Vegetable Party in My Mouth

Today's lunch (challenge no. 20) recipe comes from one of my favorite raw blogs, Choosing Raw (only about half of the recipes Gena posts are raw, so don't let the name scare you away). Tomorrow I'm attending the Vegetarian Food Festival in NYC and will get to hear her speak, so I thought I'd try out one of her recipes: CURRIED CAULIFLOWER OVER PARSNIP RICE.

I'm using her picture here because it's so darn pretty, but mine looked pretty identical, just stuffed in a mason jar instead of a cute little bowl from Anthropologie:

Makes two servings.

For the curry:
2 cups chopped cauliflower florets
1 1/2 tsps mild curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp avocado oil
Pinch sea salt
Black pepper to taste

For the rice:
4 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp almond butter, sunflower butter, or tahini
1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
2 tsps rice vinegar
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional but tasty)
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Whisk together curry, turmeric, lemon juice, avocado oil, sea salt, and pepper to make a marinade.

Pour marinade over cauliflower, and mix well. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 1 hour, OR roast at 375 for 30 minutes, OR simply allow to marinate while you finish prepping the rest of your dinner.

Prepare raw rice by placing parsnip in a food processor and processing till it’s quite broken down, but not quite “rice” sized in texture. Add remaining rice ingredients, and then pulse until the mixture does resemble a medium grain rice.

Place the cauliflower mixture over the rice and enjoy.

Sage-Squash

I tried to go for a Sasquatch pun but I don't think it worked out too well. Regardless, I am pretty damn proud of today's lunch (challenge no. 20). I can't wait to inhale it later. 10:30 a.m. is a reasonable lunch time, right? On the menu: MUSHROOM SAGE CREAM SAUCE OVER BUTTERNUT SQUASH NOODLES.

I found the recipe here but didn't follow it exactly. Here is my version:

The night before:

Submerge 1 cup cashews in water and soak in the fridge overnight.
Soak 4 cups of thinly sliced mushrooms in the following marinade overnight as well:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sweetener of choice (I actually used grade B maple syrup, but you can use agave or honey)

The next morning:

Rinse and drain cashews. Combine cashews, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp sage (I used fresh sage), about 1/4 cup water (add until you get the desired consistency), and salt/pepper to taste in a food processor (or high speed blender) and puree until smooth and creamy.

Rinse and drain mushrooms. Mix sauce and mushrooms together.

For the noodles, peel a butternut squash and use either a spiral slicer or just grate it (which is what I did). Toss with the mushroom sage sauce.

Drool.

Mash n' Mush

For lunch today (challenge no. 20) I made Rosemary Mashed Cauliflower and Marinated Mushrooms. I'm calling it Mash n' Mush. The recipe comes from Rawmazing. I've been itching to try mashed cauliflower for a while as a substitute for mashed potatoes, and this version turned out excellent. Next time I might try it with cashews (creating a cashew cream and then adding the cauliflower) instead of pine nuts and see what happens. I also want to try a version that incorporates garlic.

MASH N' MUSH

Mushrooms:
3 large portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/3" thick
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup nama shoyu (I just used soy sauce)
1 tbsp agave (I used Stevia)

Mix marinade ingredients, pour over mushrooms, and marinate for at least 4 hours. I marinated mine overnight in the fridge. If you can, stir them occasionally.

Cauliflower:
1 large head of cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp rosemary (chopped)
Water

Cut florets from the cauliflower and thinly slice. Place slices in a bowl, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss. Place cauliflower in one layer on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 2 hours at 116 degrees. If you don't have a dehydrator or don't give a crap about eating raw, you can roast them in the oven until soft.

Once done dehydrating, place cauliflower in a food processor along with the pine nuts, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and enough water to give it the right consistency. Puree until smooth. Add the rosemary and blend. Salt and pepper to taste.

The Weekly Three

Last month I did a post describing my five daily challenges. Today I thought I'd discuss the three challenges that require my attention on a weekly basis.

DO YOGA THREE TIMES A WEEK.
There are so many different types of yoga, but I have narrowed it down to the two that I love the most: Power Vinyasa and Hot Yoga. After brief stints with Yoga to the People (cheap and convenient but crowded) and Bikram Yoga Lower East Side (fabulous instructors and a great vibe but expensive), in addition to some at-home yoga, I think I finally found my match.

David Barton Gym at Astor Place impressed me from the beginning. This gym is beautiful, high-end, and incredibly unique. It's like if Studio 54 came back as a gym run by gay goths. Trust me, that would make sense if you've been there. The whole place (4 floors) is dimly lit, which I love. It was uncrowded despite the prime time I visited, and what? Is that a DJ? Playing a pumped-up version of the True Blood intro song? Where do I sign? The yoga studio is in the gym, so I don't have to separate my gym and yoga memberships. And the yoga room is gorgeous. Candle-lit at all times. Smells better than fresh laundry. I could barely walk for three days after my first Power Vinyasa class there, so I'm also confident that it's challenging enough.

MAKE AND BRING YOUR LUNCH TWO DAYS A WEEK.
I've talked about some of my lunches here and here and here. I plan on making more of these meals post-worthy and making more of an effort to "cook" rather than just "assemble." Last week I finally got a food processor, so I feel like I just unlocked a new cooking door. Next up (maybe even this week): Mashed cauliflower and marinated mushrooms. A ridiculously healthy version of steak and potatoes.

DO 200 CRUNCHES AND THREE 1-MINUTE PLANKS EVERY OTHER DAY.
Someone once told me that planks get easier the more you do them. LIES. For me, they're getting harder. Why is this? I'm angry. However, I have noticed that my core is stronger. I can do some ab moves that were near impossible before. When I'm feeling ambitious I add some side planks. Still waiting on that six-pack though. Shy little muscles, those abdominals.

Sushi-ish

***Re: challenge #20 - make and bring your lunch 2 of of 5 days per week***

This was supposed to be sushi but ended up being more like nori burritos. Delicious nonetheless.

First I chopped up some crimini mushrooms and cilantro and shredded some carrot and zucchini. In retrospect I should have julienned them so that the rolls had some structure. I'm not saying I have sufficient kitchen smarts. I wasn't even following a recipe.

Then I made a nut pate using raw pumpkin seeds, almonds and a few Brazil nuts. I combined the nuts with some lemon juice, grated ginger, chopped garlic and salt. A food processor should have been used, but I used my little nut grinder and it did just fine.

When putting the rolls together, I laid the nori sheet out, first put down the pate, then the vegetable mix, and topped it with some avocado. It was pretty simple to roll up, but then as I tried to cut it into individual sushi rolls, the filling didn't stand up. Oh well. Nut nori burritos it is!

The Eggplant Sandwich

One of my challenges is to bring my lunch two out of five work days per week, and so far I've been keeping it simple with salads and soups that I've made many times before. But today I tried out a new recipe. The eggplant sandwich.

Yes, it's raw and vegan, so go ahead and get your eye-rolling out of the way. But look! It's pretty!

The flavor is great, but mine was a little hard to eat. I attribute this to not getting the eggplant crispy enough. The recipe comes from an iPhone app called Do Eat Raw.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, sliced into circles
• 1 avocado
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 tomato, sliced
• Grated carrot
• Alfalfa sprouts
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder

Directions:

Place the eggplant slices on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 8-9 hours at 105 degrees. You could also just use your oven but I'm not sure of the time and temperature. You just want to get the eggplant crispy and easy to bite into. The less done they are, the chewier they'll be.

Take the avocado, cut into two pieces, scoop out the pulp and spread on the eggplant slices.

Put on some sliced shallot, tomato, carrot, alfalfa sprouts, and sprinkle some garlic powder, salt and pepper. Lay another eggplant slice on top and you've got yourself a sandwich.