Sunday, April 26, 2009

Raw Food Fun

I have more food in my house than I know what to do with. I got my staples from the neighborhood grocer, went to the farmers market, got a few things at Whole Foods, and also got my first CSA box of the season.




My box was full of arugula, beets, carrots, dill, garlic, garlic scapes, onions, radish, Swiss chard. I also got a huge head of lettuce.

And beautiful strawberries!

From the farmers market I got…



… broccoli, purple kohlrabi, spring onion, sunflower sprouts, and amaranth greens. Have you tried amaranth greens?



They are not very tender, but I like the flavor. I would liken it to a mild arugula. They are wonderful in salad. The vendor also told me they should be enjoyed juiced.

Now, about those beets. Beets are just not something I enjoy, unless I don’t know I’m eating beets, like when they’re pickled. I don’t like them boiled or roasted, so I decided to try them raw!


This beautiful dip is made from about a cup of nuts (almonds, cashews, and pine nuts) and equal parts of beets, red pepper, carrots, daikon, and cauliflower. It’s seasoned with garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, and dill. I really like the flavor combination of beets with daikon. In fact, I don’t think I would like this dip without the daikon. And now I’ve got an idea for a recipe to use up some more of those beets with the radishes!

Since I had the food processor and the cauliflower out and was getting into the raw thing, I made up a batch of raw rice.



This is Sesame Raisin Cauliflower Rice, flavored with tahini and a good amount of cilantro. It’s different, but good. This recipe and the beet dip are available from the March edition of Vegan Culinary Experience, which if you don’t already subscribe to, you should. There are LOADS of fabulous recipes, tips, and information and it’s free. Also from this edition is the Eggplant Bacon, which I’ve seen on a few blogs and which I have marinating now. Eggplant is another veggie foe I have to disguise its taste to enjoy. I’ll report back later on how it turns out.


Finally, let me tell you about a couple of raw treats I’ve enjoyed. Gopal’s is a local company started by someone who came from the Bliss Bar company. I’ve never had a Bliss Bar, but supposedly it’s good stuff. Gopal’s has a wonderful website with TONS of organic raw bars, cookies, cheese, wraps, and brownies. I recently tried a sweet and a savory one. Until I tried these, I never liked any raw bars. They just taste too raw. This sweet treat was crispy and very flavorful, and I wish I had bought some other varieties to try.


This savory treat was a “store favorite.” It looked interesting.



There are two wraps in a package that look like this:



It was very unique and very good. It was almost like jerky.



It is simply flavored nuts wrapped in nori, and I don’t see why you couldn’t come up with your own recipe for this, if you want some raw jerky. By the way, the website says “gopal” means “friend of the cow.” Awwwww….

I know Chase has to work late and can’t come to dinner tonight, but I’m cooking anyway. I may invite someone else for dinner, or just have Chase over for leftovers later in the week. Stay tuned for a Southern Supper.

26 comments:

VeganWoman said...

I am like you, I love to spread out all of my veggies and look at them after a haul from a farmers market or the store! The beets look amazing and I am very curious about those Rawma bars, I have not seen them before :) Great blog and great pics!

Noodlegirl said...

Oh I love what you have gotton I am also curious of the Rawma bars how many calories are they?

Andrea said...

Interesting post! I feel just the way you do about beets, and I only like them grated raw. I'll have to go back and pay more attention to my VCE editions after reading your post.

I love your photos of the veggies. I'm really sad that we opted out of our CSA this year because of our upcoming move.

Macie said...

Wow, those nori-jerky things look really awesome!!

Katy said...

I am so jealous of all that yummy looking produce! I just love fresh food, especially in the summer!

Anonymous said...

Why am I not your neighbour so I can come over and taste all your deliciousness! That beet spread sounds so good...I've had beets on the brain lately. And those nori-raw thingys look fun!

Eric said...

I'm curious what CSA you are a member of. We are trying Johnson's Backyard Garden this year and the produce has been great, but their current boxes have a different selection right now. No carrots, garlic, or garlic scapes. We are getting lots of tasty kohlrabi and greens though.

A_and_N said...

Thats a lot of fresh goodies there!

I LOVED the idea of vegan-jerkies! Very creative with the nori wrapping.

The beetroot dip sounds pretty novel too! Love the flavor combination in that.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

I do love beetroot Diann, I am so glad you have come around to the idea :)

aTxVegn said...

Noodlegirl, the Rawma bars are about 200 calories. I think the one I got was 170.

Eric, I'm with Hairston Creek Farms and have been very pleased with my boxes.

Thanks for encouraging me with the beets, everyone!

jessy said...

those rawma bars look interesting - i may have to check 'em out! hooray for so much vegetable awesomeness! i love the raw beet 'n daikon dip - and the raw rice looks so darn pretty! i've never had amaranth greens before, and i can't wait to see what deeelicious southern supper you're cook'n up!

Crystal said...

I'm like you, Diann...beets are not my favorite. I don't even think I can try the spread you made, but I still have a million pounds of beets, so maybe I should. Maybe.

Rose said...

Thanks for sharing those two local eats - I need to check them out!

MeloMeals said...

I love beet and daikon together too. Have you ever had just shredded beets, carrots and daikon in a salad or wrap with a nutty asian sauce? Super good.

I'm sorry Chase couldn't be there for dinner. You must miss him.

I know that I am missing my kids a lot these days.

Oraphan said...

Everything looks so beautiful,such a great inspiration!!

Steph (I am Bee) said...

that cauliflower rice looks devine!

Unknown said...

I never liked beets until I had them raw, too :)

Unknown said...

oh, also, I've tried raw eggplant bacon... I just could not wait long enough to let it get crispy, it would have taken forever. but I still scarfed it down.

Hannah said...

Wow, what amazing produce- It all looks so fresh and vibrant! I would definitely want to eat everything raw if it were of such high quality, too.

Anonymous said...

I saw that kohlrabi and I wanted to get it but I already had too much stuff. Everything looks beautiful!

Nathalie Lussier said...

Wow I loved all the photos of the produce you've got. It all looks super delicious! I just finished working in my garden and planting many of the things you mentioned. I'm in Canada, so the season starts a little later. ;)

I loved the photo of your raw rice, it looks delicious. Also, thanks for the beet dip recipe, I planted lots of beets!

A.M. said...

Waa, al those fruits and veggies look so delicious!

Jes said...

I might have to try that beet dip this week! I got a few in my CSA box and I have no idea what to do with them!

Lisa said...

I love how colorful all your veggies are. Yay Spring and Summer produce!

Ricki said...

I think one of the best aspects of eating raw foods is the glorious rainbow of colors--those photos are astonishing! And the beet hummus sounds great. :)

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Everything looks so fresh! As a hater of beets, that dip even looks great to me.