March 27, 2011

Breakfast
Mango Sorbet
serves 1 ~ $2.24 per serving
recipe by Jennifer Cornbleet

1 cup frozen mango chunks (about 1 1/2 mangoes) ($2.24)

This is a very simple recipe from Jennifer Cornbleet’s book, Raw Food for 1 or 2 People. I really like how simple and easy her recipes are to make. I was running low on supplies this weekend, but was still able to make some of her recipes without having to shop. I was able to review this book, as well as her Raw for Dessert book. I really enjoyed both, especially since the recipes are for smaller quantities and ideal for (no surprise!) just one or two people. I was more than happy to be able to chat with Jenny a bit and make a few of her recipes here (recipe instructions are Jenny’s).

Jennifer has trained at, and now teaches at, the Living Light Culinary Institute. She has a raw food company, Learn Raw Food, and does lectures, workshops, and consultations … and her book has sold over 100,000 copies and is one of the most popular raw books at Amazon (yay, Jenny!).

Allow the mango chunks to thaw for 5 minutes. Place in a food processor fitted with an S blade and process until smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Serve immediately.

 

8 carrots, juiced ($1.15)

1 small onion, finely minced ($.05)

4 tablespoons cashew mayo ($.10)

1/2 teaspoons dulse flakes (optional) ($.05)

1/2 teaspoon salt

romaine ($.60)

cashew tartar sauce

lemon slices ($.30)

This is really simple, and perfect if you juice carrots and have carrot pulp left over.

Juice the carrots and reserve the carrot pulp for this recipe. Add the minced onion, cashew mayo, dulse flakes, and salt. Stir together and form into about four patties. Place on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for about an hour. Flip and dehydrate for about another hour. Serve on a small bed of lettuce with cashew tartar sauce and lemon slices.

Cashew mayo is made with 1 cup cashews and 3/4 cup water. Puree in a blender until smooth and creamy. Make cashew tartar sauce by mixing some very finely minced cucumbers or pickles and a bit of agave with the cashew mayo.

1 head bok choy, chopped ($1.89)

8 oz mushrooms, sliced ($2.29)

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.79)

1 medium onion, sliced ($.05)

3 tablespoons olive oil ($.30)

2 tablespoons agave ($.20)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Bok choy is my new favorite vegetable, and we’ve been enjoying it both raw and cooked very often lately. Again, this is a super simple recipe. Add the bok choy, mushrooms, red bell pepper, and onion to a lidded container or bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, agave, balsamic vinegar, and salt, and pour over the veggies and toss to coat.

Spread out on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for about an hour until the veggies are warmed and wilted.

1/2 pineapple, cut in chunks ($2.25)

3 ripe bananas ($.45)

1 cup ground flax ($.25)

1 cup water

1 ripe banana ($.15)

2 tablespoons olive oil  ($.20)

2 tablespoons agave ($.20)

pinch salt

This was really fun, and my grandkids loved it. 

In a food processor fitted with the “S” blade, process the pineapple and bananas until very smooth. Then finish in an ice cream maker according the machine’s directions. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, just put this mixture in a bowl and freeze, stirring every half hour or so.

The cones really make this fun. Soak the ground flax seed in the water for about 10 minutes. Add it to a food processor, along with the banana, agave, and salt, and blend until very smooth. Spread out in a 6″ fan shape on a lined and lightly oiled dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate for about an hour, then flip and peel from the liner. Wrap into a cone shape and use a piece of crumpled paper towel or parchment paper to hold the end open in the correct shape. Dehydrate for another few hours or overnight.

Another way to do this is to make edible bowls instead of cones. Spread the flax mixture into rounds instead of fan shapes. Dehydrate for about an hour and flip and peel from the liner. Then just put the shell inside a small glass bowl, so that the flax bowl will have the shape you’d like. Put the bowl back in the dehydrator for a few more hours, or overnight.

The bok choy seedlings are coming along nicely and should be ready to plant out in cold frames within the next week or so … if the weather ever warms up. 

I started the bok choy in empty seedling packs I had left over from last year. They need to be cleaned well before using again to prevent any kind of disease spreading from one year to the next, but they work really well. I used a soil less growing medium. Once the seeds germinated, I set the seedlings out on the deck during the day so they can get enough sun. We have grow lights, but hardier plants, such as most greens, do fine outside during the day, even when it’s 35 degrees!

A pack of bok choy seeds is $.90 at Dollar Seed. Even if I only get one seedling to grow into maturity, it’s less expensive than buying from the store.