Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Oh boy. Someone call the po po because we've got a CRIMINAL UP IN HERE! This recipe is under arrest for being too damn delicious and causing excess drooling. However, that should not stop you from making and devouring it. Think about this way: the jail... is in your mouth. Eeeeh? Get it? Wink wink, nudge nudge.

The version I made - and the one you see photographed in bad lighting because it was night time - wasn't 100% raw since I used hummus (which has cooked chickpeas), but in the recipe below I give you a raw hummus option instead. If you don't care about using normal hummus - go ahead. I ate this whole thing by myself so be sure to warn others that you won't be sharing, and that they should make their own.

I don't like doing the same thing over and over again so after making one serving of lasagna, I made rolls with the rest of the zucchini strips and fillings. Mmm... spirals of raw whole food goodness in each bite. I wanna get back to the kitchen now so I can A) clean up the mess I made, but more importantly, B) to eat the rest of these!


lasagna with cashew cheese and broccoli sun-dried tomato pesto: serves 3-4

Lasagna noodles:
1 zucchini

Cashew cheese:
2/3 cup cashews
2 peeled garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional) 
Salt and pepper, to taste
Water, as needed

Sun-dried tomato and broccoli pesto: (or use the pesto recipe here)
1/2 head of broccoli
2 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes 
1 tablespoon olive oil (only if your sun-dried tomatoes aren't already stored in oil)
Salt, pepper and dried herbs, to taste
Water, as needed 

Other layerings:
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Basil leaves
Sprouts

To make the noodles: slice the zucchini on a mandolin. Or very thinly with a sharp knife. Set aside. 
To make the cheese: blend all ingredients in your food processor or blender until smooth and thick, adding as little water as possible. Set aside. 
To make the pesto: blend all ingredients in your food processor or blender until smooth and thick, adding as little water as possible.
Assembly: layer the noodles with the pesto, cheese and whatever you else you like, alternating as you go. If you want, make roll ups too! Enjoy. 

• 1 - 3 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
• red bell pepper, cut into thin strips or julienned
• yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips or julienned
• carrots, julienned (I used baby carrots, cut into quarters)
• sprouts/micro greens of choice
• cilantro, optional
• fresh cracked pepper & mineral salt
• tooth picks

• 2 cups kale, packed or 1 cup basil & 1 cup kale, packed
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini, optional
• 3 tablespoons or so extra virgin olive oil (if not using tahini add 1 or 2 extra tablespoons olive oil)
• himalayan salt to taste

as you may know, every saturday is family movie night here in the von euw household. for years we've been enjoying good company, beverages, film and triangular food once every week. when i went vegan, i just veganized my pizza...

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, softened
• 8 oz. package mushrooms, sliced
• 2 jalapenos, sliced and seeds discarded
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8 oz. pasta of choice 
• almond parmesan, for topping

Walnut Basil Pesto

• 2 cups basil, packed
• 1/2 cup walnuts 
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoon lemon
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves
• himalayan salt & pepper to taste (I used white pepper)
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, optional*

Start with your pesto: Combine ingredients in food processor, process until blended and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package, drain and return to pot you cooked it in. Add a small amount of oil and toss to coat.

In saute pan heat oil over medium, saute mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and jalapeno for 4 - 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. It should be smelling pretty delicious about now! Remove from heat.

Toss pasta with pesto. Place pasta on individual serving dishes and top with sauteed vegetables, add salt and pepper to taste. Top with almond parmesan for even more flavor. Serves 2 - 3.

Notes:

I didn't use the nutritional yeast in my recipe, it's a good healthy option for those seeking to replace the cheese flavor in other pesto recipes. Add slowly until you find the amount you like.

Use as much of the sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and jalapeno pepper as you like.

Use rice or quinoa pasta to make this gluten free.

I adapted this recipe from gliving.com - a great site, do check it out! - and really loved how it turned out. The pesto is the star. It's sooo yummy. Even my older brother who is a pesto/cheese LOVER said it was great! He couldn't stop eating it. The beets were also yummy, I chose to soften them by dehydrating for an hour or so. I also didn't put any oil on them, just salt.


I added more basil and less parsley to the pesto because we have basil growing on our deck. (I'll be posting more on growing your own herbs and food later.) I also used sun-dried-tomato-infused extra virgin olive oil and that stepped up the whole thang. I used carrots from our garden in the puree and it actually became a general sauce for the rest of dinner that night. Way better than gravy, that's for sure.


Beets are one of those foods that taste very different raw than cooked. They're crunchy, refreshing, and even more earthy. I truly love beets. Their colour is ever-impressive. Speaking of...

Did you know? You can use beets for your lips! Instead of smearing animal-tested chemicals and Red 41 on your lovely lips, swipe a beet across them! You can also use them for blush. Nature's first lipstick, edible of course.