• Bag of Mesclun Greens
• Beet Greens
• Napa Cabbage
• Sweet Salad Turnips
• Garlic Scapes
• Scallions
• Zucchini
• Easter Egg Radishes
• Sage
• Potatoes

Tonight is the first of many meals using these amazing organic and local ingredients. Enjoy- I know we did!

Garlic Scape Pesto Pasta with Zucchini

Yields 4 servings

Takes about 30 minutes total to make

Ingredients:

• Garlic Scape Pesto
  • 1 cup raw walnut pieces
  • 1 bunch of garlic scapes (about 1 to 3/4 cup), chopped
  • 4 cups basil leaves
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1t salt
  • 1T sesame seeds
  • 2T nutritional yeast

Place the walnuts and garlic scapes in the bowl of a food processor and process until small crumble. Add in the basil leaves, turn the processor on low and slowly stream in the olive oil through the feed tube. Add in the salt, sesame seeds and nutritional yeast; process to combine.

• Sauteed Zucchini
  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into half moons
  • Cooking Spray
  • 1/2t salt
  • 1/4t black pepper
  • 1/2t garlic powder
  • 1t nutritional yeast

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Spray with cooking spray and toss in the zucchini and saute for 3-4 minutes just until they start to lightly brown.  Stir in the salt, pepper, garlic powder and nutritional yeast; cook for 2 more minutes.

• 4 servings of pasta of your choice

In a large bowl toss the pasta, zucchini and 1/4 to 1/3 of the pesto together.  Serve warm, room temp or cold!

The pesto makes a lot more than you need for this dish so place any extra in a jar top with a layer of olive oil and seal tightly.  Store in the freezer until you need it again.  To defrost move from the freezer to the fridge 8 hours before using.

For dessert we shared one of these wonderful vegan, raw, gluten free tarts from Hail Merry.

It was one of the best desserts I have ever tried and I am looking forward to picking up the other 3 flavors over the next month.  It was so rich and the perfect balance of creamy chocolate, cookie crust and almond butter center- to die for.

(source)

While quinoa is widely considered a grain, it’s actually the seed of a plant called Chenopodium or Goosefoot, related to chard and spinach. Quinoa is a gluten-free grain and has a similar effect as other whole grains in helping to stabilize blood sugar.

It has a waxy protective coating called saponin which can leave a bitter taste. For best results, rinse quinoa before you cook it or even soak it for a few hours or overnight. When cooked, it has a fluffy, slightly crunchy texture. Try it in soups, salads, as a breakfast porridge or as its own side dish.

For quinoa, and whole grains in general, the majority of digestion occurs in the mouth through chewing and exposure to saliva. For optimal nutrition and assimilation, it is vital to chew your grains well and with awareness. A great meditation is to find a calm place, without distractions, to sit down for your meal. Make it a habit to chew each bite 20 times or more. See how this simple practice can help your digestion and overall focus for the rest of your day.

Recipe of the Month: Quinoa Pilaf

• Prep Time: 3 minutes
• Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 1/4 cups water or stock
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa in fine mesh strainer until water runs clear.
2. Boil the water and add quinoa and salt, cover and reduce heat.
3. After 15 minutes add cranberries and walnuts to top; do not stir.
4. Cook 5 minutes more, until all the liquid is absorbed.
5. Remove from heat, add parsley and fluff with fork, cover and let sit for 3-5 minutes and serve.

© 2010 Integrative Nutrition 5/10

Here are a few of my quinoa recipes for you to try as well:

• Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas
• Quinoa Chili
• Quinoa Stuffed Squash
• Raw Pizza Crackers (w/sprouted quinoa)

Okay so now that we cover what is so great about the chocolate lets get down to do the good stuff, does it taste good? YES! This chocolate is so good! My husband decided he liked it so much that I only got a few bites before he finished it off. So what can I saw it was delicious.

Fearless Chocolate are offering a complete set of our Fearless Chocolate bars for your give-away (5 bars total). Flavors include

• Sweet & Hot Hibiscus Ginger
• Super Seeds
• Matcha Green Tea & Peppermynt
• Midnight

TO ENTER: This giveaway is open until December 9th at 6pm. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian Residents.

1. Visit the Fearless Chocolate and tell me something you learned . (required)

Additional Chances to win (PLEASE LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY; also if you already do any of these ie. follow me on twitter/facebook, ect it counts so leave a comment).

1. Follow Fearless Chocolate on Twitter.
2. Like Fearless Chocolate on Facebook.
3. Follow me on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway “I want to win @cookveganlover @beingfearless Giveaway http://wp.me/pFVWo-1mC”
5. Like Cook.Vegan.Lover. on Facebook.

Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters sent me some teasers of their amazing raw nut butters. These cute little jars had one serving of nut butter in them just enough to get a taste and leave you wanting more. These handmade and raw gourmet nut butters are a great treat. Although they are expensive they are amazing and worth the money as an occasional treat. My absolute favorite of all the samples was the cashew butter; it was amazingly creamy, silky and smooth.  The cashew butter was closely followed by the luscious macadamia cashew butter.  Of course all the others were tasty too.

Disclaimer: Artisana provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

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I recently posted a review for Crazy Rumors vegan lip balm.  I have found another great vegan lip balm, HURRAW! a great all natural, vegan  and made from premium raw and fair trade ingredients.  One thing that I love about this lip balm is the shape, it’s oval versus round which helps to coat the lips better.  I loved the Cinnamon Tinted Lip Balm; it was a great flavor and gave my lips a nice pink tint. My hubby loved the Vanilla Bean Lip Balm and he was also a big fan of this stuff. It’s great to find not only a vegan but also raw lip balm. I would definitely recommend these to any raw foodist or vegan looking for a new lip balm.

Disclaimer: HURRAW! provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quinoa, sprouted 24 hours, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 10 sundried tomatoes, soaked for 1-2 hours
• 2T Nama Shoyu
• 1/4 Cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 1t italian seasoning
• 2T nutritional yeast (optional, not raw but adds great flavor)

Directions:

1. To a food processor add sunflower seeds through italian seasoning and blend until almost smooth.
2. In a medium bowl mix together the quinoa, flax meal, nutritional yeast (if using) and sunflower seed mixture and mix until everything is evenly mixed together.
3. Spread thinly onto teflex sheets, parchment paper or fruit roll sheets (I use fruit roll sheets for my Nesco dehydrator).  At this point you can score the mixture to have even crackers or you can just break into pieces once they are done.
4. Dehydrate at 115F for 2 hours then turn down to 105F for 10-15 hours (I like to do this in the evening and let them dehydrate over night.

Find the recipe here.

Serve with veggies, crackers or my favorite nori rolls.

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The second part of this book features:

• Tips and Tricks for Smoothie Preparatoin
• Green Smoothies for Beginners
• Supergreen Smoothies
• Savory Green Smoothies and Soups
• Green Smoothies for the Adventurous Souls
• Green Puddings
• Green Smoothies for children
• Green Smoothies for Pets
• Green Smoothies for Body Care

So far I have been mostly playing around with recipes from Green Smoothies for Beginners, Supergreen Smoothies and Green Smoothies for Children however I am interested in trying some green soups and puddings soon.  The great part about this book is the variety of recipes there are, 200 to be precise, that are all fun and different.   The recipes use a variety of greens to keep things interesting as well as a number of great fruit and veggie combinations.  My favorites (so far) have been the Medallion Melon which is simple cantaloupe and romaine- simple and delicious.  However, my absolute favorite and so far go to smoothie has been the Winter Green Smoothie which is berries, spinach, water and ginger- soooo good.  

Over all this is a great book for those interested in raw foods, green smoothies and healthy new ways to get greens into ones diet. 

Blogger Disclosure:  Cooking For A Vegan Lover received this book at no cost from the publishing house for review.

This is one of my favorite raw meals- Raw Polenta and  Raw Alfredo 

The Raw Polenta is from Ani Phyo’s book and is quick and easy.  You can use fresh or frozen corn which makes it easy to eat all year long.  It’s great with the Mushroom Ragout from Ani’s book as well.

I made this alfredo for the first time by Gena of Choosing Raw and it is amazing!

Yummy yummy raw crackers!

This summer, Lindsay and I made an effort to eat a high raw diet. Part of the fun was experiencing different raw products. From raw cookies to raw crackers and raw nut mixes, there was so many different things to try.

Kathy’s Krackers are a healthy snack made of flaxseed and are raw and gluten free as well.

Kathy’s Kracker’s was kind enough to send us a sample of all three of the flavours they offer:

• Salsa – The salsa crakers were my favourite by far. They captured the typical flavours of salsa perfectly. They had a very good spice level as well. They were spicy, but not unbearable by any means. We ate them plain, but website suggests adding avocado and other vegetables and I think this would compliment the flavours found in the cracker perfectly, I wish I had thought of that!
• Savoury – These crackers are flavoured with bell pepper, tomatoes and garlic and have a very well balanced taste. I enjoyed these quite a bit. We ate these on their own, but I imagine they would be very good with hummus or a raw dip.
• Apple & Cinnamon – If you are looking for a sweet snack, this is a great choice. They are sweetened with Stevia and have a very natural apple taste. It’s refreshing to have something that’s supposed to be apple flavoured that isn’t overly tart or artificial tasting. I think these would be a hit in school lunches as well.

These are a great snack for when you are on the go or when you are looking to build a more complete snack (as in the avacado and vegetables combo with the salsa crackers) as well. I would definitely recommend picking up a pack if you can!

Being made of all natural, raw ingredients there are plenty of health benefits that come along with eating Kathy’s Krackers. These can be found on the Kathy’s Krackers website. Health Benifits

You can also view where these snacks are available here or order online

We did not eat all raw this weekend but we did have a lot of meals that were.  The first of which was breakfast on Saturday; we enjoyed (almost) raw breakfast crepe with coconut cashew pudding and bananas. 

The raw crepe was from Ani Phyo’s book and is great it is made up of 1.5 cups flax meal, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1/8 cup water, ¼ cup agave and a pinch of salt.  I topped these with Ani’s coconut cashew pudding which was super easy to make all you have to do is blend 2 cups cashews, 1.5 cups water, ½ cup shredded coconut, and ½ cup agave. I then placed sliced bananas on top of this and drizzled with maple rice syrup.  It was delicious.

The Maple Rice Nectar Came from Suzanne’s Specialities which has a variety of all natural, vegan and organic sweetners.  I have always loved the ricemellow – being a fan of fluffernutter as a child it was great to find something similar and vegan.  However my favorite product of Suzanne’s that I have tired so far is the Maple Rice Nectar- it is sweet and delicious and when you are out of maple syrup it is a great alternative- mind you it doens’t taste the same but it is very yummy.

On Sunday morning we enjoyed the remaining coconut cashew pudding in the form of a parfait- I layered sliced strawberries coconut cashew pudding and  Feed Bittersweet-ness Granola.  This granola is great we also received a few other varieties and have used them on top of yogurts, with soy milk and just a handful as a quick yummy snack.  Most of their granola is vegan and I was actually sent one with honey in it but I am putting it in a care package for a friend because I’m sure she’ll enjoy this granola as much as my husband and I do.

Sunday dinner was (almost) raw tacos in honor of National Taco Day (actually I didn’t plan it that way it just happened).  The only none raw item was our sprouted tortillas.   The tacos were made up of Ani Phyo’s nut meat, baja cheese, red pepper corn salsa and some shredded purple cabbage.  I really would have liked to put some avocado on as well but mine weren’t ripe enough.  I have to say I didn’t love the “meat”, “cheese” and salsa on their own but all together the flavors were wonderful. I can’t wait to make more raw eats and juices this week. 

Oh and of course we enjoyed a lovely raw dessert of Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse Cake it was delightful!

Things to come this week: Raw Polenta with Mushroom Rague, Green Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing, lots of raw juices and Kristen Suzanne’s Harvest Soup.

I have to come up with something to bring to the Raw Potluck Meetup on Sunday….still not sure what to bring yet.

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THE WINNERS ARE: Carrie with her yummy sounding Green Pineapple Juice AND Beth with her creative way to use the pulp!

Thanks for participating and look foward to many more giveways to enter!

______________________________________________________

After months and months of debating on whether we should get a juicer or not I finally decided it was time. After checking reviews I decided to go with the Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain . I am so excited.  It comes on Friday and I can’t wait to start using it. 

Now I really need some good juice recipes so I think this calls for a giveaway contest!  If you would like to win a Gnu Bar, a bag of Sharkies and  a bag Funky Monkey then please comment below with your favourite juice recipe  and for a second chance at winning enter a recipe that uses the juice pulp!  The contest will close on October 2nd by Noon (I moved it up because I have another one ending around the same time- sorry!).   Also there will be two winners!

Calling all you raw foodist (and all the other foodies) out there if you haven’t tried this yet you must! These salad dressing is delicious, raw, no added sugars and only 5 calories a serving! There are 6 flavors for you to try (I was lucky enough to try the Carrot Ginger, Tomato Provencal, Cucumber Mint and Sweet Onion Basil which were all delicious- here is a little bit about each as state on the Zukay site:

Carrot Ginger – Like the famous Japanese dressing!

Tomato Provencal – A wonderful Mediterranean mix of tomatoes, kalamata olives and herbs de Provence!

Cucumber Mint – The fresh taste of summer!

Tomato Pepper Pesto – The classic taste of fresh basil, pine nuts and tomatoes!

Sweet Onion Basil – A savory and smoky addition to any salad or marinade!

Red Pepper Cilantro – The fresh and zesty taste of red bell peppers

They are so versitle as well- you can put them on greens or use them as dressing on sandwich and they go great on zucchini noodles. Also make sure to try their delcious salsas.  Zukay also makes relish as well however I have yet to find it in stores in my area but hope to try it soon.