 heaping tbsp coconut butter

pinch of ground cayenne pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp (to taste) salt 

cilantro (no more than what you can tear off a bunch with three fingers)

~ 3 cups water

Optional: pinch of turmeric, honey (not vegan) or other sweetener, soy or shoyu sauce

To Prepare:
1. Warm the water on the stove top carefully, to desired temperature. (You definitely don't want to bring it to a boil if you chose to stick with eating raw)
2. In the meantime, chop all vegetables into chunks and place them in a blender with the lemongrass (pealed back and the core chopped fine; a bit of a tough task) and the spices you are using along with the coconut butter.
3. Add the water and whirl it all up, adding the cilantro only for the last few seconds of blending.
4. Taste test. Some people like it saltier, some prefer it sweeter.
5. Garnish and serve immediately.

It's savory, warming, and incredibly flavorful and satisfying. Enjoy! : )

♥♥♥

Dita

Believe It or Not, I've made Curry!

Going raw shouldn't mean giving up on your favorite cuisines such as Indian, Thai, Mexican, etc., right? I keep experimenting with dishes that I really enjoy and I would love to have from time to time, not to mention adding variety to my daily menu! Speaking of variety, this week was finals week, which means I've been living on tons of nuts and chocolate for days so I'm especially ready for a treat, and I wanted to make a new dish. This was so delicious...I will have to make a second batch tomorrow : )
I've already talked about the health benefits of mushrooms and cilantro but there's a main ingredient in this flavorful bowl that is more than worthy of praise...yes, you guessed right, I'm talking about coconut. Whole coconut, coconut water, coconut butter, coconut oil...it doesn't matter what you consume, they're all very good for you. Coconuts are high in fat, but it's the good kind of saturated fat that's really easy to digest and is readily available for energy. Besides the healthy fat, they have a myraid of other health benefits such as being high in easily digested protein, supporting thyroid health and helping with kidney issues. To top it all, they have antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, and antifungal properties. Sorry diamonds, coconuts are my best friend!

Warm-You-Up Thai Green Curry
(Ingredients / serving!)
For the marinade:
3-4 crimini mushrooms
1 small baby bok choy
1 green onion or 2 slices of red onion
couple of slices red bell pepper
a pinch of grated ginger 
2 tbsp nama shoyu (this is NOT soy free!)
2 tbsp water
few slices of hot pepper (I used serrano)

For the sauce:
3.5 on (7 tbsp) coconut butter (you will need to melt it!)
1 tsp (or more) Thai green curry paste*
1/4 cup (or as needed) warm water
1 tbsp nama shoyu
1 tsp coconut sugar (or your favorite sweetener)
Optional: little crushed garlic (I didn't add any and it was plenty flavorful without it)

For garnish:
cilantro
sliced green onion

*I used a paste that comes in a jar and the worst part is that it's loaded with table salt. Well, hopefully there isn't that much in there...it doesn't taste really salty. If you're near a great Asian market where you can get all the ingredients for it then you can make your own paste! Make sure to get some galangal (Thai ginger), lemongrass, and kaffir lime.

Directions:
1. Slice thinly or chop all of the marinade ingredients (or whatever vegetables you may be using) and place them in a bowl. Mix them with the shoyu sauce and water and place the bowl in the dehydrator to warm for a couple of hours or as much time as you have on hand. If your coconut butter is in solid state then put that in the dehydrator (in a separate bowl) as well to let it melt.
2. Once the butter is melted you can make the curry base by mixing all the sauce ingredients. Do a taste test and add shoyu, sweetener, etc. if necessary.
3. Add the sauce to the marinade and stick it back in the dehydrator for a while.
4. Garnish with cilantro and/or green onions just before serving.
5. Thank the universe for all the wonderful ingredients : )

"Better Than" Pad Thai

What do you do when pasta is on the menu at home?
With a large batch of my favorite peanut sauce already made I had to figure out what to put it on! It didn’t take long to get some zucchini out and go on a raw pasta adventure. I had been wanting to try zucchini pasta but haven't figured out what kind to make first….until now. It was the first time but definitely not the last, in fact, I admit that I’ve made this dish several times in the past two weeks already! Yes, it’s that good.

Raw Zucchini Pasta
Zucchini makes perfect pasta because it doesn’t have an overpowering flavor and it has quite the right texture to replace the strings of dough we’re all used to. If you have a spiralizer or some kind of a magic machine to make pasta, lucky you, your task just got somewhat easier. If you’re like me and even your mandolin is in storage somewhere and all you have to work with is a knife then do this: cut grooves all the way lengthwise the peeled zucchinis but be careful to not cut through the other side. With a peeler go down the grooves you’ve made and shave your squashes into pasta. It takes some work but I must say I didn’t expect to like the outcome as much as I do now and it’s so worth it. Pile some on plates and put your pasta servings in the dehydrator for a warmer dish at about 130 °F (54 °C) while you make the sauce.

Peanut Sauce*
Ingredients:
(Serves 2-3)
1 ½ cup peanuts (or a shallow cup of peanut butter)**
optional: 3-4 tbs soy sauce/nama shoyu 
~½ cup water added a spoonful at a time (you may add less or more depending on how watery you prefer the sauce)
2 cloves garlic
handful of cilantro
optional: 2 tbsp of your favorite sweetener
optional: 1 jalapeno (makes it spicy)

* If you happen to end up with leftovers this makes a great dip to go with apples or veggies.
** For this recipe I used lightly toasted Valencia peanuts, which are not raw. I’ve talked about raw Jungle peanuts vs. roasted peanuts here and in this case I think these are a better choice. Decide for yourself. If you want to go for both the flavor and the improved digestibility then I recommend using lightly toasted Valencias. If you insist on 100% raw go for the Jungle ones and maybe adjust your seasoning.

Directions:
If you’re using peanuts, grind them in a food processor until they’re starting to clump together and little by little add some water. Add the soy sauce/nama shoyu, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro and sweetener of your choice. Mix evenly and taste. Adjust the seasoning and add more water if it doesn’t have the consistency of a sauce to pour on pasta. If you’re starting with peanut butter you don’t even need to use a food processor just mix it with water and the rest of the ingredients but use already pressed garlic and chop the cilantro finely.

Assembly:
Get your pasta out of the dehydrator and mix each serving with some peanut sauce and place back into the dehydrator to warm up for a little while longer. Slice some bell pepper and some green onions, and chop some more peanuts to top each plate before serving. Add some chili flakes for an extra spicy finish dig in!
Put zucchinis on your shopping list because from now on you’ll want to have “pasta” on hands at all times.