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.