Valentine Bacon and Spicy Green Beans

Tonight I decided to play around in the kitchen a bit. I've been seeing photos of bacon hearts popping up all over Facebook and the internet, and I had some bacon in the fridge, so I thought: Why not?

Image source

I also have a new recipe for sweet & spicy green beans that I have been wanting to try- and I thought the two of those sounded great together. So, that was dinner. 

Here's a photo of my sweet and spicy string beans (with a bacon heart): 

You can Google for a recipe for the bacon hearts (that's what I did). Basically, you cut a strip of bacon in half, arrange in in a heart shape, and bake at 400 for 25 minutes or so. Pretty easy.

Obviously the bacon is not vegetarian/vegan- although I suppose you could try it with vegan bacon- I don't see why not? The green bean recipe, on its own, is vegan.

Here is the recipe for the green beans, with my adaptations 

Sweet & Spicy String Beans (gluten free, soy free*, vegan)

Ingredients

Fresh green beans, washed and trimmed

2 T brown sugar

2 T tamari  *if you are gluten AND soy free, see note below

1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1 tsp grapeseed oil

Method

Blanch green beans for one minute

Mix brown sugar, tamari*, and red pepper flakes in small bowl. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet

Saute green beans over high heat 3-5 minutes or until beans look blistered. Remove from heat.

Toss green beans with tamari, brown sugar, & pepper mixture.

*If you are gluten and soy free, you can try this substitute. I've been using it in raw dishes for a while now, and have been pleased with it. This is the first time I have used it in a cooked dish, and I was skeptical about how it might perform. But I liked the way the beans turned out, so I was happy with this substitute in a cooked dish. 

Soy sauce does add a certain flavor and dimension to a recipe, but if you are limited by allergies/sensitivites, sometimes you can get away with omitting the soy/tamari and adding sea salt. The substitute linked above uses mushrooms, and that gives a little more depth and flavor than just salt. Play around with it, and see what you think. I make a batch, freeze in ice cube trays, and keep the cubes (which are approximately 1Tbsp) in a Ziploc in the freezer- just take one out when you need it.

Sweet & Spicy String Beans, with a bacon heart

Happy Valentine's Day!

Raw Vegan Watermelon Cups

Here is a fabulous idea for a summer fruit salad. It is the perfect party appetizer. Yes, it has several steps and looks like a lot of work, but it really wasn't that bad. The most time consuming part was dicing the fruit for the fruit salad. If you wanted to enjoy this recipe with a little less work, you could simply rough chop all of the ingredients for the fruit salad and serve in bowls. I highly recommend making the cilantro-lime creme dressing to top your fruit salad- it is quite good!

This recipe was inspired by this post. I raw-veganized it for the version below. This recipe does not contain any dairy, eggs, gluten, grains, soy, corn, or refined sugar.

Raw Vegan Watermelon Cups

Ingredients


For the Fruit Salad: 
1 mini seedless watermelon, 3-5 lbs
2/3 cup jicama, small dice
4 ripe yellow peaches, small dice
1/3 cup sweet or red onion, finely chopped
1/2 granny smith apple, small dice
1 clove garlic, pressed
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice (depending on how tangy you want it)
1/2 fresh jalapeno, small dice (seeds and membrane removed if you don't like spicy stuff)
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped plus several small whole leaves to garnish
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Cream Sauce:
3/4 cup soaked cashews (soak raw cashews in filtered water for 4-8 hours, drain)
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup filtered water
Pinch of himalayan salt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp minced fresh jalapeno

Method

To make the watermelon cups:
Cut the ends off of the watermelon. Stand the watermelon up on one of the flat ends and cut off the sides, forming a rectangle. Discard the rind, but keep the watermelon "scraps" to add to the fruit salad.
Cut the rectangle into cubes. I pretty much just sliced mine evenly into squares- think Rubix Cube :)
Use a knife or a melon baller to hollow out the inside of each cube. I made mine square because I was in the mood to put in some extra effort, but you could just use a melon baller or spoon and make little wells in the cube. Once the cube is filled with fruit salad, you don't really see the shape of the hole anyway.
Put the watermelon cubes in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill them.

To make the fruit salad:
Finely dice the remaining watermelon, jicama, peaches, onion, green apple, and jalapeno.
Add to bowl, add lime juice and garlic.
Add chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine.
Refrigerate until ready to fill cups.

To make the creme sauce:
Blend cashews, lemon juice, agave, water and salt until smooth.
In a bowl, add cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno and 1/2 cup of the cashew creme and stir to combine.

To assemble: 
Fill watermelon cubes with fruit salad, top with cilantro lime sauce, and enjoy!

This recipe is linked to Made-from-scratch Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Allergy Free Wednesday- click on the links for more great ideas for sugar free, gluten free, allergy friendly recipes.

Raw Vegan Dinner Party

Another delicious dinner to share. This is not a fancy photo, but will post more photos and recipes in a later post. For now, I just wanted to share the big picture- because it was delicious, and I'm excited about it:

This was an all raw vegan meal! It was really fun to make so many Mexican-themed dishes.

The menu included: 

• Chili rellenos
• Empanadas
• Mexican "rice"
• Salsa verde
• Mole sauce
• Star fruit salsa that I forgot to include in the photo
• Margaritas (yes, raw)

The mexican rice and the star fruit salsa were each new recipes. I'm really happy with how they turned out- in fact that is what I will be having for lunch today :)

This was one of two raw vegan meals that I made during my brother's visit (the other was pad thai). I really wanted him to try some of the things I've been making over the past year, so he could taste how amazing raw food can be, and also experience for himself what I've been babbling on about and posting photos of for the past 12 months. I think he enjoyed the food- at least, he said he did : )

The raw vegan mexican-themed dinner with Joan and Vince was a lot of fun, and to top it all off, we watched Jeopardy! which is always more fun with 3 people playing along. (I think Bailey knew all of the answers, but he kept them to himself. He's a smart dog.)

I'm sad that my brother is on his way back to his home state now, but I am still smiling from the great time we've had this week. I'm so glad we got to spend time together during his visit.

Raw Vegan Pad Thai

My brother is visiting, and guess what is on the menu for tonight? Raw vegan pad thai. I can't wait.

It is a recipe from the Cafe Gratitude cookbook, and it is fantastic. Here is a photo from the last time I made this dish:

I hope it turns out as beautiful and delicious as it did last time. I really want to make something special for my brother. I'll report back after the meal!

Healthy Homemade Gourmet Mustard

Adapted from this recipe.

I think this mustard recipe is infinitely adaptable. The first time I made this recipe, I couldn’t find black mustard seeds, so I used only yellow mustard seeds. I also made a half batch, as I wasn't sure how it might turn out, or how long it would keep.

Yellow mustard seeds

Here is my first attempt:

Homemade Gourmet Mustard, v.1
Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. yellow mustard seeds
• 1/3 cup mix equal parts champagne vinegar & apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dark agave syrup
• 1/4 tsp. himalayan salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

Method

• Combine all ingredients and soak 12 hours or overnight to allow the mustard seeds to soften and absorb the flavors.
• Place mixture in blender and mix on high until the seeds have broken and the mustard thickens.

Result: The half recipe did not have enough volume to mix thoroughly in the VitaMix, so not all of the seeds burst, which resulted in a grainy -yet delicious- mustard. It lasted for about 6 weeks (until it was gone) without a problem in the refrigerator. I think it would have lasted indefinitely.

Not enough volume; mustard wanted to stay under the Vitamix blades

First batch with yellow mustard seeds

For my second attempt, I decided to make a full batch. Also, I finally found black mustard seeds in an Asian grocery, and wanted to try the spicy version.

Black mustard seeds

Here is the second version:

Homemade Gourmet Mustard, v.2
Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp. yellow mustard seeds (mild flavor)
• 2 Tbsp. black mustard seeds (spicy flavor)
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp dark agave syrup
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Method

• Combine all ingredients and soak 12 hours or overnight to allow the mustard seeds to soften and absorb the flavors. 
• Place mixture in blender and mix on high until the seeds have broken and the mustard thickens.

Result: The spicy version is also delicious. I think I like the milder version better, but would make both again.

Whichever version you try, I would recommend making the full amount. When I made the half recipe, there was not enough volume to blend well in the VitaMix. The full recipe blended more thoroughly, resulting in a smoother mustard.

Second batch, using yellow and black mustard seeds

Try both versions, try adding your own flavors (honey, herbs, etc) and play around with the ratios. You are sure to find a version you love, and making it yourself is much healthier, and less expensive, than buying gourmet mustard in the grocery store.

More on the health benefits of mustard seeds.

Sprouted Spicy Lentil Burgers

These burgers are amazing. They are a tad spicy, so adjust to taste.

Sprouted lentil burgers (raw, vegan)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup sprouted lentils
• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt (or himalayan salt)
• Juice of one lime (approximately 2 Tbsp)
• Lime zest

there is a pepper shown in this pic, but I didn't use it and used cayenne instead

Method

Add sprouted lentils to bowl of food processor:

Add pecans:

Pulse to combine:

Add olive oil and water and pulse a little more:

 Add cilantro, garlic, cayenne, sea salt, and lime:

Pulse to combine. Once processed, form mixture into balls:

Smoosh the balls into patties. This is actually much easier to do on the dehydrator tray so you don't have to transfer the patties. So, put your balls on the tray and then smoosh. Your patties will look like this:

Dehydrate at 145 degrees F for one hour. Set a timer! Do not dehydrate longer than one hour at 145 degrees or they will not be raw. After one hour, reduce heat to 115 degrees F. After one hour, flip patties and continue to dehydrate at 115 degrees F for approximately 2 more hours, or until desired texture. (approximately 4 hours total dehydration time) Here is what the burgers look like about halfway through dehydrating:

For a completely raw meal, serve with lettuce wraps. You could also use a gluten free or other type of bun, if you prefer. I like to try to keep my raw meals completely raw, but nothing says you can't mix things up if you want to. But, I would encourage you to experiment with raw meals. You won't believe how great they taste, and how great you'll feel!

Burgers:

p.s. how cool is this little dish???

By the way, that's homemade spicy mustard, made in the VitaMix. I'll post that recipe soon.

Raw vegan coleslaw:

The coleslaw helped cool the spiciness of the spicy burgers and spicy mustard. I wrapped everything in the lettuce wraps (including the coleslaw). It was delicious.

This recipe makes a lot of burgers. They are small, about the size of "sliders" you might get in a restaurant. You want to keep them small, or they will take forever to dehydrate. The raw lentil burgers freeze well- just remember not to "defrost" in the microwave! Then they would no longer be raw. Simply pull the burgers out of the freezer the morning you want them for dinner. I thawed mine in the fridge all day and then let them sit on the counter while I made up the plate with the lettuce and coleslaw. By the time I ate, they were room temperature and perfect. You could also pop them back in the dehydrator if you wanted to warm them up.

Enjoy!