Raw Banana Honey Oat Bars

Combine by mashing with a fork or in food processor:

1/2 ripe banana
1 C oatmeal (not instant)
1/2 C almond butter or peanut butter
1/8 C raw honey
1 TB bee pollen
1/2 tea vanilla extract
1/2 tea cinnamon

Roll into balls, and eat. Keep in freezer.

Pineppale Coconut Mojito

I had somehting like this at Mexico DF in San Francisco- amazing! Getting home, I found this website that had several good looking variations on the mojito.


Muddle:
3-4 mint leaves
lime chunks from 1/3 lime
1 TB pineapple chunks

Add:
2 oz coconut milk
3 oz light rum
agave
water to fill to 10 oz total
optional: ice
optional pineapple juice

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cut corn tortillas into strips. Spritz some olive oil and salt over the tortillas. Bake at 350 F for 10- 12 minutes. Set aside.

Saute 1 yellow onion, chopped, in butter/olive oil/bacon fat until edges start to brown. Add 2 minced cloves garlic and minced jalapeno pepper.

Add chopped bell pepper and cook slightly. Add 2 tea chili powder, 1 tea ground cumin, 1 tea taco seasoning and stir to combine.

Add liquids, stir and simmer for 10 minutes:
chicken broth
water
pureed tomatoes
chopped tomatoes
1/2 - 1 tea salt

Add rinsed cooked black beans, frozen corn, cooked shredded chicken and stir. Cook for 5 minutes to heat through.

Serve in bowls with tortilla strips, sprtiz with lime juice, and sprinkle with cheddar cheese or cotija cheese, cilantro, and avocado cubes or slices.

Chilaquiles

I had something like this at a cart at the farmer's market- it was so good I started craving it! I guess it is the mexican version of quiche (in that it has a "crust" and eggs with stuff) and built like fried rice (uses up leftover ingredients).

Saute chopped onion and garlic in olive oil for a couple minutes. Now add eggs and fry or scramble with taco seasoning. When eggs are done, dish out and set aside to reserve.

Pour 1/4 C tomato salsa into a wide saute pan with about 1/4 C water and stir. Over medium heat, flip corn tortillas in the mixture to coat & soften.

Now layer egg mixture, shredded cheese, and vegetables over the top of each tortilla. Cover pan and continue cooking over medium heat until cheese is melted.

Serve immediately. Optionally- top with lettuce, tomato, sour cream and or avocado.

GomaDare (Japanese Sesame Dressing)

Got hooked on this stuff in Tokyo. Great "entry drug" to eating steamed broccoli or other veggies for breakfast. Gotta watch out though- the commercial brands all seem to include MSG... so make your own!

Blend in high speed blender (or pound for a while in a Japanese mortar and pestle called a suribachi):

3 ounces (85 grams) white sesame seeds
1/2 to 3/4 cup dashi (or 3/4 water + 1 TB light miso)
3 TB reduced sodium soy sauce
2 TB mirin
1 large medjool date
2 TB sake

If you're having trouble getting the sesame seeds to break down, you can use Japanese "sesame paste" instead (but it's usually pricy). Don't use tahini as it has a totally different flavor from the Japanese kind.

Serve over salads, or over steamed broccoli & asparagus for breakfast!

Abura Age & Inari Sushi

This is one of my favorite sushi treats and is very approachable for non-seafood or non-Japanese-food people. This is also a good party appetizer as it is easy to eat with fingers!

The special ingredient for inari sushi is the wraper which is called abura age (fried tofu sheet). It is formed similar to a pita pocket in that you can open it like a pocket once you cut it open. Abura age looks like this:

It is sold with quite a bit of oil on the outside, so stick them in hot boiling water for 30 seconds and then drain. They will puff up and lose some of the oil. At this point, you can use them for anything; cut into strips for soup, salads, or in fried rice.

For using as pockets with filling and inari sushi, you will need to season them by simmering in a sauce.

Abura Age Pockets for Inari Sushi
1. Cut each blanched (see above note) abura-age square in half, and use your fingers to open the inside to reveal a pocket

2. Combine in a saucepan and bring to a simmer:
3 C water
2 TB mirin
1/3 C sugar

3. Submerge the pockets in the liquid in the saucepan and cook for 5 minutes

4. Add 6 TB low sodium soy sauce and stir to evenly distribute the coloring on the tofu sheets. Let cook a minute or two more, reducing the sauce a little bit.

5. Remove abura age from sauce and press out the extra liquid. The abura age are now ready to use. You can also use the remaining sauce for simmering vegetables for another recipe.


To make inari sushi: fill prepared abura age pockets with sushi rice, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve. Yum!

Alternatively, you can mix vegetables in to the sushi rice and fill the tofu pockets with this mixture (see photos).
Or you can use the tofu for wrapping just about anything else!

Sushi Rice using "Sweet Brown" short grain rice

Surprisingly, the same method used for regular white rice can be used on short grain brown rice. This is quite tasty as is, used in inarisushi, sushi or stir fried the next day. This quantity will serve 3-4 people as a main dish or 2 people with leftovers.

This can be made ahead and will sit out on the counter for several hours. Once it is refrigerated the sushi texture is lost, so keep it out on the counter, covered with a towel until you are ready to use.

Pour water into a wooden salad bowl and wooden spoon and let soak for 30 minutes or more (this helps keep the rice from sticking). Set aside.

Soak 1.5 C short grain brown rice in 2.25 C water for 20 minutes or more. Then add the following, put the lid on and turn on rice cooker:
2 TB sake
small square of kombu kelp

Meanwhile, combine the rice "dressing" in a small cup and set aside:
3 TB komezu (rice vinegar- don't buy "seasoned" as it has salt and other things added)
1 TB sugar
1 tea salt

Once rice is done cooking, let sit, covered for 5 minutes. Pour soaking water out of wooden bowl and wipe dry.

Pour the hot rice into the wooden bowl. Pour the vinegar dressing over the rice, then stir in broad strokes to combine (don't overmix or mush the rice grains).

Now fan the rice to cool it down which will help it maintain a shiny, pearly appearance.

Glazed Japanese Sweet Potato (DaigakuImo)

I'm not sure how these got the name "college potatoes" (daigaku + imo) but they are tasty. I am trying out recipes from this new Japanese Shojin Ryori book and enjoyed this one! These would be really good at a party served with Asahi beer or sake and they are easy to eat with chopsticks or toothpicks. The only problem is they don't keep well overnight (the potatoes discolor in the fridge), so plan to make them the same day.

Buy "Japanese sweet potatoes" in the store, which are also called satsumaimo. They look like purple yams/sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are big in Japan: there are food carts with roasted satsumaimo with honey, and guys that walk around pulling wood fired ovens filled with sweet potatoes.

Wash and cut 2 Japanese sweet potatoes rangiri-style (into irregular chunks), making most pieces about the same size.

Combine in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium high heat to dissolve the granules:
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C canola oil
2 TB water
1 tea soy sauce
1 tea komezu (rice vinegar)
1/2 tea salt

Dump the cut sweet potatoes into the pan in one layer across the bottom. Simmer gently for 3 minutes.

Stir, cover and cook for another 3 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Now remove the lid and stir to cover the potatoes in the glaze, allowing to cook for 5-6 minutes with the lid off which will reduce the glaze.

Pour onto a serving tray and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Let them cool before eating (I burnt the top of my mouth on one!!)

Cherry Chocolate Shake (Raw Vegan)

Bought 2 lbs of cherries at Costco today- this is a delicious way to eat cherries!

Combine in a high speed blender:
1 C cherries (pitted)
1/3 C walnuts
3 small delget dates or 1-2 medjool dates (pitted)
1/4 vanilla bean (bark & all)
1 TB raw cacao powder (Holy Cacao brand)
1 1/3 C water





Enjoy!

Mango Pineapple Shake

Combine in a high speed blender and enjoy immediately:

1 banana
1 C frozen mango (Trader joe's sells peeled, precut and frozen)
1/4 C walnuts
Optional: 1/2 C frozen pineapple (trader joe's sells precut frozen)
Optional: add 1 C baby spinach - the vitamix will blend it completely into a pretty green color
filtered water to fill 20-25 oz total