Red Pepper Antipasto

Had way too many ripe red peppers and the Dehydrator was busy, so I had to hurry up to find something else to do with them.

This Antipasto has an amazing bitter-sweetness. It would have looked much better with more colors, but, well... red was what was available. If you can, get yourself a mix of green, yellow and red bell peppers.

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers

1 red onion

1 tomato

1 1/2 TBS coconut sugar

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 TBS apple vinegar

1 ½ TBS balsamic vinegar

Freshly grounded pepper to taste

Coconut/Olive oil to grease

How to:

1 – Pre-heat the oven at 220° C.

2 - Rinse the peppers and remove seeds, stems & white parts. Cut them into slices or chop them into small squares. Set aside.

4 - Slice the onion and the tomatoes (remove the seeds) the same size/form as the peppers. Grease a baking sheet with coconut/olive oil and pour all the mixed ingredients. Bake in pre-heated oven for ca. 35 minutes.

5 - Stir the mix when it reaches about half of cooking time so they cook evenly don’t stick. When the peppers are soft, turn off the oven and let them cool inside it.

6 - Put in the fridge and serve cold.

Fruit Juice Sagu

Honestly, I hate juices, but I love tapioca/sagu. You just have to make your own mix of fruit juice and enjoy.

I never use refined sugar, but you already know that. A little bit of coconut sugar worked fine (you can use maple syrup also).

INGREDIENTS:

2-4 cups fresh juice (if using bitter fruits, use 2 cups)

3 cups water

1 cup sagu

Coconut sugar, to taste

Cinnamon, to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Boil water. When boiling, pour sagu. Mix and let it simmer. When the sagu pearls seem to be a little transparent, add juice. If you want, add cinnamon now. When the pearls are totally transparent, turn off the heat and add sugar. Done.

Vegetarian Dinner

Unfortunately it's not a 'pretty' dish, but rest assured it tastes REALLY good and you can choose any vegetables you want to make it more colorful/nutritious. One thousand mega points to the tahini/honey based topping. 

Note: Make it vegan -- use maple instead of honey, I did it.

From Wholefood Simply

Recipe: http://www.wholefoodsimply.com/vego-dinner/

Vanilla Avocado Chia Pudding

There were 2 small avocados laying around between super ripe/almost not good anymore; then I searched for something different to do with them! 

Ended up with this recipe from Chef Heather Pace, who is the best raw dessert maker in this planet.

I was lucky I still had a little bit of coconut sugar left to make it exactly the same. (Have already ordered!)

ATE it all. Bliss.

From VivaPura

Recipe: http://blog.vivapura.com/2014/04/28/vanilla-avocado-chia-pudding/

Lime Bean Quinoa Salad

This is amazing! And so refreshing! I made some substitutions because that's what I had around:

Cherry tomatos -> Soaked dried tomatos
Black beans -> Kidney beans

From Cooking Quinoa
Recipe: http://www.cookingquinoa.net/lime-black-bean-and-quinoa-salad/

Raw Caramel Slice

Another case of "you-have-too-many-sweets-made-from-your-milk-pulp". 

Very nice treats made with the only excuse of not throwing pulp away. They look and taste so good... 

From Organic Sisters

Recipe: http://organicsisters.com.au/raw-caramel-slice/)

Kefir Cheese

So happy to share this RIDICULOUSLY easy recipe! You just have to buy good quality Kefir (or make your own) and let it drip 48 hours in the fridge!

Finally managed to add some probiotics to my diet.

From TheHealthy Eating Site 

Recipe: http://thehealthyeatingsite.com/making-kefir-cheese/

G-free Banana Blueberry Muffin

Just created this little recipe J

- 1 not so ripe banana
- 2 eggs
- 1 TBS coconut oil
- 1 TBS coconut flour
- Blueberries, to taste

Blend all ingredients, except blueberries. Grease muffin tins (or use silikon ones, like I do). Add 3 blueberries per tin and then pour the batter in it.

Bake for 15-20 min in preheated oven at 180ºC.

Yields 5 muffins.

Note: DON'T use too many blueberries, otherwise they release too much water.

Cuban Skillet Dish

Just can't get enough of plantains! Now cuban style basically with schrimps and peppers. This was SERIOUSLY good.

From Purelytwins
Recipe: http://purelytwins.com/2014/04/23/one-pot-cuban-shrimp-plantain-skillet-dish/

Plantain with Goat Cheese and Cinnamon

I have lots of ripe plantains here and didn't know what to do with them. Since I hate throwing food away, before they got spoiled I came up with this delicious mix that reminds me of my childhood.

It killed all my cravings at once: sweet, salty, starchy.

Greased dish and plantain slices with ghee. Baked for 15 min in preheated medium-heat oven. Added goat cheese and cinnamon and baked for additional 5 min. Removed from oven and drizzled with a bit of honey.

NOTE: Goat cheese has low (but not no) lactose, and I personally can digest it quite well.  A good tip: The harder the cheese, the older it is, and the lower the lactose. For a lactose-free dish, choose non-dairy cheese alternatives that best works for you.

Instant Cheez-it

Another great cheese sauce option from the book "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook" by Jo Stepaniak. A Nutritional Yeast based powder mix for a quickie! 2 minutes and it's done J

Similar recipe here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1726759

Pink Panther Bomb

I've always skipped breakfast. It has always been like that. To change this, I started trying smoothies first thing in the morning. Since I hate to eat fruits alone, seems to be working!

2 very ripe frozen bananas (in chunks)
10 soaked dates
1 TBS soaked Gojis
1 handful baby spinach leaves
½ cup frozen raspberries
1 cup homemade almond milk (or more for desired consistency)
1 ts maca powder
1 ts açaí powder

Creamy Potato Salad

I admit I chose this recipe only because it looked nice and colorful, but it is mega-tasty! This salad is simply amazing... They got me with this creamy avocado sauce!

I didn't use Yukon potatoes, though; I have a crush on sweet potatoes...

From The Detoxinista
Recipe: http://detoxinista.com/2013/08/creamy-potato-salad-vegan/

Raspberry Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Another super snack with avocado and frozen raspberries!

The original recipes asked for cherries, but if there are raspberries in your freezer, just give it a shot!

I used maple syrup instead of stevia, I think liquid sweeteners are much better for consistency...

From The Detoxinista

Recipe: http://detoxinista.com/2010/08/the-best-kinda-workout-buddy/

Amarant with Tempeh and Vegetables

This was the first time I had tempeh and amaranth.

Since I like quinoa a lot, amaranth was not such a surprise. But not being a fan of soya at all, I was really impressed with the tempeh!

For those who don't know tempeh, it is made of fermented soya, a process that destroys the toxins present in the beans. Anyway, I plan to have it very much seldom because it's also very expensive here :(

No special recipe to share, amaranth was cooked in a normal pan (like quinoa) and tempeh was quickly prepared using a frying pan with sesame oil.

Raw Vegan Ice Cream Bar

And that's how you make a good ice cream! I skipped the nuts, but who cares...

From Nature’s Happiness

Recipe: http://blogs.natureshappiness.com/raw-vegan-ice-cream-bars-recipe/

100% Vegan Pizza

I can't believe I did this. I challenged myself to make a 100% vegan pizza that would not taste like crap. NAILED it J

NO gluten

NO lactose (cheese)

NO eggs

NO sugar...

But a big YES for taste!

Base: Veganana's Gluten-free Skillet Flatbread (I made it already here)Toppings: Tomato extract, Wilmersburger vegan cheese (potato-based), basil.

Healthier Peanut Butter Eggs

One more peanut butter super-mega-delicious-healthy-treat.

From The Detoxinista

Recipe: http://detoxinista.com/2013/03/healthier-peanut-butter-eggs/

Curried Cashews

A super snack that tastes great sprinkled over dishes. From Matthew Kenney’s "Everyday Raw" I bought. The author dehydrated the cashews, but I actually was too excited to have them, then I just baked them (preheated oven at 180 ºC, baked cashews for 5 minutes, then tossed them to avoid burning and sticking, then let them bake for another 10 minutes in the oven).

From Matthew Kenney

Recipe: http://books.google.de/books?id=3vEhVrW7yeAC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=curried+cashews+matthew+kenney&source=bl&ots=33yUZuzcta&sig=3sz1QpVwBCBoaor7EH2kSDepxFY&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=gsYgU-DdBs7Zsgb6moGwDA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=curried%20cashews%20matthew%20kenney&f=false

Raw Pumpkin Cheesecake

First of all I’d like to apologize for this 10-day absence. I had daily posts planned during my vacations and... the internet didn't work AT ALL where we were. But we’re back J

So, now about the cheesecake...

I was almost dying because this was one of these recipes that must stay in the freezer overnight and I couldn't try it. I always want to eat everything immediately... But being patient was totally worth it!!!

Since I can't find pumpkin spice here, Garam Masala did the trick. AWESOME! Use maple syrup for vegan version.

From The Detoxinista

Recipe: http://detoxinista.com/2010/09/raw-pumpkin-cheesecake/

Dairy Free Potato Salad

This one is from one of the first “food blogs” I felt in love with: the Organic Sisters. They have super simple and delicious recipes.

One of the best salads I’ve been trying for warm Summer nights.

From OrganicSisters 

Recipe (scroll down through comments): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=732414143448196&set=pb.517264748296471.-2207520000.1406038017.&type=3&theater

Healthy Malt Coffee Frappe

My friend Erika tagged me into this recipe and I got crazy about it! I made my own decaf version with malt coffee and also turned it into a vegan drink because coconut milk is what I drink at home anyway. No need to add any sweetener.

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 big - very ripe banana, chopped & frozen

¾ cup of Malt coffee (cold)

¼ home made coconut milk (cold)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Raw cocoa powder to sprinkle

Perfect way to stay cool in the hot, hot summer!

Inspired by this recipe from 

Make the Best of Everything: http://makethebestofeverything.com/2014/07/healthy-coffee-frappe.html

Cucumber Avocado Salad

Refreshing. Say no more.

I avoid lactose, but I have no problems with Feta. Feta cheese is not lactose-free but it contains less lactose than other dairy products. If you can't tolerate it or want to make this vegan, just choose the cheese substitute that works best for you. 

From TwoPeas & Their Pod

Recipe: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/cucumber-avocado-and-feta-salad/

Stupid Egg White Souffle

Made ice-cream for husband that took 7 egg yolks... what to do with the whites? Souffle.

Ingredients

- 2 tsp lemon juicesalt, pepper, herbs (to taste)

- 7 egg whites

- 1 ½  heaping cup mixed vegetables, cooked in salt

- Nutritional Yeast to sprinkle (or any other cheese, like parmesan, if you don’t want lactose-free)

BEFORE

Whip egg whites and lemon juice until stiff. Gently fold pre-cooked vegetables in with salt, pepper and any other herbs of your preference. 

Grease a pan, pour the mix into it and sprinkle Nutritional Yeast to taste. Cook for 25 min at 180ºC/350ºF.