by natalia | Apr 22, 2013 | Recipes
• 3 oz raw semi-soft goat or sheep cheese at room temperature
• 1 zucchini, peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp of chives, tarragon, oregano or thyme
• 1 lemon, zest & juice
• s/p to taste
Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Thin out with water or more lemon to make it zestier. You can use raw goat milk or a yogurt if you have on hand. Go for a rustic but still easy to flow kind of sauce. Just like a Caesar Salad, eat it with romaine, cherry tomatoes, add more grated raw goat if you like or more lemon, be generous with the cracked black pepper; it stands up to it!
Alternatively, you can keep the sauce thick and use it as a sauce for crudite; carrots, cucumber, zucchini, celery, etc. Or roast vegetables; asparagus, cauliflower, red bell peppers, radicchio and serve the sauce on the side.
Seriously, I’ve witnessed as a whole room when silent when I severed this creamy herby sauce drizzled on top of a whole branzino or a filet of cod that had been roasted with lemon and sliced red onions. I love it when I get comments like, “I’m allowed to eat that?” OH YEAH YOU CAN!
by natalia | Apr 22, 2013 | Recipes
• 3 tbsp Shoyu with equal parts water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 garlic, minced
• 1 knob ginger, in matchsticks
• 1 scallion or chives, chopped
• 1 dash of cayenne
• A couple of drops of sesame oil (optional)
• Stevia to taste
• Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Combine all ingredients, let flavors steep. Thin out with more water to taste if shoyu is too salty. This is particular good not just for salads like arugula, watercress, red leaf lettuce, cabbage, etc. but as a sauce for steamed vegetables especially zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. It is a great marinade for mushrooms like shitake and cremini which can later be sliced and added to salads.
If you eat raw goat cheese, have the marinated mushrooms over spinach, add sun dried tomatoes with chopped parsley and it is heart warming. (You can bake this in the oven till the cheese melts for yourself or a loved one)
by natalia | Apr 22, 2013 | Recipes
• 4 med roasted beets, roughly cubed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 knob ginger (1 inch)
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 citrus fruit zest (orange, tangerine, Clementine, etc)
• s/p to taste
• 1 tbsp tahini or sesame oil to taste
Blend all ingredients, adding water to facilitate blending.
This dressing stands up to robust or peppery greens like arugula, dandelion, kale, collard greens, mizuna, watercress, etc. It’s great over spiralized carrots, zucchini and daikon. Add fresh torn basil and parsley and it makes great raw pasta. Last time I gave it to Natalia she ate it with a spoon before it even made it onto the salad!
I use it as a sauce for hand nori rolls that are rolled with slivers of raw beets, carrots, jicama or daikon, avocado, scallions and shredded red cabbage. I also pickle ginger in the roasted beet sauce overnight with more lemon. It turns the ginger pink and I put it in the nori rolls!
by natalia | Apr 22, 2013 | Recipes
• 1 pt cherry tomatoes or 4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 knob ginger (1 inch)
• ¼ jalapeno, seeded (take a nibble, use more or less)
• 1 lime, zest & juice
• s/p to taste
Blend all ingredients.
This seemingly delicate sauce packs a punch. It’s best with light, mild salad greens like romaine hearts, bibb lettuce, green leaf, butter lettuce, etc… with radish, cucumbers, daikon or jicama. Add mint and/or cilantro and the salad becomes Southeast Asian in flavor.
I use this sauce for daikon rolls; mandolin thin sheets of daikon, julienne cucumber, carrots, yellow or orange bell pepper, add a sprig of cilantro and mint. Roll and serve with sauce on the side.
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
• 1 lb assorted mushrooms, chopped (portobello, cremini, button, shitake, porcini….)
• 4 C parsnip, small dice
• 1 C carrot, small dice
• 1 C red onions, small dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 sprigs thyme
• ¾ sage leaves, chiffonaded
• ¼ C parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 C zucchini, grated
• 2 tbl tomato paste
• 2 tbl nama shoyu
Preheat oven 400 degrees; Dry roast parsnips, carrots, red onions till soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Flip once if it browns too quickly.
Saute garlic, thyme sprigs in butter or coconut butter till fragrant, 5 min. Add mushrooms and nama shoyu and sauté till soft, 8 to 10 min. Reserve a cup of the sautéed mushroom for the gravy.
Put mushroom mixture (remove thyme sprigs) and the roasted vegetable in a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times depending on your machine. You want it to keep it chunky but blended together.
Transfer to a large bowl, add rest of the herbs, tomato paste, grated zucchini (to keep loaf moist) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Put in a meatloaf pan, thin out the tomato paste with a little water and spread on top to form a crust.
Bake covered 30 min. Uncover and bake till crust gets a bit more toasty…. 15 min.
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
Puree frozen ripe bananas in food processor, add chopped up 70% dark chocolate of choice, and raw walnut pieces.
Make chocolate sauce by mixing with unsweetened cocoa powder and agave nectar and drizzle on top.
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
Okay, another holiday idea that might be good for those willing to bend a bit… the crime this time is date sugar which is made out of just dates! It has the same coarse granular texture as brown sugar which made me think of crème brulee! But no handheld blow torch needed…. Just take sweet potatoes, split in half lengthwise, roast in a preheated 400 degree oven with some pumpkin spice till soft, then remove from oven, sprinkle date sugar on top and stick under a broiler for a minute or two…. But keep your eye on it! The smell is divine!
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
This recipe is decadent especially if you are following the Detox 4 Women diet since it uses maple syrup and coconut milk but here it goes anyway! (I did try a friendlier version but without it but tasted like really cold mashed sweet potatoes)
• 1 lb roasted sweet potato, mashed
• 2 cups coconut milk
• ¼ maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1tbsp pumpkin spice
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can freeze your mashed sweet potato. Use an ice cube tray so its not one big frozen lug that you have to stab with a knife to break up (I learned my lesson, ouch!) Add all ingredients in a blender. I like to add chopped up pieces of the unsulphured ginger in cane sugar that they sell in the health food stores for an extra kick! Mix it in manually at the end. More liquid and it’s more of a pudding.
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
I like the Florida type which are the large smooth green avocados. They contain more water content and have a less”avocadoey” taste which is perfect for this dessert! The citrus zest also masks the taste.
For each avocado, use 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, you can use almond milk or water to blend (just enough to get it going), the zest of one or two citrus fruits like clementines, tangerines, mandarins, blood oranges, etc. You want at least one tablespoon of zest. You can also add orange extract for more “pop”. Add stevia to taste. If agave nectar is part of your diet, go for it!
A swirl once or twice around while blending gives it a lustrous sheen and of course, that pure sugar taste!
by natalia | Apr 21, 2013 | Recipes
• 3 lemons, juice and zest
• 3 limes, juice and zest
• 2 cups ice
• 2 cups water (approximately)
• Handful mint
• Handful basil
• Stevia to taste
Put all in high speed blender, scraping down sides and adding up to 2 cups water as needed. You can also substitute the limes for yuzu, a Japanese lime (they sell it in Asian and/or speciality stores in bottles). It lends a more aromatic flavor. You can also add sparkling water to give it a fizz! Just add manually after blending (you have to reduce the amount of water used in facilitating the blending).
