Raw Strawberry Cake

Nothing taste better than a raw cake on a warm day like this. I love making raw dessert because you can enjoy dessert without guilt since it's made only with natural stuff in their natural state that is good for you and contains many vitamins and minerals. Bella loved this cake so much that I had a hard time stopping her from eating the whole filling while she was helping me. 

I love how you can see real good pieces of strawberries

The cake looks like a perfect summer cake

Strawberry crumble cake, serving 8

Crumb bottom & topping:

2 cups pecans, not soaked

1 cup dates

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Place in food processor and process until it's crumbly. Grease a cake pan with removable bottom with little bit coconut or olive oil. Spread about 50% of the crumbles into the bottom and set a side. 

Cake:

I cup young Thai coconut meat

I cup un-soaked cashews

1/2 cup strawberries, shopped

1/2 cup thick coconut milk (water and meat from a young Thai coconut blended)

6 good sized dates, soaked for 20 minutes

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 vanilla beans, scraped out

2 teaspoons psyllium powder

1 tablespoon and 1 1/4 teaspoon Agave nectar

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 cups strawberries, chopped

Place in food processor everything above except the 2 cups of strawberries and process until nice a creamy. Pour into a large bowl and add 2 cups of strawberries and blend well. Pour into cake pan and place remaining cake crumbles on top.  Place a foil over cake and place level in freezer for at least 6 ours. Remove from freezer and let defrost for 1 hour before serving. People will not believe it's "un-bakes" baked cake :)

Lentil and cashew curry

One of Isabella’s friends became a big sister two weeks ago and her class arranged for parents to volunteer cooking for the family. Off course I jump on that and made curry for them. I know curry can sound a little spicy for kids but I make it mild so Bella suggested that was what I was going to cook.

1 tbsp. olive oil

6 shallots, peeled and minced

1 tsp. black mustard seeds

2 tsp. yellow curry powder

2 garlic cloves, grated

¼ cup red lentils, rinsed

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into coins

¾ cup zucchini, diced

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

½ cup water

Salt to taste

1 can coconut milk

¾ cup unsalted cashews

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and sauté shallots, garlic with black mustard seeds and curry powder for 1 minute. Add lentils, carrots, zucchini and water and bring to a boil. Cook until water is gone. Add coconut milk, tomatoes, and salt and reduce to a simmer and cover pot. Simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in the cashews before serving. Serve with cooked rice or quinoa. 

Baked Vegetables and Pasta

I had planned to make lasagna today and here I was with ready with veggies, cream sauce and tomato sauce just to realize that I was out of lasagna sheets. Well change of plans and I used penne pasta instead and made a bake pasta dish. It all tastes the same anyway.

1 cup homemade tomato sauce (or use store bought)

1 cup zucchini, sliced think and then cut into half moons

1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into match sticks

2 cups cooked penne pasta

1 cup raw cashews

½ cup raw macadamia nuts

2 tsp. herb salt

2 tsp. dried French herbs

1 tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup-3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to F400

Steam carrots until al dente.

Combine cashews and macadamia nuts in a food processor and blend until it’s a grainy meal. Add lemon juice, herb salt, dried French herbs and keep on mixing while slowly adding the water. Keep blending until it’s a pretty smooth and creamy cream.

Blend pasta, tomato sauce and vegetables and pour into a baking dish. Pour the nut cream sauce over and gently fold it in with the pasta.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until top is slightly crispy and browned. Enjoy as is or with a nice leafy salad.

Parsley Pesto

My friend and I has a little exchange going on where she gives me lettuce, parsley, limes and jalapeno peppers from her garden and I give her artichokes and other goodies I have overflow of. Yesterday after our little girls had a play date I was so excited when she handed me a huge bag of lettuce and parsley. I made parsley pesto and a wonderful tasty salad from it and served this with brown rice pasta and green beans. I also added some savoy cabbage in the pesto from our garden because I’m drowning in cabbage right now. Yesterday I harvested three huge heads plus tons of tomatoes, strawberries and fava beans. God I love this time of year when food is growing like mad in our backyard.

1/3 cup raw cashews

1 garlic glove, grated

1 cup chopped parsley

1 cup chopped savoy cabbage

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup grated cheese (I used rice cheese)

Salt & pepper to taste

Place cashews, garlic, parsley, cheese and cabbage in a food processor and mix. Slowly with the processor going pour the oil in a steady stream. Stop and stir in salt and pepper. If the Pesto seems too dry just add a little bit of water. Toss with cooked pasta

Nut cheese stuffed dates

I was giving a friend a recipe for an appetizer and it was for nut cheese stuffed dates, which are one of my favorite ones to serve. The salty and sweet combination are wonderful and dates are so much fun. Dates are rich in antioxidants and its natural sweetness revitalizes the body so they are perfect snack after a workout.

1 cup raw cashews nuts

½ tbsp. minced chives

½ tbsp. minced parsley

Juice form ½ lemon

1/8-cup water

½ tsp. salt

15 dates, pitted

2 tbsp. Agave nectar

Preheat oven to F400.

Combine the nuts, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and begin mixing. Slowly add the water. Keep mixing until it’s smooth. Stir in the herbs by hand. Use a teaspoon to fill dates with the cheese. Place dates in a baking dish cut side up. Drizzle agave nectar Bake for 7 minutes. Stick a toothpick in to serve the dates. 

Nut ricotta stuffed nectarines

We had a very good friend from New York visit us and she is also a food-loving vegetarian so I was super excited to cook for her. I made a lot of small dishes made from vegetables from the farmers market; kale salad, tomato and basil salad, sprouts, bean patties, and then these amazing ricotta nectarines. The ricotta is made from macadamia nuts and is so amazing stuffed into a nectarine.

1 cup raw macadamia nuts

Juice form ½ lemon

Grate from 1 lemon

1/8 cup water

½ tsp. salt

3 medium nectarines

1 tbs Agave nectar

Combine the nuts, lemon juice, grate and salt in a food processor and begin mixing. Slowly add the water. Keep mixing until it’s smooth. Preheat oven to F400. Cut nectarines in half. Remove pits and stuff ricotta in the pit hole. Drizzle Agave nectar over. Place stuffed nectarines in a baking dish and bake for 10-15 minutes, until nectarines are slightly soft. 

Raw Cashew Whipped Cream

Warm evenings like these screams strawberries and cream. Lucky me not only are our strawberries ripening but also I bought strawberries at the farmers market. For the cream I made raw cashew whipped cream which pair really well with the sweet berries. 

1 cup cashews

Filtered water for soaking the nuts

½ tbs coconut oil

1/2 cup water

2 tbs maple syrup

½ vanilla bean, seeds used

Put nuts in a container filled with enough water to cover and let them soak for at least 2 hours. Drain nuts and in a blender combine the water maple syrup and vanilla beans.

Blend, using a rubber scraper, scrape the sides to help the cream turn over. Slowly add coconut oil. Stop and check for sweetness and consistency, add more water if the cream is still too stiff.

Continue blending until fluffy and smooth. Use immediately.

Ste Martaen Vegan cheese review

This week I was so excited to try vegan cheese from Ste Martaen. We tried two kinds of cheese; olive and muenster style cheese. The flavor of both cheese were very nice. They are both salty in a good way and the olive style cheese also has a slight smoky after tone. Both cheeses were easy to slice but they were both quit wet to handle. They both melted really well and the olive style cheese was fun in a grilled cheese sandwich.

What attracted me to Ste Martean’s cheese was that they are all made from cashews and not soy. I was so delighted when the cheese arrived yesterday because they had included a hand written note, thanking us for buying themJ

I highly recommend Ste Martaen vegan cashew cheese and I can’t wait to try their other flavors too and they are; pepper jack, smoked gouda and Colby.

Super yummy olive flavored cheese tasty on grilled cheese sandwich

You know it's small company you're buying from when you get a hand written thank you note!

Farm to table dinner

Saturdays are the day we as a family go to the one of the largest farmers markets in San Diego. We’ve been doing that since we moved so over 5 years and we love it. There is something so nice about getting to know who is growing your food and see their passion. We try hard to eat local and according to season and since we live here in Sunny San Diego and are blessed with great produce we really have no reason not to. The farmers markets now sell pretty much everything you need such as cheese, milk, egg, honey, bread, pasta, grains and beans, fish, chicken, meat as well as off course vegetable and fruits. 

Last night we had dinner made totally from food bought at the market. We ate marinated and BBQ Portobello mushrooms, avocado creamy potato salad, a mixed salad and for dessert wonderful juicy strawberries. The salad was wonderful and had an added kick from wasabi roasted nuts.

1/2 head of romaine lettuce

1 large carrot, grated

1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half if large

1 cup sunflower sprouts

2 tbsp. flax seed oil

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

2/3 cup wasabi spiced nuts, chopped (or use any other spicy flavored nut)

In a large salad serving bowl, mix flax seed oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper,

Tear lettuce into bite size pieces. Combine lettuce, carrot, tomatoes, nuts and sprouts in the same bowl and toss salad with dressing right before serving. This way the salad won’t het soggy. 

Raw Goat Cheese

I have a love affair with anything fermented or pickled so when I found a recipe for goaty cashew cheese on Melomeal.blogspot I knew I had try making it. I honestly don’t know if it taste like goat cheese but it’s super yummy and I will use in a pasta dish I making for lunch today. You can eat the cheese once it’s been blended but to take a step further and culture the cheese more you can place in a yogurt maker overnight, which I did. Happy Sunday Everyone!

1 cup cashews

1 cup sauerkraut

2 tbsp. miso

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. umeboshi vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Pinch of salt

Blend everything well in a food processor. Place in yogurt maker if using it. 

Soft Chocolate & Hazelnut caramels

Bella and me were stuck at home yesterday because Noah took a late nap. After playing with play dough, in the garden etc. we were bored. Baking or making candy is a fun this I enjoy doing with Bella so we made a very nice dark caramel.

½ cup muscavado sugar

50g butter

¼ cup light syrup

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour or white spelt flour

4 tbsp. unsweetened cacao powder

½ vanilla bean, seeds used

½ cup hazelnuts, chopped

Combine sugar, butter, syrup, flour, cacao powder and vanilla bean seeds in a saucepan.  Bring to boil and cook for about 5 minutes or until a caramel thermometer reaches about F238  Stir in the hazelnuts and spread on a parchment paper and place to harden in fridge for at least one hour. Use a sharp knife to cut into bite size pieces. I poured mine into silicon candy molds for show. 

Pineapple filled sandwich cookies

Happy Earth Day Everyone! I hope all are taking this opportunity to do something to celebrate our beautiful planet. On Green Mom you can read what we and our staff are doing to celebrate.

We had a date with our neighbors for Mexican traditional enchilada making. Kristen makes the best enchiladas so I finally got her to teach me. They were amazing and soon as I get the OK from Kristen I will post the recipe here. As a thank you and for a sweet ending I baked pineapple sandwich cookies. The pineapple fried quinoa I made yesterday inspired me to make these cookies. 

½ cup almond meal

1 ½ cup white spelt flour or all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. baking soda

110g butter

Pineapples preserve

Combine almond meal, flour, sugar, baking soda and butter in a food processor and mix until it’s a firm dough ball. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to F400.  Roll dough into just larger than a quarter size ball and place on a cookie sheet. Use back of a fork to press balls slightly flat. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cookies cool completely. Spread pineapple preserve on flat side and pair up two cookies to make a sandwich. 

Snack Time—Baked Apple Sandwich

I’m always on the lookout for the perfect snack. It has to be satisfying, healthy and good enough for kids to eat it. This baked apple sandwich has been my cravings lately and that it's served warm is just plus because you get a little warm apple pie feeling from it.

1 slice of whole wheat or multi grain bread

1 tbsp. almond butter (or substitute wit any other nut butter)

¼ apple, peeled and sliced very thin

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tbsp. agave nectar

Preheat oven to F400

Spread almond butter on the slice of bread. Arrange apple slices on top. Dust cinnamon and then drizzle agave nectar over. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until apples are soft and bread slightly toasted. Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of milkJ

Walnut baguettes

This is bread I baked for my friend. I prepared the dough in the evening and let it rise over night and then I baked it in the morning. Long rising time require less yeast and makes a nice fluffy dough in my opinion.

2 cups white spelt flour

1 cup whole wheat spelt flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

½ package active dry yeast

2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1 ½ cup warm almond milk

1 tbsp. coconut oil

Combine spelt flour, salt, sugar, yeast and walnuts in a large bowl or kitchen aid. Blend milk and oil and add little bit at the time until all liquid is incorporated and you have shiny dough that is elastic. Cover bowl with a towel and leave to rise over night or at least a couple of hours. Knead dough for a few minutes and add more flour if it’s very sticky. Divide in half and shape each to a long baguette. Place on a cookie sheet covered with a parchment paper. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to F440. Place an ice cube in the oven or spray some water for mist and bake baguettes for 15-20 minutes. 

Cardamom and Hazelnut Biscotti

I’ve had a crazy work week and on top of that a very over tired five year old. As you can imagine this spells trouble and a very tired mama at the end of the day. Luckily Noah has been super happy little guy who takes a long naps in the afternoon giving me some much needed work time but also a chance to enjoy a cup of tea in the garden. Today I made biscotti to enjoy with the tea. I love biscotti but never attempted to my own and I was pleastlly surprised how easy it was.

1 ¾ cups white spelt flour

¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1 ½ tbsp. egg-replacer

2/3 cup water

½ vanilla bean, split open and seeds used

1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts

• Preheat oven to F350.
• Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and cardamom in a large bowl and blend well. 
• In small bowl whisk together water, egg replacement and vanilla bean seeds until there are no lumps left. Add to the large bowl and begin to mix until it’s all combined. 
• I used my hands but next time I think I will just use my food processor or kitchen aid instead. 
• Divide dough I half and with slightly wet hands roll and shape each piece into a log. 
• Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. 
• Bake for 30 minutes. 
• Remove from oven and let them cool for 10 minutes and carefully slice diagonally bake the slices cut side down for 8 minutes and flip and bake another 8 minutes. 
• I drizzled some melted chocolate chips over mine to make them pretty but it's optional.
• Yummy!!!!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

This soup is perfect on a cold and rainy day because its earthy and rich flavors brings warmth and a cozy feeling to it. I call it creamy but there is no cream in it at all, the creaminess comes from cashew butter and pureeing the soup. I topped the soup with herbed croutons that I simply made by frying bread pieces in olive oil and sprinkling dried fresh herbs and garlic salt over.

2 cups mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake and portobello mushrooms)

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 cup water

½ vegetable bouillon cube

½ cup almond milk

2 tbsp. cashew butter

Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet and cook mushrooms and garlic until browned. Place mushrooms in a saucepan with water, bouillon. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Add milk and cook for another 5 minutes. Combine soup with cashews butter, salt and pepper in a blender and puree until completely smooth and fluffy. Place soup back in saucepan and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. 

Popcorn brittle

We had a birthday party to attend and in the last minute we realized we did not have a birthday present. So instead we made popcorn brittle because who does not like homemade sweets? When handling hot caramel make sure to keep little people's hands and fingers away because it's burning hot and I actually burned myself today and wow it really hurts. You do need a thermometer for this dish to know when the caramel is done. This brittle has a little of that sweet and salty going on, very yummy!

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and used

4 cups popcorn

1/2 cup raw cashews, chopped

2 tbs nutritional yeast

Combine butter, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until the temperature reaches F320 and make sure to stir very often to prevent caramel from burning. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, popcorn, nutritional yeast and nuts. Spread caramel on a parchment paper and place in fridge for at least one hour before attempting to break brittle.

Healthy veggie disguised as a cheesy and -tasty snack

I know it sounds unbelievable and I have to admit when I first heard of kale chips I really did not think they would be a hit with my family. I was so wrong and I love watching Bella munching on this green vegetables which I usually have to mix with other things to get her to enjoy it.

Kale is a super veggie everyone should eat a lot of because of its health benefits stemming from the high levels of antioxidants, vitamin K and A among many things. This recipe comes from VegNews and the chips can be made either in a dehydrator like I did or in a conventional oven.

1 cup cashews, soaked for an hour or more and drained
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tbs mellow white miso
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs agave nectar or maple syrup
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup water
1 large bunch curly kale, washed, de-stemmed, ripped into medium-sized pieces

In a blender of food processor, blend cashews, lemon juice, bell peppers, miso, salt, pepper, agave, nutritional yeast and water for 1-2 minutes until thick.
In a large bowl, place kale, and add 3/4 cup sauce. Use your hands to massage in the sauce into the kale.

If you're making the chips in a dehydrator place the kale in a single layer, spread out and dry in 115 for 3-4 hours. Flip them and then continue to dry until crispy, about another 2-3 hours.

If your drying them in an oven, preheat oven to F250. Bake chips for 1 hour, flipping them once. Bake  until completely dry.

Almond and raspberry crumble

I was craving raspberries after dinner last night so when James was gave the kids a bath I made a quick crumble that is gluten free and absolutely delicious. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

3 tbs butter

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup buckwheat cereal

2 tbs honey

2 cups raspberries, frozen or fresh

Preheat oven to F400.
Combine butter, almond flour, buckwheat cereal and honey in a food processor and blend for a just a few seconds. Place raspberries in 4 individual baking dishes and crumble some of the dough on top. Bake for 10 minutes, until top is slightly brown.

Nut and oatmeal cookies

Yesterday I had one of those days when a lot of things went wrong and lots of stress. So what do I do to relax? I bake or cook. I know it sounds weird but it's when I know I can control things and keeps my hands and head busy and it's not about eating either. Hubby off course was thrilled about the goodie surprise that was waiting for him when he go home from work. 

200g butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup chopped salted and roasted cashews
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 vanilla bean seeds 
3 cups white spelt flour or all-purpose flour


1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to F350
Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and whip until fluffy and white. Stir in remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips and blend well. Roll little balls and place in a parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cookies cool on a wire rack. Melt chocolate and drizzle over cold cookies.