Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried quinoa
• 1 cup water (or just under)
• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 1 medium apple (I used Fuji), cored and diced
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
• 2 - 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon or orange juice
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Serves 4

Notes:

If you know and love the Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar from Trader Joe's, or elsewhere, this is a great place to use it! Use it in place of the apple cider vinegar.

Sub in a tablespoon or so of water for the oil. Try using 1 tablespoon oil and 2 - 3 tablespoons water.

Feel free to use regular raisins or currants. Cranberries may even be a nice change up.

For my quinoa, I buy one bag each of white and tri-color and mix them together creating a nice blend of color and texture.

• 1 large head cauliflower 
• blackened, creole or cajun seasoning of choice (recipe for homemade below)
• couple tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 2 medium bell peppers
• couple tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• himalayan salt and cracked pepper, to taste
• grain of choice...quinoa, brown rice, farro, etc. 
• lemon wedges to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard

Place ingredients into small jar or container and blend well. Store leftovers in the pantry for later use. Makes just under 2/3 cups.

• 1 broccoli head, cut into florets
• 1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
• large handful radishes, halved (or quartered depending on the size)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 1 can (15 oz.), drained and rinsed
• 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil or sesame oil
• generous sprinkle of garlic powder
• pinch or two of salt
• 1 cup quinoa, (rinse if you pref) 
• 1 1/2 cups water
• chopped parsley, to garnish

Creamy Lemon Hippie Sauce

• 1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans or chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cups fresh cooked
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
• 1 large garlic clove
• juice of 1 large lemon
• mineral salt, to taste
• 2 - 4 tablespoons water for thinning 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cauliflower and radishes, drizzle with oil, garlic powder and salt, mix well to coat. Place mixture on rimmed cookie sheet or roasting pan. Cook for 35 -45 minutes, stirring once in between.

While vegetables are roasting, in a medium pot add quinoa and 1 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle in a dash or two of garlic powder and mineral salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and let rest for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Next, prepare your sauce by placing all the ingredients in food processor/blender, except the water, and blend until creamy smooth. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. You may also like to add more lemon in place of water for a really zesty lemon sauce. Taste for flavor adding extra garlic or salt if needed.

Serve vegetables on top of quinoa, add a generous amount of sauce on top...don't be shy with the sauce, it's so good and healthy. Add some freshly chopped parsley and cracked pepper or lemon pepper if you like. A Buddha bowl fit for a king or queen!

Store left overs in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week

Notes:

If you have sauce left over, you can use it a dip for veggies or pita chips, or as a spread for sandwiches.

You may also like to try this Sriracha Cashew Cream Sauce in place of the sauce suggested above for a spicy twist or this Tahini-Miso Dressing for another mellow sauce!

• 1 can cannellini beans (15oz), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 1 to 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1 large shallot or 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• himalayan sea salt & pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, optional (I didn't use any)

additional veggies

• a few kale leaves
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 or 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• whole grain pasta, cooked
• adjust these measurements to suit your needs

• one head cauliflower
• 1-2 tablespoons sesame, coconut or olive oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
• 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
• generous dash of garlic powder

• 1 package of kelp noodles
• 1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, julliened
• 1 zucchini, julliened
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeno, sliced (optional)
• cashews or peanuts, garnish
• lime & orange wedges, garnish

Sauce

• 1/4 cup raw almond butter, I used crunchy
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons tamari, Bragg Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu
• 3 tablespoon pure maple syrup or raw agave
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1/2 lime, squeezed
• 1 orange, squeezed, optional (I just had some really sweet juicy oranges on hand and threw it in)

Directions

1. Place all sauce ingredients into a small/medium bowl and mix together until blended. Set aside for 30 min to let the flavors mingle. Add extra ingredients to your taste. 
2. While sauce is setting, prepare your veggies. You could cut your kelp noodles into smaller pieces or leave as is (I left mine as is). Put kelp noodles and other vegetables in a large bowl (saving a few veggies to garnish) and add half of the sauce mixture . Toss the ingredients together until thoroughly coated. I found this was a lot of sauce and it is better to add half to see if that is enough for your liking, if not add more. I personally do not like my food drowning in sauces so I had the other half left over to use with the rest of the kelp noodles later. (See notes below.)
3. Serve with garnishments and any extras on the side. Serves 2 - 3. 

this was really delicious. you should make it very soon and enjoy the incredible flavours that come from the mixture of avocado, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, garlic and love. i don't think more introduction is required here.


zucchini pasta with garlic avocado sauce: serves 1-2

2 zucchinis sliced on the mandoline or spiral slicer into noodles
1/2 avocado 
2 peeled garlic cloves
1/2 onion
salt & pepper, to taste
2 cups non-dairy milk
handful pine nuts or cashews
1/4 cup tamari
handful basil leaves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup cauliflower

put noodles into large bowl and set aside. blend all other ingredients together until smooth. taste it. it'll probably be a little bland but i left it that way so you could add things to your liking. some curry powder might be nice. i add that to everything though... :) pour the sauce all over the noodles - BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE SOME LEFT OVER! set it aside and massage the sauce into the noodles with your hands.... mmm, sensual food time. get dirty. i suggest adding some salty veggies to the noodles now. i put on some mushrooms and tomatoes.


avocado, cauliflower & spinach soup: serves 4-6

now using the rest of the extra sauce from the noodles, add:
1/2 avocado
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup tamari
1 cup non-dairy milk (more or less) - or use hot water to make the soup warm
salt & pepper to taste
handful spinach
5 olives

i think that's all i threw in there! it was an improv situation as usual. taste it and see what you wanna add or change. serve in bowls with hemp seeds, basil leaves and maybe some olives or something with saltiness/flavour. pickled artichokes would be nice.

*Sorry this post is kinda long... I ramble.

This weekend, I got a cold: headache, sore throat, stuffy nose - the whole deal.

This has not happened since I've been vegan; in fact I was quite enjoying the over-all elimination of sickness since becoming vegan and mainly raw. The only cause I can possibly think of, since my diet hasn't changed, is the hard-core workout I had the day before I fell ill.

I used to be a workout junkie, I was addicted to exercise... I LOVE IT! But since university, I haven't been working out as much. I was okay with this, and knew when the time came I'd get back into it. Well, after a couple months, the time came. This was last week.

I jumped right back into the workout intensity I was doing before I mellowed out... bad idea. Not necessarily because I've gotten weak, in fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how well I got through the workout.

Exercise gets everything moving (your blood cells, etc.) so I think perhaps it was just a manifestation of that. Also, lately I have not been eating much at all. Simply because I'm not hungry. My #1 rule: always listen to you body, and my body hasn't wanted as much to eat in the past few weeks.


In short: the combination of jumping back into my intense aerobic routine after not working out as much for awhile, PLUS the fact that I haven't been eating much lately (and hadn't eaten that day), PLUS the change of seasons, probably was the reason I got sick. You might say "or maaaybe you just got a cold because people GET COLDS", buuuut...


I was just being silly and didn't act appropriately. I paid for it. The whole weekend, and still today, I've been totally congested and... well, you don't need the details. All weekend I was gulping down as much water and tea as possible, and eating lots of fruits and smoothies for nutrients.

My mood was manifested in the weather: rainy and cold all weekend. In a strange way, I actually love that kind of weather - I guess live in the right place.

It was just me and mom at home when I got the idea to make a big pot of soup. Soup seems to have magical properties. People have been making it for centuries because it's inexpensive, delicious, warming, and you can make it out of ANYTHING. It is the classic food made to ward off the cold and flu.

I am not 100% raw. I enjoy cooked vegetable-based dishes every now and then, partly because sometimes they are just so good (I cannot resist Thai food), and mostly because my family is not raw; we all want to be enjoying the same meal, especially when my mom makes incredible vegan dishes (they still eat meat but have become mostly vegetarian because of my diet change)!

I made Cauliflower and Sprouted Lentil Soup with peppers, onions, garlic, ginger, and a bunch of other veggies. It made the whole house smell like warm comfort. It's a perfect winter dish to warm you up and ward off colds.