PERSIMMON PUDDING

I just can't get enough of persimmons! They're such a delicious, juicy fruit and now that they're back in season I'm making the most of them :) This was the most incredible-tasting creation. The bananas give it creaminess and the persimmons a jelly-like texture for the perfect pudding texture! I used hachiya persimmons (the larger, longer ones, like the one at the top of the photo) which I think are sweeter than fuyu's (the smaller ones) and are better at the jelly-like stage of ripeness. You can tell they're good to eat when you can easily pull the tops of them off.

Ingredients
2 very ripe hachiya persimmons (or 4 fuyu's)
3 fresh bananas
4 frozen bananas
pinch of cinnamon
3 medjool dates, chopped

- scoop the flesh out of the persimmons into a bowl
- blend the fresh & frozen bananas together with the cinnamon to make a melty banana ice cream
- swirl the persimmon flesh into the bananas. Top with chopped dates. Devour!

RAW PORRIDGE

Before going raw, every morning in the cooler months, I'd eat a big bowl of porridge every morning. It was delicious, filling and most importantly lovely and warming! I didn't make this recipe thinking it would be at all alike to it's cooked counterpart, and was very surprised when I had a taste! It looks and has a texture almost identical to cooked porridge! And in my opinion, of course tastes so much better made from fresh, sweet, flavoursome fruits :) I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! It's loosely based on Rawvana's recipe found here.

Recipe

2 apples 2 apples

4 bananas

4 medjool dates

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

Mulberries (or other dried/fresh fruit)

Walnuts & pepitas (or other nuts/seeds)

Tahini milk:

1 tsp Tahini

4 tbs water

- in a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and grate in the apples.

- finely chop up the dates (Tip: wetting the knife and your fingers with water prevents a sticky mess from happening!) and add them in, along with the lemon juice (to prevent browning) and cinnamon and mix everything well. 

- to make the tahini milk, add the tahini and water into a small air-tight container and shake vigorously until all of the lumps are gone and a smooth, white liquid forms.

- top the porridge with fruit and nuts and drizzle some tahini milk over the top.

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

This is a healthy twist on an old American favourite. To be honest, I've never tried (non-vegan) Thousand island dressing, but looking at the ingredients, this comes unbelievably close to what I imagine it would taste like! It's sort of like a tomato-ish mayonnaise. Like most raw dressings it's incredibly easy to make. Pour it on salads, zoodles, or other raw veggie dishes to create a creamy, crunchy, delicious raw meal!

Recipe
2 tomatoes
1 small carrot, peeled
2 tbs tahini
2 tbs chopped spring onion (green part only)
1 tsp sauerkraut (optional)
2 medjool dates
1 tsp paprika

- Blend all ingredients together and you're done! I sprinkled some dill & spring onion and juiced a bit of lime on top too.

Raw Curry Sauce with Noodles!

Curry, the raw way! This is one raw dish you definitely MUST try! It is so incredibly delicious & satisfying! I've tried making raw curries many times since going raw, and this is by far the best one I've tasted :)

The mango makes it a little bit sweet, the tahini a little bit nutty and the herbs and spices pack in the flavour. It's also really thick & creamy- no watery business here! I topped mine with some dehydrated capsicum pieces, which gave it a slight smoky flavour too :) So. Dee. Lish.

Recipe

2 cups mango

1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes

2 Handfuls coriander, chopped finely

1/4 capsicum, chopped finely

2 tomatoes, chopped finely

~30cm celery stick

Small piece of spring onion

1 tsp tahini

Pinch chilli powder

1/4 tsp cumin

4 zucchinis

- Blend mango, dehydrated tomatoes, celery, spring onion, tahini and spices until well combined.

- Add the chopped tomatoes, capsicum & celery to the sauce.

- Spiralize/peel the zucchinis to make noodles.

Enjoy!

Lettuce Tacos

This is one of my favourite, go-to dinners- super low fat, full of nourishing ingredients and sooooo good! 

Messy? A little, but delicious? OH YEAH! Lots of beautiful flavours that totally give it the upper hand over the cooked version!

Recipe

2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

1-2 corn cobs, kernels cut off

1 stalk celery, diced

1/2 capsicum, diced

1/2 zucchini, diced

1 cup chopped coriander

1 tbs lemon juice

1 small piece spring onion

1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes

1/4 tsp cumin powder

Chilli powder/chillies to your liking

Head of butter lettuce

- Combine 2 cups of the tomatoes with the corn kernels, celery, capsicum, zucchini & coriander in a bowl

- Blend the rest of the tomatoes with the lemon juice, spring onion, dehydrated tomatoes, cumin & chilli until smooth (make sure the spring onion isn't chunky!)

- Combine the sauce with the chopped veggies & spoon some into the lettuce leaves. Done!

Sweet n Spicy Noodles!

This dressing is deliciously chunky & rich in flavour! It's one of my favourite easy dinners to make. Plus, the chilli makes it great as a raw dish to have in the colder weather :)

Recipe
1 cup diced tomato
5 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes
1/4 cup diced capsicum
1 tsp/5cm piece of green spring onion (or less of the white part!)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 red chilli (or however much you'd like!)
4 zucchinis

- make zoodles (zucchini noodles) out of your zucchinis by spiralizing them or peeling them.
- put all ingredients but the zucchinis into a blender & blend on high for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over your zoodles.

Yuuuuuum. So. Goooood.

P.S.- be careful not to over-chilli the sauce! I added a few slices at a time & tasted it to avoid a mouth fire.. ouch!

:)

Raw Polenta-Stuffed Capsicums

This recipe is as delicious as it is easy to make! The raw polenta is made from corn, so it has a texture and taste similar to cooked polenta. For a more intense flavour and chewier texture, you might like to dehydrate the capsicums before you fill them- I'll definitely be trying this next time!

Recipe
4 red capsicums

5 cobs of corn

1 spring onion

1/4 tsp of cumin

6 tomatoes, diced 

1/2 green capsicum, diced

Big handful of parsley, chopped

Big handful of coriander, chopped

1 tbs lime juice

- For the polenta, slice the kernels off of the corn and freeze for at least 4 hours. Once frozen, process until they have reached a fine consistency.

- For the salsa, combine the tomatoes, capsicum, herbs and lime juice in a bowl.

- Halve the capsicums and remove the seeds. Spoon the corn into them until they're almost filled. Spoon some out of the middle and fill it with salsa.

Enjoy!

Raw Bibimbap!

Wondering how on earth you would be able to make this classic Korean dish raw?! Here's how! It may not be served up sizzling away in a clay pot but it tastes mighty delicious! There are lots of different flavours in it and all of the different elements work really well together. In my non-vegan days I loved a big bowl of bibimbap with rice, meat and veggies, complete with an egg on top and some kimchi & chilli sauce on the side. This one includes all of those components... raw-ified! Plus, totally animal-friendly of course :)

Recipe

1 head of lettuce, chopped finely

1 cucumber, julienned

2 carrots, julienned

3 tbs Sauerkraut (I used a homemade raw one with beets, purple cabbage & ginger)

Cauliflower rice

1/2 cauliflower

1 stick celery, chopped

Mushroom meat

5 mushrooms

1/4 capsicum

1 pinky-sized piece spring onion

Tangy chilli tomato sauce

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 pinky of spring onion

Handful coriander

1/2 tsp dried ground ginger 

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Avo egg

1/2 avocado 

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp lime juice

- Put the lettuce into a large bowl, leaving a handful behind. 

- For the rice, process the cauliflower and celery until it reaches a very fine rice consistency. Layer on top of the lettuce, leaving a handful behind.

- For the mushroom meat, process the ingredients until they reach a fine consistency. Optional: dehydrate for around 1 hour.

- For the sauce, blend the ingredients on high for around 1 minute. 

- For the egg, make a 1cm slice in the avo half, lengthways and parallel to the first slice (so it looks like the one pictured!). Mash up the outer portion with a fork and add the turmeric & lime juice.

- Arrange the cucumber, carrot, mushroom meat and leftover handfuls of lettuce & cauli rice on top of the rice and lettuce in the bowl. Put the sauerkraut on top of everything in the centre. Put the avo slice on top & fill the hole with the mashed avocado. 

...And you have bibimbap!

Zesty Pasta & Kale Salad

This pasta was a bit of an experiment- and it turned out to be delicious! Orange may seem like a very traditional breakfast food, but it works well in this savoury dish :) I kept the salad and pasta separate for the photo but they tasted goooood mixed together. The kale salad is one I make regularly- If you're like me and don't like the bitter taste of raw kale, this is a super easy way to get rid of the bitterness and make it tasty!

Kale Salad

Big bunch of curly kale (about 15-20 stalks)

1/2 an avocado

1 tsp lime juice

Zesty Pasta

3 zucchinis

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

1/2 an avocado

1 tsp lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tsp chopped spring onion

1/2 tsp chopped dill

Pinch of tumeric

For the salad, remove the stems from the kale leaves and rip or chop the leaves into small pieces. Using a fork, mash the avocado with the lime juice until smooth. Pour the dressing over the kale and massage with your hands for a few minutes or until the leaves have started to wilt.

For the pasta, spiralize or peel the zucchinis into thin strips. Thinly slice the tomatoes. Blend the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Combine the zucchini, tomatoes and sauce together.

This makes a biiiig serving, so you might want to share it... Maybe ;)

Raw Lasagne

I'm so glad I finally made a raw version of lasagne! I've seen a lot of good-looking ones floating around instagram. This one I came up with is absolutely, incredibly delish! You have to try it :)

Recipe...

Sauce
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes
Handful basil leaves
5 mushrooms

Cheese
10 raw macadamias
1 tbs raw pine nuts
1/2 cob of corn
1/2 peeled zucchini
1 tbs chopped spring onion

2 zucchinis

For the sauce, blend tomatoes and basil. Process the mushrooms until they're the consistency of rice and add into the sauce. For the cheese, blend all ingredients together. Slice the zucchinis lengthways using a mandolin (or a knife- make the slices about 2mm thick). To assemble the lasagne, start by lining a dish with a layer of zucchini going in one direction, then layer again in the other direction. This is your first zucchini layer. Follow this layering pattern:
1st- Zucchini, 1/3 sauce
2nd- Zucchini, 1/3 sauce, 1/2 cheese
3rd- Zucchini, 1/3 sauce
4th- Zucchini, 1/2 cheese

Top the cheese layer with sliced leftover cherry tomatoes and some baby basil leaves. Refrigerate to keep fresh but eat at room temperature :)

Hope you enjoy this recipe- Let us know if you tried it out!

Moroccan Salad

This noodle-icious salad has a beautiful combination of Moroccan flavours! It tastes best after a day or so when the flavours have had a chance to meld with each other

Recipe...

2 zucchinis

2 carrots

1 beetroot

1/2 red capsicum, sliced thinly

1/4 avocado, diced

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp tumeric

Pinch of ground ginger

Handful of coriander leaves

Run the zucchini, carrot and beetroot through a spiralizer (or peel them for a similar effect). Combine the spiralized veggies in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Serve with extra coriander and avocado on top.

Marinara Sauce with Zucchini Pasta & Veggieballs

This is definitely a recipe to try if you're after a raw, vegan, or maybe just healthy alternative to meatballs and pasta! It's super delicious & the 3 components work really well together :)

Recipe...

Marinara sauce

6 med tomatoes

6 dehydrated tomatoes

1 tbs chopped spring onion

1 tsp dried oregano

Big handful of basil leaves

3 Zucchinis

Veggieballs (see previous post!)

For the sauce, blend all ingredients until smooth. For the pasta, use a spiralizer* to cut the zucchini. Pour sauce over the pasta and top with veggieballs, leftover dehydrated tomatoes and basil leaves. That's it- so simple! If you've tried this, and if you have any additions/substitutions, please let us know how it went :)

*If you don't have a spiralizer, no worries! You can easily achieve a similar result just by peeling thin strips off of the zucchinis

Veggieballs

Kind of like meatballs- but without all the animal suffering & unhealthy parts (yup, nothin' but goodness packed into these!), these veggieballs are truly delicious and perfect with a zoodle + marinara sauce combo (recipe for that is coming soon!)

Here's how to make them...

4 mushrooms

1/4 red capsicum

3cm leek stalk*

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1 medium carrot

1/3 zucchini

1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice

Pinch ground cumin

*Could sub with spring onions, but I didn't have any!

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process to a fine consistency (be careful not to over-process or it will go mushy!). Using a strainer or cheesecloth, squeeze the excess liquid from the mixture into a bowl. Grab about 1 tbs of the mixture at a time and roll it into a ball with your hands. Voila! Scrumptious veggieballs all for YOU :)