Easy (and I mean easy) recipe ideas, please!

[daylene]

Hi! I'm living in South Korea, and I've been eating raw since January 1st. I have access to only the most basic fruits and vegetables and nuts, and my kitchen tools are limited to knives and your standard (read: not very good) blender. So far I've been eating whole foods (mostly fruit) and salads. I have a sneaky suspicion that's going to get old, fast.

So if anyone out there has some cool recipes they'd like to share, I'm game. But they have to be super easy. I work full time and I have an infant daughter, so I can't spend a lot of time in the kitchen. And as I said before, my grocery store carries only the most basic fruits and vegetables and a few nuts/seeds. No fancy ingredients, no fancy tools! If it can't be made with a knife, a cutting board, and a very, very poor blender, then I can't make it.

Ideas, anyone?

[rawmonkey]

Hi Daylene,

Off the top of my head...

Guacamole--1 avocado smashed w/ fork, 1 sm. tomato diced fine, 1/4 onion diced fine, cilantro chopped fine to taste, lime juice to taste, 1 clove garlic pressed or chopped fine and sea salt to taste. Use celery or white radishes to dip.

Stuffed Avocado-- 1 avocado halved, 1 sm tomato diced, lemon juice to taste, bit of green onion, some raw pumpkin seeds, and some dill, parsley, etc to taste. Load everything on half of the avocado and enjoy.

Salsa-- 2 tomatoes diced fine, 1/4 C. onions diced fine, 1 or 2 cloves garlic pressed or chopped fine, cilantro chopped fine to taste, apple cider vinegar to cover tomatoes, juice of 1/2 lime, sea salt to taste. Mix everything in a bowl and eat with a spoon or celery.

Lettuce or Cabbage Wrap-- Use a leafy green like boston or romain or cabbage leaf to house your favorite veggies with some guacamole, dip or salad dressing.

Marinated Mushrooms--
• 8 cups Chesnutt Mushrooms, broken into bits, then measured
• 1 Red Pepper, diced
• 1 Big Tight Handful Fresh Basil, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil, blessed
• ½ tablespoon Salt, or to taste
• ½ Lemon, juiced
• ½ tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar, un-pasturized

The Apple Cider Vinegar is optional, it really serves to speed up the marination time. With it marinate for 8 hours. Without it 20 hours. These times are optimal because you can eat these in a few hours if you want. Try not to eat them all before the marination time is up so that you can taste the ultimate final product. Use these in wraps, on salads, or just eat alone :).

These are just a few...I'll try to post more later :D .

Hope these give you more ideas,

Christina

[daylene]

Thanks, rawmonkey! Those sound delicious. However, I'm not sure that you fortunate stateside dwellers really understand what I meant by "basic!" No avocados. I love 'em, so that's a bummer. Here's what I have access to:

Fruits
apples, oranges, tangerines, watermelon (seasonal), pineapple, kiwi, bananas, strawberries (seasonal) Asian pears, pomegranates, persimmons, lemons, plums (seasonal), nectarines (seasonal)

Dried Fruits
raisins, pineapple, prunes, blueberries, apricots

Vegetables and non-sweet fruits
lettuce (various kinds but not as much variety as you have in the U.S.), tomatoes, onions (all varieties), cucumbers, mushrooms (many kinds), bell peppers and spicy peppers, sprouts, carrots, cabbage, squash and zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower

Nuts and Seeds
almonds (possibly not raw, I'm not sure since the label is in Korean)
cashews (ditto)
walnuts
sunflower seeds
raw peanuts
chestnuts (seasonal)

[tvillemom]

Any spices available, what about sweetners like honey, or agave??? Could you order online?? Just wondering, trying to come up with something to help you out.

Also, I love, LOVE chopped apple, sliced banana, and a handful of walnuts. BUT, I drizzle mine with sweetner, and some nutritional yeast....which are NOT necessary. Still thinking.....

[OneBite@aTime]

Starfires eggless egg salad-to live for!

[JEN]

Ive made this several times with whatever I had in the fridge that I needed to use up. They were very tasty and easy to carry to work as well.
http://www.gorillasandwich.com/

[ShelShel]

Raw Pancakes:

1 cup ground flax seed
2 TBSP coconut oil
agave

Blend in a bowl. Pick up some mixture and press it into a ball....press it flat on a plate. Top with you favorite fruit...drizzle a bit more agave...viola! YUMMMMMMMMMM! Just had raspberry pancakes for lunch.

If you click on my thesimpleamericankitchen link and scroll to the bottom of the pancake post...you will see my raw blueberry pancakes from the other day. ;) Happy eating!:D

[Eveleaf]

Can you get celery?

[StrawberryFields]

Cut up bananas, drizzled with agave nectar, a sprinkling of nuts and some cinnamon. Yum!

[maui_butterfly]

Ive made this several times with whatever I had in the fridge that I needed to use up. They were very tasty and easy to carry to work as well.
http://www.gorillasandwich.com/


I LOVE the gorilla sandwich!

[maui_butterfly]

Cut up bananas, drizzled with agave nectar, a sprinkling of nuts and some cinnamon. Yum!

oh yeah that reminds me... bananas, apples, and persimmons cut up, drizzled with a mix of almond butter, agave, and cinnamon. DOUBLE YUM!

[daylene]

Hey, everyone! Thanks for being so hugely helpful. You've given me some great ideas.

Good news, though! Yesterday I went shopping at our (Korea's-next-best-thing-to-a-Walmart) E-mart and found, much to my delighted surprise, avocados. Yea! I bought *gasp* six. Eek! Guacamole, here I come!

Oh, and Evie darling, yes, I can get celery. Forgot to mention that one. Are you thinking of your broccoli salad?

[Eveleaf]

No, the mock-chicken salad thingie that I let you taste when you were here. It's Alissa's recipe originally, but I make it a little differently.

Food process: 1c walnuts, 1 red bell pepper, 2-4 stalks celery (I like lots and lots here) a little bit of green onion, salt to taste. So simple and sooo good. You can put in on salad or romaine lettuce like a wrap/taco, pile it in celery (like peanut butter), or eat it by itself with a spoon (what I usually do).

[daylene]

Okay, sounds great. But here's the deal, remember, I don't have a food processor, and my blender can only handle liquids or soft solids. Can I do it with a knife? Would it still be worth the trouble?

your evil twin (wink, wink)

[VibrantVessel]

Do you have access to frozen fruit? I love to eat frozen berries mixed with nuts and raisins - after it's been "sitting" for awhile to soften the berries. It's really easy and convenient.

[Eveleaf]

You *could* do it with a knife. Let me know if it's any good.

But can't you GET a FP? They aren't expensive. Someone (*whistles innocently*) could get one FOR you?

[daylene]

Okay, several people have asked about sweeteners. I can't get agave here, but honey, yes. It's not 100% raw, but I use it sparingly. Haven't had a huge sweet tooth lately, which is weird for me, but a blessing.

[daylene]

We're VERY short this month (food-stamps short, if you know what I mean), but perhaps dh might see his way to buying me one for my birthday. Which is a ways away, but still. We'll see about the knife thing.

Does anyone know if there are raw food cookbooks that address this? Like, here are the recipes you can make with only a knife and a cutting board? I'm just curious. If that were the case, I'd go on Amazon and pay the ridiculous shipping price to get the book over here.

[daylene]

Thanks, Leann, good idea. No, they don't sell frozen fruit here, but I can freeze some. I've got some bananas in the freezer right now. Maybe I'll pull them out and try your idea!

[goodbeets]

Brian Au's "raw in 10" has a lot of simple recipes as does "Alive in 5" by Angela Elliot. ( I still love Alissa's book best as all of the recipes are so tasty, I can't say that about all other raw books.) But most require a decent blender. A nut chopper or chopping device is usually inexpensive and may help with your testure issues.

My favorite easy recipe is chocolate pudding- 1 avo., 2 dates (soaking will help blendability), 3 bananas, 4 tbl. cacao powder.

Raw tabouli is another. You could do it with a cutting board and knife; almonds chopped as fine as you can, parsley chopped fine, lemon juice to taste, tomatoes chopped, a bit of onion and garlic chopped.

[BDraw]

Tonight for dinner I chopped (with knife) every fruit I had on hand, which was: 2 bananas, 2 apples, 1 large orange, (usually I stop here, but tonight was different), 1 pear, little watermelon, and nuts of choice. Mix all and pour on the cinnamon. sometimes I add dried cocoanut. We all chowed down! No additional dressing!

Or another favorite: apples, celery, and nuts or seed of choice

Or: broccoli (and or cauliflower), apples or carrots, little bit of sweet onion, raisens (if using carrots), celery (if I have it), and nuts or seeds of choice

Or: shredded carrots, sunflower seed or nuts, and raisens

We love all of the above with a dressing with a bit of sweetness. The other day I blended an orange, some olive oil and some onion (honey if needed). It worked.


These are staples at our household. Hope this helps.

[goodbeets]

One of our favorite recipes is shredded/grated carrot, dried coconut and either orange juice or lemon juice.

[4forme]

Hi Daylene! I just wanted to wave hi from the same side of the earth. I live in Singapore! As it is almost midnight, I don't have any helpful suggestions, but will do my best to think of some in the next few days.
Blessings, Wendy

[rainbowgirl]

But i am overseas, and face some of the same issues.

No dehydrator ( i do have a food processor), no vitamix, and no advocados.

I make a chunky chilli in the blender, lots of salads, also cut dates small, with fruit and raisins and cinnamon......and I make homemade tahina in the blender.

Actually my blender needs help, so I borrow my neighbors every day or so.....lol.

Any new ideas?

RaWnbowgirl

[greenfeline]

i love fruit soup! Juice some oranges (for the broth), you can hand squeeze for lack of a citrus juicer and an arm workout. Then finely chop some fruits and mix in. Eat in a bowl with a spoon. I can eat a huge batch!