Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Today's post is a short and sweet ode to a few products I have been loving (whadda surprise... never woulda guessed that from the title). First we have got Hippie Cookies! I've recently begun a beautiful relationship with Left Coast Naturals... but what we're working on together is pretty hush hush so shh. Anyways, they're giving me mad swag (aka free foodz) and one of their brands is Hippie Foods... they make healthy snacks with 100% sustainable ingredients and techniques. I love it. Also these cookies are INSANE. Raw, vegan, gluten-free and holy crap are they delicious. Buy them today. Eat the whole bag. Feel proud, because you just made the world a better place. I think the vanilla almond ones are my fave. Also check out Hippie Foods' Coconut Chips... they are like crack. Addictive.


Finally we have glass straws! I've used only Dharma Straws up until now, but recently Simply Straws sent me a lovely little collection, along with an adorable case and cleaning wand! I like the bends some of the straws have, and the etched logo. Glass straws are da bomb and every plastic straw user should try them right now. Game changer. They're easy to transport, beautiful to look at, and pretty effortless to use. I mean, it's a straw. Just sip. You'll be seeing these straws in my up coming book on Juices, Smoothies and Healthy Snacks. Wink wink. It'll be out December 2014. Ugh a year away. It's okay. Patience.

Ingredients

• 1 head green cabbage, shredded 
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, julienned
• 4 scallions (green onions), sliced
• 12 pepperoncini or banana peppers, julienned or diced
• himilayan salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• sesame seeds, to serve

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons pure cane sugar or pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of fresh cracked pepper

Start by mixing your dressing. In a small bowl combine dressing ingredients. Set aside. After five minutes or so, taste for flavor adding anything extra you might like. (You may also consider mixing the dressing on the bottom of the bowl you will be mixing your coleslaw in leaving one less dish to wash.)

In a large mixing bowl, add cabbage, carrots, scallions, pepperoncinis. Drizzle with dressing and mix to combine. Add salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste. Serve at room temp or chilled. This is a great salad to make ahead and let set covered an hour or so on the counter or in the refrigerator for longer.

Serve with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds over top.

Serves 2 - 4

Notes:

If using pure cane sugar or other granulated sugar, you may consider mixing with 1 tablespoon warm water so the granules will dissolve completely.

I like spicy foods but feel free to adjust the amount of peppers to taste.

I tend to keep my tahini in the refrigerator so mine is always a bit thicker due to being cold, if using room temp tahini you may need less water. Keep in mind: If dressing is too thin, add more tahini. If dressing it too thick, add a tad more water until desired consistency.

A note on the dressing: I found it was a bit sweet as I was mixing and tasting it. I worried that even 2 teaspoons was too much sugar but once the salad was completed it was perfect and not sweet at all. Keep that in mind when tasting the dressing and adjusting, you may feel something is off but once it all comes together the results are delicious! Add more vinegar for extra tang.

Note: this is for Canadian and U.S. residents only (sorry, everybody else... sad face). And you'd like to also order Amore di Mona Valentine's Day gift boxes from Amazon, you gotta do it by Tuesday, February 11th!

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• 1 cup raw buckwheat groats (not toasted aka kasha)
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 5 cups water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground vanilla or vanilla extract
• pinch of himilayan salt

Optional ideas for topping:

• chopped dates, raisins, apricots or other dried fruit
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• fresh berries of all kind
• coconut, almond, hazelnut or any non-dairy milk
• pure maple syrup, coconut sugar or other sweetener of choice
• nuts and seeds of all kinds
• cocoa nibs
• 100% fruit jam
• nut butter

In dutch oven or large pot, bring water and remaining ingredients to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, give a good stir, add more water as needed, replace lid and let sit overnight. Or you can carefully fill your mason jars (or other containers), cover and let sit overnight. Porridge will be fine on the counter, but if you wish you can place it in the refrigerator and it will still be fine.The next day fill your jars with a mix of toppings for grab & go time or simply top each jar when ready to eat.

I prefer to eat my porridge at room temp but you can heat yours either in the microwave for a minute or two, or use a heated pot of water setting the mason jar in the center until warmed.

This will fill 5, maybe 6, pint sized mason jars. Wide mouth jars are preferred, much easier to spoon out of for eating.

Serves 5 - 6. Will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Notes:

Feel free to use 2 cups buckwheat or steel cut oats instead of combining the two. If using only buckwheat reduce the water amount to 4 cups.

I like my porridge on the thicker side, adjust water adding more for a thinner consistency. I prefer to add the non-dairy milk at serving to thin it out a bit.

Adjust the amount of cinnamon and cardamom to suit your taste. I'm in love with cardamom at the moment and find myself using a bit more than suggested here.

Bob's Red Mill carries both raw buckwheat groats and steel cut oats. I ordered buckwheat groats from Arrowhead Mills thinking they were raw but they were toasted, it wasn't stated on the front of the package so just be wary. Let these at least be an example of what to look for as they both have different variations.

OH LAWD THIS BELONGS IN HEAVEN. I think the recipe dropped down from the divine clouds and landed in my little head just so I could share it with you today. Thanks to whoever's running the holy show up there... Obviously they have excellent taste when it comes to eating. Who knew the angels liked raw vegan desserts? Yet I can't say I am surprised. Why do I always compare food with heaven, and call it holy and divine? Because the mind-blowingly amazing flavours - and the fact that all my recipes are raw and vegan (cruelty-free and uber healthy) - allow your mind and body to transcend the physical realm and reach new heights. Food has the power to enlighten. Okay, this weird biblical story has overstayed its welcome. Moving on.




COCONUT CREAM LIME PIE

Crust:
3/4 cup hemp seeds
3/4 cup dates

Cream filling:
1/2 young coconut meat
1/4 cup coconut water, if needed
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1-2 tablespoons coconut nectar
1 peeled lime
Pinch of Himalayan salt 
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder

To make the crust: pulse the hemp seeds into powder in a food processor then add the dates and process until it lumps together. Press into a small pie dish (my mini one is 4 inches).

To make the cream filling: blend all the ingredients until smooth, white and they look like a delicious cloud. If it's too thick to blend, add a little but of coconut water. Spread evenly into your crust and put in the fridge for ideally 48 hours before serving.

HORMONE-BALANCING YERBA MATE BANANA SMOOTHIE

2 frozen bananas
1 1/2 cups chilled yerba mate tea (mine is a chai blend) 
1 teaspoon lucuma powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
3 dates
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/4 cup cashews, preferably soaked
Cacao nibs (optional) 

Blend everything together until smooth. Taste and adjust accordingly (add more dates, vanilla, etc.) Top off with cacao nibs to make it look pretty and enjoy!