Valentine's Dinner: Pomegranate Salad, Beet Soup, Tomato Pizza, and Brownies

I decided to make a 4 course meal for dinner this Valentine's Day. My husband would normally make me dinner on this holiday, or we would go out, but due to his work schedule, and my desire to try out some new dishes, I decided to do it. So I chose a theme...Red (I know, very original), and from there, came up with these fun dishes, most of which are raw too!

Pomegranate Salad

3 cups fresh spinach

Seeds from 1 Pomegranate

1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw cashews

1-2 tsp lemon juice

1-2 tsp pomegranate juice

Makes 2 big servings.

Divide spinach and place on each plate. Sprinkle on pomegranate seeds. Top with cashews. Splash with lemon and pomegranate juices and enjoy!

I loved the sweetness of the pomegranates and the creaminess of the cashews. The dressing was light and sweet. A perfect start to the meal. :) 

Beet Soup

(This is from my book "Raw Food" by Erica Palmcrantz)

2 beets, chopped

1 apple, chopped

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 avocado

First peel and chop up the beets and add to the blender. Since I don't have a high speed blender, I put them in the food processor first, then once they were pretty well processed, put them in the blender and added the apple and lemon juice and a little water. Last I added the avocado. You just add water until you have a consistency you are happy with. I recommend eating this right away. I made it the day before and it tasted great, but when I pulled it out of the fridge the next day, it was not as good (probably because of the avocado- they are always best when eaten immediately after peeled).

I would probably not try this for someone who is not used to raw foods, and isn't used to the earthy, root flavor of the raw beets. This was not my husband's favorite. However, he didn't taste it right after I made it; he might have liked it better if he had.

Veggie Pizza

You can see my veggie pizza post here. I made it with marinated mushroom, a little marinated zucchini, and with lots of tomatoes and basil, since I was trying to keep with the Valentine's Day theme of RED. :)


Last but not least...

Raw Brownies!

(I based this off of a recipe in Judita Wignall's book "Going Raw," but made some changes.) 

I admit I was skeptical at first, looking at the ingredients. How good can these be with just raisins, dates, almonds, and unsweetened chocolate powder? Let me tell you...they are amazing! My husband and son both loved them (for those who know them both, you know this is HUGE!). My husband said they were more like fudge than brownies. I made half the brownie recipe and the full frosting recipe, and the frosting did taste like fudge, so that is probably why. Try them and see for yourself how good a raw brownie can be!

Brownie ingredients:
4 cups raw almonds, soaked 8 hours and dehydrated (the original recipe calls for walnuts, which I couldn't use since my son is allergic, but I'm sure they would be great as well.)
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup dates
2/3 cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa if you don't have raw cacao)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla (alcohol free- such as from Trader Joe's)
pinch sea salt
2 Tbsp water 

Frosting ingredients: 
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid
2/3 cup cacao powder

Blend nuts (in food processor or high speed blender) into a fine meal. Add raisins and dates and blend until well combined. Add cacao, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and blend until mixed. Transfer to a bowl and add the water (you might need to add a little more if needed). Mix with your hands until you have a nice big ball that resembles dough (be careful not to put too much water in though- it should not be sticky, just nicely moistened). Press the dough firmly into a glass square baking pan. Spread the frosting on top and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.

To make frosting:
Add maple syrup (must be room temperature or warm) to the blender or food processor. Then add liquid coconut oil and blend. Finally add cacao powder. You will end up with a very rich dark chocolate frosting (this would probably be great for cupcakes or other desserts as well- no hydrogenated oil or refined sugar!).

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I had a great Valentine's Day. For the first time I realized that I don't need candy or sugary baked goods to celebrate this holiday. We gave each other valentine's cards and presents, I got a great work out, went to the park with my boys, and ate highly energizing REAL food that tasted great, but most importantly, made me feel great. :)

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day as well and hope you enjoy these recipes!

Raw Zucchini Hummus

This is a pretty standard hummus recipe, except it uses zucchini in place of half the garbanzo beans (aka chick peas).

Raw Zucchini Hummus

Note: Every ingredient in this recipe should be raw (so don't use cooked beans!)

1 cup peeled and chopped zucchini

1 cup RAW garbanzo beans (soak your dry beans for 24 hours, changing the water half way through, then drain. 1 cup dry beans = 1.5 cup beans after they have been soaked)

1 cup raw tahini (to make tahini: grind 1 cup raw sesame seeds in high speed blender, then add 1/2 cup olive oil until it forms a paste)

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil 

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

pinch cayenne

Add everything to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

If you want to go further and sprout your garbanzo beans to add even more nutrition, here is a simple way to do that:
http://www.thedailyrawcafe.com/2007/10/how-to-sprout-garbanzo-beans-chickpeas.html

You can also make this with just zucchini. I chose to do half garbanzo beans and half zucchini to see what it would taste like and it was simply mouth watering. :)

This hummus is packed with protein and is a great dip for veggies, great in veggie sandwiches (instead of mayo) or pitas,  good as a thick "dressing" in salads, and much more. My latest favorite is "hummus pizza":

Spread hummus on whole wheat flatbread, add your favorite raw veggies, and enjoy!

Veggie Pizza

For those of us who still need to make dinner for our families, here is an idea.

Buy or make your pizza crust. (Here's a good looking one with lots of pictures:  http://inspiredrd.com/2010/09/cooking-with-kids-pizza-night.html). I got this one at Trader Joe's to make it easy on myself.

Spread bread/crust with tomato sauce. Add your toppings. Eat without cooking if you don't want to cook the nutrition out of your veggies. Or place in oven on 425 for 8-10 minutes.

Some of my favorite toppings:
Mushrooms (marinated in Tamari & olive oil for 15 minutes)
Zucchini (marinated in Tamari & olive oil for 15 minutes)
Tomatoes
Bell peppers
Seasonings (I like lots of basil)

Hawaiian:
Pineapple tidbits
Tomato
Basil

Add cheese for those in the family who can't live without it. Encourage everyone to try it uncooked (except the crust will be cooked, although you could make a raw crust which I will post about once I have tried it). But it's not the end of the world to cook your veggies. Especially if you eat lots of raw fruits and veggies normally. :)

And another thing: cheese-less pizza isn't as bad as I always imagined. If you can forget about the fact that you're missing the cheese, and instead think of it as a new type of dish (veggies with marinara sauce and bread) it will be so yummy!

Make sure to have a big plate of leafy greens (spinach, etc) first before you fill up on the pizza!

Broccoli, mushrooms & rice

Broccoli and zucchini are hard for me to eat raw and I usually don't like mushrooms at all. But I absolutely love this dish!

Broccoli, mushrooms & rice

Ready for the secret? 

Marinate the veggies (broccoli, mushrooms, and I really like adding zucchini although not necessary)! Slice them and stick in a plastic zip lock bag with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and organic gluten-free Tamari (a natural soy sauce used for flavor in lots of raw foods). You only need to marinate for 15 minutes to taste a huge difference. (Make sure to rub the marinade around into the veggies after closing the zip lock bag, so it gets into all parts of the broccoli especially.)

Then mix with cooked brown rice and enjoy! 

(Note: The rice should be warm, while the veggies will be cool. Sounds weird, since you are probably used to a warm meal, but the amazing nutrients you will be getting from the raw foods cancels out any weirdness and makes it tastes great!)

How to feed your non-raw/non-vegan family

I know a lot of people are in this position, so I thought it was worth writing a post about it. 

Here are some tips if the people you live with and prepare meals for are NOT willing to give up meat, cheese, and cooked food, even though you are trying to eat more raw and vegan meals yourself.

Salads
As often as you can, have big main course salads for dinner, and set them up salad bar style. Include dark leafy greens (organic Spring Mix is great because it has a variety of greens, spinach is also always a winner) and lots of different colored vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers (orange, red and yellow add sweetness), grated beets (raw). Include some high protein and more filling items, such as beans, hemp seed, avocados, sprouts, nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews...), and other seeds (sunflower, pumpkin...). 
This way they can pick what they want, so they won't feel like you are forcing them to eat "healthy."

(Of course for those family members who can't imagine not having any meat or dairy, you could put a small side of hard boiled eggs, shredded cheese, chicken, etc, but hopefully there will be more of the veggies so they will have to fill up on the good stuff, with only a small amount of animal products.)

At first everyone will want their favorite dressing (which is hopefully organic, since you can find most for the same price as regular these days, and you don't want the bad ingredients that regular dressings have, such as MSG in Ranch). But I would highly encourage them to just squeeze some lemon juice on top instead of dressing. I have been doing that (no oil is necessary) and it tastes great! It also helps you to taste the natural flavor of the vegetables so your taste buds start to crave that natural, fresh taste. 

The prep is simply washing and chopping vegetables. Get the whole family involved and do it while you talk about how your day went.

See, this is a way for vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores to all eat the same meal. :)
(Note: This is also a great idea for having guests over. I recently went over to a friend's house and they did a salad bar dinner with a lot of people and it worked great! Everyone brought a salad topping so there was really something for everyone's taste.)

Smoothies
Make smoothies for everyone daily. If someone isn't around, save theirs in the fridge so they can have it when they get home. Smoothies make great snacks, or I like to have mine with lunch. Put in dark leafy greens, carrots, and then banana for sweetener, along with other frozen fruits like strawberries, mangoes, blueberries, peaches, pineapple, etc. Add in a splash of lemon (natural antibacterial- great for your body), some flax seed oil (for Omega 3s), hemp seeds for protein (they completely blend in by the way), and if needed, a scoop of frozen 100% juice (like Dole Orange Peach  Mango) and water. You can always add other things too, such as the superfoods Spirulina, goji berries, etc. You can play around with different veggies to see how they affect the taste, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, and cabbage (I have tried them all and my son actually really liked the broccoli/cabbage smoothies we used to do!). Most people (and kids) love these smoothies because they taste just like fruit! (Blueberries hide the green color, if that's an issue.)

I suggest getting BPA free plastic 16 oz cups with lids and straws to make it fun and less messy if your kids will be drinking them.

Other dinners ideas
Make dishes that they can add meat or dairy to if needed, such as:

Enchiladas- just make them with rice, beans, bell pepper, etc, and if they really want, they can add cheese on top to their own individual enchilada and melt in the microwave (or you could put cheese on some of the enchiladas...but then that doesn't give them the opportunity to try it the way you made it, which they might actually like.

Veggie Pizza- you can add cheese to half of the pizza, and eat yours without cheese. However, I suggest that before cooking the pizza, you cut your part out to eat raw and put your own raw "cheese" on (consisting of: cashews, nutritional yeast, water, lemon juice, salt). I just did this and it was amazing. I will post about it soon.

Really, they can add dairy or meat to pretty much anything you make. So, I suggest making it your way, then if they want to add something to it, they can. Or they can just eat it the way you made it.  Don't judge or make them feel bad if they want to add some cheese or meat to the food you made. You don't want tension while trying to enjoy a wonderful fresh salad. Negative emotions affect our health anyway, so try to be positive and happy in the kitchen and around the dinner table. :)

Here are some tips on breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast- If everyone normally eats cereal, see if they are willing to try almond, coconut, rice, or hemp milk in place of cows milk. Also always offer lots of fruit for breakfast (and if possible, have them eat it first, or they might get filled up on cereal before a piece of fruit even enters their thoughts). Also make sure the cereals they are eating are free of preservatives, artificial ingredients, GMOs, etc. which means it should probably be organic. I try to look for low sugar (under 4g per serving) and high protein & fiber.

Lunch- veggie sandwiches (there is protein in the bread, you don't need meat or cheese- make sure it is whole grain bread, sprouted is best). Mash an avocado (add salt, pepper, garlic, etc) and spread generously on each slice (in place of mayo), then put in sprouts, tomato, cucumbers, spinach, etc.

Other ideas: raw almond butter and sugar free (Polaner's) jam sandwich, veggies and hummus, leftover dinner, etc.

Hope this helps!