Raw Avocado, Banana & Chocolate (ABC) Pudding

We love avocados and are very fortunate to be able to get the fresh and organic ones at our farmers' market all year long. This morning, I skipped the green smoothie routine for breakfast and had avocado and chocolate pudding instead. It was easy, nutritious, delicious and didn't take long to prepare.  Just a perfect way to start the day!


ABC Pudding

serves 2

3/4 - 1 cup coconut milk (I used unsweetened So Delicious)

1 organic avocado, peeled and pitted

2 tablespoons organic, raw cocoa powder (I used Navitals Naturals)

4 soaked organic medjool dates, pitted 

1 frozen banana

1/4 teaspoons raw, organic vanilla powder (I used Live Superfoods)

Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender,  garnish with fresh organic mint leaves and frozen or fresh organic raspberries, and serve. 

Strawberry Sauce

When I bought a basked  of fresh strawberries at the farmers market yesterday, I was planning to make David Lebovitz'  version of vegan strawberry ice cream. I said his version because I don't have an ice cream maker and was thinking about making it more smoothie-like consistency beverage. But I was not in the mood for recipe experiment today so I decided to just whip the strawberry in a food processor. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup organic strawberries
1½ teaspoon raw, organic Chia seeds
1 pinch sea salt
coconut nectar (I used Coconut Secret brand)
soaked organic medjool dates (optional)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice to taste

Preparation: 

Process the strawberries until they are pureed. Add chia seeds, salt and coconut nectar. If the sauce is not sweet enough, add 2 or 3 medjool dates. Pour the sauce into a glass jar, add lemon juice to taste. Cover and chill in the refrigerator. Enjoy it on pancakes, waffles, french toast, ice cream or etc.

Banana & Strawberry Chia Pudding

I normally start my mornings with about 2 cups of green smoothie. While smoothies fill me up, they don't hold me over until lunch time. So this chia seed pudding comes to the rescue. And it has become my favorite morning snack at work. I like the jelly texture of soaked chia seeds and I can make tons of variations by using different kinds of fruits (fresh or frozen), nuts or seeds. The possibilities are endless. It is very easy to prepare, super healthy, and delicious! This pudding is also great for dessert - like this one which I prepared as soon as I got home from the farmers market with 3 baskets of organic strawberries this afternoon. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow morning to enjoy this juicy and sweet strawberries. Excellent pudding toppings! 


3 tablespoons raw, organic chia seeds
1 1/2 cups almond milk or any milk of choice 
pinch of pink himalayan salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 organic banana
5 fresh organic strawberries 
a handful organic raisin


Soak chia seeds in almond milk for at least 2 hours or overnight, stir often for the first 15 minutes to prevent clumping. Transfer to a serving bowl, and top with banana, strawberries and raisin. 

Quinoa & Shiitake Salad

It's Friday evening, I am hungry, I don't want a take-out, and I don't feel like eating out alone (hubby is on a business trip). So what's for dinner? There is not much left in my fridge on Friday - I go to Farmers Market every Saturday and/or Sunday, and only buy veggies and fruits for a one-week consumption. So dinner will have to be whatever left there. Glad I have quinoa, a staple in my kitchen that had become my go-to food since I became vegan. 


Quinoa & Shiitake Salad 
- 1/4 cup organic quinoa, cooked per directions
- 1 cup organic shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbsp raw, organic coconut oil
- a splash of coconut aminos
- 1 garlic, crushed
- 5 leaves organic kale, chopped
- lots of organic greens
- organic cherry tomatoes


Directions
Saute shiitake mushrooms in coconut oil
Add crushed garlic and kale when the mushroom starts to wilt
Pour in the coconut animos then stir 
Turn off the head then add cooked quinoa and tomatoes. Toss together
Arrange greens on a plate than add the mushrooms and quinoa mix. 
Enjoy with a lot of smiles

Kripik Bawang

Cuti sakit saya teruskan hari ini karena belum merasa sehat sepenuhnya dan juga ingin beristirahat lebih banyak. Hihihi. Setelah makan siang dan menikmati beberapa potong brownies yang dibuat kemaren, timbul keinginan untuk makan keripik atau camilan yang asin-asin. Sayangnya persedian camilan mentah saya sedang habis. Jadi harus buat sendiri dengan bahan seadanya. Untung ada kacang almond yang sudah direndam dan dikeringkan,  sisa dari membuat susu kemaren pagi, dan sedikit walnut yang memang ingin segera dihabiskan karena sudah agak lama tersimpan di pantry. Karena tomat segar tidak ada, sebagai gantinya saya gunakan tomat yang sudah dikeringkan (sun dried) dan direndam dalam air dingin. 

Kripik Bawang (Kripik atau keripik sih yang benar ?) Resep diadaptasi dari sini

1/2 cup raw, organic almond yang sudah direndam dan dikeringkan

1/2 cup raw, organic walnuts, rendam 30 menit, tiriskan

1/2 cup raw, organic biji matahari, rendam 30 menit, tiriskan

2 potong organic sun dried tomato, rendam 30 menit, dan air rendamannya

1/2 organic sweet onion, potong-potong

1 1/2 sendok makan flaxseed

sejumput pink himalayan sea salt

Masukkan semua bahan kedalam food processor. Setelah semua tercampur, tuang adonan ke kertas parchment dan tipiskan kemudian keringkan. Karena tidak punya dehydrator, adonan saya keringkan di dalam oven dengan suhu tidak lebih dari 100 derajat sampai saya dapatkan tekstur seperti keripik.  

Better than Brownies Amanda :-)

Sejak kemaren sore saya bersin-bersin tanpa henti. Awalnya saya pikir hanya alergi biasa tapi saat bangun tidur pagi ini hidung terasa agak mampet dan tenggorokanpun terasa sakit. Jadilah hari ini ambil cuti sakit biar bisa istirahat. Kalau sakit saya usahakan untuk tidak minum obat dan membiarkan tubuh berperang melawan penyakit dengan sendirinya. 

Setelah melakukan yoga ringan, badan mulai terasa baikan. Istirahat sebentar terus makan siang - semangkok besar organic greens tanpa dressing yang bisa bikin kambing ngiri. Begitu selesai makan siang, badan sudah terasa segar kembali dan punya enerji lagi. Jadilah bikin brownies mentah yang memang sudah lama pingin dicoba. Ternyata rasanya tidak mengecewakan. Menurut saya brownies ini jauh lebih enak dari brownies Amanda dari Bandung yang terkenal itu. 

Brownies terenak di dunia - diadaptasi dari Raw Food Punk

Karena tidak dimasak bahan yang saya gunakan semua raw dan organic. 

- 1/2 cup pecans

- 1 cup almond pulp (ampas kacang almond sisa dari membuat susu almond - duh panjang amat terjemahannya ya)

- 5 dates

- 3 tbsp raw honey

- 1 tbsp filtered water

- 1/3 cup cacao powder

- 1 tbsp almond butter

- 1 tbsp unrefined coconut oil

- handful whole pecan, cincang kasar

Masukan semua bahan kedalam food proces­sor kecuali pecan yang sudah dicincang sampai tercampur rata dan liat. Tuang adonan ke dalam mangkok, tambahkan cincangan kacang pecan terus pindahkan adaona ke dalam loyang. Tekan sampai padat, diamkan sebentar sampai agak mengeras (biar mudah dipotong). Enjoy!

Easy Breakfast - Green Smoothie

Akhir pekan kemaren, saya dan suami pergi ke Farmer's Market sudah agak siang. Tentu saja sampai disana sudah tidak banyak pilihan lagi sayur-sayuran dan buah-buahan yang tersisa.  Alhasil green smoothie minggu ini resepnya sangat simple. Semua bahan diblender sampai halus dan mudah diseruput.  Sayuran dan buah yang digunakan semua organik.

- 1 1/2 cup air yang sudah disaring

- 2 genggam bayam 

- 2 batang celery 

- 2 fuji apel 

- lemon juice dari 1/2 emon

- 2 sendok makan raw and organic hemp seed

- 1 genggam parsley (termasuk batangnya)

- 1 peach

Chocolate Cashew Milk

I love chocolate! Well, who doesn't?!

Sejak mencoba mengkonsumsi makanan mentah dan ketagihan, saya rajin membuat susu kacang rasa coklat, tentunya dengan menggunakan cacao yang belum diolah. Rasanya jauh lebih enak dari susu coklat yang selama ini saya konsumsi dan jauh lebih sehat lagi. :-) Konon cacao mentah merupakan 1 dari 10 superfoods karena mengandung antioxidant yang tinggi, phenyl ethylamine (PEA), anandamide yang merangsang perasaan bahagia dan sumber manganese, zinc, cooper, iron, magnesium dan omega 6 fatty acids. Melihat sederet faedahnya, saya usahakan untuk menggunakan cacao mentah di dalam resep sebanyak mungkin. 

Biasanya saya menggunakan kacang almon untuk membuat susu. Karena kehabisan stok dan yang ada di pantry saat ini cuma kacang cashew, ya saya coba pakai kacang cashew. Seperti yang saya duga sebelumnya, hasilnya tidak mengecewakan. Malah saya tidak merasakan perbedaan rasa sama sekali. Yang terasa adalah susu coklat yang lezat. 

Semua bahan yang digunakan mentah, organic, tanpa gula dan tanpa perlu merasa bersalah jika minum bergelas-gelas :-)

Chocolate Cashew Milk 

1 organic cup cashew

3 cups filtered water

3 organic medjol kurma yang sudah dibuang bijinya

2 atau 3 sendok makan organic raw cacao powder 

Masukkan semua bahan ke dalam blender sampai tercampur rata. Membuat susu dari  kacang cashew lebih mudah dibandingkan membuat susu kacang almond karena tidak ada ampasnya. Takaran di resep ini menghasilkan 3 gelas (untuk ukuran gelas dalam gambar) dan bisa disimpan di lemari pendingin sampai 3 hari (kalau bisa menahan godaan untuk tidak menghabiskannya dalam sekali teguk). Haha 

Nut Milk, My New Love!

Move over soy milk! I have a new love; nut milk.  

A few weeks ago, I started following a high raw diet which is consuming more than 80% uncooked food. I eat predominantly vegetables, fruits, raw seeds and nuts. Since then I have been drinking homemade nut milk almost every day. I love the taste and the creamy texture of it, especially when I add raw cacao powder to the mix to make very delicious chocolate nut milk.  


I have tried making nut milk using almonds, brazil nuts, cashew and macadamia nuts so far which all yields a very delicious and nutritious drink. While almond milk is easily accessible and probably is more economical to purchase, I prefer to make my own almond nut milk because I don't want additional ingredients that usually come along with almonds; sugar, preservatives, stabilizers or other processed ingredients.  Good news is making delicious nut milk is very simple and doesn't require a lot of ingredients or efforts. There are a lot of recipes for nut milk on the internet but the following recipe is the one that I use the most. 

Nut Milk Recipe
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup organic, raw nuts of choice, soaked at least for 8 hours
•  3 cups of filtered water or 4 cups if using macadamia or brazil nuts
•  3-4 organic medjool date (I like my milk sweet)
•  a pinch of himalayan pink salt
•  a pinch of organic, raw vanilla been powder

Method:  

• Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed or Vitamix for 1 minute or so. 
• For a smooth texture, use a nut milk bag or cheesecloth to strain the mixture. Most of the time, I don't bother straining it as I like my drink creamy and thick. 
• Enjoy this delicious milk as is or add 1 tbsp raw, organic cacao powder to make creamy delicious chocolate milk or frozen strawberries/blueberries to make tasty strawberry or blueberry milk.
• Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Penne pasta with tempe and tomato sauce

As Indonesian, I grew up eating tempeh throughout my life; fried tempeh (tempe goreng), rice flour-battered tempeh (tempe mendoan), stir-fried tempeh (orak arik tempe), marinated tempeh (tempe bacem), tempeh cooked with chilli sauce (sampal tempe) etc.  When I switched to plant-based diet in July, I started using tempeh in my pasta sauce. One of my favorite recipes is this easy and yummy pasta sauce. 

For the pasta:
-Cook as per directions on the package. I  used organic, vegan penne. 

For the sauce: 

Adapted from here

- strained tomatoes (I used Pomi)

- onion, chopped

- garlic, minced

- 4 roma tomatoes, chopped

- maple syrup

- apple cider vinegar

- himalayan pink salt

- sambal Oelek

- tempe, cubed (I love Organic flax from Lightlife) 

Directions:

- simmer all ingredients in a pot 

- once it boils, add tempe to the pot

- stir often until the tempe absorbs the sauce and breaks into small pieces 

- pour into the cooked pasta, add fresh spinach and arugula, toss well

- stir in chopped fresh basil