Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

These tarts are super simple to make (what else is new...) and equally delicious (I am officially a broken record). Most of my recipes leave you with several servings and that's all fine and dandy but what if you just want enough for two people? Or, one hungry person? Then you use this recipe. Whip these tarts up in a few minutes and surprise your friend or lover when they walk in the door, fort entrance, or whatever opening you have in your habitat.

Oh, I have more space to write than I thought I did. Okay. What shall I talk about? I got it. Berries and the Divine. In this recipe I used blueberries straight from our front yard, where they bloom in abundance for 3 glorious months each summer. These months give my life meaning: I live for these berries. Anyways, I have had many an epiphany whilst picking blueberries; my mind wanders to a peaceful, still place where the world is simple and I am but a humble human foraging for food. It's cathartic, to be perfectly honest. A few weeks ago while I was snacking on berries from the bushes, I realized that this was the original day job! Our ancestors spent their entire days - when they weren't running from giant cats or pro-creating - simply finding fruits and other edibles, picking them, and later eating them.


This gave me such a sense of oneness within and of the world. Truly, we have hardly changed a bit since our early days of hunting and gathering. What has changed is our surroundings, but that is virtually all. I enjoy participating in this majestic and intrinsically-connected universe and it's very much a reassuring feeling knowing that I am the same as those who came before me, and those who are yet to come. We are all the same. In our DNA, in our desires, in our perceived duties, there's hardly a difference among us when you get right down to our foundations. I am the blueberry and the blueberry is I.

Enough with the hippie talk, though. I know you just want dessert.

I admit - I have been making mostly banana ice cream cakes lately, but I just can't stop. They are so easy and you can do almost anything you want with them, as you can see in my last few recipes. Anyways, Easter colours are usually light shades of pink, green, blue and yellow and so I think I got most of those covered with this recipe. Not the yellow but hey, I can't do everything. Wait a sec - does sunshine count?


Before I made this cake, I was really wanting to make SOMETHING with some kind of raw vegan creme egg because they are such a popular Easter dessert component. But I was at a blank for ideas. Then it hit me when I took out my dates as I was making the ice cream part - I could make eggs from dates! So I filled them with coconut oil, covered them in raw chocolate and sprinkled on some chia, hemp and black sesame seeds. They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. *Proud face*

What is your favourite kind of music? I like all kinds but the ones that usually gets me in the best mood are 90's R&B and hip hop songs... I know. They all just have such positive messages and are fun to listen and dance to. The 90's were the sexiest and most original time for hip hop. I MEAN LOOK AT THIS. 

this is delectable! i am so proud of myself because i haven't used chocolate in a recipe for a few times now. this is all fruit, all the time. the colour of chocolate desserts gets boring after a while because it's always brown... ya know? this cake has a vibrant array of colours that are naturally pleasing to your pretty little eyes.





orange & blueberry cheesecake: makes one cake

crust:
2 cups raw nuts
1 cup dates or raisins
pinch of salt 

orange cheesecake:
3 cups cashews
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup agave/maple syrup
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
juice of one lemon
zest of all the oranges you juiced
pinch of salt

blueberry layer:
2 cups organic blueberries (i used frozen)
1/4 cup of the orange cheesecake mixture

to make the crust: process the nuts and dates/raisins in your food processor until the nuts have become crumbs and the mixture sticks together when you press it. press into the bottom of a springform pan and put in the fridge. 

to make the orange cheesecake: blend all ingredients (except orange zest) in your high speed blender until very smooth, then add in the orange zest with a spoon. reserve 1/4 cup of this mixture for the blueberry topping - pour the rest onto your crust and put in the freezer. 

to make the blueberry layer: blend the blueberries and the 1/4 cup of cheesecake mixture in your food processor or blender until creamy but still with small pieces of blueberry for texture. spread this over your cheesecake and keep in the freezer or fridge overnight. if you can wait a day - this is best after 2 days (and not frozen, of course) enjoy with sliced oranges and blueberries!

yum! here's another smoothie recipe for you, my peeps. this one is sneaky, it's not green but it has kale in it. the colour of the blueberries hides it. oooh, deceptive (yes i DO personify my smoothies). you can personify THIS:


while you're enjoying the unprecedented 90's smoothness of that little diddy ("i like the way you work it, no diggity...") you should also enjoy the raw deliciousness of this smoothie. it's got extra protein from hemp so it's excellent for right after a work out; which was my situation. you like P90X? i do. das my jam.

anyways - smoothie recipe.


blueberry hemp smoothie: serves one

1 cup frozen blueberries
2 dates
1-2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds
1 cup kale
1 banana
1-2 cups water/nut milk, or as needed
stevia, if desired

blend all of it up in your high speed blender. add enough water/nut milk to make it all smooth; but not too much because then it will taste watery (as one might guess.) drink!

i love smoothies. i love kale. from that you can deduce: i love kale IN smoothies. or maybe not, because i also love garlic and ice cream... hm.

ANYHOO - we are running dangerously low on fruits and vegetables (meaning we have like seven apples) in my house this morning so instead of using a banana i used dates, and instead of fresh kale, i used frozen. it's still from our garden though! it was especially think and cold because everything i put was frozen: blueberries, strawberries and kale. i added ice cold almond milk and it was like a berry milkshake!

not exactly what is going to warm me up on a chilly vancouver morning but i just don't care - it's too freaking yummy to worry about regulating my body temperature. i made extra, so it will be a snack later too...



berry kale smoothie: makes 5 cups

1 cup kale
1 cup frozen blueberries
3/4 cup frozen strawberries
2 cups almond milk
2 large dates

blend it all up. chug. 
actually don't chug it, you will get a brain freeze.