Curry Carrot Soup (Raw, Vegan) (Lightly-Steamed, Vegan)

Curry Carrot Soup Ingredients

Step1: First blend the following (ingredients fill 1.25litre sized blender)
2 cups of water (for a warm soup, add hot boiled water).
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 green pepper
1 green apple (peeled and cored)
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
2tsp of minced ginger
3tbsp of unrefined oil (IE: canola, safflower)
1tbsp of curry
1tsp of Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp of ground cloves
1/4 tsp of ground pepper
2 tbs of lime or orange juice
1/4 tsp of cayenne (optional)

Step 2: Next blend in the following (ingredients fill 1.25litre sized blender)
3 cups of water
4 cups of carrots
2 whole avocados

If your blender is large enough to blend both batches this can be done.  Otherwise, mix both batches in a large sized bowl.

Lightly Steamed Option
The soup is quite creamy once the avocado has been included.  If your palette prefers a smoother texture, lightly steam the carrots before blending all the ingredients in Step 2.  Enjoy!

Curry Carrot Soup: This recipe makes 8 cups (2 litres) of soup. Garnished with a sprig of parsley. Delicious!

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Zen Kitchen

Zen Kitchen’s website

One of my absolute favourite restaurants that is 100% worry free!  All of the food prepared at Zen Kitchen is made from scratch.  The only flavour enhancers in these fine vegan dishes, are the rich layer combinations that the executive chef Caroline Ishii and David Loan have meticulously created.  My mouth has never been so happy :D

Thank you all and our server Magda.

634 Somerset Street West (Between Bronson/Percy), Ottawa, Ontario
613-233-6404 (Call for reservations)

Zucchini Spaghetti and Tomato Marinara Sauce (Raw Vegan)

Noodles: 3 medium zucchinis (2-3 servings)

Tomato Sauce: 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 medium tomato, 1/4 cup of fresh grapefruit juice, 3/4 cup of water (as needed to mix in the blender), 1 cup of sundried tomatoes, a handful of basil, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and two pitted olives.  (Optional: jalapeño peppers or ground pepper, paprika to make the sauce a deeper red.)

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth.  The tomato sauce ingredients above makes 2 cups of tomato sauce.

The noodles can be eaten right away OR the noodles can be placed in a deep bowl and covered with boiling water, the latter is my favourite.  For more flavour mix a tsp of Himalayan salt, 2tsp garlic and 2tsp onion powder to the water and soak for a few hours.

Also, if you are looking for a saran-wrap that works, I highly recommend the brand VitaWrap, it never fails and latches quite well.

Garnished with a fresh basil leaf and two Italian olives.

Simply Raw Festival! Saturday, June 19th 2010

Raw Vegan and founder Natasha Kyssa, Simply Raw Festival. For more information, visit:http://www.simplyraw.ca/community/festival-2010/

Busy Week & Notes to Self

It has been a fantastic, inspiring and creative week. Beginning this new blog feels like I have allowed my ideas to foster – Exploring ideas and connecting to the world in this way, makes me feel me soul :)

My checklist:
-Good start to my blog: topics, content, formatting, good look and feel.

To do’s:
–Create a personalized banner for the top.
-Add photos and graphics to pages to spruce things up.
-Artist category: add artist links page.
-Glutamate category: add glutamate links and videos.
-Create a routine for posting in each category (2x per week posts on art blog, weekly recipe submission, etc.)
-Connect the blog to the outside world, re: FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, networking sites/events.

Food Should Taste Good

These multigrain chips are delicious!  My favourite flavours are lime and jalapeno.  They are fantastic if you are making a plate of cheesy nachos or want to dip them in a black bean dip or tomato salsa. (Click Title)

Rice and Dill Salad with Sweet Peas (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free)

Rice and Dill Salad with Sweet Peas (Serves 6)

2 cups long grain brown rice or brown basmati rice
3 cups water¼ tsp. sea salt
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen peas
¾ cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped (I used approximately ¼ cup)

Dressing:

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. brown rice vinegar
¼ tsp. sea salt

1. Rinse and drain rice.  Place in a large pot, add water and salt.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Lower to medium heat and cook for 40 minutes.  Fluff with spoon and transfer to a large bowl.  Cool rice and refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt.  If using fresh peas, blanch for 4 minutes.  Blanch frozen peas for 2 minutes.  Remove, drain and cool.  Toss together rice, dill, peas and red pepper.
2. Combine oil, vinegar and salt in a small bowl.  Mix thoroughly.  Combine with rice mixture.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend flavours.

*Notes: I used precook rice cooked the night before, this saves me lots of prep time and I can use it in a variety of rice dishes (veggie burgers, salads and rice pudding).

* I also added approximately ½ cup of crushed walnuts (unsalted).

Jewelled Yam and Red Lentil Soup (Vegetarian, Gluten Free)

Jewelled Yam and Red Lentil Soup (Serves 8-10)
Recipe by Suzanne Landry

2 cups uncooked red lentils (do not substitute with green)
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced1 Tbs. expeller pressed oil
4 cups sweet potatoes – about 2 medium
2 bay leaves
10 cups water (divided)
2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbs. curry
1Tbs. fresh ginger, minced

1. Preheat oil, add onion and garlic.  Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
2. Peel potatoes and slice them into sticks and then chop them into small pieces.
3. To the garlic add lentils, potatoes, bay leaves, 6 cups of water, salt, and minced ginger.  Cover; bring to boil, then lower to medium heat.  Simmer for 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Add remaining water and curry.  Simmer again for 15 minutes.  Red lentils should be softened and dissolved by this time and sweet potatoes completely break down into a puree.  If not, continue to simmer until you a see a smooth consistency.  Adjust flavours for your own unique taste.
5. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve.  This soup can be frozen up to 3 months.

*Note: I had to add water since the lentils kept on soaking up all the water.  This recipe also makes a great dhal if you let it stand and let the lentils soak up all the water.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten-Free)

Makes six large cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup of a mix of blueberries and raspberries
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a muffin tin and line seven cups with paper liners.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan over low heat until melted and combined. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs. Sift cocoa over chocolate mixture and mix until just combined.

Pour batter into cups and bake for 25 minutes, until the tops have formed thin crusts. Cool cupcakes in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Then, remove cupcakes to cool on a rack.

While cakes are cooling, whip your cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Spoon or pipe onto slightly warm cupcakes, garnish with a strawberry, and serve.

Sushi 88

Sushi 88, provides Bragg soy sauce and the staff is very helpful and knowledgeable about what items have MSG.

My favourite dishes: edamame, vegetable or seafood tempura, Veggie Delight (Sushi Combo), avocado/cucumber/sweet potato make and sashimi.

Ingredients to avoid japanese mayonaise, fish eggs (those little orange eggs), regular soy sauce.