Mexican Red Rice

Prep:
dice 1 large yellow onion
mince 2-3 cloves garlic

Heat pan over high heat. Add 1-2 TB oil or bacon fat, swirl to coat pan. Add onion, lower to medium heat and cook until translucent and starting to brown.

Then add 1 C basmati or long grain white rice to pan. Stir into oil/onion and toast the rice - about 45 seconds (careful not to burn the rice).

Add 8 oz chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce, 3/4 tea salt, 1 tea chili powder, 1 - 1.5 C broth/stock and additional water if needed.

Simmer with lid on until rice is cooked/absorbs liquid (add water if rice isn't cooked yet)- about 15-20 minutes.

Asian Rice Wrapper Lettuce Veggie Wraps

This is one of my favorite non-salad-y ways to eat up lots of veggies. Even though it's cold, tastes totally different from a salad!

FYI: Rice wrappers are round thin sheets of rice paper that are dry/hard and sold in the asian stores.

Wrapper:
Rice wrapper- soak one at a time in warm water to soften.
Lettuce- lay lettuce ontop of rice wrapper, then load in fillings

Filling:
Grated carrot
bell pepper
thinly sliced red cabbage
sesame seeds
Optional fillings:
green onion
cucumber, cut in matchsticks
zucchini, cut in matchsticks
basil leaves
fried rice sticks

Dip: raw ranch dressing

Small Batch Raw Vegan Ranch Dressing (1 cup)

Yummy ranch dressing- fabulous on veggie wraps. Based on a recipe from this blog!

Blend until creamy:
3/4 C cashews
scant 1/2 C water
1.5 TB lemon juice
2.5 TB cider vinegar
2.5 TB olive oil
1.5 TB agave
0.5 tea garlic
1.5 tea onion powder
0.5 TB salt
0.24 tea basil

At the end add 2 TB parsley and pulse to chop coarsely.

Blender Hummus

Blend until smooth and creamy:

1 can chickpeas or approx 1 C cooked
1/4 C water
1/8 C lemon juice (from approx 1/2 large lemon)
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 tea salt
1 clove garlic

Optional: serve with herb oil, pine nuts and/or diced roasted red pepper or sundried tomatoes.

Small Batch Raw Ceasar Dressing (1 cup)

Blend first til creamy:
1/4 C raw cashews
1/8 C lemon juice
1 TB white vinegar (white wine, komezu or other vinegar)

Then add and blend:
1/8 C cashews (in addition to what's already in the blender)
1/2 C water
2 tea miso
2 tea dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
1 TB olive oil
1 TB kombu, chopped

Last, add 1/8 C olives (black or kalamata, pitted) and pulse to combine.

Pour into containers and refrigerate. It will thicken as it cools. Makes about 1 cups.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Combine in a blender to make the chocolate mylk:
1/4 C walnuts
2 TB cocoa powder (raw or regular)
2 large Medjool dates, pitted (or a handful of small dates)
2.5 C water
optional: vanilla bean
optional: cinnamon and cloves

Pour all of some of the chocolate mylk into a container. Add chia seeds, stir or shake and chill in the fridge. Approximately 1 TB of chia seeds per 1 C of liquid- but you can vary the proportions. The longer the chia seeds soak in the liquid they will gel up more.

Tahini Chickpeas (Tahini Garlic Sauce)

Rinse and drain canned chickpeas. Toss with chopped parsley

Make sauce (see below) and stir into chickpeas. Serve over greens.

Tahini Garlic Sauce
Combine:
2 cloves garlic
2 TB tahini
1 TB olive oil
1 TB water
1 tea apple cider vinegar
2 tea - 1 TB lemon juice
salt
1 TB + nutritional yeast

Southwestern Salad

Southwestern salad dressing
Combine in blender:
3 TB cilantro
1/4 C oil
1/4 C lime juice
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 jalapeno, seeded
1/8 - 1/4 tea salt
1/4 C walnuts
1-2 tea agave to taste
sprinkling of chili powder, black pepper & cumin

For the salad, toss greens (romaine is best) and then top/combine with all or some of the following:
tomatoes
cheddar or cotija cheese
corn
black olives
black beans
avocado
chopped tortilla chips

Virgin Raw Pineapple Coconut Water Mojito

This is really refreshing as an afternoon or evening beverage in the summer- no alcohol and guilt free!

Combine in a blender until mint is cut into small flex and pineapple is fully pureed:
6 mint leaves
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 C pineapple
1/2 C coconut water
1/2 C water, to taste

Almond Goiji Cacao Cookies

These are spectacular energy snacks, straight out of the freezer. Dairy free, gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, raw cookies. Make vegan by using agave.


Combine in large bowl:
4.5 C almond meal or ground almonds in food processor
1.5 C almond butter
3/4 tea salt

9 TB agave or raw honey (0.5 C + 1 TB)
6 TB vanilla extract or seeds from 3+ vanilla beans (0.25 C + 2 TB = 3/8 C)

3/4 C goji berries
9 TB cacao nibs (0.5C + 1 TB)

Shape into bite-sized balls. Freeze on a cookie sheet. Transfer to a bag or container and store in freezer.