raw donut holes

Here's one of my new favorite snacks. I got the recipe from Raw Recipe a Day on Facebook.

Totally healthy and SO delicious!

Since we don't eat walnuts at our house, I just throw in some almonds. I'm sure any nut would work.

I also substitute the agave with pure maple syrup because that's what I like, and have on hand.

Also, I like these cold, I don't warm them up at all.

Just click on the picture to enlarge recipe.

vegetable pan bagnat

http://www.recipe.com/vegetable-pan-bagnat/

Here's yet another warm-weather recipe my entire family loved. It's adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine, but I switched out the mushrooms for turkey lunch meat, so it's not vegetarian. But it's still full of good veggies!

Pan bagnat is a sandwich found in the south of France. It's pressed with a weight and refrigerated to allow juices to "bathe the bread," which is the literal translation of the term.

Ingredients: (it looks like a long list, but it's not too hard to throw together.)
1 8-inch round loaf of crusty bread, preferably with rosemary. (mine was just whole wheat)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used an olive oil sprayer)
 1 large clove garlic
2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 6-oz zucchini, ends trimmed
3 4-inch portobello mushroom caps, gills removed (or in my case, lunch meat, or mashed beans, or shredded smoked salmon)
1 8-oz pkg. tomato and basil hummus (any hummus would be fine. I could only find sun dried tomato hummus, so I used that and then sprinkled on a little dried basil.)
1 red bell pepper, sliced into sticks and then broiled w/ a little oil until edges brown.  (or a jar of roasted red bell peppers, drained)
1 packed cup baby arugula leaves (or spinach, or whatever)
1 large ripe tomato, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Halve bread horizontally, using serrated knife. starting 1/2-inch from edges, remove about 1 inch soft bread from center of each half, making hallows for filling; lightly brush (or spray with manual sprayer) with oil. (The recipe says to rub with the garlic, but whatever. Who has time for that, when you'll be getting the garlic flavor in a minute, anyway...)

Squeeze garlic clove through press into bowl; add 2 Tbs. of oil, soy sauce and mustard, and whisk to blend. Pare zucchini lengthwise with vegetable peeler into paper-thin slices, omitting seedy center. (this is where you cut the mushrooms into thin slices also, if you're into those...), then add zucchini and mushrooms to dressing. Toss. Marinate 10 minutes.

To assemble sandwich, spread bread hollows (top and bottom) with hummus. Over bottom half of bread, layer zucchini slices (don't worry if it looks like soggy pasta here. It settles down in the fridge), peppers, mushrooms, arugula, and tomato slices. Grind on black pepper to taste, and replace bread top. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap; place on large plate and top with heavy pot lid (I just put a pan on top of it, since I didn't have a heavy lid). Refrigerate at least 4 hours (mine was only 3, and it still tasted great), or up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, unwrap and cut into 6 wedges (I cut mine into four, then cut one of those in half, because our youngest kids don't eat as much).

Tijuana Torta

This recipe is adapted from Eating Well magazine. You can see a picture of this sandwich, if you can't picture what a torta should look like. My family really likes this sandwich and actually asks for seconds and thirds.

1 15-oz. can black beans, or pinto beans, rinsed
4 tablespoons prepared sasla
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 ripe avocado, pitted
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 16- to 20- inch long baguette, preferably whole grain (I buy two whole wheat batons that are a little longer than a foot)
1 1/3 cups shredded cabbage

Mash beans, salsa, and cumin in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mash avocado, onion and lime juice. Cut baguette into 4 equal lengths (I cut mine into whatever size I think each family member will be able to eat). Split each piece horizontally, then pull out some of the bread from the center to hollow it out a little. Spread a layer of the beans on one side, and the avocado on the other, put a layer of cabbage on it, then close the sandwich and serve.

7-Layer Greek Dip

This recipe is adapted from Our Best Bites. It's one of my family's favorite hot-weather meals. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's really easy and pretty fast. Plus, it can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a while.

1 6-oz. container of Greek yogurt (I like Chobani's non fat)
1 tsp dill weed or Greek seasoning (go for a mix that just has herbs)
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c. hummus (I don't actually measure this, I just put in however much looks good)
1 c. diced cucumbers
1 c.  diced tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped (or sliced) Kalamata olives
1/3 c. chopped green onions (about 3 green onions completely chopped)
1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese
1/8-1/4 c. minced fresh parsley (I don't think I've ever added this, but whatever. add it if you love parsley)

combine yogurt, seasoning, garlic, and lemon juice, mix well. Spread in the bottom of a pie plate or a small, shallow baking dish. Then spread a layer of hummus. Create layers by sprinkling the cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, onions, feta cheese, and parsley. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours (althought we usually just eat it immediately and it's still great).

We like to eat it with torn flat bread, or even spread on top of a flat bread, like a pizza. But you can also eat it with pita chips, fresh veggies, or chips.

peanut butter cookie dough balls

I got this recipe from Oh She Glows and adapted it a little. It doesn't make a big batch, but they taste SO good, and they don't need to be cooked (and they're healthy, too!)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch Cookie Dough Balls

Yield: 12 balls

• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews (I used salted almonds because that was all I had on hand--then I just didn't add salt later)
• 1/2 cup regular rolled oat
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup (add gradually until desired consistency is achieved)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup diced peanuts
• 1/4 cup rice crisp cereal (I didn't add any cereal, and mine turned out fine.)

Directions:
1. In a food processor, process the cashews and oats until very fine, like a flour consistency.
2. Add in the flour, salt, and sugar and pulse until combined. Now add in vanilla and maple syrup gradually until desired consistency is achieved. Process until a dough forms. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Dough will be very sticky! If it is too sticky to make balls, you can add a bit more flour. The type of flour you use will alter the consistency so you may have to adjust it a bit.
3. Add chocolate chips and peanuts into processor and pulse. Scoop dough into a bowl and stir in the rice crisp cereal. Form balls with the dough (lightly wet fingers if necessary). Store in the fridge or freezer.
Note: If dough is too dry, add a bit more maple syrup. If too wet, add a bit more flour.

*Oh She Glows also added these cookies to a "blizzard" smoothie made out of banana. It was SO good!

Spicy Mexican Salad

More hot-weather recipes! We've become part-time raw-vegans :)  My kids seem fine with it (they asked for more 3 times...), Chris seems fine with it, and I don't have to turn on the oven. The best part is that I can chop the veggies whenever I feel like it and keep them in the fridge.

I got this recipe from the facebook page, Raw Recipe a Day.

Salad:
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 ripe avocados, finely diced (I think I may have only used one?)
2 ribs celery diced (If you don't know what a rib is, it's one piece of celery)
1 large red, orange or yellow sweet pepper, sliced into matchsticks (I only had a green bell pepper and I diced it, and it tasted fine.)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, packed
3 green onions, sliced

To make the salad, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Spicy Mexican Dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (one small lime)
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp flax seed oil (which I didn't have and therefore didn't add)
2 Tbsp tamari (I just used soy sauce)
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 cloves garlic, minced (I didn't have fresh garlic, so just sprinkled garlic powder on it)
1 tsp minced red or green chile (I only had chile powder)
1/2 tsp ground cumin

to make the dressing, combine all the ingredients, add the dressing to the salad and serve or chill up to 2 hours.

Microwave Meatloaf

Okay, I know this sounds weird. I thought, "gross!" when I read the title. And Chris looked at me funny when I told him what we were having for dinner last night. But here's the deal. It's HOT in our kitchen, and there's no way I'm going to turn on the oven! So I've been searching for creative meals that are either no-cook, or microwave-cook. And it was actually good!

1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce (but I like to use bbq sauce in mealoaf instead)
1/4 cub brown sugar (I totally skipped this, but, whatever)
1 tsp mustard
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I was lazy and just used egg-white powder w/ a little water)
1 onion, minced (Once again, I was lazy and just sprinkled in a bunch of freeze dried chopped onions)
1/4 minced green bell pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c saltine cracker crumbs (Once again, I was lazy and just threw in a bunch of already prepared italian-seasoned bread crumbs) (Man, I'm lazy...)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 lbs extra lean ground beef (I used 1 lb, and it seemed like enough--and I even forgot to half the seasonings and it tasted fine to us)

mix it all together and put it in a 2-qt microwave-safe baking dish (I patted mine down into a glass casserole dish--not sure if I was supposed to pat it down or leave it in a loaf, but the edges of mine were slightly well-done, so it's probably supposed to be a loaf?). Spread a little extra bbq sauce on top, then cook for 15 minutes, (the recipe didn't say whether or not to cover it, so I left the glass casserole dish slightly open for air) or until thermometer reads 165* F.

It was fast, and tasty.

As a side dish, I mixed some olive oil, dried basil, salt, pepper, and chopped tomatoes together, then spread it on top of some bread chips we had on hand. The kids really liked the meatloaf and bruschetta.