Raw food, what can I say? It’s gonna take a little getting used to and I know we won’t go full raw as in everything we eat around here but I am a firm believer that it’s best. So I got this new uncookbook to give it a try and to help us slip in more raw foods/recipes into our diets. That being said I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. J did end up eating all of hers but that was after the initial “uh what is this? not a fan” comment. After a few more bites (I’m so proud of her for giving it another chance) and dunking some bread in it she actually said it was alright and that it would just take a little getting used to but she was willing to try. Z wasn’t much of a fan but she also liked dunking bread in it so it wasn’t horrid to her. I think the raw garlic was a little spicy for her. Either way this was a very bright fresh cold soup that I just loved. It does call for a lot of oil which scared me into only halving the recipe. I’m not sure how I feel about a ton of calories with not much protein. Do be sure to add the chopped tomatoes (topping) to give it a chunky texture, a nice contrast to the creamy soup (A recommendation from Ani that J and I fully agree with). It makes it a bit heartier. I actually didn’t have any fresh basil on hand so we used fresh organic parsley which worked out just fine. I’d say give this a shot even if you only quarter the recipe for a single serving to try. It’s super fast which is something I think I’ll like about raw eating since there is no cooking time. Although many raw recipes do call for many ours of soaking or drying, although that isn’t actual “work”.

Whats more American than the Chinese buffet? Well, lot’s of things but you know what I mean. J is not huge on the Chinese buffets but me and little Z have made it kind of a tradition when we are spending a daddy daughter day together. In my opinion you can actually make the Chinese buffet a healthy meal if you can control yourself. There are a ton of vegetable dishes to choose from and they usually keep all the fried stuff together so you can just stay away form that particular island. They usually have a dedicated island for fruit and salads too. Now, I know their not using all organic ingredients and there is a ton of oil, sodium and unrefined sugars in there so it’s not something to eat all the time, but the bad rap they get sometimes is not too deserving. Anyway, when we hit the Chinese buffet one of the standards is the green beans. Simple, crispy and in a wonderful little sauce. I grab a claw full on my first round for every time, sometimes even for seconds, I just love em. So in my attempts to recreate all the things I love from restaurants as well as my attempt to get more veggies in our household meals, behold the Chinese buffet style green beans!

On a side note this was my first experience using rapadura/sucanat sugar as opposed to turbinado sugar. I was always under the impression that turbinado (sugar in the RAW) was unrefined but when I started writing a post about sweeteners I realized that what I was using was actually refined after all. So I made the switch to rapadura/sucanat sugar (organic dried whole sugar cane) to replace white sugar in recipes. I’ll go into more depth on this topic in a post sometime in the near future (it’s in the works). While gathering links for this post I also noticed that the Rapunzel brand has a powdered sugar version as well, something I have been thinking about trying to find lately. Me now found, me now happy. You will find links to more info on these products in the recipe ingredients below.

Glazed, what and awesome word, anything glazed just sounds wonderful. This recipe for glazed carrots calls for 1/2 c. cider and 1/4 c. veggie stock, I didn’t have cider so I ended up using 1/4 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. stock. I ended up switching up the amounts since the applesauce wasn’t really a liquid and I figured it needed more “juice” to reduce (in my mind it made sense). The recipe also called for the carrots to be cut into julienne strips (matchstick sized pieces). I tried that for about 3 minutes before I could see mine were not uniform at all and it was just a wreak. I also thought I might loose a finger in my attempts. I personally love carrots cut that way but I’ve never attempted to do it myself and let’s say there must be an easier way, if anyone knows please step forward. I just decided to cut the carrots in half and quickly slice them with a slicer, all uniform half coins, easy peasy, done. We ate these with some homemade creamy scalloped potatoes, everything being a big hit. Veggie whole food goodness all around. I’ll be posting the potato recipe next time we make it. Little Z ate a ton of these (note to self).

We found the awesome “glazed” metal bowl (above) at savers thrift store this weekend. Also snagged that little bread loaf baking dish I was talking about in the previous post. Good eye J!

This is a simple side that requires only a few ingredients most folks have around the kitchen, the key here is drying out the cucumber slices for a good minute so they are not so crisp. I cut up these cucumbers right before going to the gym so when I got back they would be good to go. If you like cucumbers you pretty much can’t go wrong with this side dish. J and Z both gave it the thumbs up and I pretty much like everything so that’s a given. Apparently these are great for little brown bread sandwiches, a traditional English tea-time snack. J actually pointed out a tiny ceramic bread baking dish at the thrift store last weekend and I was like, nah I don’t have any real use for it right now. Of course a few days later I’m wanting to make a tiny loaf of brown bread. Hopefully it’s still there this weekend, fingers crossed.

Layering the cucumbers in a colander, salting each layer and letting them sit for up to 2 hours will get the cucumbers dried out a bit and less crisp. I let mine sit for an 1 1/2 hours. I wouldn’t go over two.

They will still be very wet when the time is up so drying them between towels is a must.

These fries are easy to make and a healthy whole food snack. I tend to buy a bag of potatoes and eat some then end up wasting the rest (J loves to remind me of that every time I put a new bag in the shopping cart). I think it’s because potatoes seem to take f o r e v e r. Boil, mash, add butter and milk and fry up garlic or bake for 40 minutes to an hour, come on really? These probably take about as long but they just seem to take less time and involve less work to me. Chop and bake, dip and enjoy! I’ve made these about 4 times in the past couple weeks and have actually been using up all my potatoes now and no waste. I’m going to try garlic butter fries one of these times (though honey mustard and fries will always be my #1). The possibilities here are endless. Experiment and have fun, salsa verde fries?

Below is a picture of the kind of raised rack on cooking sheet I talk about in the recipe preparation.

This meal was light and great. This could be the best way I’ve cooked asparagus to date (which is only like my 3rd time). Baking it was awesome! It gave it a light toasty outside with a soft flavorful inside. So yummy even on its own. The balsamic reduction was wonderful and worked well when mixed with the fish and lemon. I cooked the fish the same way as I did for the curry styley because it’s super simple, clean and tastes awesome. Just like the first time I cooked fish this way, and just like the asparagus, it tasted great by itself. Add a little pepper and lemon and wow! I had to half the asparagus recipe because its all the asparagus I had but I could have eaten the full amount no problemo. I give this dish two big fat kiss’s **, yum nom nom.

This sandwich is simple and great even without the cheese to make it a wonderful vegan sandwich. It’s actually inspired by a vegan sandwich from a little place in Kansas City (closed) called the Nutty Girl. For this I used whole wheat sprouted bread, shredded carrots, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, olive spread (can of black olives and a couple T. olive oil pureed), and raw extra sharp cheddar cheese (organic everything). In the pic you see I put the olive spread on first then stacked the rest on top. I would do the reverse next time as it made the bottom piece of bread weak and break apart to quickly. Here is a little more info on raw dairy products which we had to travel 2.5 hours to the Utah/Arizona/Nevada border to get, being it’s illegal in Nevada. The verdict is still out (for me) if raw dairy is to dangerous to consume but for our first time trying raw dairy products (we picked up extra sharp cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and a gallon of milk) I can say the flavor is way way way better, so tasty. Whether it will cure all that ails us we’ll just have to see.

OK so these are great, super quick and easy. I’m probably the biggest honey mustard fan on the face of the earth (great for dipping fries). Some places have good HM some not so good but I do critique them all (watch out). This homemade HM is some of the best and again so simple. The chicken strips are very tasty and are not as heavy or bad for you as when their baked instead of deep fried. Also the fact that it’s not processed chicken tenders form some fast food joint. It’s the real deal straight out of your kitchen making it that much better, health wise and taste wise. Recipe on rotation in this house, six thumbs up!

Waffle and egg II. Homemade whole wheat waffles and eggs using with the Waring Pro waffle iron I got for Christmas from J. Breaking open the perfectly cooked egg and sopping up the yolk and egg with bites of waffle and syrup little Z was taking huge bites and saying mmmm mmmm good every time. Yum and done, try it!

Baba ganoush, what can I say, it’s one of the best names for a food EVER. It’s so fun to say and even better to eat. We adore Mediterranean food in this household and Baba ganoush is the bee’s knees. Baba G is super simple to make, bake then blend. It’s light and refreshing with a very natural and earthy taste. Eggplant, lemon, sesame, and olive oil, what a beautiful combo. I can’t wait to get home from work to dig in again, if there is any left by then, oh!