Pad Thai-ish

I'm a sucker for new cookbooks, and I tend to buy them like I buy wine and books:  pretty labels/covers.  

image from uncooking101.com

I've owned this recipe book for a while, but have done little with it but admire the gorgeous pictures.  Some of the ingredients are tricky to find, and the first recipe I made (potato salad) was kind of ehhh.

I pulled it off the shelf and jumped right in this weekend.  After making the chocolate chips yesterday,  I chose the recipe for pad thai.  Once again, major substitution was in order (olive oil for some of the sesame oil, lemon juice for lime juice, Tapatio for chiles, zucchini noodles for jicama and mung bean sprouts).  It still turned out delicious, and it was pretty easy to make. It made a huge amount, so I'll have lots of leftovers for work this week.

I also thumbed through another cookbook I haven't use in a while.  

image from welikeitraw.com

In the past I've made the:

• Pineapple Icebox Dessert (delicious!)
• Key Lime Bonbons (not my fave)
• Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake (excellent)
• Liquid Chocolate (hardens instantly when cold)

Today I made the Coconut Ice Kream.  (I meant to mix in some chocolate chips  at the end of the ice cream maker cycle, but the ice kream hardened too quickly.)

The flavor of this dessert is great, but the texture is kind of grainy.  I'm not sure if that stems from the cashews or the coconut flakes.  If I were to make this again I would add a tablespoon or two of sunflower lecithin in an attempt to gain a little creaminess. 

Question:  Does anyone know how to make raw ice cream without nuts or Thai young coconut meat?  

Sunflower Lecithin

Many raw food recipes call for soy lecithin, an emulsifier that makes goodies like chocolate and ice cream smooth and creamy.  I generally avoid soy, which is why I was curious about this guy:

(You can read more about sunflower lecithin here.)

Alone, it has a mild taste and interesting texture, kind of like molasses, but stickier, and it seemed to coat my teeth and tongue before melting in my mouth.  

I decided to try this first in hemp milk.  Viv blended up 3 cups water, 1 cup hemp seeds, a little agave, a dash of vanilla, a pinch of salt and a spoonful of lecithin. 

I was a little worried about the brown color of the lecithin dirtying up the milk, but it actually remained fairly white.  

It was creamily delish with raw buckwheat cereal. 

I then tried it in place of the soy lecithin for the coconut cream from Sunny Raw Kitchen.  The result was a little tan in color, but it made a fantastic topping for a raw brownie from The Raw Dessert.  Wow, this was amazing!  I can't imagine choosing a cooked dessert over a delectable treat like this!  

I can't wait to try the sunflower lecithin in other dessert recipes.  

Question:  Anyone done any experimenting with soy lecithin substitutes?  

Package Delights

I love getting packages at the PO, and this weekend's delivery from The Raw Food World was extra exciting because along with my standard order I purchased some new goodies to play with. 

Standard order:  

New to me: 

Soy lecithin and irish moss are ingredients in many raw recipes, but I try to avoid soy and I've been totally intimidated by irish moss shenanigans.  I'm going to try the sunflower lecithin as a replacement emulsifier for soy, and face my fears with the moss.  I hope to have experimentation pictures to post before long.

Eats:

Curry Corn Chowder from Delightfully Raw

TH is having crockpot barbeque moose (not the ones from our yard!) with veggies.  I also made his favorite ranch dressing from Sunny Raw Kitchen.  This dressing is insane.  I started substituting all the spices (except for the salt and fresh garlic) for two tablespoons of Costco's organic no-salt seasoning, because I'm lazy.  Sooooo good.  

Think I'll have leftover raw pecan pie for dessert. The chocolate sauce is raw cacao, coconut oil, agave, sea salt and cinnamon.  

Question:  Has anyone used sunflower lecithin with success?  What kinds of recipes did you try?