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?  

Chocolate Orgy

     The other night I decided to throw together some crackers for the D, but about midway through the recipe I realized I didn't have any flax, which acts as a binding agent.  Luckily,  I practice substitution wizardry, as I often start recipes before determining if I do indeed have the called for ingredients.  I decided to use chia seeds to replace flax and the result was pretty tasty.  Here's what I did.

In the FP, I chopped up:

• 2 cups zucchini
• 2 cups squash 
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1/2 cup soaked sun-dried tomatoes

I moved that mixture out of the way in order to grind:

•  4 3/4 cups of soaked walnuts 

In a large bowl, I mixed all of the above with:

• 1/2 cup water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup nooch
• a dash of ACV
• 3/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 T Himalayan sea salt
• 2 T Costco no salt seasoning

I spread the batter on D Teflex sheets and left it in the D overnight at 105, turning if off in the a.m.   I forgot about it until the next evening, when I removed the Teflex, flipped the mixture and left it in the D at 105 for another 3 hours.   I then cut the sheets into crackers and pizza crust slices.  I snacked on crackers topped with avocado slices today and quite enjoyed it.  

I made pizza for TH this evening, topping the chia crust with pasta sauce from Delightfully Raw (so simple and delicious!), Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce from yesterday, spinach and mushrooms marinated in a little EVOO, Bragg's and garlic.  I hesitate to tell you that TH covered his pizza with moose meat (left over from his tacos the other night) when my back was turned.

For dessert I had a little bit of a chocolate incident.  I filled a crust (almonds, coconut, dates) with a chocolate ganache that I found in the back of the freezer.  Unfortunately I have no idea how or when I made that ganache as it is redunkulous.  I decided that wasn't enough chocolate, so next came some of the raw ice cream from last night, and then chocolate cinnamon sauce swirled on top.  Oh, what was I thinking?  TG I couldn't eat the whole thing.  Believe me, I tried.  Chocolate. Coma.  

Question:  Do you have a food you get greedy with?  It seems like this week I've been all about the chocolate.  (Oh, who am I kidding, I'm always all about the chocolate.) 

I'm Feeling Saucy

This evening I made two of my favorite sauces:  Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce by Kristen Suzanne and Curry Sauce from Delightfully Raw.  I love them so much because all they require is an easy whirl in the blender and voila, you have a lovely accomplice for veggies, raw crackers or kelp noodles.  I would be perfectly happy on a Friday night curled up in a chair with a sauce filled Viv and a spoon.  Seriously, you must try.  You will be wishing you had a bitchin' spatula to get all the remnants out of the blender creases.

When I got back from Mexico this new friend was waiting for me at the PO:

I decided my first ice cream flavor would be chocolate from Sweetly Raw's The Ultimate Raw Ice Cream Cake Book.  TH's review:

• ice cream maker= more white noise, which sends him scampering out to the mancave.
• white noise=small price to pay for raw ice cream that tastes just as good as dark chocolate Coconut Bliss 
• 4.5 out of 5 stars because the texture is a teensy bit grainy.

IMO, this was unbelievably good.  The best part was the ice cream maker took all of 20 minutes to turn liquid into a creamy pile of deliciousness.   (I might even go and do an Amazon review, that's how pleased I am.)  I can't wait to make a raw ice cream cake this weekend!  

Question:  When you are aggressively whipping something up in the kitchen and a little organic matter goes flying under the fridge, do you dig around for it or just leave it?  Just wondering.