Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

• 3/4 bunch kale, stems removed and julienned
• 1 large lemon, juice of
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, sliced
• 1/8 small red onion, sliced
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced
• small handful cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or campari tomatoes, quartered
• small handful cup kalamata olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• dollop of hummus, optional (but so good!), to serve
• fresh chopped parsley, to serve

Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• juice of one lemon
• 1 heaping teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, optional
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Remove the stems from the center of the kale leaves, as least the thickest parts. Julienne kale leaves and place in a medium size bowl, add lemon juice, mix to coat the leaves and let set while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. The lemon juice will help soften the kale leaves. Toss every few minutes or so.

In a small bowl, add the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Whisk together until emulsified. It usually takes me about one minute, set aside.

Once you've prepped your other ingredients you're ready to assemble your salad. In a serving dish, add kale and top with bell pepper, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and chickpeas. Add your vinaigrette over top and a dollop of hummus anywhere you like.

Serves one generously.

Notes:

Depending on the size of your produce, amounts will vary. Adjust accordingly to suit your taste and situation. For instance, I used small Persian cucumbers here but used a whole small one. Typically, you'll be using a regular or English cucumber and will only use about 1/4 of it, as per the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried garbanzo beans or 2 cups sprouted chickpeas 
• 2 heaping tablespoons tahini
• 2 heaping tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic
• juice of 2 medium lemons
• 1/4 cup purified water, + more as needed to thin
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• dash or two cayenne pepper, optional
• himalayan salt to taste

If starting with dried beans, place your beans in a large bowl and fill with purified water. The beans will double in size so be sure to cover and leave plenty of extra water for them to soak up, about 2 to 3 times as much water. Soak for 8 -12 hours. Rinse and drain thoroughly. Leave your beans anywhere at room temp and rinse and drain once every 8 - 12 hours for two days. Here is a great guide to sprouting garbanzo beans from the Sprout People for reference.

Place all your ingredients into your food processor/blender and blend until creamy. Taste for flavor adding anything extra you like. If adding more water, add 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.

• 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!

I do not miss dairy ice cream. Usually it's full of chemicals, drugs, antibiotics and unhealthy fats. Even if that doesn't bother you - it's an abusive industry that steals baby food from another species. That's mean and weird.

But if you don't consume dairy then how will you survive without ice cream!? Do not fret: because I have something better (in every possible way). It's raw, vegan, healthy, creamy and equally delicious. Especially if you like coconut. If not, still no need to cry over spilled coconut milk; you can adjust the coconut flavour to your liking.

Today I have two majorly delicious recipes for you. The first I am sure everyone can enjoy, it is a vanilla bean coconut ice cream with a caramel swirl. The second is slightly less known but believe me - one of the best ice creams I've ever tasted. It is olive oil ice cream. I know, it sounds strange but I wouldn't joke about ice cream. It's outta this world. I had heard about it before and finally decided to face my skepticism and make it. It's hard to imagine the flavour of olive oil and ice cream complementing each other but as you taste you have an epiphany. I did, anyway.


The sweetness of the ice cream picks up the fruity tones of olive oil and the olive oil provides extra creaminess and a savoury layer of flavour to the ice cream. I'd say I just created a new pair of best friends. Apparently olive oil ice cream is pretty normal in places like Italy, which is not surprising when you think about it. Why not, right? Food is about experimentation and discovering new favourites!


I didn't calculate the nutritional information for this recipe because... well, I never do, since I don't think that it is important. As long as your diet is comprised mostly of plant-based whole foods, you're golden - and this recipe fits that category. Having said that, the fat content is probably quite high for this one so just make sure not to eat much other fat in your day.


vanilla coconut ice cream with caramel & olive oil ice cream:

Ice cream:
3 cups cashews, soaked in water for 3-4 hours
1 1/2 cups young coconut meat
2 1/2 cups coconut water (or plain water if you're not cookoo for coconut)
1/2 cup agave/maple syrup
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Caramel:
1 cup dates
1/4 cup vegan milk (or more, as needed)
1 tablespoon nut butter

To make the vanilla ice cream: in your high speed blender, blend all the ice cream ingredients - EXCEPT the olive oil - until smooth and deliciously addictive. Add what you think it needs then pour about half of it into a freezer safe container. Set aside.

To make the olive oil ice cream: add the olive oil to the remaining ice cream mixture in your blender and blend until it is incorporated. Now the moment of truth - taste it. AMAZING, RIGHT? Put this into another freezer safe container.

To make the caramel: blend all ingredients until smooth, adding as much liquid as needed.

If you have an ice cream maker, I'm jealous. Use it according to its instructions for each ice cream (separately). If you want a caramel swirl in your vanilla ice cream, gently stir in the caramel by hand when the ice cream is the consistency of soft serve.

If you don't have an ice cream maker (like me), put each container into an ice bath until cold. Then put them in the freezer and stir them every 30 minutes until frozen. Same directions for the caramel swirl as written above. Serve with chopped nuts and sprinkle with salt.