Chick Pea Curry

By Rachel Rogel

This recipe was inspired by one in Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen by Lorna Sass. She has revised the book and republished it under the title Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. Sass specializes in writing cookbooks for pressure cookers, but this cookbook includes stove top methods. The recipes are all vegan and focus on whole, minimally processed foods. Her website: http://www.lornasass.com/home includes recipes, biographical information and information about her cookbooks.

Ingredients:

1 large onion
1 T oil
1 ½ T yellow curry powder (or to taste)
1 t ground cumin (optional)
1 t ground coriander (optional)
4 cups firm-cooked chick peas (or two 14 oz cans, drained with some liquid reserved)
½ cup bean cooking liquid
1 14 oz can regular or low fat coconut milk
1 t salt (or to taste)
1 bunch spinach, stems removed and chopped or 2 – 3 C frozen spinach

Chop onion and saute in oil on medium low until very soft and starting to brown, stirring occasionally. Add spices and stir for a minute or so. Add beans and enough liquid to prevent the spices from sticking. Cook for a few minutes to allow the beans to absorb the spices. Add the coconut milk and cook for a few more minutes. Add the spinach, and put a lid on the pan. Cook for 3-5 more minutes or until spinach wilts. Remove the lid and cook for a few more minutes if needed to achieve the consistency you like. Serve over rice.

Options and notes:

- Commercial curry powder varies quite a bit. You may want to add cayenne pepper (usually just a pinch), turmeric, a bay leaf or even a little cinnamon to yours if you feel it needs a boost. I advise adding less curry powder initially and more after the coconut milk has been added if you are not sure of its' potency.
- I know it ruins the “veganness” of the dish, but I love to serve it with a side of yogurt mixed with chopped cucumbers and a little salt OR yogurt mixed with fruit and a little honey. (I guess soy yogurt and maple syrup would work.)
- For a lower fat version, substitute one or two cups of chick peas, pureed with some of the cooking liquid for the coconut milk. Serve with flaked coconut on top.

Rachel Rogel lives in Ohio where she enjoys expressing herself through art, gardening,

cooking and getting together with friends from her local support group.

French Lentil Sprouted Tapenade

by Kathy Fitzpatrick
 

Traditionally speaking Tapenade is a Provencal dish whose main ingredient is olives. However, ingredients for tapenades vary according to regions and can be created with  many different things. Below is a version i've created where sprouted french green lentils replace the olives. Tapenades are generally eaten as an hors d'oeuvre and spread on crusty breads and crackers. If your diet is raw this is great on raw crackers or rolled up in de-stemmed collard greens.

Three day prior to making:
Soak and sprout 1/2 cup of french green lentils

To create Tapenade:
1 cup sprouted french lentils
1/2 cup of parsley
1 heaping Tablespoon dulse
2 cloves of garlic [or more to taste]
a small handful of sun dried tomatoes [soaked for a half hour]
extra virgin olive oil

Add to taste:
lemon [approximately 2-3 tablespoons]
sea salt

Place all ingredients except olive oil, salt, and lemon, in a food processor or mortar and pestle and process until the mixture is coarsely chopped, next add olive oil until it's like a paste, then add salt and lemon to taste. Enjoy!

Kathy's Raw Food Holiday Recipes

for Pariah Readers

No holiday repast is complete without a bit of sumptuous decadence!  The following are a few recipes  i love to create and share with friends and family, that are not only simple to make, but require absolutely no cooking or dehydration!  Enjoy!

Raw Cacao Coconut Cake

3 cups dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup raw cocoa powder
1/2 agave nectar [may need a bit more]
1/4 cup coconut  oil [optional]
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
½ tsp. sea salt

Combine all ingredients into a food processor or you may mix by hand. Once well mixed form into a small round cake or form into small balls using approximately one tablespoon of the mixture.  Roll in coconut, carob or raw cacao and enjoy.  You can also dehydrate them at 115° for 12-24 hours or until crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Have fun and experiment with adding other ingredients to the mixture, things like raw cashew butter, maca, goji berries, etc. 

You'll find a couple more variations of the above recipe along with other raw, uncooked recipes at Restoration Health.

Dairyless Cacao-Banana Ice Cream [or topping]

This is a recipe from the Sproutmans' [aka Steve Meyerowitz] book, "Kitchen Garden Cookbook.  It's a wonderfully rich dessert that unfrozen makes a rich topping for the raw cake recipe above. 

Ingredients
2-3 ripe bananas
1/3 carob or cacao powder
1/4 honey [or agave]
2 Tablespoons Liquid Lecithin
1 tsp vanilla

Yields: 4 servings

Chop up the bananas and place in a food processor and whip them up along with the other ingredients.  You may need to poke the banana around until they are good and whipped.  If you're making a topping this is all you need to do. 

If you'd like to make frozen dessert, pour the mixture into a container and place in the freezer, stir frequently until frozen. 

Raw UNCOOKED Apple Pie

This is a recipe from Ani Phyo that is not only "sugar free, wheat free, gluten free and cruelty free, but incredibly delicious!  And it's raw, no cooking required!  It's a recipe that recieves rave reviews everytime i make it!  It tastes even better than it's cooked counterpart and is packed full of live, health promoting nutrition.  You'll have a hard time convincing folks this recipe is really raw.  You can find this recipe on  Ani Phyo’s.  It's from her book of really great raw food recipes called Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes*. 

Ingredients:

Crust

• 2 cup almonds

• 2 cups pitted dates

• 1 teaspoon sea-salt

Syrup

• 1/2 cup pitted dates

• 1 orange pitted and seeded

• 1/4 cup water

Filling

• 5 to 6 apples peeled and thinly sliced

• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

To make the crust pulse almonds and salt in a food processor until the nuts are in small pieces.  You want you crust to have chunks of almonds in it, so don't over process.  Use some of the finer powder to "flour" the bottom of your pie dish.

Slowly add dates into the processor in small batches to mix with almond bits.  The dates will bind the almonds to form a dough.  Press dough into the bottom of  "floured" pie pan.  Set aside. 

To make syrup, place orange into your blender first.  Then add dates and blend.  If needed, add small amounts of water to help everything mix well.  Set aside. 

To make filling, place sliced apples in a bowl with raisins.  Toss with cinnamon and syrup.  Spoon filling into pie crust.

Will keep for two days in the fridge.

Here is a YouTube video where she shows just how easy it is to make.
 

* Caution her book is printed in a ink that may not be safe for chemically sensitive individuals. 

Fruit and Citrus Roasted Vegetables

By Lucinda Hodges

This is a very easy recipe, which makes it perfect for anyone too tired or too busy to cook especially during the holiday season. I call it a "this and that" recipe since I take whatever I have in the way of fruit and vegetables and throw them into a large baking dish.

Begin by arranging small to medium sized potatoes on the bottom of the baking dish. Intermingle either apples or pears. Next, layer broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn on the cob, onions, garlic, chunks of cabbage, whatever you have on hand.

While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees, create a quick marinade. The idea is to mix citrus and fruit juices which will caramelize the fruit and vegetables, with more pungent liquids to balance the flavors. The last time I made this marinade I used the juice of a lime, some leftover cherry juice, a tablespoon of miso, garlic vinegar, a splash of Braggs amino acids, and poured it over the contents in the baking dish. Other ideas, would be honey, cranberries, orange or lemon juice, teriyaki sauce along with any herb flavored oils or vinegars. Be adventurous and creative!

Cover and bake for one to two hours or until the potatoes are baked through and soft. In the last thirty minutes I like to uncover the dish and let everything brown just a bit. Pull from the oven, add fresh spinach and cover. The heat from the hot veggies will lightly steam the spinach. Serve with fresh sauerkraut, if you have it. Enjoy the bounty of the season!

Roasted White Beans with Miso

This is another very easy recipe for the lazy cook in all of us. Simply rinse and soak the white bean of your choice over night or a good 24 hours. I like large limas, but any white bean works well. Rinse the beans again and pour them into a large Dutch oven or baking dish. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. While the oven heats, cover the beans with fresh water and bring them to a boil on the stove top for about twenty minutes to get them cooking. Turn the heat off under the beans and add a few large spoonfuls of miso, diced garlic, onion and celery. Slice red or orange sweet peppers and let them float on the top like a garnish. Cover and let bake in the oven until the beans are soft and well cooked which is about one and half to two hours depending on the type of bean and how large a quantity your are baking. You can thin or thicken the beans by adjusting the amount of water you use. Like the roasted veggies, I like to uncover the beans during the final thirty minutes and let the top get browned and get crusty. Perfect comfort food to keep the chill of winter at bay.

Both of these recipes could easily be done in a crock pot if you don't have an oven or you are working. You can set the crock pot up in the morning and have a hearty meal ready by evening.