slaw. fail.

do you ever spend extra time to carefully cut/slice/julienne your veggies to make a beautiful salad and then add one ingredient that spoils the whole thing? i think my confusing addition the other day was, sadly, basil. but i'm now thinking also that there were simply too many radishes!

i spiroolied up some green cabbage, shredded some carrots and kale, thinly sliced some watermelon and easter egg radishes, snipped in strips of several basil leaves and then stirred in my dressing mix of avocado, meyer lemon, a swish of ACV (i added more to my finished salad in the end though), a spoon of sunflower seeds, a splash of water, a small nub of ginger and a small clove of garlic. i had been having strange cravings for corn when i made this and later added a few kernels to top it off. it needed a bit more sweet or something!
paul couldn't eat it.
slaw fail!

(why do i post? i haven't posted so long and i need to remember to do things differently next time!)

raw purple corn chips!

i have been vowing to use the purple corn kernels i've had in the fridge for raw chips for YEARS, i'm sure. i'm actually scared to do a search on this blog as i know it's been way too long.
well, finally i tried it! and i'm impressed.
i used this recipe from rawfullytempting.com and it was perfect.

first i needed to blend my flax seed into powder and process all the corn. i try to avoid corn in my usual day, though i am a sucker for anita's white popping corn! gah. anyways! i most definitely used organic (non-GMO!!!) yellow and purple corn for this recipe.


using my vita-mix for processing the corn and such was not ideal, but it just meant i had to take many breaks (as the motor was working overtime) and had to keep spatula-ing the sides to get everything mixing evenly. i really need to get a big food processor one of these days as my mini one is just not cutting it. it is, but not just not enough at once! ha.

the spreading part, as the recipe states, is not the easiest part. i didn't quite take my time and they are uneven. but now i know that i like the thicker parts better than the fragile thin chips!
but all sizes of chips taste awesome in the red pepper chickpea hummus paul made last night! 

mary rydman recipes!

if you don't already, see what your local library has in the way of raw food books! i am constantly trying out new ones before committing to buying any. it's the best! some may have awesome recipes but if they aren't simple enough for me to be inspired to try them (as a starting off point or to follow exactly), then they are pointless to have!

anyways, my most recent book from the library was mary rydman's raw food quick and easy. i had to return it so i ended up taking photos of recipes i was most likely to try and within the last 24 hours, i've tried 2!

first one i tried was her "mashed cauliflower 'potatoes'" last night. i wish i had ingredients for her gravy also (which i conveniently did NOT take a photo of - though i suppose i could've found a recipe idea easily enough somewhere else!). me and paul were overwhelmed by the strong raw cauliflower and garlic tastes. i kinda felt like i was eating pureed horseradish! i liked the texture and the initial taste but wow, this is potent stuff!

 paul was a super good sport and added tons of nutritional yeast. 

i tried a (leftover) spoonful tonight with some corn and it was a lot easier to eat! but i know there's gotta be an even better recipe (for me) out there. (this one and this one are similar but perhaps different enough to warrant a try?)

tonight i made her tomato soup. 

this is probably the first raw soup that i have made and enjoyed. which is pretty exciting. though i couldn't finish my bowl! maybe too many raw tomatoes. (if i eat those whole, somehow, i gag uncontrollably!)

 but i have some to bring with my lunch for work tomorrow. i'm curious how it will hold up the next day. will the italian spices be too strong by then? or will everything be more subtle? i've added nutritional yeast and hemp hearts in hopes that having a bit more texture will help!

indigo a no no!

this morning, me, emilee and brandi met at indigo food cafe for brunch. we have been talking about meeting there for weeks, with some other friends and finally decided this was the time. emilee had to rush to work after so we planned to go right at cafe opening at 10am.

when we got there this morning, we discovered it's only the website that believes they open at 10. 10:30 is the real time! so we killed time in choices nearby and decided we would order smoothies as soon as we got in.

we were let in a few minutes early which was super nice. there was one lady working and she was opening up as we were let in.

meals during opening hours are not recommended at this place. i felt super bad for the lady working as it was busy getting the 3 of us food (and collecting our payment at the end) and had anyone else come to dine in, it would have been impossible. we weren't able to order everything we wanted off the menu as some things arrive at the restaurant later in the morning (ie the collard greens) and some things hadn't been made yet (ie more almond mylk).

i'm curious as to why cashews and agave are used so much (though i guess this is common in raw food) and i wonder how much stuff there is organic as only a few ingredients on the menu were prefaced with "organic". my corn flax (yah, i usually don't eat corn either) enchilada tasted different from last time - heavier on the spices so not as fresh veggie flavour dense- tasting. and the green smoothie was average.

i will try it again - but maybe mid-day. it's a cute spot and the food is really nicely presented and i know the intentions are good...