Mangoes!

For all those that know me, know that I LOVE Mangoes! It is the one fruit of the year that I get really excited about. Seeing that first tray of mangoes available for the season is a joy in itself. In the midst of mango season, I will easily eat on average between 5 and 10 mangoes per day. When I'm hungry, I eat a mango, when I'm thirsty, I eat a mango, when I'm bored, I eat a mango. And the best way to eat a mango is raw, ripe and freshly sliced with nothing added - they are perfect just as they are.........that is until this season! and that's the reason for my post tonight.

Sadly, we should be in the peak of the mango season, they should be available by the tray full in all stores, shops should be filled with the scent of fresh mangoes.....but so far they aren't. I haven't been able to buy one for a couple of months now. But, you may say...."I've seen them in the supermarkets, tray fulls....." These, my friends, are NOT mangoes. They are not a true mango, but a modern hybrid variety known as Calypso mangoes, and that is all they are selling by the tray load to my disappointment.

To the average person who likes the odd mango may think that the Calypso mango is fine, but to me, who is a 'mango connoisseur', believes its taste is nothing in comparison to the magnificent essence of the Kensington Pride, or commonly known in QLD as the Bowen mango. This mango is superior in taste to all mango varieties. Its texture is juicy, its flavour is devine and its aroma is like perfume..... when my house is filled with this beautiful fruit, the essence fills every room. 

So this year as I walk through the shops searching for my beloved mango, all I have found so far is Calypso, honey gold and some other strange unheard of variety called Parvin....  So with this disappointment, I conducted a little internet research on the Calypso mango and was disheartened by what I found. 

Created only a few years ago by crossing the Kensington Pride mango with some other unknown Florida form of mango called 'red blush' or something a rather and creating this hybrid poor tasting mango now dominating the market known as the Calypso. Creating hybrid fruit is nothing new and is not always bad, but just like most modern fruit sold today is designed and marketed for all the wrong reasons.  

This Calypso variety is being haled as the 'new improved' mango to meet so called - 'customers demands'...
- as it has a higher seed to flesh ratio,  
- a constant yearly yield,
- a more cosmetic appeal with its pretty little red 'blush' cheeks' 
- has firmer flesh so that it can 'chop up' nicely
and most importantly.....dah dah dah, drum roll.....
- it has a high shelf life!
And that says it all!

So once again another exquisite tasting fruit such as the magnificent Kensigton Pride mango is getting the 'boot off' the shelves as undesirable because it doesn't look as pretty, yield as consistant and last for many months to export around the world all year round - with no concern or reference for the taste. As usual, the taste of the fruit is of no consideration or of any relevance to the marketing of the product with all concern to what will generate the most money. So in another few years we will adding the mango to the growing list of fruits that we will be saying..."oh, those mangoes in the shop just don't have any taste any more, they taste like rubber!"

Anyway, now that I have that off my chest, I will admit, that a Calypso mango, no matter how bad they taste in comparison to the Kensington Pride, is still better than no mango at all - I cant survive a summer without a few mangoes, so for the first time ever, I have been experimenting on some raw mango dishes. In the past I considered a mango used for any other purpose than to eat fresh straight out of the skin as is, was a waste, but if you are using a Calypso variety, then I am willing to add it to anything to improve its flavour.

Here is my latest simple and refreshing mango salad, great for these lovely 40 degree summer days in Kalgoorlie!

Simply dice a couple of mangoes into a bowl, add shredded fresh basil leaves, a handful of afalfa sprouts and drizzle with a little olive oil and lemon juice.

Simple raw summer mango salad

All that said, I know the first tree I will be planting on our 'space of love' when we move back east - actually, make that about 10 - the Kensington Pride mango so they will never be 'out of fashion' on our place.

Delicious sprouted lentil summer salads

Today's 'invented' summer salads were so yummy, I thought they were worth sharing, so here they are:


Raw Mango and sprouted lentil salad In a bowl add:
2 sliced ripe mangoes
a handful of fresh shredded basil leaves
a handful of sprouted lentils (I used brown lentils)
a Tablespoon of black sesame seeds

toss through a drizzle of olive oil and the juice of half a lime.



Raw mango and sprouted lentil salad



Raw Sprouted Lentil salad with raw hommus dressing
In a bowl add:
1 Chopped cucumber
1 diced avocado
a handful of cherry tomatoes
a handful of sprouted lentils
a handful of fresh shredded parsley
a small amount of thinly sliced red onion
(Optional celery if available)

Top with raw Hommus:
Made by blending until smooth:
1/8 cup of sesame seeds
1/8 cup of hemp seeds
dash of olive oil
1 garlic clove
pinch of salt
juice of half a lime
(a little water to thin if needed)



Raw Sprouted lentil salad with raw Hommus dressing

 I have never really used raw lentils much, but was quite impressed with the results from today's efforts.

To sprout the lentils, I simply soaked a cup full of brown lentils in filtered water overnight. I then drained and rinsed them twice a day for about 2 days, leaving them to sit in a colander until sprouted. They will keep in the fridge for a few more days. They have given my salads an extra crunchy texture, a little more nutritional value and created an extra interest to the meal. Sprouted lentils will be something I will be using more often.

My new favourite 'tangy cheese' raw kale chips

My friend introduced me to these fabulous flavoured raw kale chips recently and so I just had to make a batch of my own...well this is actually my 3rd batch as I love them so much!

They are so simple, just toss in the following ingredients and dehydrate!

Tear up 2 bunch of washed and destemed kale and toss through:
about 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast, juice of half a lemon or lime, couple of pinches of salt and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  

Its that simple and they taste amazing!

Raw 'tangy cheese' kale chips

My new favourite raw 'fresh and spicy thai' dressing sauce

I had one one of those great moments in the kitchen yesterday when I was making up a simple raw meal last minute, and decided to just invent a salad dressing to compliment the sprouts on the spot.....and it worked! I loved it so much I was licking out the bowl. So here it is: 

In a blender (I used my little personal blender) process the following: (measurements are estimates only)

1/4 cup of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of raw honey
1 garlic clove
1 dried chili
juice of half a lime
and a fresh kefir lime leaf.
(Optional to add a couple of fresh basil leaves, or just add a handful to your salad) I love the taste of fresh basil leaves in a salad or 'raw fry'

I was delighted with this simple dressing and found it complemented my fresh sprout and avocado salad, as well as my kelp noodle raw fry.






kelp noodles, broccoli and basil 'raw fry' with my new 'fresh and spicy thai' dressing.
I served this with a sprinkle of crushed almonds.



My fresh and spicy thai dressing also goes well over a bowl of
fresh sprouts, basil leaves and avocado cubes.

Served with marinated mushrooms

(simply mushrooms soaked in olive oil, nama shoyu and apple cider vinegar..

about a tablespoon of each)

Homemade sauerkraut (fermented cabbage and beetroot version)

Raw tabbouleh (chopped parsley, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion

tossed in olive oil and lemon juice and a handful of hemp seeds)

And of course my beautiful home cured olives

I believe the best meals are always the simplest and serving up a smorgasbord of super simple dishes such as these is sometimes better than a single complicated dish.   

Delectable Raw Desserts workshop

On Saturday I held my final raw food workshop for the year and it was so much fun. I had my biggest class of 15 people attend and delighted everyone with some delectable raw cakes and treats. Most of which were full of chocolate - my favourite!

Here is some of the photos from the day which I remembered to actually take some. 

Raw Carrot cake Raw Caramel slice cake and Raw Chocolate and coconut Layered cake, 
all ready to share with everyone at the workshop.

Everyone helping themselves to a slice

It was such a wonderful day, fully enjoyed by all. I love to be able to share with interested participants the amazing benefits of raw and just how delicious a living lifestyle really can be.

If you would like a copy of the handout from today's workshop of raw cakes and treats, I will be making it available in the comming days through a payment of $5 via paypal. It will then be emailed to you asap.

The list of recipes are:

Carrot cake with a cashew cream frosting

Caramel Slice cake

Caramel slice

Coconut and Choc Fudge Layered Cake

Coconut Roughs.

Raw bliss balls

Chocolate mousse topped with bananas

Surprise ingredient Chocolate mousse and berry cake

 

And many more ideas that can be evolved from these basic recipes.

Raw  desserts are the best!

'Delicious Raw Dinners' Workshop.

On Saturday 26th November, I conducted another raw food workshop as a follow up to the successful breakfast workshop from the month before. The day was a great success and the creations made were simple, delicious, and totally amazed a few of the attendees who were new to raw. 

I chose a collection of my favourite raw dinners that I often create which are quick, tasty and can be easily varied to accommodate for the availability of ingredients during the changing of seasons.

The meals included:

Sweet and Sour Vegetable 'stirfry'

Fresh spring rolls

Pasta Pesto with a cheese sauce

 

Spaghetti bolognaise with 'meat balls'

Spicy Phad Thai noodles with a spicy almond sauce

If you would like a copy of the handout from the workshop which has been written in an easy to read, step by step, photographed instructions, format and include all of the above recipes, then it can be purchased for just $5 via paypal which will be emailed to you in pdf form. This will be available within the comming days.

Little raw Christmas balls of bliss

We all know Christmas is approaching. The shops have been reminding us for the last month with all their campaigns to get us to buy more and eat more during the festive season. 
I am not very big on Christmas, mainly because I'm not a kid anymore and I now know Santa isn't real, but mainly because the real 'spirit' of Christmas has been lost in all the mainstream consumerism that has become what it is today. 
My kids love Christmas, they love it because they get presents. They also love it because 'Santa' hands out lollies in every shop! I try to add a little bit of real 'Christmas spirit' into our day by making the kids handmade gifts and emphasising  the goodness of giving and sharing rather than receiving, but it generally gets lost in all the unavoidable 'hype' of consuming. 

Anyway, here is a delicious, little, simple, raw treat recipe that I thought would make fabulous little handmade gifts that anyone would love to receive. Its so simple the kids can even make them. A great way for the children to experience a little bit of 'true Christmas spirit' by 'making and giving' on this over commercialised day of the year.

Raw Christmas bliss balls




Raw Christmas bliss balls to share this festive season

 Simply process a mix or a combination of activated almonds, pecans and walnuts. About 2 cups will make a few balls for a family to share. I crumbled the nuts until a fine meal and added enough dates to form a sticky dough. (I used a juicer with the solid plate, but you can use a food processor to combine nuts with dates)   
To this I added cacao powder - about 1/2 cup and another cup of roughly chopped almonds  
I mixed the chocolate dough with my hands and rolled into balls.
I thought they looked cute served in mini patty papers.

To make the chocolate topping, simply whisk until smooth equal parts melted coconut oil, honey and cacao powder. 1/4 cup of each should be enough to put a dollop on the top of each. 

Finish by placing a goji berry on top and let topping set in fridge before serving. 

My kids loved these and never left any for poor Dad to enjoy when he got home from work. Will have to make another batch for Christmas day. 

Some more raw creations from this week....

I have been rather busy over the last week in the kitchen, finalising some last minute dishes as I prepare for my Raw 'Delicious Dinners' Workshop happening this weekend. I am very excited to see a full house of expected attendees, some of which have attended previous workshops, but the majority will be new to raw. Its going to be so exciting to share the amazing world of raw to interested people who have never tried it before. I cant wait!

So here is a some delicious raw dishes that has been created in our kitchen this week.

Fresh green 'tacos' with the lot!

This is a great, simple dish that the whole family can help make and will enjoy. I have even had other children visit our house and we make this meal together and everyone always digs in! Even kids who don't normally eat anything green, let alone all raw will devour this!

Start by making the 'mok mince'
Process a couple of handfuls of walnuts or pecans until crumbled with a dash of nama shoyu and cumin powder and any other spices you may wish to add.



Starzi adding her special blend of herbs and spices to the 'mok mince'

Next make the tomato salsa:
Chop up a couple of tomatoes with some finely chopped red onion, add some olive oil, crushed garlic clove, cumin and coriander powder and a dash of lemon juice. Finish with a pinch of salt.

Optional extras are:
Chopped mushrooms in a marinade of olive oil and nama shoyu
mashed avocado with lemon juice, salt and herbs
sunflower seed cheese spread made by blending until smooth 1/2 cup of activated sunflower seeds with a pinch of salt, dash of lemon juice and a Tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

And now the fun bit! Ask you kids to go to the garden and gather bundles of fresh large green leaves to use as tacos.

Assemble: Lay out your leaf, place a dollop of each ingredient into the centre and roll. Enjoy.

We served today's meal with orange wedges and celery sticks just because we had some.



Both kids proud of their inclusion in today's meal.


And here is what we did with the left overs in the next days meal......

Raw Tomato, basil and cheese tarts:

Raw tomato, basil and 'cheese' tarts

Using left over 'Mok mince' from the above meal, press into a small pie tart tin to create a mould, then remove from tin.

Top with left over marinated mushrooms from above meal, chopped fresh tomato, red onion strips, fresh basil leaves, baby spinach leaves and a dollop of left over sunflower 'cheese' from above meal.

This was super fast to create as it was basically made from leftovers.... two very different dishes with very similar ingredients!


And here is another variation from the above meal I created today using similar ingredients.

Tomato, mushroom, spinach, avocado, olive and basil towers (to make 4 towers)

This is just as the name suggests - a tower of raw food to create these delicious, gourmet looking creations. 

I was inspired to make towers after stumbling across a brand new 'stack em kit' for only $5 at the op shop last week. What a bargain..this kit contained 6 stainless steel cylinders with a 'pusher' so towers like this can be achieved without any fuss. I was really impressed with the results.

So I started by making a nut base by processing about a cup each of activated walnuts and almonds a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and a sprinkle of  'seasoned salt' . I also added a tablespoon of melted coconut oil to ensure the nuts mix would hold shape when pressed. I pressed this nut mix into the base of each cylinder with the 'pusher' to create a sturdy base. (I think my bases were too thick so make them half the thickness as mine in the picture)

Next I began to invent layers with what I had available. 

First layer was fresh basil leaves placed flat onto the nut base.
Next layer was a slice of fresh tomato
Next layer was chopped mushrooms that had been marinated in olive oil and nama shoyu (or tamari)
Next layer was another slice of fresh tomato
Next layer was fresh garden silverbeet that had been shredded and massaged with olive oil, nutritional yeast and salt until wilted.
Next layer was another slice of fresh tomato
Next I added a few pieces of cubed avocado and sliced raw olives.
I then crumbled left over nut base on the top, but if I had any left over 'sunflower seed cheese' I would have used that instead. 
Garnish with a basil leaf. 

I think this dish can be enjoyed just as much without the nut base for a light summer lunch (just use a slice of tomato for a base) and some raw pesto would work great in amongst the layers also. The options to expand on this dish is endless! If you don't have one of the fancy 'stack em kits' then just try your best to create a stack anyway - I have done without one in the past with great results. 

More teasers for my comming workshop and a couple of quick raw balls of bliss

Today I have found myself again highly energised on a 'raw high' as I created a few more exciting new recipes to share at my next workshop and a couple of quick and easy bliss balls for the family as I used up some excess almond meal and coconut pulp.

Lunch was these fantastic little raw 'spring rolls' which were enjoyed like this:



And then like this as a packed lunch for the husband:

I also whipped up these quick and tasty little raw bliss balls using left over coconut pulp from making fresh coconut milk recently.

Recipe: Raw Chocolate and coconut bliss balls

Combine in a bowl:

pulp of one brown coconut after making fresh coconut milk (or you can use 1 cup of dried coconut)

1/4 cup of cacao powder

pinch of salt

dash of vanilla powder

1/2 cup of chopped activated almonds (or any chopped nuts will do)

Add:

1/2 cup of raw honey

1/4 cup of coconut oil

Mix until well combined and shape into balls.

Roll in a little cacao powder to finish

Then I made some tasty little raw 'jam drops' using left over almond pulp.

Recipe: Raw 'Jam Drops'

Combine in a bowl:

left over almond pulp (about 1 cup)

5 dates that have been pushed through a juicer with the flat plate

1/4 cup of honey

dash of vanilla powder

dash of cinnamon

1/4 cup of coconut oil

Roll into balls and make an indent with your thumb to add the jam drop(mixture will not stick extremely well so take care when pressing in the hole for the jam.)

Add a dollop of raw jam by just blending any type of fruit. I used mulberries. If jam becomes too runny, just squeeze excess liquid out through a nut bag. Keep liquid for smoothies or drink as is. You can also add a small amount of honey for more sweetner or to thicken. (or you could use store bought jam from a jar but it wont be raw)  

These were disappearing quicker than I could jam them! 

Sneek peek at whats comming to my next workshop in a couple of weeks......

Today I was delighted to find my enthusiasm re-emerge  for creating raw delights as I trialed this fantastic new Phad Thai noodle recipe....and the results were amazing! So, I have decided to include it at my next workshop. Here is a picture before it was devoured.

Raw Phad Thai noodle

And here is another favourite that I will be sharing on the day of the workshop. Raw pasta pesto.

Raw Pasta pesto

Looking forward to creating and trialling a few more recipes over the next couple of weeks to share at the workshop.

The freshness of Raw in Spring time.

Hello everyone...I am back and happy to be here. Its been a while since I have posted anything new, as I fumbled, lost through the last month, finding a little more of myself and my 'middle ground' in a raw lifestyle.

Finding that 'middle ground' has been a struggle, as I personally find it quite difficult to allow just 'a little bit' sometimes, as that 'little bit' easily becomes a lot more and lines become very hazy. Not only that, eating just one baked muffin...ok, it wasn't actually just one, I ate 3 in the afternoon, just turns my stomach, literally. I have discovered that eating only truly raw in its whole form, my appetite is content and I feel completely fresh inside with not a need to 'over do it' and want more. My energies are high and I am feeling good. Its only when I enjoy the tastes of processed, baked or cooked foods, my taste buds are in charge and I find myself wanting more, in some cases, even when my stomach is literally about to burst with fullness until it cramps! My energy also plummets, I just want to curl up on the lounge and become a couch potato and I feel crap. 

Anyway, these are all good lessons and just as much as I love raw food and the benefits it provides for my mind and body and my wish to eat it all the time, I have accepted that this will not always be the case as our lives transition from what they are now, to what we are aiming to achieve, maybe only then a 100% raw lifestyle may be achievable. For now it is a very high raw diet as I take it day by day, hoping to end each day on just wholesome pure raw food. 

So today like the last few have been all raw and today like the other days, we have enjoyed simple raw meals to coinside with the glorious season we are in now - Spring, coming into summer and with it, the flow of sweet juicy fruits! 

I absolutely love fruit, tropical fruits and berries particularly. I can eat fruit all day and be totally content. As long as the fruits keep rolling in, my interest in other cooked, baked or processed foods will be all but gone.

Here is our simple Spring lunch today...

Our simple staple salad made by Starzi:

Just throw together some greens, avocado, olives and tomatoes and top with a dressing made from olive oil, crushed garlic, pinch salt and juice of lemon (we used apple cider vinegar today as we were out of lemons) and then for something different and because our garden is thriving with them, a sprig of chopped dill.

  
This salad was served with Moroccan Carrots

Spiral a couple of carrots, toss in olive oil, juice of half an orange, dash of lemon juice, pinch of salt, sprinkle of cumin powder and cinnamon and some cracked pepper with a topping of fresh chopped parsley.

This was followed by the sweet fresh juice of a thai young coconut

And then to top it off...my favourite food in the world! Mangoes! Simply a bowl of diced mangoes with a few left over strawberries for colour. So easy, simple and totally delicious.