Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

the possibilities for zucchini pasta are endless; much like salad and smoothie recipes. this time i used pumpkin seeds and garlic for the base of the sauce. of course - the noodles are just zucchini! i topped it off with raisins, chives and spiced almonds.

i usually make 2 small zucchinis for myself. one of the many aspects of raw food i love is the huge amount of food you can eat. veggies and greens are so low calorie it's pretty much impossible to get adequate calories from them alone. so most of my diet ends up being fruit. then of course i have nuts and seeds in my desserts, and sometimes some whole cooked grains to balance out my omega-3's.

as joel fuhrman explains - the higher ratio of nutrient to calorie in a food, the better it is for you! so plants like zucchini, eggplant, any greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. are super low-calorie but super high in nutrient density. they will keep you living long! and holy guacamole (see what i did there?), do they taste good...


zucchini noodles with pumpkin seed & garlic sauce: serves one or two

noodles:
2 small zucchinis 

sauce:
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup basil leaves/other fresh herbs
2 tablespoons raisins/dates
as much nut milk or water as needed

to make the noodles, slice the zukes on a mandolin or spiral slicer. set aside in a big bowl. to make the sauce, blend all ingredients until smooth (adding water or nut milk til then). massage the sauce into the noodles until evenly coated. let them rest for a minute to soften and marinate. sprinkle on whatever you like! nom. 



p.s. i go on my juice fast tomorrow! SO EXCITED. 
p.p.s. check this website out if you - like me - are in love with reggae dub. 

I love noodles. 
So it makes perfect sense that among desserts, raw pasta is one of my favourite meals. I prefer it made with zucchini, although bell peppers, yams, carrots and other veggies work well too. I also love it with a creamy sauce and a bit of spice.

It's so satisfying, nutrient-dense, low-calorie and RAW, in every sense of the word. 


I don't really use recipes when preparing raw food (as you probably know by now) so for the following recipes, feel ABSOLUTELY FREE to play them with them as you like. There's endless possibilities for sauce ideas - just like for smoothies and salads. The combinations are infinite.


For the pasta: use any wide, fairly long vegetable - zucchini is the perfect example - and slice it on your spiral slicer or mandoline, into noodles. Set aside. Now for the sauce =)

Avocado Hemp Sauce: 

1/2 avocado
1 clove garlic
3 Tb tamari
Water or non-dairy milk, as needed
Salt & pepper, add other spices if you wish
2 Tb hemp seeds

Blend all ingredients except hemp seeds until smooth. See if you like the taste and consistency. Stir in hemp seeds and pour over noodles. Let them sit for a few minutes, then enjoy! I like to add hot sauce and raw marinated veggies.


Garlic Miso Sauce:

2-3 Tb miso
1 clove garlic
2 Tb tamari
1-2 Tb rice vinegar
1-2 Tb almond butter
2 Tb black sesame seeds
Water as needed

Blend all ingredients except sesame seeds until smooth. See if you like the taste and consistency. Stir in sesame seeds and pour over noodles. Let sit for a few minutes then eat it up! This recipe is good with broccoli. 

Raw pasta is so satisfying. You think you won't be full after eating it, but you always are! Well, maybe I shouldn't use the word "full" in it's conventional way. I mean you feel like you don't need to eat anything else. You feel satisfied! Probably because of all the fiber and water in veggies, plus the delicious sauce on the noodles.

The second easiest way to make raw pasta is on the mandoline, which I've been doing since I went vegan. It works well enough, but it wasn't made for making raw noodles. The EASIEST way to make raw pasta? With a Spirooli. Guess what.

I HAVE ONE NOW! Thanks to my lovely and too-nice vegan, non-biologial sista, Eva.

She is the most compassionate, caring and selfless person I know. So of course, she spends way too much money on other people. Me included. She justified buying this wonderful new toy as a "late Christmas present". Who am I to deny her generosity!? I'll take a free Spirooli any way I can. The first thing I made was pretty simple and also simply delicious.


I made pasta out of carrots, put on some creamy cashew sauce and sliced avocado REALLY thin to add to it. The spiral slicer worked great! I'm gonna be eating so much zucchini pasta from now on.

Sorry, salad.




































In other news: my friend Alex wants me to mention how insanely attractive he is. Now you know.

Also: I'm leaving for Mexico SOON, people! So stoked. I'll post more about it tomorrow.
Until then, enjoy your pasta! Have the best day ever.

*Strictly speaking, the sauce isn't totally raw. But c'mon. What're ya gonna do. If you really want a 100% raw sauce, make a blend of tahini (or other nut butter), chili, tamari, garlic and ginger.

The pasta of course, is just zucchini, sliced on le mandoline. Good news! Soon I will be purchasing one of these puppies from Organic Lives. Yippie! However, if you can only afford a mandoline - no worries! As you can see, they work just as well.

The sauce is a lot like authentic Pad Thai sauce, just healthier and vegan. I had my mom to guide me; she and my dad lived in Thailand for years before they had kids. That's probably a reason I love Thai food so much. It may be my favourite kind of cuisine.


Real Pad Thai is made with rice noodles, a tamarind-, chili- and fish sauce-based sauce, and topped with cilantro, chili paste, peanuts, bean sprouts and perhaps other veggies. Not a lot of meat in Thai food.

To make the pasta, slice the zuc on a mandoline or spiral slicer. Add enough sauce to evenly coat the noodles. Garnish. Eat! The heat of the chili makes this dish perfectly warming on its own - no heating necessary.

Mmm Mmm Mmm. I really love the presentation of food, and I had fun with this dish. The noodles were ridiculously easy to make, just slice them on the mandoline and you have the most beautiful, living, fresh pasta you've ever laid eyes on. Sauces for me are usually a blend of tahini or other raw sprouted nut butter, some miso, some spices and herbs. For this dish it was more focused on tomatoes to get that spaghetti and tomato sauce with meatballs feel.
My family was having spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs (organic, local beef JUST so you know) the same night, thus my inspiration.
The nut balls were a mix of nuts (duh) and a bunch of spices. I put curry powder on almost every savory meal I make, as well as cinnamon. And chopped garlic, of course! I shaped them into balls and dehydrated them the day before.

The "Parmesan cheese" is a staple for me and my mom. Here's the recipe. 
We had two gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market lying around so I used them on the outside of the noodle pile for a "frame". Pinched off some basil from the garden, set up the nut balls, and voila! I think my family may have been a bit jealous.