I need Simple Raw Holiday Recipes

[hibisanpo]

Hi!!!

I'm a very simple raw foodie (salads, green smoothies, nuts, veggies, etc.) and I love it!
I have not tried any fancy recipes because I am still saving money/ hoping Santa will bring me a food processor and VitaMix.

So my question... I need ideas for an afternoon meal for my family on Christmas Eve. My sister is making non-raw stuff, so I want to try some raw
recipes too (but not salad! because they think that is all i subsist on). I don't know where to start. I am a little overwhelmed with the variety recipes I've
looked at. Any ideas for a girl with a crappy blender and some sharp knives?

[Bobbie]

alissas broccoli soup
you could make alissas pesto mushrooms and eat them without dehydrating.
devilled egg spread with chopped mushrooms and celery

The Lasagna I make requires a food processor but you could probably make one with just a blender....you just need a cheese recipe that can be made in a blender.
Here's the recipe for the FP one -
Zucchini and Tomato Lasagna with Basil-Pistachio Pesto and Pignoli Ricotta
Makes 6 servings

For the Tomato Sauce:
2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours or more
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon agave nectar (see note)
2 teaspoons sea salt
Pinch of hot pepper flakes

For the Basil-Pistachio Pesto:
2 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of fresh black pepper

For assembling the lasagna:
3 medium zucchini (trim ends)
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced oregano
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Pinches: sea salt, black pepper
2 cups Pignoli Ricotta (below)
3 medium heirloom tomatoes, halved and sliced
Whole basil leaves for garnish

Prepare the Tomato Sauce: Squeeze and drain as much of the water from the soaked sun-dried tomatoes as possible. In a high-speed blender, puree the tomatoes and remaining ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

Prepare the Basil-Pistachio Pesto: Place the pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until slightly chunky.

Assemble the lasagna: Cut the zucchini crosswise in half, or into 3-inch lengths. Using a mandoline or vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini slices with the olive oil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.

Line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with a layer of zucchini slices, each slightly overlapping another. Spread 1/3 of the Tomato Sauce over it. Top with small dollops of Pignoli Ricotta and Basil-Pistachio Pesto, using 1/3 of each.

Garnish with basil and serve at once or cover with plastic and let stand at room temperature for up to 3 hours.

For individual servings: Overlap 3 zucchini slices in the center of each plate to make a square shape. Spread tomato sauce over zucchini, top with dollops of ricotta and pesto and small tomato slices. Repeat layers twice. Garnish and serve.

Notes:

• For the Pignoli Ricotta, in processor, combine 2 cups raw pine nuts (pignoli, soaked for 1 hour), 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Pulse to combine. Gradually add 6 tablespoons filtered water while processing until fluffy, like ricotta.

• Agave nectar, a natural sweetener, is the amber liquid of agave cactus and is found in natural- and health-food stores.

Per serving: 662 calories, 19 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams sugar, 58 grams fat, no cholesterol, 1,777 milligrams sodium, 9 grams dietary fiber.


Is there nothing you could grind nuts with? If you could do that the raw world is your oyster.

[Bobbie]

I know lasagna isnt christmas food but its one of the few exquisite recipes that doesnt need a dehydrator/anything fancy.

You could make parsnip whip with gravy which is a substitute for mashed potatoes. It doesnt taste like potato because its sweet but the texture is similar. Both are made in a blender.
Sauerkraut and other fermented veg are a must for me for Christmas.

[Bobbie]

other non-traditional meals we have for christmas because they're really good are -

Juliano's pasta marinara
shazzies ragu sauce with strips of zucchini
chocolate mousse pie

[hibisanpo]

Wow! This sounds fantastic! I will definately try this lasanga. I don't have Alissa's book--- I will have to look for it at my library.

Geez, I had a small coffee bean grinder that I gave to my sister when I went raw. I guess I could've used it to grind nuts and other small things! Duh.
I am a nomad, so I like to keep all my belongings to only the essentals.

thanks so much Bobbie!

[Bobbie]

You're welcome :) I'll be making the lasagna too, its my favourite recipe. I halve the quantities and find that makes 4 servings so my portions must be smaller than the chefs, but its very rich so I couldn't eat more than that.

Alissa's broccoli soup http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/Recipes/BroccoliSoup.htm

Alissa's pesto mushrooms are on the recipe page of her website. My server is refusing to find any new pages for me at the moment, so I'll have to post the link later. You could use this pesto for the lasagna as its made in a blender.

Parsnip whip http://goneraw.com/recipes/show/66

Rawpriestesses gravy and the devilled egg spread are on this forum - if you banana search there are threads about them.
Mushrooms marinated in braggs liquid aminos or nama shoyu make any meal delicious.

Joel's Chocolate Mousse Pie - you could buy dessicated coconut, and finely chop the dates for the base by hand, or use a liquid sweetener (date paste/honey/agave) and mix it up by hand.

Oh I've just thought of something - you could buy ready ground almonds, so you could make the almond recipes that usually require a food processor.

Cindys Tuna Mayo (I only use 2 cups almonds because they're expensive) http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/ (Its on this page somewhere but my server won't let me go there to get the link)

Storm's Tabouleh (I use basil instead of coriander as I don't like the latter, just use your favourite herb)

A cake using ground almonds mixed with a sweetener (date paste [dates blended with water] or honey/agave or even very ripe banana). You make a layer of nut, a layer of sliced fruit (banana, strawberry and papaya is my favourite), a layer of nut, layer of fruit, layer of nut. Then top with a cream made by blending pine nuts, water, lemon juice, and a couple of dates. Decorate with fruit or flowers. Berries and sliced star fruit can be used to make pretty designs. Or you can cut letters out of orange lemon and lime peel to spell out words. Add cacao to the nut for a chocolate cake, but you need a lot more sweetener because cacao is bitter.

Pies that use almonds as the base.

[carolg]

Everything sounds so delish and fattening. Just love my nuts but right now refraining from hardly a one as I don't understand the word STOP or even words ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Enjoy for me please.
carolg

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

Alissa's Nonturkey loaf (not sure if that's the exact right name) and cranberry sauce! Yum!

[hibisanpo]

mmmm. i can't wait to make all this yummy stuff. i have bought almond meal at trader joe's but don't remember if it had been raw or not. will check again!
one question:
what is "dessicated coconut"?

[slickerk]

Lasagna not for Christmas, whatchoooo talking about Willis? My mom always makes Lasagna on christmas day...so I love this idea!

[hibisanpo]

haha. i know! my family is italian, so we always had lasanga or rigatoni.
now on to raw!

[Bobbie]

Oh good, in that case you'll have a good Christmas.
Could you not borrow the coffee grinder from your sister? If you had that you could follow the lasagna recipe without changing it - just grind the nuts before putting them in the blender. If you don't have a grinder, you'll need to adapt the recipe.
You could serve pesto mushrooms as an antipasto, not-campbells tomato soup as a starter (those who have a dehydator could serve it with almond bread as I here it goes great with lasagna leftovers) then lasagna as the entree.

Dessicated coconut is shop-bought dried ground coconut.

The gingerbread recipe that was posted on here recently can apparantly be eaten without being dehydrated, that would require ground pecans and flax seeds. You can buy ground flax seed too so there must be some flaxseed recipes you could make without a food processor.

Rawkinlocks peach crumble could perhaps be eaten without being dehydrated...you could use readyground almonds for that.