November 29, 2009
Fruit Wraps
2 servings ~ $.99 per serving
ingredients
1 avocado ($1.49)
2 bananas ($.20)
4 romaine leaves ($.30)
pinch of salt, optional
I generally enjoy raw foods best in their simple, juicy, least refined state. This is simple and juicy and requires very little preparation while at the same time feeling just a little bit fancy.
For each serving, slice one banana and half an avocado and wrap in two romaine leaves. An optional light sprinkle of salt can bring out the sweetness of the fruit.
fat: 15 gr
carbs: 40 gr
protein: 3 gr
Lunch
Veggie “Burgers”
6 servings ~ $1.71 per serving
These took just a little bit of preparation, but not nearly as much as I anticipated. Because they’re dehydrated, the buns and burgers do need to be started the day before.
burgers ~ $.56 each
ingredients
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped ($1.50)
9 tbsp flax meal ($.20)
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped ($.40)
1 rib celery, finely chopped ($.15)
1 small onion, finely chopped ($.20)
1 jalepeno, minced ($.10)
pulp from one juiced carrot
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder ($.10)
1 tsp onion powder ($.10)
1/2 tsp garlic powder ($.05)
pinch of thyme
The flax meal, when soaked, becomes very sticky and will help everything together. Start the flax meal soaking in about 3/4 cup water. Chop everything very finely. I tried this first in the food processor and it got too soupy for my liking. It really doesn’t take much effort to hand chop everything and the results seem far superior. Add in the soaked flax meal and stir until well incorporated. Form into six patties, about 3 inches across and dehydrate on plastic or teflex sheets overnight. The outside will be a little crispy and the insides just a little bit moist.
flax buns ~ $.26 per serving
ingredients
1 cup flax meal ($.50)
1 red bell pepper ($.80)
1 medium onion ($.20)
1 clove garlic ($.05)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
I actually preferred the burgers on a couple of romaine leaves. Adding in more flax in the form of buns makes it quite heavy, but that would work out great on a day when you’re feeling more hungry.
I use a grain grinder to grind flax seeds, but an herb grinder works well. And I keep them stored in the freezer to keep them fresh until use.
In a blender, puree the bell pepper, onion, and garlic, adding in the water to get things going. Put the flax meal in a medium bowl and pour in the bell pepper mixture from the blender. Let soak for about a half hour, adding more water as needed to make a sticky but spreadable mix.
Spread into twelve 3 inch rounds on a plastic or teflex sheet and dehydrate for 4-5 hours or overnight. Remove from dehydrator when the buns are still a little bit pliable.
toppings ~ $.99 per serving
1 tomato ($1.50)
2 avocados ($2.98)
1 red onion ($.89)
6 leaves romaine ($.60)
And this is the fun part. I kept it simple, with a bit of mashed up avocado as “mayo” and lots of tomato slices.
calories: 372
fat: 30 gr
carbs: 22 gr
protein: 9 gr
DinnerZucchini Alfredo
2 large servings ~ $2.40 per serving
ingredients
1/2 cup brazil nuts ($2.45)
1/2 tsp basil ($.05)
1/2 tsp thyme ($.05)
1/2 tsp salt
juice of half a lemon ($.35)
2 medium zucchini, grated or spirolied ($1.69)
1 onion, minced ($.20)
salt and pepper to taste
This is every bit as decadent as any alfredo. I’ve been experimenting with nuts cheezes and they’re amazingly creamy and flavorful.
In a blender, add the brazil nuts, spices, and lemon juice with enough water added to blend. Puree until creamy. This may take a few minutes. Add more water, if needed, to make it the consistency of something like a ranch dressing.
Grate the zucchini, add some minced onion on top, a dash of salt and pepper, and top with the alfredo sauce. It’s that simple.
calories: 512
fat: 44 gr
carbs: 24 gr
protein: 14 gr
Dessert
Banana Neapolitan
4 large servings ~ $.48 per serving
ingredients
6 frozen, ripe bananas ($1.20)
1 cup frozen strawberries ($.30)
2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder ($.30)
1 tsp vanilla ($.10)
pinch of salt
I’m not a skinny raw fooder, and my liking for banana ice “cream” is partly to blame. It really is that good and takes only a few minutes to make.
For this, I wanted to just make the three flavors of the traditional Neapolitan type ice cream. I used the food processor with an S blade. This makes the ice “cream” fluffier, smoother, and a bit firmer. It’s a slightly different texture from ice creams made in the blender. And I personally like the texture of both fresh from the processor or blender. Any of these can be further frozen to firm them up, but I think they taste best right away.
For each flavor, use two frozen bananas. Add the strawberries to the strawberry batch, the vamilla ot the vanilla batch, and chocolate to the chocolate batch. Seriously, this is so easy it almost makes itself.
As for any banana ice cream, just put the frozen bananas, any flavoring or other fruit, and a dash of salt into the food processor and process with the S blade. Add a little water, if needed, to aid in the processing. It can take a few minutes and some adjustments and scraping down to get this to go together.
calories: 192
fat: 0 gr
carbs: 47 gr
protein: 2 gr
total calories: 1,358
total fat: 89 gr
total carb: 133 gr
total protein: 28 gr
Oh my. All of these recipes look scrumptious!
Everything looks wonderful! I've been wondering how I can make a bread for my veggie burgers and now I know. Very helpful post!
What a gorgeous blog you have! Well done! I'll be following!
ty jeanne …
evelyn, the burgers are also really good wrapped in lettuce leaves …
hey queen b, thanks, glad to have you 🙂
Beautiful, and very helpful, as always!
Lisa,
I've nominated you for a 'best blog' award. You can grab the image off the margin on my blog. Here's what Colleen, the lady who passed the award along to me, sent – enjoy! And I do love your blog.
Jeanne
"The rules are to post the award on your blog along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and a link to their blog. Then be sure to leave them a comment to let them know that they have been chosen. Then choose blogs which you recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them"
I made the Alfredo Sauce last night. I added nutritional yeast and let it marinate together and soak into the noodles so they were softer. It was the missing ingredient. Yum.