September 5, 2010

Breakfast
Banana Pancakes (or Banana Nut Bread)
7 servings ~ $.65 per serving

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped ($1.60)
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped ($.80)
1 cup flax meal ($.30)
3 bananas, pureed ($.45)
1/2 cup raisins ($.40)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

4 bananas, sliced ($.60)
4 tbsp agave ($.40)

I had a hard time deciding what to call this. Trying to fit cooked food descriptions on raw vegan foods can be fun, but trying as well. I started out with an idea for raw banana nut bread that could be a breakfast meal with some fruit added. I was in a rush and took them out of the dehydrator when they were still quite soft, which was about two hours on each side. With bananas on top and some agave, they made perfectly soft, almost fluffy pancakes. The ones I left in a bit longer, about twice as long, were excellent for banana nut bread. And, I those I left in even longer, twice as long again, were crunchy banana cookies … crunchy on the outside, but still having a bit of softness in the middle.

Call this whatever you like, and adjust your dehydrating time to suit your preference.

For this recipe, the ingredients need to be processed separately and then folded together. First, add one cup water to the flax meal and set aside to gel. I used the food processor with the S blade to grind one cup of walnuts fairly fine and put them in a large mixing bowl. Puree three bananas and chop the remaining half cup walnuts coarsely, add to mixing bowl. Add the salt, spices, and soaked flax meal and stir. Fold in the raisins.

Place on plastic, teflex or parchment sheets in the dehydrator. Use a spoon to scoop out 14 portions and smooth out into 3″ rounds. They should be about 1/4 in thick and somewhat thicker than when making flax crackers, basically the shape and size of small pancakes.

For soft pancakes, flip as soon as it’s possible to handle them and then allow to dehydrate on the other side until firm on the outside, but the desired softness inside.

Top with a sliced banana and a tablespoon of agave, coconut nectar, or maple syrup.

calories: 440
fat: 23 gr
carbs: 58 gr
protein: 8 gr

fat: 22 gr
carbs: 30 gr
protein: 9 gr

calories: 223
fat: 20 gr
carbs: 7 gr
protein: 6 gr

Dessert
Banana Split with Chocolate Fudge
2 servings ~ $1.13 per serving

2 bananas, frozen in chunks ($.30)
2 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder ($.40)
pinch salt
water for blending

1 banana, sliced in half both ways ($.15)

fudge sauce

3 tbsp agave ($.30)
3 tbsp olive oil ($.30)
2 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder ($.20)
pinch salt

4 chopped strawberries ($.20)
2 tbsp chopped walnuts ($.20)

This chocolate sauce is like the really thick fudge found in jars. Very yummy with banana ice cream over sliced bananas.

Mix up the sauce first. It only takes a minute. Stir together the agave, olive oil, cocoa/cacao powder, and salt. Stir well until creamy and gooey and set aside. I suppose a bigger batch would last quite a while in the refrigerator, since there’s really nothing in it to go bad. But I can’t imagine it lasting even a day around here.

Put the frozen banana chunks in a food processor with a pinch of salt and the 3 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder (omit the cocoa and add a couple tsp of vanilla instead, if desired). Add just enough water to help process. It takes a bit of scraping down the sides, but this will churn up into smooth, creamy, soft serve ice cream.

Slice the bananas into bowls, using a half banana for each serving. Put on a few scoops of the chocolate ice cream. Top with the chocolate fudge sauce, strawberries, and walnuts.

calories: 480
fat: 26 gr
carbs: 67 gr
protein: 8 gr

total carb: 162 gr
total protein: 31 g

Dave the Raw Food Trucker is a raw foodist who lost almost 200 lbs and corrected several health problems on a live, vegan diet. He had a small stroke recently, but is recovering nicely … and I wish him the very best.

Check out some of his videos here on Youtube, he’s genuinely inspiring.

Until Sept. 12th, I’ll be donating 50% of all Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!) ebook sales to Dave’s recovery fund.