Ani's Raw Food Essentials (62 page)

Create your own variety of ravioli by mixing up your cheeze, vegetable “wrapper,” and sauce to make your favorite recipe.

1 beet, washed and peeled, then sliced thinly, using a mandoline slicer
1 recipe of your favorite Basic Cheeze (page 103)
1 recipe Cherry Tomato Marinara (page 240)

To make your ravioli, sandwich about 1 teaspoon of cheeze between two slices of beets, depending on how big your slices are.

Divide the ravioli among four serving dishes, and drizzle with Cherry Tomato Marinara just before serving.

 

SERVING SUGGESTION:
Garnish with julienned fresh basil, fresh thyme, or sliced black olives.

 

OPTIONS:
Try adding marinated, diced mushrooms to the cheeze to make a mushroom ravioli, and top with Cheddar Cheeze Sauce (page 105) instead of marinara. Or, mix fresh thyme into your cheeze to make a ricotta-thyme ravioli; or add chopped Coconut or Eggplant Bacon to your cheeze to make bacon ravioli, and serve with Avocado-Pistachio Pesto (page 216).

MAKES 1 CUP

 

The easiest marinara sauce to make ever. Just blend tomatoes with a date for sweetness and herbs for flavor. The dried herbs will help to absorb excess tomato juice, and the date helps thicken the sauce, too. The oil helps smooth everything out to a rich consistency. Try making this using Roma tomatoes, as they are another lower-juice tomato, like cherry tomatoes.

1½ cups cherry tomatoes
2 teaspoons pitted Medjool dates (about 1 whole)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
1/3 cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

 

Will keep for 2 to 3 days in the fridge.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

 

Pierogi are dumplings of Slavic origin and are semicircular or square in shape. My version is inspired from the Ukraine and is filled with cheeze plus Coconut Bacon and sauerkraut. For the wrappers, use either thinly sliced beets or Spinach or Tomato Wrappers.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeze, bacon, and sauerkraut. Toss to mix well.

 

If using beets, sandwich about 1 teaspoon of filling between two square slices. If using Spinach or Tomato Wrappers, place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each square. Fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch the edges together to form a rectangle shape. Wet the edges of the wrapper with your finger dipped in water, and press firmly to seal.

 

Serve drizzled with melted Miso Butter and sprinkled with Rawmesan Cheeze. To melt your Miso Butter, place in a small bowl. Then, place that bowl in a larger bowl filled with warm water. Set aside to melt into a liquid.

 

Enjoy immediately.

It's easy to make a mock “rice” by processing an autumn squash, turnip, and/or jicama into rice-size bits. All these vegetables are hard when whole but soften up when broken down into small pieces. Chopped pine nuts can be mixed in to create an even softer texture. The neutral flavors make for a rice that's easy to season and works well across many different recipes.

Also, raw seeds can be soaked and sprouted to make raw “rice.” Wild rice and quinoa are both seeds rather than grains and can be soaked and sprouted. I like to soak wild rice for a day or two in filtered water. It will double in size and soften. The texture is chewy, hearty, and perfect on a cold day when I'm craving a heavier, starchier-tasting food. Following, you'll find tips for soaking and sprouting seeds.

These various rice bases are great with veggies or any of the sauces throughout this book. You can also use the rice with soups, as filling for wraps, or in sushi rolls.

Quinoa only needs to be soaked and sprouted for a few hours. To sprout it, I soak it for 3 to 4 hours, drain the soaked quinoa in a sieve, and rinse it well. I then set it aside in a covered bowl for anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, just until tails sprout and grow to 1/8to ¼ inch. Sprouted quinoa is a bit softer than sesame seeds, but still crunchy.

MAKES 2 CUPS

 

Sushi rice is a glutinous short-grain rice that gets sticky when cooked. It's seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. My version is made with turnips and pine nuts to add softness, apple cider vinegar for tartness, and a pinch of sea salt.

It's crumbly rather than sticky and will work best with a sauce that will help it hold together inside your nori rolls.

1½ cups peeled and diced turnips
½ cup pine nuts
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

In a food processor, combine the turnips, pine nuts, and salt. Process into rice-size pieces. Add the vinegar and pulse gently to mix.

 

Will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

 

If you don't have pine nuts, cashews are a good substitute here. And if you don't have turnips, you can also use jicama instead.

MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS

Soaked wild rice is my favorite “rice.” It's hearty and chewy and tastes great in salads, salsas, and soups. It takes a few days to soak but is easy to prepare. All you need to do is soak and rinse. You can sprout it, too, if you prefer, though I usually don't bother.

Wild rice is supposedly heated up during the manufacturing process. If you're concerned about this issue, I encourage you to do your own sleuthing to figure out what works for you. Truly raw sproutable wild rice is available online at my site at Ani-Phyo. com/store, and also at natural food stores and other Web sites.

1½ cups wild rice
3 cups filtered water

Place the wild rice in a bowl and cover with twice as much filtered water. Let it sit for at least twenty-four hours. I prefer to soak for 2 days when I have time. Rinse and change the water two to three times per day, making sure the new water covers the rice. Finally, rinse well before using.

 

To sprout, pour into a large sieve and rinse well. Set out on your counter top over a bowl, cover, and let sit for 2 to 3 days, rinsing a couple of times a day.

MAKES 2 CUPS

 

Quinoa, pronounced “keen-waa,” is the seed of the goosefoot plant. It's rich in amino acids and protein and contains all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa contains lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair; it is also a great source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus and is said to help people with migraine headaches, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

Quinoa only needs to be soaked and sprouted for a few hours. The texture of sprouted quinoa is similar to sesame seeds, and a bit softer. I choose red quinoa when available (though feel free to use the brown, black, or mixed varieties) and like to make a simple salad by tossing in some diced beets for crunch, and a drizzle of coconut oil.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups filtered water

First, wash the quinoa by immersing in a large bowl of water and rinsing several times until the water is clear. Next, soak the quinoa in a large bowl covered with the filtered water, for about 4 hours. Drain the soaked quinoa in a sieve and rinse well. Set the sieve on top of a bowl to catch the draining water, and cover it with a plate. Set aside for 4 to 6 hours, just long enough for the tails to grow to 1/8to ¼ inch. Rinse well.