Raw Cashew Dreamcake

Holy Mother of Pete. Why haven’t I done this before?
I’m talking about raw cheesecake, and I suppose the reasons I haven’t made one yet now seem like silly excuses. I feel like a frickin’ kitchen magician, people. Join me.

Now, I am not pretending I came up with this brilliant idea – I bet making cheesecake out of nuts has been around as long as vegans have tried making meat out of gluten. I ate more than my fair share of these in California, as raw is all the rage, and there must have been a nut-based cheesecake on every heaven-sent menu my hungry gaze graced. What a mouthful. Needless to say, I was inspired, and a bit more than curious to see if I too could play magician in my own kitchen and turn cashews into cream. Check.

Now onto the flavouring. The rad thing about this dessert, besides its short ingredient list, is its versatility. I chose to make a vanilla/raspberry combo, but please don’t let that stop you from experimenting! If you like blueberries, use ‘em. If you’re a chocolate lover, throw in a few heaping tablespoons of raw cacao (oh yea, that’s the next one). How about trying something more exotic like mango and goji berries? The sky is the limit and your tummy is growling, I can hear it from here. Just remember to use the lemon juice with whatever flavour you decide on – it’s crucial to have the extra liquid for blending, and it gives that tangy “cheesecake” taste you’re after. Yay.



This is one dessert that is seriously hard to mess up. The only snafu is that you need a pretty powerful machine to pulverize the cashews, even after they’ve been soaking overnight. I tried using a food processor and it worked, but the cream wasn’t totally silky smooth, as with my Vita-Mix. I think a good blender with various speeds and settings would do the trick - jack it up to maximum power and see what happens.
Regardless, the filling is delectable, even if not velvety soft.

Cheesecake? Good for me?
Um, yeah. Not as in an eat-for-breakfast-everyday kind of way, but to replace your animal-fat heavy, sugar-laden, digestion-halting regular cheesecake? Absolutely.
Here’s the deal: this cheesecake is raw, meaning that all the powerful vitamins, minerals, and enzymes present in the whole foods you use to make the cake remain in tact. Instead of an atom bomb of empty calories in your belly, you actually have a handful of fruit, nuts, and raw honey swimming around, and your taste buds are none the wiser. Ha! Fooled you again…

The Skinny on Coconut Fat
I get a lot of questions about coconut oil, as it is high in fat and people still seem to be terrified of this. To clear things up, coconut oil does contain saturated fat, but lucky for us, it comes in the form of medium-chain triglycerides (or MCTs). This type of fat differs from the types of fat we normally consume from both plant and animal sources, which are long-chain triglycerides (or LCTs). Without getting too technical, MCTs are easily digested, absorbed, and utilized in the body because their molecules are smaller than those from LCTs. This means that unlike other fats, they require less energy and fewer enzymes to break them down for digestion. They are an excellent choice of fat for active people and athletes as MCTs digest immediately to produce energy and stimulate metabolism. They are also ideal for those who suffer from digestive disorders and are often given in hospitals to provide nourishment for critically ill people who have trouble digesting fat.



Raw Cashew Dreamcake
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup raw almonds (pecan or walnuts will also work)
1/2 cup soft Medjool dates
¼ tsp. sea salt

Filling:
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 5 hours, overnight is best
juice of 2 lemons
the seeds of 1 whole vanilla bean (or 1 tsp. alcohol-free vanilla extract)
1/3 cup raw coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup raw honey (solid or liquid.)(Vegans use agave nectar.)
1 cup raspberries (thaw completely if using frozen)

Directions:
1. Place nuts and dates in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop until they are to your desired fineness (process a finer crust longer than a chunky one). Test the crust by spooning out a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands. If the ingredients hold together, your crust is perfect. Scoop out crust mixture in a 7” spring-form pan (if you don’t have a spring-form pan, use a pie plate lined with saran wrap), and press firmly, making sure that the edges are well packed and that the base is relatively even throughout. Rinse food processor well.
2. Warm coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat until liquid. Whisk to combine.
3. In the most powerful food processor / blender you own (you decide which one has the most torque) place all filling ingredients (except raspberries) and blend on high until very smooth (this make take a couple minutes so be patient). If you have a Vita-Mix, absolutely use it.
4. Pour about 2/3 (just eyeball it, you can’t make a mistake!) of the mixture out onto the crust and smooth with a spatula. Add the raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour onto the first layer of filling. Place in freezer until solid.
5. To serve, remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating. Run a smooth, sharp knife under hot water and cut into slices. Serve on its own, or with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the freezer (what leftovers?).

White Velvet Soup and a Guest Post at Green Kitchen Stories

The snow just won’t stop. The world is quiet and soft. It’s time for a bowl of soup.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a soup recipe here on My New Roots, and this weather is serving as divine inspiration for a piping hot bowl of creamy comfort food. It combines a few of my favorite things, golden-roasted cauliflower, garlic, onions and velvety lima beans, all blended up to create the most creamy, rich-tasting, delectable soup to cross my lips this new year. And whether your 2011 resolution was to eat more whole foods, lose weight, or cut back on meat, you’ll be checking off all three with my White Velvet Soup that tastes like anything but deprivation – it’s down-right dreamy!

David and Luise, some blogger friends who created the unbelievably beautiful site Green Kitchen Stories, are traveling around the world and asked me if I was interested in posting something on their site. A total honor. How fast can I say yes? To view the whole recipe you can head over to their blog, cruise around and drool at their spectacular photography and innovative recipes. They are the real deal.



This soup is a total breeze to make – most of the work is done for you in the oven! All it takes is a quick blend up and you’re done. So simple. Who says gourmet food can’t be incredibly fast and easy?



Hope you're all keeping warm!
Best, Sarah B.

A New Year, A New Breakfast

Happy New Year dear readers! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and that you’ve started 2011 on the right foot. If not, I’m always here to help ;)
My big goal for this year is to improve my breakfast routine. Somehow over the last few months I’ve gotten really lazy in the morning, eating copious amounts of the freshly baked bread at work (I still love you), or grabbing a piece of fruit on the go. Either way, I know it’s one place in my diet that could use some improvement.

One of the most popular foods on the breakfast table in this country is boxed cereal. It’s fast, convenient, moderately filling and inexpensive – I can see the appeal. But cereal that comes in a package with a cartoon tiger on the front is a far cry from the actual grains that were used to make it. Even the definition of the word cereal, which actually refers to the group of grains as a whole, has gone from a natural whole food, to a barely recognizable distant relative with an underwhelming nutrient content that has surely suffered from over processing. Don’t even get me started on all that sugar.
It’s time for a change, don’t you agree?

Cereal Extreme Makeover
I’ve come up with the perfect breakfast solution for those of you who “just don’t have time in the morning”, because you can make a huge batch in one go, dole out the amount you want every day and simply add the toppings you have on hand. It's the Real Deal Cereal and it's so simple! The ingredients are inexpensive, easy to find, and of course, delicious.

I chose a quinoa and millet combination because both are gluten-free grains, and we could all stand to take a break from our wheat-centric diets. Hooray for variety! Remember that quinoa is a good source of iron, calcium, magnesium, and a complete protein. Millet is considered to be one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains available, plus it’s loaded with B-vitamins, phosphorous and potassium. Appropriately, both are warming grains so will help to heat the body during the cold winter months ahead. Indeed.

You can use any kind of grains to make your breakfast cereal base, but choose grains with relatively similar cooking times. Brown rice, for example, takes about 50 minutes to cook, so it would be best paired with rye or spelt. Amaranth and buckwheat are another excellent gluten-free combo that take about 15 minutes to cook. Experiment with various mixtures that suit your tastes, and change it up from week to week. You can always cook and eat your favorite grain all on its own, but I prefer the range of flavours and textures when they are combined in the same pot.

Once cooked, store your cooled grain mix in an airtight container in the fridge for five days. I make my mix on lazy Sunday nights, so I have breakfast for the entire work week. It takes about 3-4 minutes to assemble in the morning, and I’m good to go. You can even keep your re-heated grain mix in a thermos to enjoy at work and add your toppings there.

No more bread, bagel, danish, doughnut binges! No more packaged, processed, frosted, freaky cereal! No more excuses! Let’s do it.



The Real Deal Cereal
Grain Mix Base
1 cup quinoa
1 cup millet
4 ½ cups water
pinch of sea salt

Directions:
1. Rinse grains very well. Place in saucepan. Add water and salt.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer until water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
3. Let cool slightly. Store in a container in the fridge.

For each portion:
1 cup cooked grain mix (½ cup for kids)
¼ cup water or milk (rice, almond, hemp, soy, dairy…)
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
generous pinch ground ginger
fresh or frozen fruit
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
Optional additions:
1 tsp. chia seeds – Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fibre, calcium
1 Tbsp. hemp seeds - Omega-3 + Omega-6 fatty acids, protein
handful chopped nuts, such as pecans and walnuts
dollop of yogurt (sugar free)

Directions:
1. Measure out one cup of the cooked grain mix and place in a small saucepan with the water or milk. Heat over medium heat until warmed through. Add fruit if frozen, warm until fully thawed. Remove form heat.
2. Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, and chia and hemp seeds if you have them.
3. Place grain mix in a bowl, drizzle with maple syrup, add nuts and chopped fresh fruit, plus a dollop of yogurt, if desired.


I truly hope that this recipe and new system works for you and your family. A healthy start to the day is the best gift you can give yourself, and that does NOT include Count Chocula, Cap’n Crunch, or that weird little leprechaun, if you know what I mean.