Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

I wasn't sure what title to give this recipe, because it's really awesome and delicious, but how do I get across the gist of it in one name? I can't call it: raw vegan cheesecake with swirls dyed by beet and carrot juice. No one would click that. Well, almost no one. I would click it. That sounds cool to me. But we are getting off track. I will explain the recipe now.

I had a vision of this... probably in a dream or something. I can't remember exactly but I certainly had a clear image of it in my head and felt the desire to make it into a reality. Originally I was imagining much darker pink and orange colours, along with green swirls (from green juice!) but I give up easily when it comes to food and let this cake happen instead. I might go back to that initial idea in a few months, but for now we will all have to deal with this recipe. Call me optimistic but I think we will manage, somehow.



This cake is freaking TASTY. The base is your regular ole cashew cream, except I sweetened it with fresh orange juice, then divied it up into different mixtures, adding beet juice to one and carrot juice to another. Thus you wind up with a pink or reddish mix, an orange one, and a cashew coloured one. You swirl 'em all together and you get this gorgeous, healthy cylinder of yum. Plants are awesome. Unfortunately these photos are not. Fall as arrived and that means lots of clouds. Usually cloudy weather makes for great lighting buuut today it was just dark all day. Nuttin' I could do.

New topic: have any of you read The Secret? It's about the law of attraction. Look it up if you don't know what I am talking about. Honestly, I am normally highly critical of stuff like this and prefer to base my logic in good science. However, I cannot deny that it seems to really work for me, the law of attraction that is. Over and over I find myself saying something out loud that I want to happen, sharing more personal desires with loved ones, casually in conversation, or as I am writing in my journal. In any case, soon after I mention an aspiration or start thinking about one more frequently, it seems to materialize in my life! Let me give you some examples.

(a) My first book deal. A couple years ago when I was 19, I had been thinking of eventually writing a cookbook because everyone was telling me I should, and of course it was a super exciting idea for me as well. Lo and behold, my amazing publisher found ME and the rest is history. You can buy my first cookbook here, and pre-order my second one here.

(b) My mattress. About a year ago I started thinking more seriously about getting a new mattress. I had been researching and discovering all sorts of bad news about conventional mattresses. I was looking online at organic mattresses but they were like $5,000... nope. Out of nowhere, a mattress company - IntelliBED - specializing in non-toxic mattresses and healthy sleep gets a hold of me and wants me to have one of their beds to review (and keep). Please learn more about my mattress here, because IntelliBEDs are seriously amazing and deep sleep is just as important as diet when it comes to health.

(c) Animal rights activism. I have been saying to a few people lately that I feel like I am not doing enough. I am busy with university, maintaining my blog, writing books, and trying to manage a social life so I don't have much time to focus on activism for animal welfare and environmental campaigns, but I genuinely do feel like I should do more. I plan to get much more heavily involved in that kind of work when I graduate, but for now I just sign as many petitions as I can. Even still, seemingly out of the blue I am getting WAY more animal rights organizations contacting me than I was before.

Maybe these are lame examples and you think I've gone cooky. I totally agree with you. But at the same time... it feels really uncanny when this stuff just keeps happening over and over. Lemme know your thoughts. Let's eat that cake now.

CASHEW CREAM CAKE with FRESH JUICES

Crust:
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup dried coconut shreds
2/3 cup medjool dates
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves (optional)

Base:
1 cup cashews (preferably soaked for 2-4 hours)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon chunk ginger root 
3-4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon lucuma powder (optional) 

Extras:
1/4 cup fresh beet juice, as needed
1/4 cup fresh carrot juice, as needed

To make the crust: pulse the pecans, coconut and rosemary (if using) in a food processor until they become small crumbs. Add the dates and process until it all sticks together. If it's too crumbly, add more dates. Press into the bottom of a lined springform pan; the one I used is about 7 inches. Put in the fridge. 

To make the cake: blend the base ingredients together until smooth. It should be like thick yogurt at this point; if it's not, add more cashews or coconut oil. Separate the mixture equally into 3 bowls.

Scoop one of the portions back into your blender and add 3 tablespoons of beet juice, then blend until smooth. Keep adding beet juice if you want, but if it starts getting very thin add more cashews or coconut oil. Scoop this pink/red mixture back into a bowl. Do this same process with the carrot juice. You should now have one beet juice mixture, one carrot juice mixture, and one plain mixture.

Assembly: take the springform pan out of the fridge, and have your three mixtures ready with a spoon for each. To get the swirl effect, just fill up the pan with spoonfuls of each mixture until you run out. Then run a chopstick through it all in whatever pattern you like. Or simply pour them in one after the other to get a layered look. Either way it's gonna taste great. Let it set for at least 24 hours in the fridge so it can develop flavour, then decorate and enjoy!

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This was made in anticipation for the holidays. The red and white are festive colours, plus who doesn't want (raw vegan) "cheesecake" at Christmas? Only the loonies. Watch out for them...

This cake is not only beautiful, it's delicious. The cashews create a rich, filling creaminess and when paired with fresh lemon juice, oranges and sweetened naturally, the result is practically divine. Impress all the skeptics - and non skeptics alike - with this at your next holiday dinner. Don't tell 'em it's healthy, raw, vegan and gluten-free until AFTER they've licked their plates clean and asked for seconds. Trust me - they will; or else they go in the loonie bin. I'm serious. But not really. But mostly.


My motto is "do what works for you" so here's a bunch of substitution options if this recipe doesn't quite fit your diet ideals: if you don't want or can't eat cashews, you can use fresh young coconut meat instead; or avocados, or any other nuts. Hemp seeds would even work. If you don't want nuts in the crust, use oats, seeds or buckwheat groats. If you can't have coconut oil, use cacao butter. If you don't like coconut nectar, use a syrup of dates and water. Bam! Anybody can make this work for them. Hallelujah to the heavens, amiright!?

I'm pretty much done with calling raw vegan "cheesecake" by that name... I prefer cream cake now. Although the inspiration comes from cheesecake, raw vegan cream cakes are just better in every way. They taste better, they're healthy, they're better for the planet, their ingredients aren't involved in the abuse of our animal pals... there're no down sides! So I'm tired of associating them with cheesecake... from now on - my "cheesecakes" will be cream cakes. It's also less confusing this way.

I'd like to say a big, warm thank you to all you lovely people who commented on my last post and emailed me about it. I know this blog is first and foremost about raw vegan recipes; but it's very therapeutic for me to let out what's going on inside my head. What becomes equally important when I share my emotions in a public space is the responses from you, which do SO MUCH to make me feel better. So many of you can relate, and that is extremely helpful and relieving to know. I think for a lot of you, it's good to know that YOU'RE not alone either! It makes me infinitely glad to realize we're all in this together, and that we can come together over our personal selves with healthful recipes. I am blessed. All my love to you. Let's eat cake.

GRAB THE RECIPE HERE.

I share some photos with you today, and a link to the recipe of the cake IN the photos. It is being featured on The Vegan Woman as a special birthday present for Sivan. I'm so honoured to be on the site! It's an excellent place for recipes, articles, resources and everything else you'd want to know about the plant-based, holistic life. Keep in mind that my adoration may be slightly biased because they voted me first place for best vegan food blog of 2013. Teehee. Get the recipe for this {raw vegan} Lemon & Fig Cheesecake by clicking here!

Every part of this is epic. Chocolate cookie crust. Creamy vanilla cashew cheesecake. Strawberries topping it all off. I was going to put this recipe in my COOKBOOK (it is still extremely exciting for me to type that word) but I reached over 15,000 likes on facebook yesterday and thought "Hey, these guys deserve something special for being so freaking amazing, loving and supportive". So here ya go.

All I've eaten today is blended frozen fruit which ends up being like ice cream, or this recipe. I love my life. This cake is one delicious demon. It is creamy, sweet, fresh, tart and colourful all at once. Actually that has nothing to do with demons so never mind that. Plus it is super easy to make (surprise, surprise) and can be eaten the same day you make it. I'm probably going to eat 3/4 for my dinner tonight.






Anyways - back to ice cream cake. I am seriously getting stoked about the increasing amount of sunshine here. The birds are chirping, the grass is growing, I feel the green slowly coming back and I want to run outside and plant seeds everywhere. The sunshine makes me think of growing my strawberries, which makes me want to eat strawberries...


blueberry strawberry banana ice cream cake: 

10 strawberries for outside, cut in half

Vanilla ice cream cake layer: 
2 cups cashews
2 bananas
1 cup dates
1/4 cup melted coconut oil 
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod (or 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
Vegan milk or coconut water, as needed 

Berry layer: 
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup fave vegan milk or coconut water, use as needed
1 cup dates, walnuts or another banana 

To make the first layer: place the halved strawberries around the edge of a spring form pan. Set aside. Now blend all the vanilla ice cream cake ingredients together until smooth, adding as little vegan milk or coconut water as possible (I used about 1/4 cup?). Spread into the bottom of the pan, this should press the berries to the inner edge. Put in the freezer.

To make the berry layer: blend it all up until smooth. Carefully spread over top of the vanilla ice cream cake layer and put in the freezer for about 2 or 3 hours, until it's set. Then cut and serve with other berries! Let it soften a little before eating, because it makes it creamier.

To make the cheesecake: blend all ingredients - EXCEPT cacao or carob - until very smooth. Add as little water as possible to keep your cheesecake creamy. If you don't want to add any water, use some liquid sweetener or another banana. Now take out half the batter and put in a bowl. Add the cacao or carob in the remaining batter that is still in your blender and blend until it's incorporated. Now spread the vanilla layer and the chocolate layers on your crust, alternating a few times. Set in the freezer overnight and then drizzle with peanut butter and chocolate the next day. Enjoy! 

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!

you know how much i love cheesecake! i made another one yesterday. it's layers of lemon and lime with coconut. sounds pretty tasty, right? RIGHT.



check out this mix above; it's groovy, sexy and funkalicious. there's three of them and i recommend downloading them all. NOW, back to cheesecake. i really like the flavours of this one, fresh and light but just sweet and dense enough to let you savour it. unfortunately my camera is still missing so i couldn't take the best pictures. you will have to deal with it. bear with me, people.


let it sit in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or better still, overnight. it leaves it time to set properly and gain some extra flavour. it was way better today than last night when i gave it to my family for dessert. it was still darn good though. the stripe of green is a cute addition i think, but you don't have to add it if you just wanna eat the cake ASAP... i understand completely.

lemon, lime & coconut cheesecake: serves about 12

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 heaping cup prunes or dates

lemon layer:
3 cups cashews
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 2 lemons
1 banana (optional)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons coconut oi

lime layer:
1 avocado
juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 cup coconut milk (use as little as possible anyway)
1/4 cup coconut flakes 

for the crust, blend all the ingredients in your food processor until it starts clumping together and you can press it into shapes. press into the bottom of a springform pan lined with plastic wrap. put in fridge.

to make the lemon layer, blend all ingredients together in your blender until creamy smooth. YUM. pour half of it onto your crust - set aside the remaining half - put back in fridge. 

to make the lime layer, blend all ingredients until smooth in your food processor or blender. pour all of this onto the first layer on the crust, then pour on the remaining lemon layer from earlier. let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is better). i put coconut flakes on top of mine to add some texture. YEAH, BABY.

a few weeks ago one of my best friends, amanda, asked if i would be willing to cook a vegan dinner for her and her family. duh! so last night i did.

we made pad thai with mushrooms and red onion; a quinoa salad with baked rosemary eggplant, tomatoes, cucumber and roasted peppers; pan-fried tofu with a peanut sauce; and a blueberry vanilla cheesecake for dessert.


i brought strawberries, raspberries and cherries from the farmers market. they were so juicy and delicious. we put some on the cheesecake but i ate most of them for my dinner. amanda's family was a little confused as to why i had spent hours cooking an amazing vegan feast but then didn't eat any of it... being raw can be like that. anyway i did have some quinoa salad and it was SO GOOD. amanda and i are great team-mates.


as usual, every recipe was improvised BUT i will try to recall what we did, so i can share the deliciousness with you. amanda's family said it was super amazing, and her grandpa told me the cheesecake may be the best dessert he's ever had!


quinoa salad with tomatoes, cucumber, baked rosemary eggplant and roasted red peppers: serves 6-8

salad:
2 cups uncooked quinoa
1 eggplant
1 cucumber
4 tomatoes
3 roasted red peppers
handful fresh mint leaves
 
peanut sauce: 
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
3 cloves garlic, minced and crushed
4 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon each chili and cayenne powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar/agave syrup or other sweetener

follow the quinoa's cooking instructions, then leave it somewhere to cool down.
for the eggplant, slice into circles and put on a baking sheet. rub with olive oil, some salt and lots of chopped rosemary. bake it for about 20-30 minutes until the slices are  "mushy" and have soaked up the oil. chop the cucumber, tomatoes, red pepper, mint and eggplant slices and add to the quinoa.

for the peanut sauce, blend all ingredients until smooth. done! serve with peanut sauce.


blueberry cheesecake: makes 1 pie

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 cup dates
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract

filling:
2 packages silken tofu
3 bananas
2 tablespoon melted coconut oil
2 cups raw cashews (preferably soaked for a few hours)
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup/honey
1/2 cup dates
3/4 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice

topping:
2 cups berries
3 tablespoons maple syrup/honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

for the crust: put all the nuts into your food processor and pule until they're crumb-sized. add all other ingredients and pulse until it sticks together. press into the bottom of a pie pan and refrigerate.
to make the filling, blend all ingredients until smooth. taste it and see if you want to change anything. when it's the way you like spoon it into the pie pan and refrigerate for 3 hours or until it's set. for the topping, mix all ingredients together gently and let sit in the sun or somewhere warm for an hour to let the juices out. you might have some filling left over by the way, but this is not a bad thing.


we used the same peanut sauce recipe (with a bit of added spice and soy sauce) to pan fry the tofu with and that turned out awesome, if not a little messy.

for the pad thai, you can just google vegan pad thai and use any of those recipes - there's some good lookin' ones out there. we added chives, carrots and mushrooms and onions sauteed with basil, salt and pepper. not exactly traditional but apparently it was well-received!

everybody wanted seconds of every thing, and her aunt and grandparents took leftovers home. it was a ton of fun and i want to do it again soon! making food for people is so rewarding and enjoyable for me.