Yay for raw food!...Global Gardens- olive oil club

One of my goals this year is to try to make more raw food meals. Like raw lasagna, pasta, etc. I don't have a dehydrator yet, that's down the road. When you think of it though, just eating a salad, it's all uncooked, that fruit and those nuts, raw! I guess again it goes back to whole foods.
Also I think in the summer, at least for me, eating more raw foods will make more sense because of the heat, who likes feeling weighed down by a warm and heavy meal. blah!

I usually eat Kale cooked or juiced. At our local health food store, New Frontiers, they have a great deli area with some of the tastiest salads. I tried their raw kale salad and it was sweet and delicious! Now I'm hooked and tried to make one like theirs. I chopped up kale, added cranberries, raw sunflower seeds, carrot pulp, lemon zest. For the dressing I used a
Green Apple Ginger Golden Balsamic Vinegar(see down below for more info on this), agave and sesame seed oil, just a tad. Poured it over and wallah! A light, tangy-sweet salad with a crunch.
Served right along with my kale salad are some Carrot Falafals from Choosing Raw . Now they aren't like the authentic falafals but these are so good! I didn't make the tahini sauce because I didn't have time but I will be making these again and again. I used the oven set at 175 with the door open like Gina mentioned if you don't have a dehydrator.

Regarding the vinegar I mentioned up above. There is this great little olive oil place in Los Olivos, CA called Global Gardens. The olive trees are located throughout the local area. The owner and the employees are very warm, friendly and informative. They do olive oil and vinegar tastings, which is pretty cool! They also have an awesome walnut oil that is so rich and buttery and they have some great tasting spreads and dips. All of their products are pesticide free and mostly organic. You can also join their club and 4 times a year get a different bottle of olive oil, vinegar and a spread, spices, etc. Last time I received(picture above, cat not included) an olive oil, vinegar, a spice mixture and a trail mix using the spice mixture they sent. So if you are a cook it's a great club to join and try different olive oils and vinegars. The bottles everything comes in are also very nice looking. They make great gifts as well. Also if you join the club and happen to have any type of issue they are so quick to resolve the problem. Check out the website clicking here. Let me know if you try them out and what you think!

Vegetable Nori Rolls

After days of my son asking me to make Vegetable Nori Rolls, he was very pleased and satisfied when I did. I don't know why I put these off so much, they are really so easy to make. The fillings are endless when it comes to these. Sometimes instead of sushi rice I will use short brown rice. These ones are filled cucumber, carrot, avocado and green onion. I got to tell you, I ran out of Miso Mayo (Spicy Red Pepper)! I love that stuff so much! I usually squirt a line of that stuff on the rice then add the veggies onto that. If you've never tried Miso Mayo you've got to! Taste good on just about everything!

Corned Seitan and Cabbage

For St. Patty's day my mother-in-law used to make my son Corned beef and cabbage in his pre-vegan days. So his first year as a vegan I found a vegan recipe for it and it was just okay. This years recipe is a keeper! I've never eaten it before so I didn't know what it really was supposed to taste like, but I was given the thumbs up on this one.
I used the "Vegan Corned beef" recipe from
Vegan Dad, but added some fennel and a bit of molasses to it. This recipe is so good, my son said it tastes so much better than last years recipe.
Then I used Susan's recipe at Fatfree Kitchen for the rest of the recipe. I boiled some potatoes and added it to it at the end.

Cozy lentil soup and homemade bread

Lentil soup is so easy to make and you don't need a ton of ingredients. This is just a basic recipe consisting of:

Olive oil 2-3 Tbsp.

4 garlic cloves( i love garlic)

2 onions, yellow chopped

1 1/2 Tbsp. thyme

1 C. carrots

1 C. celery

2 tomatoes, diced

1 1/3 C. green lentils, rinsed

6 C. vegetable broth

1 C. or more chard,kale, or any greens(optional)

balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste.

Saute the garlic with the veggies until almost soft. Add the thyme and tomatoes for another minute or so. Add lentils and veggie broth. Bring to boil then simmer covered for 35-40 min. or until lentils are soft. Next if you choose to, it's optional, you can add in your green of choice and stir until wilted. Turn off heat add salt and pepper to taste.

When serving in each bowl you can drizzle a little olive oil and a swirl of balsamic. I like to use a thicker balsamic when I'm drizzling. If you don't have a thicker balsamic you can add regular balsamic to the whole pot, just a couple of dashes and stir in.

Also if you want a kick to it drizzle in some chile pepper olive oil. It rocks!

The whole wheat oatmeal bread recipe comes from Celine at have cake, will travel. Always perfect every time I make it.