Hello, Lovlies,Okay, if you're a creative like me, you are going to love these, um, sort of recipes. If you are not creative and just like to follow a pre-written no fail recipe, good luck, this will be a new experience for you!
I made several fantabulous dishes this week. My favorite way of cooking raw is to just see what i have in the fridge and the cubbard, become inspired, use the 5 tastes as a guide for savory dishes, and just come up with something. I taste often and depending on what my tounge senses, i add or fix.
For instance, if something is too thin: add a thickener, nuts thicken, for one.
If something is too bland, try lemon juice, or more salt.
If something is too salty, add agave
If something is too blah, add spicy elements (ginger, garlic, onion, spices)
Always add a bitter element to any savory dish to balance it. Bitter elements are green. Parsley, basil, cilantro, celery leaves.
Ask yourself the following question: what makes a salad (bitter greens) taste good? A dressing generally includes the other 4 complementary tastes: a spicy element (pepper or onion or garlic or shallot), a salty element (salt or mustard), a tart element (vinegar or citrus juice), a sweet element (a little sugar, or shredded carrot in the salad or raisins in the salad), and oil, which is a neutral taste.
The 5 tastes are: salty, spicy, sour, bitter, sweet. 4 's' words and 1 'b' word.
salty things are: celtic or himalyan salt, dulse, kelp, nutritional yeast, celery
sweet things are: agave, honey, dates, carrots, beets, raisins
spicy things are: garlic, ginger, onion, cayenne, chili powder, curry
tart things are: lemon, lime, vinegar
bitter things are: greens, salad greens, green herbs, celery leaves
If a savory raw dish includes all 5 tastes, in a balance that makes sense, it will ALWAYS taste good!
On these particular occasions, the "recipes" below, what i just came up with happened to be kick ass.
If you are willing to experiment, use your tastebuds and the 5 flavors as a guide for savory dishes, have fun with these ingredients and try to recreate this on your own. i'll give you as much guidance as i can!
With sweet dishes, i always add a little salt. When you bake a sweet cake, there is always salt! I also sometimes hide a little spicy element in there as well. Often, i'll add a tart to a sweet, such as lemon juice in a raw pie. i don't think i've ever added a green element to a sweet to add a bitter. But cacao is naturally bitter. And so is tahini. So sometimes there are bitter elements in a sweet.
Experiment and have fun! There are no disasters. If something you make tastes awful, fix it, or dehydrate it! Often gross outcomes make the best burgers or bread or cookies.
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walnut curry pate - with s blad in cuisinart, add:
walnuts, 2 cups, have another cup on hand to add in should the pate be too thin.
cashew, 1 cup
lemons/limes - 3 juiced. add half of juice at first. citrus juice is a must in all pates as it provides acidity, tartness and brightness. if pate is bland at end, continue to add lemon/lime juice, and have extra on hand should you need more, often necessary.
water - have 1/2 cup standing by if citrus juice does not provide enough moisture. error on leaving it too thick as it can always be thinned out.
garlic - 4 or 5 cloves - spicy element
ginger, fresh and dried - 4 or 5 slices - spicy element
scallions, 2 chopped - add at end if another spicy element is desired.
chili powder, no salt - 2 Tbsp - spicy element
hot madras curry - 2 Tbsp or more- spicy element
garam masala - 2 Tbsp or more - spicy element
cumin - 1 heaping tsp
jalapeno 2 or 3 slices - spicy element
1/2 red pepper - add in early
carrot - 2 medium. Add in last and whir leaving slightly visible - sweet element
celery - 3 stalks chopped. Add in last and whir leaving slightly visible - salty and bitter element
red onion - 1/4 of a small, keep an extra 1/4 to add in at end if desired - spicy element
agave - 1 Tbsp
celtic salt - 1 tsp. Taste pate and adjust near end with more celtic salt or agave
Pate should come out a light brown color and should be the consistency of hummus with a spicy curry bite, yet balanced in salt, sweetness, tartness. after a few days, i swear it tasted to me like curry chopped liver. mmm.
Serve with chopped tomato, celery, onion, chopped cilantro (bitter element), and golden raisins on a green based salty flax cracker (bitter element). GENIUS!!!!
hot chocolate - in vitamix with cap on
1/2 cup any seed or nut, have extra on hand
agave to taste, have 1/4 cup available, drizzle in and taste when drink is done. add more as necessary.
several spoonfulls of raw cacao. taste to adjust chocolatelyness. keep adding until it tastes good. raw chocolate is bitter, so make sure you add enough agave.
celtic salt, pinch
few droppers vanilla extract
2 cups water, have another on hand, blend to desired 'creaminess' or thinness
blenderize several minutes until warm! adjust sweetness/chocolatelyness!
bliss balls - in cuisinart with s blade, add:
any nut, 2 cups
cacao 3 Tbsp or more to achieve chocolatelyness
1 cup coconut shredded. use organic unsweeted shredded coconut
celtic salt, good pinch of ground variety only. if dough is too sweet, add a little more celtic salt before dough balls up.
a few pinches cayenne or black pepper or chili powder, if desired.
vanilla, 1 tsp - 1 tbsp, to your taste. i love vanilla so usually add a lot.
agave, have 1/2 cup on hand...pour in gradually, using agave as your source of moisture. you'll have added enough when "dough" forms a ball
blend with cuisinart with s blade until forms a ball. you'll have to redistribute 'dough' often as it is very thick. with enough agave, you should form a ball.
Roll dough into small bitesize balls. Roll little balls into coconut shreds to coat. Or coat with cacao, cinnamon, chopped nuts, etc...
Before rolling into balls, I had some vanilla cashew cream and some chocolate cream which i squirted into the middle of the balls before rolling. yum!
HAPPY COOKING!
xoxoxo michelle joy
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