sharing raw, vegan recipes and advice
It’s mid-winter here in New Zealand and the organic supermarket is full of celeriac and fennel, two vegetables that go well together in a kind of rustic French way. Celeriac is one of those underrated but highly versatile vegetables that often gets shunned for it’s rather unelegant apperance. It’s not the root of celery as it’s name suggests but kind of like a cousin, similar in flavour but a little more nutty. With the fennel, lemon and celeriac, this whole dish is very high in vitamin C. Mother Nature sure knows how to look after us by providing produce that’s high in flu-fighting properties during the winter. It’s also pretty high in magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin K. Make sure to use the zest of the lemon as well as the juice to give the risotto that wonderfully fragrant flavour. Yum.
I made this to go with tonight's dinner using a carrot instead of bulgur wheat or quinoa for the starch.
I made the whole thing in my food processor and it took me about 8 minutes including cleaning the machine. Now it's chillin in the fridge and will be ready for dinner or lunch or a snack, in a wrap or on top of a green salad.
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This is my take on raw rice.
I have experimented with other vegetables as well (parsnip, celery, carrots etc) but this has to be my favourite.
It is very easy and tastes fresh. I will give a few ideas for seasoning it but in case serving it with something already spicy I just stick with the basic recipe and do not add anything else.
As you leave it stand it will get a bit soggy as the salt breaks down the cauliflower. If you would like it to be more like your traditional rice I suggest after grating the cauliflower let it sit with some salt for 30 minutes and then squeeze it out before preparing your rice.
A week or so ago I went to my local green grocer and saw some beautil plantains. I had no idea if they are edible raw or not so did not dare to buy them but went home instead to do some research on the net.
Most of the information I found online stated that plantain is not palatable raw, it must be cooked (fried) or if you try to eat it raw it's skin must be black otherwise it is unripe and it will taste like unripe persimmon and it will give you horrible cramps.
Well, I always have been a kind of rebel so went back to the grocer the same day and came home with 3 plantains. Their skin was a bit yellowish but I thought I will give them another couple of days on the kitchen counter to ripen and then I will give them a try.
Three (or more?) days later their skin became a dark yellow colour (with just a few black spots by the ends) and I declared them ripe enough to process.
I think my recipe is great and the dish will keep in the fridge for a few days. I suggest preparing it in the evening so that the flavours can infuse and come out overnight. My plantains tasted fantastic, they had a slight banana-y flavour but the flesh stays firm even after being marinated for days. It is just devine!
I would imagine you could add some lemongrass and garlic as well for a more intense asian flavour.
I guess it is at least 4 servings as this is how many times I ate from it. It tastes great on its own but even better with cherry tomatoes and raw crackers.
This is so like a cooked stirfy you could easily fool your cooked foodie friends. The mushrooms you need to do in advance, but you could get away with not dehydrating the greens if you let the dish sit and marinade for a half hour or so, or just eat them crunchy.
