Its been a while!

Ive been a horrible blogger lately. Ive created so many delicious dishes and tried out a number of recipes and Ive just been too busy (or lazy) to post. Well, thats the end of that. I'll start with lunch today and back track for the next few days to catch everyone up on whats been going on in my kitchen!

Cheezy Nacho Hemp Dip
adapted from Kristen's Raw

1/3c. water
1/4c. hemp seed hearts
1/4 red bell pepper
1/4c. nutritional yeast
1-2 garlic clove
1 tsp braggs liquid aminos
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
pinch of salt

Toss into a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about a half cup.
INFO: 45 calories per tablespoon.

Now for lunch, I ripped up three leaves of kale tossed them with two tablespoons of the dip (diluted with about 2 tsp water just to coat the leaves better) and baked them for about 10-12 minutes at 375F. In the future I would do two things differently: one, keep a better eye on them so I dont get any burnt kale chips and two, add more of the dip. The taste was barely there... still good but I like intense flavours.

On the side I made a quick tofu and carrot salad. Simple mixing frozen and dethawed medium firm tofu with 1/4 cup finely shredded carrot, a splash of braggs, 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast, salt/pepper, and garlic powder. Just crumble the tofu into a dish and mix everything together.



Dinner wasnt too special but it was (is... Im still working on it as Im posting) pretty tasty. I picked up some veggie california rolls at the supermarket today as well as some mushroom that I marinated in braggs (diluted with water) and I finished up the last of my edamame. Ive never had raw marinated mushrooms before and I have to say, Im VERY impressed.





The other thing I just wanted to mention is that for some reason unknown to me... Im unable to comment on ANY blogs hosted by Blogger. Its getting EXTREMELY frusterating as I want to be able to let you know how awesome all of your recipes are and than you all for your kindness! So just a heads up, Im not ignoring anyone. And if anyone has a clue whats going on let me know! Thank you so much.

Carrot Pancakes with Maple Cashew Cream

The second I saw this recipe, I knew I HAD to try it out for myself. Carrot pancakes? Who would've thought! And anything with maple and cashews is a clear winner. Thank you Spabettie for this amazing idea!



Pancakes:

1 cup carrot juice
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon chia seeds (mixed with 1 tbsp water)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Now the original recipe said to put everything in a blender to mix, though I ended up just using a whisk.
Cook in a pan (lightly greased) over medium until cooked through, flipping when one side is dry to the touch.
Makes 12 small carrot pancakes!

Cashew Cream:
3 tbsp. raw cashew butter
3 tbsp. soy creamer (I used Silk)
1 tbsp. maple syrup

I made my own adaptation for the cream out of convenience but it came out amazing.
Just whisk together with a small whisk and pour over pancakes.

SERVES: 2-3

Raw Carrot Pasta with Almond Butter Sauce and Seaweed Crisps

I ordered a Saladacco Spiralizer off of Ebay a few weeks ago and I finally got it in the mail. Its not officially my favourite kitchen appliance. They had run out of zucchini in the supermarket today, so I figured Id try it out with carrots instead.



1 large carrot
1 tbsp. raw almond butter
1 tbsp. soy milk (or other non dairy milk)
1/2 tbsp. Braggs liquid aminos
1/2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. water (add more to reach desired consistency)
3 sheets Trader Joes Roasted Seaweed Snacks (crumbled)

Use a spiralizer to make the carrot pasta. If you dont have a spiralizer, you can use a potato peeler and peel the carrot until you have as little of the carrot as possible left (this will result in a "fettucine" type noodle rather than "angel hair").
Mix together remaining ingredients except the seaweed.
Pour over pasta, mix, and top with seaweed crumbles.

SERVES: One.
INFO: 155 calories.