Summer in March...

Raw lasagna, kale salad and carob truffles.

and I'm eating outside!  BLISS!  Nothing better than dinner in the warm, breezy backyard at 6pm.  Claire and I took full advantage of the warmth yesterday evening and made a gorgeous, Spring-y meal.  Raw lasagna, kale salad and carob truffles.  I'm so busy doing things most of the time that I rarely sit for a consciously-prepared meal.  It's usually a salad thrown together on the fly, or a hastily blended smoothie, so it was a real treat to slow down and prepare something like this!

Oddly enough, this was my first attempt to make raw lasagna.  I think it turned out pretty well, especially considering I wasn't following a recipe.

Raw Lasagna recipe

• 1 zucchini, sliced horizontally into this strips
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup 'rawcotta' cheese (recipe below)
• a large handful of spinach leaves
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• chopped fresh dill or basil to garnish (optional)

To begin, make a square layer of zucchini strips.  Cover with a layer of spinach, then a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of cheese, then another layer of zucchini... etcetera, etcetera.  You can really layer the ingredients in any order you like.  Don't feel oppressed by instructions.  Stick it to the man.  Break free!  :)  When it's all layered up, stick it in the dehydrator for 10 minutes at 145℉, just to warm it up.  Enjoy!

***

Tomato Sauce recipe

• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3-5 drops liquid stevia
• 2 tsp. dried basil, or about 10 large fresh basil leaves

Combine in blender and blend until smooth.

***

'Rawcotta' recipe
Disclaimer: this is almost nothing like ricotta cheese, but it is delicious!

•  1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 2 tbs. hemp seeds
• 1 large clove of garlic, pressed
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 tsp. salt
• dash of black pepper

Put macadamia nuts in a food processor and process until crumbly.  Add other ingredients and process to a paste.

***

Carob Truffle recipe

• 1/2 cup carob powder
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 15-25 drops liquid stevia
• 1 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until doughy, then form into balls.  A note on carob: IT IS DELICIOUS.  I love chocolate/cacao, but it's really hard on my body and drives me completely bonkers, prevents me from sleeping and one time, memorably, caused me to lose consciousness in the shower.  Good times.  I almost never eat chocolate now, and I actually prefer carob!

Claire made the kale salad, and it was beautiful. 

Yummmm.

All in all, a wonderful meal.  I can't wait to have more in the future!

In love and gratitude,
Mada

(Happy Spring!)

GREEN!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, fellow people of Irish descent!  Being half-Irish myself, I'm celebrating the holiday with a SUPERGREEN smoothie.  I know, I know, I only ever post about smoothies.  Right after this I'll tell you about an exciting *buckwheat* treat I had recently.  (You know you're a foodie when buckwheat is exciting.)

Spinach, mango, avocado smoothie.

St. Patty's Day GREEN EXPLOSION!

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups spinach (I'm usin' local!)
• 1/2 an avocado
• handful of ice
• stevia to taste (optional)

And just blend it up!  So simple, so creamy, so sweet, so healthayyyy.  And so festive!  The picture above is just the empty jar after I finished the smoothie.  It was devoured before I even thought about grabbing my camera.  Oh, well!  I think the green-ness comes through.

Now for the promised buckwheat.  I've posted about my obsession with 'buckmeal' before, and now I am THRILLED to announce that I've improved upon my last recipe.  I was craving it real bad one day, and I didn't want to wait to sprout the buckwheat, so I came up with this version.

OBSERVE.

Maple Buckmeal with nuts, seeds and berries 

• 1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked for 1 hour and thoroughly rinsed
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 2 tsp. tahini
• hot water as needed

Blend all that up in a food processor, then add:

• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

 and blend again.  Top with:

• sunflower seeds
• chopped walnuts
• hemp seeds
• maple syrup (LOTS!)
• blueberries
• diced apple

This is a little much for my stomach some days, what with all the not-so-smooth food combinations, but MAN is it delicious.  Certainly a worthy treat.

In other news, I had my first day back at work yesterday!  I work on an organic/biodynamic vegetable farm, and had time off for the winter starting in mid-December.  I'm so happy to be back!  I spent the day harvesting from an ocean of spinach, washing salad greens and transplanting the most beautiful little red chard plants.  Mmm.  My next workday is Monday, and it's supposed to be a gorgeous day.  Very, VERY exciting!

Other recent events:

A new painting of mine.  I'm calling it "Chakra" for now.

Beautiful sister o'mine all dressed up for a gala!

Me (also in gala attire) and that girlfriend character.

The aforementioned gala was this one, a gala to raise awareness for suicide, and to celebrate the life of our friend Jordan Porco, who took his own life in February 2011.  It was a beautiful event with Jordan-esque touches all over the place!  To find out more about the Jordan Matthew Porco Memorial Foundation, go here.  It's an amazing cause.

In love, gratitude and Spring excitement-
Mada

ATTENTION ATTENTION

THIS SMOOTHIE IS A WINNER.

Whoa.  I loved this smoothie this morning.  Rich and creamy and tasty and fab.

• 1 ripe mango, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen blackberries
• 2-4 cups spinach (or other green of your choice)
• small knob of ginger, peeled
• 1 1/2 inches vanilla bean (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil

Blend the heck out of it to get the coconut oil smoothed out and mixed in and ENJOY!

Yummmmmm.

 In non-food news, I can now hold KING PIGEON in yoga!  YAY!  It looks, feels and is so good.  Very grateful that my body is open to poses like this.  :)

In love and light-
Mada