Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?….COSMO G!

COSMO G

Cosmo G first appeared to me while I was making notes and doing some food history research.

I had come across a technique called:

supreme

v. to remove the skin, pith, membranes, and seeds of a citrus fruit and separate its wedges. Also as noun, a wedge of citrus fruit. (in French it is Suprême)

It looked pretty easy so I figured with all of this California rain why not do something with oranges.  There have been lots and lots of Organic Oranges around since they are in season.  I have also been blessed with some tangerines, grapefruits and lemons from locals in the area.

With this in mind I segmented 3 large oranges and 3 grapefruits.

Orange Suprêmes…

Grapefruit Suprêmes…

I decided this would become Cilantro & Orange Salad with Mint, Olives and Grapefruit! And all at once Cosmo G was born.  I think I will include this recipe for a Raw Tasting party I would like to host.

COSMO G

3 Oranges, Supremed

1 small Grapefruit – (*Please see note!)

1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 cup fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

1 cup Raw Pine Nuts

1 cup Raw Olives Chopped

Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil

2 Drops Bergamot Essential Oil

Preparation: Combine the oranges, cilantro, pine nuts, and parsley in a large bowl.  In a seperate bowl combine grapefruit, olives, and mint.  Allow each bowl to marinate for 15 – 20 minutes.  Combine the two and sprinkle with olive oil.  Allow this to marinate for another 20 minutes. * (The Grapefruits I used were extremly PITHY.  There was such a small amount of fruit that I ended up with approximately 2 Tbs.)

Here is the Cilantro, Parsley, Pine Nuts and Orange Suprême…

Grapefruit Suprême, Olives, and Mint…

I decided to go with an Italian themed meal.  I set about looking around at the veggies I had.  Eggplant (Aubergine) was the winner.  I had received 2 wonderful Eggplants last week from a client and felt this was the best time to use them.  It is nice when I am able to use vegetables that are grown locally and given as gifts!

I decided I would make some sort of Eggplant Noodle and an Al’Arrabiata sauce.  Nice and Spicy is what I needed last night.  I needed to refuel my fire with some spice.  It was really chilly last night and I was so cold when I got home.  I kicked on the Dehydrator for the first time in a long time.  I figured I would have a warm “Raw Pasta” dish and a nice refreshing salad.

I used my Cai Bao to make a Tagletelle type of noodle out of the eggplant.  I drizzled them with olive oil, Apple Cider Vinegar and a little Nama Shoyu.  I placed them in the Dehydrator for 1 hr at 115 Degrees.

Meanwhile, I made…

RAW ARRABIATA SAUCE

3 Chopped Roma Tomatoes

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Handful Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley, Chopped

8 Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 Tbl. Cayenne

1 Tbl. Red Pepper Flakes

3 tsp. Nama Shoyu

Preparation: Process 2 Romas, Parsley, Sundried tomatoes and garlic in Food Processor with “S” Blade.  Combine the ingredients just processes in a bowl with the remaining Roma tomato and mix in the spices.  Place bowl in the Dehydrator at 115 Degrees for 1/2 hour.  When both are just warm to the touch combine and serve.

Arrabiata Sauce out with the Romas before the Dehydrator..

Nice and rich looking out of the Dehydrator…

Everything on one plate…

And another…

This was a really good combo in terms of taste!  Sweet & Fresh with a hint of salt from the olives and the wonderful spice from the red sauce on top of the marinated Eggplant Noodles! Delicious.  A definite winner for the tasting menu!

Thanks for stopping by!

Namaste!

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Mango Salad Adventures – Part III & FREE GIVEAWAY!

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One of the most beautiful things in life is the experience of our senses.

Feeling water on your skin in the shower, the releif felt when you are sitting and are lucky enough to have someone rubbing your feet, sitting and relaxing in the comfort of your home enjoying a really good movie, book or the scent of beautiful food being prepared in the kitchen….

Life can be a beautiful experience.  It can also be a bit of a challenge at times as well.  Just remember to breathe, stay in the moment and accept that nothing except PURE LOVE lasts forever! (I don’t necessarily mean man and woman love either. PURE LOVE IS PURE LOVE!) 

I looked over all of my recipes I keep in a notebook and saw the last recipe I had been working on was a Vietnamese Mango Salad.  It was a nice switch in heat than the previous night.  I also made a RAW SOUP recipe I had been working on!

Here we go…

RAW CO/CONUT & AVOCADO SOUP

1/2 of the flesh of one coconut

Water from one Coconut

2 4″ pieces Lemongrass

2 tbs. fresh mint

1 Large Avocado

4 cloves Garlic

1 Handful Cilantro, chopped

1 Seranno Chile

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbs White Miso

Preparation: Place coconut water, lemongrass, mint, and 2 cloves of garlic into food processor.  Process with the “S” blade until it is uniformly as smooth as possible.  Using a nut bag, muslin fabric, or strainer – Strain liquid.  Set the pulp aside.  Place the broth back into the food processor and add the avocado, lime and lemon juice, miso, cilantro, remaining garlic, and serrano chile.  Process.

VIETNAMESE MANGO SALAD

1/2 cup lime juice (Approximately 4-6 limes)

1 tbs.  Raw Agave Syrup

1 tbl. Fresh Ginger cut into matchstick strips

1 tbl. Sesame Oil

1 Small Shallot, minced

1 Serrano Chile, minced

1 tbl. Raw Sesame Seeds

1 Handful Mint, chopped

1 Handful Cilantro, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/3 cup Sake

1 Ripe Mango, Sliced

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the mango.  (Allow to sit about 1/2 hour) Slice Mango and allow to marinate another 15 minutes.  Take out Mango slices and set aside.  Save remaining dressing for the next recipe.

NOTE: I made a sort of Cucumber, Cilantro relish with the rest of the dressing to put on top of the soup.  The texture of the relish went really nice with the creaminess of the soup.  It is included after the mango salad since you will be using the dressing. Also, I made the dressing, then made the soup above, then sliced the mango, etc.)

CUCUMBER RELISH

1 Cucumber, peeled and cubed

1 Handful Fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped

1 Handful Fresh Mint, roughly chopped

Preparation:  Place all ingredients into remaining dressing from Mango Salad.  Allow to marinate 15 minutes and place on top of soup.

Thanks for stopping by!

Live in Light & Love!

Namaste!

Day 3 of 30 – 27 to go

I really enjoyed the surprise smoothies I had to intake yesterday.  It was a Mint Cooler and an Avocado Citrus Smoothie.  I got up too late to make enough smoothies as planned.  I had two more than expected!

Mint Cucumber Cooler (Above)

Handful Mint

1 large Cucumber

1 Fiji Apple

Splash of Agave

Ice

Avocado Citrus Smoothie

1 Avocado

1 whole orange

1 tbl Agave Syrup

Add enough oxygen water* to desired consistency

Needless to say I am hungry.  I will have a big Kale Salad when I get home.  I will also try my hand at making pizza crusts with Nut Cheese and Basil Pesto.  Tamales, Corn Chips and Fresh Salsa RAW stylie as well.  I will update with pics later.

Since it is New Years Eve the above listed projects will be easy since I will be closing the store a bit early.

Lemon Squeeze

1 lemon

½ inch fresh ginger

1 mango

1 banana

1 tablespoon maca powder

1 tablespoon hemp seed

1 handful of cilantro

Coconut water or plain water

Add water until desired consistency is reached.

Oxygen Water is a water I found a few years back when I was doing some research on the effects of oxygen in the body.  I usually purchase the water from Whole Foods.  It is a brand called Hi Ho and I really like it.  The bottles are glass and you can get it for about $7.99 a 6 pack.  I go through the water pretty quickly.  You can find the link to the company here.

I use this in the smoothies since it seems as though it would be the closest to pure “healthy” water I can find.  Most water comes in plastic bottles and I would like to keep as much plastic out of my experience as much as possible.

UPDATE: I began writing this entry the evening before.  When I woke up on Day 3 I had a terrible headache!  I had it through the morning and I just kept drinking water.  As the day progressed I began feeling nausea.  It was horrible.  Luckily I was able to close the shop early since it was New Years Eve and business was slow.  Whew!  I lost it a few times! Including my delicious smoothie!

I got home about 5:30 and slept until about 9:45 pm.  I was pleased that I had a bit of an appetite when I woke up.

I had a salad and a Kombucha Toast to the New Year !  Although my head was a lot better, I still had a faint headache and felt the need to rest and be in a dark room.  I meditated a bit on cleansing and went to bed shortly there after.

Happy New Year! Lot’s More to come!

Namaste!

RAW Beet Sorbet

In my neverending quest to try recipes, (RAW specifically), I found this interesting recipe. As usual I found it on my favorite web site Gone Raw

When I initially came across this one, it seemed somewhat strange! BEET SORBET???

-”DON’T KNOCK IT TILL YOU HAVE TRIED IT!” -

Wow! Doesn’t that ring true!!!

The recipe below belongs to:Gone Raw and was
submitted by Jaimie on October 18, 2009

Ingredients:

2-3 large beets, sliced and soaked overnight

8-10 mint leaves

juice of half a lemon

1 dessert spoon of honey or agave nectar or 2 dates

2 tbsp coconut meat

2 tbsp coconut juice

1 cup water

Preparation:

blend all ingredients until very smooth, add more water if necessary.

freeze.

blend again before serving.

Step 1

This was the first step. I placed everything in the food processor and let it mix really well.

*The next time, I think I will strain the mixture at this point of preparation. I think it will rid the dish of the pulp that was in the sorbet. It wasn't bad, I just think it would be nicer if it was smoother.

Mixture ready for the Freezer!

I placed the mixture in a ceramic bowl. I figured it would freeze faster this way. I allowed it to freeze for 2+ hours.

Partially Frozen and Out of the Freezer!!!

This is what it looked like out of the freezer!

Frozen mixture right before serving!

The next step was to blend the frozen mixture and then serve!

Final Step!!!

TA DA!!! Yummy! Very Delicious!!! This was throughly satisfying! It was sweet and it felt so healing on my throat and inside my tummy! It was also very relaxing! A great treat any time! If you want something to cleanse the palate after an extremely rich meal, anytime the weather is sticky or just really hot!