I got a dehydrator!
My dehydrator showed up today! It didn't get here until 7 but I did a few hours of prep before it got here so I could be ready to start using it!
I sprouted some chickpeas -- my first sprouting experience ever! And it worked! Here are some pictures:
That shows some of the sprouts coming through the bag. I thought it looked gross in a cool way. :)
A peek into the bag.
And my sprouts! I heard that the sprouts need to grow for 2-3 days and this was just two days but it seemed good enough to me.
So, I immediately set to work destroying my beautiful sprouts and making some other good stuff -- hummus and falafel.
For the hummus, I just used my food processor and mushed up the chickpeas with tahini, zucchini (to lower the calories a bit), cumin, coriander, parsley, cilantro, red pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes. It turned into a lovely sun-dried tomato hummus. Yum!
I also made falafel, which I based loosely off of Gena's recipe on Choosing Raw:
http://www.choosingraw.com/carrot-falafel-with-tangy-tahini-sauce/
I used a mix of chickpeas and carrots that I mashed up in my food processor (I don't have a juicer so I have no juice pulp). They are in the dehydrator right now!
I aaaalso made a vaguely Asian vegetable dish for dinner. I started out with this recipe for Kung Pao Broccoli and Mushrooms that I found on Gone Raw:
KUNG PAO BROCCOLI W/MUSHROOMS
2 heads broccoli
8oz mushrooms
1 medium onion (I leave it out because I hate onions)
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top (optional)
marinade:
3 TBSP olive oil
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar or Ume plum vinegar
3 TBSP agave
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
red pepper flakes to taste (or cayenne if you don't have red pepper flakes)
whisk together the marinade ingredients. marinate broccoli, mushrooms & onion overnight in fridge, dehydrate for 1/2 an hour or until warm, sprinkle w/sesame seeds & serve.
But, I don't like to use oil. I don't even own any. I think it is an unnecessary source of concentrated fat and I don't like how it tastes. I also had a big bunch of bok choy that I bought at the farmers' market that I wanted to use. So, I used a little leftover broccoli, a head of bok choy, and some sliced portobello mushrooms and onions for my vegetables. For the marinade, I blended together half a tomato, the other half the onion, rice wine vinegar, Braggs, garlic, ginger, and five spice powder. Then I poured it all over the veggies and let it marinate all afternoon, about 6 hours. Then I put it in the dehydrator and I realized the longer it was in there the tastier it got, so if I was going to do it again I would put it in for two hours.
In other dehydrator news, I made sweet potato chips and my very own BBQ sauce. The chips are just sweet potatoes cut as thin as the mandoline could go and half are brushed with BBQ and half have a BBQ/nutritional yeast mixture. To make the delicious barbecue sauce I blended together half a tomato, several sun-dried tomatoes, blackstrap molasses, mesquite powder, chili powder, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and water. It is very good.
So right now in my dehydrator I have chips, falafel (which will come out soon), soaked walnuts and almonds, and a tray of cherries and cranberries. I am sooo excited to make my own craisins because I love them but I can't stand the added oil and sugar. I just crushed them a bit with my slap chopper and mixed them around with the cherry juice and a tiny bit of agave and I think they will be great. But I guess we'll see.
I have some things to do tomorrow (including an audition!) so I'll see how the falafel fares while traveling.
In other news:
Love Veggies and Yoga is having a raw food book giveaway:
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/03/give-away-raw-vegan-cook-book-of-your.html
Tomorrow I'm making onion bread and veggie burgers!
I sprouted some chickpeas -- my first sprouting experience ever! And it worked! Here are some pictures:
That shows some of the sprouts coming through the bag. I thought it looked gross in a cool way. :)
A peek into the bag.
And my sprouts! I heard that the sprouts need to grow for 2-3 days and this was just two days but it seemed good enough to me.
So, I immediately set to work destroying my beautiful sprouts and making some other good stuff -- hummus and falafel.
For the hummus, I just used my food processor and mushed up the chickpeas with tahini, zucchini (to lower the calories a bit), cumin, coriander, parsley, cilantro, red pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes. It turned into a lovely sun-dried tomato hummus. Yum!
I also made falafel, which I based loosely off of Gena's recipe on Choosing Raw:
http://www.choosingraw.com/carrot-falafel-with-tangy-tahini-sauce/
I used a mix of chickpeas and carrots that I mashed up in my food processor (I don't have a juicer so I have no juice pulp). They are in the dehydrator right now!
I aaaalso made a vaguely Asian vegetable dish for dinner. I started out with this recipe for Kung Pao Broccoli and Mushrooms that I found on Gone Raw:
KUNG PAO BROCCOLI W/MUSHROOMS
2 heads broccoli
8oz mushrooms
1 medium onion (I leave it out because I hate onions)
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top (optional)
marinade:
3 TBSP olive oil
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar or Ume plum vinegar
3 TBSP agave
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
red pepper flakes to taste (or cayenne if you don't have red pepper flakes)
whisk together the marinade ingredients. marinate broccoli, mushrooms & onion overnight in fridge, dehydrate for 1/2 an hour or until warm, sprinkle w/sesame seeds & serve.
But, I don't like to use oil. I don't even own any. I think it is an unnecessary source of concentrated fat and I don't like how it tastes. I also had a big bunch of bok choy that I bought at the farmers' market that I wanted to use. So, I used a little leftover broccoli, a head of bok choy, and some sliced portobello mushrooms and onions for my vegetables. For the marinade, I blended together half a tomato, the other half the onion, rice wine vinegar, Braggs, garlic, ginger, and five spice powder. Then I poured it all over the veggies and let it marinate all afternoon, about 6 hours. Then I put it in the dehydrator and I realized the longer it was in there the tastier it got, so if I was going to do it again I would put it in for two hours.
In other dehydrator news, I made sweet potato chips and my very own BBQ sauce. The chips are just sweet potatoes cut as thin as the mandoline could go and half are brushed with BBQ and half have a BBQ/nutritional yeast mixture. To make the delicious barbecue sauce I blended together half a tomato, several sun-dried tomatoes, blackstrap molasses, mesquite powder, chili powder, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and water. It is very good.
So right now in my dehydrator I have chips, falafel (which will come out soon), soaked walnuts and almonds, and a tray of cherries and cranberries. I am sooo excited to make my own craisins because I love them but I can't stand the added oil and sugar. I just crushed them a bit with my slap chopper and mixed them around with the cherry juice and a tiny bit of agave and I think they will be great. But I guess we'll see.
I have some things to do tomorrow (including an audition!) so I'll see how the falafel fares while traveling.
In other news:
Love Veggies and Yoga is having a raw food book giveaway:
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/03/give-away-raw-vegan-cook-book-of-your.html
Tomorrow I'm making onion bread and veggie burgers!
