Raw Butternut Fettucini with Creamy Cilantro Nutfredo

I was born exactly 9 years to the day before the first moon walk, on which date the lunar surface was discovered to be covered with...rocks. Before that, people really had no idea what the moon was made of. Really. I remember one theory, quite popular when I was a child, that the moon was made of green cheese. Yes, people used to actually say this; I have no idea why. Not that I ever believed it, but in honor of tonight's new moon and annular eclipse of the sun, I felt inspired to make some Green Cheese of my own.

I had organic cilantro in the fridge, and a loose recipe for Cashew-Cilantro Paté swiped from an old vegan boyfriend of mine, but only a handful of raw cashews remaining in the nut jar. So, I improvised on the cheese, as I am wont to do. And then, inspiration struck! I remembered that I had a nice, big, smooth butternut squash in the pantry...and Raw Butternut Fettucini with Creamy Cilantro Nutfredo was born.

To create this dish, start by making a batch of Vegan Green Cheese as a base for the Creamy Cilantro Nutfredo. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of any combination of the following raw nuts and seeds: cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts or brazil nuts. You can see I used about 2/3 raw pumpkin seeds, and 1/3 mixed cashews and macadamias.

Put your nut/seed combination in a bowl, cover by about an inch or two of fresh water, and soak for one hour. When time's up, drain soaked nuts/seeds and place in a food processor fitted with the S-blade. Add 2 Tbs virgin raw coconut oil and 1/4 tsp sea salt (I love the Himalayan pink salt, as you know, but any good quality sea salt will do).

Then pulse and process until contents attain the consistency of a coarse meal.

To this coarse meal, add the juice of 2 or 3 lemons; 1 tsp your choice coconut aminos, Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari; 2 Tbs nutritional yeast; 4 Tbs of water; and 2 large cloves garlic, minced. Process this all together for a while, until things start to get creamy (it may be necessary to add a bit more water to facilitate creaming). When the cheese has balled up and come together nicely, add 1/2 cup (packed) chopped cilantro,

and pulse that in. This is your Vegan Green Cheese.

Put Green Cheese into an airtight container and refrigerate while you make your noodles.

Butternut fettucini noodles are ridiculously easy to make. Start by cutting off the long neck of a good-sized butternut squash, and set the seed-filled bulbous portion aside. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer skin from the neck of the squash,

and then continue peeling off long, orange strips until you have enough for your dinner (and/or you get tired of peeling).

Your squash neck will turn into a beautiful sculpture, by the way,

which can be refrigerated and used another day in, for instance, a tasty squash curry, a creamy butternut soup, or even Raw Pumpkin Pie (butternut squash stands in beautifully for pumpkin in this recipe).

To "cook" the fettucini, it is necessary to marinate the butternut strips in a little oil to which has been added salt and an acid, just like we do for Massaged Kale. For today's marinade, I used 2 Tbs olive oil, 2 Tbs white balsamic vinegar, 1/4 tsp each of Himalayan pink salt and ground black pepper, and the last of some dried Thai basil I had kicking around, just to add a little extra flavor. I also added a teaspoon of Mirin (Japanese white cooking wine), just because I could, but that's totally optional. If you don't have white balsamic, use lemon juice and a splash of agave instead.

Stir marinade ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, then add the raw butternut noodles, and toss. Allow noodles to sit for at least half an hour in order to soften up, tossing from time to time to keep them all evenly coated.

When the noodles are done (al dente, naturally), it's time to assemble the Fettucini Nutfredo. Measure out about 3 Tbs of Vegan Green Cheese per serving, and place this in a medium sized bowl. Heat up some water on the stove; then little by little, use a fork to blend warm water into the cheese, gradually thinning and transforming it into a thick, creamy sauce of your preferred consistency. Voila! Creamy Cilantro Nutfredo!

Spoon Nutfredo sauce onto the marinated butternut fettucini. Toss gently and thoroughly until all your noodles are well coated with delectabe, saucy goodness.

Transfer to plate(s), and garnish with a sprinkle of any chopped green herb you prefer (I used fresh chives from my garden, along with their pretty purple flowers, but more cilantro would be lovely, too, as would parsley).

This meal takes far less time to prepare than the finished masterpiece would suggest, with plenty of leftover Vegan Green Cheese as a bonus. This will last for up to one week in the fridge, and can be used as a spread, a dip, a filling (for celery ribs, nori rolls, romaine wraps) - sky's the limit. Which reminds me. There's a Ring of Fire annular eclipse happening tonight. The oracle says this brings great opportunity for self-knowing and transformation. May it be so with you, and all your relations.

Blizzard Plate Special Salad with Parsley-Macadamia Nut-Pumpkin Seed Paté & Sprouted Seed Crackers

The first snowstorm of the season is blowing outside, windy, white and cold. When it comes to lunch, this means only one thing: a hearty salad plate.

My salads always start with a big, fluffy bed of greens. In this case, I used a blend of 50% chopped romaine, my favorite winter lettuce, and 50% baby mesclun greens. Chopped avocado, tomato and red (Bermuda) onion are added next, with a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice on top for the brightest and simplest of dressings.

On the side, you'll see a scoop of my delicious Parsley-Macadamia Nut-Pumpkin Seed Paté (recipe to follow) surrounded by two flavors of Sprouted Seed Crackers. I made these in the dehydrator with a dough formed from soaked and sprouted buckwheat, flax and sunflower seeds that I ground and combined with assorted seasonings. The exact recipe is top secret, but you can come close with my Rainy Day Crackers.

Even though it is cold outside, our bodies still crave fresh living foods. Use good strong greens, warming onions or garlic, and a topping of healthy fats and proteins (in this case from avocados and nuts/seeds... but you could also consider black beans or chickpeas, kalamata olives, sardines, etc) to make nourishing winter salads that both satisfy and appeal. Bon appetit!


Parsley-Macadamia Nut-Pumpkin Seed Paté

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked 2-4 hours and drained
1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 lemon's juice (about 1/4 cup)
3 Tbs cold-pressed raw olive oil
1 tsp raw coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (about 3 stalks)
black pepper to taste
about 1/4 cup water, more or less as needed

Directions
In a food processor, process pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts and sea salt into a fine meal. Add lemon juice and oils and begin processing again, drizzling in water until the mass gets rolling. Continue processing for a few minutes, stopping as needed to spatula down the sides, and allow it to keep going until very creamy. At that point, add fresh black pepper and chopped parsley and pulse process for about half a minute or until well blended. Store paté in a covered glass jar or container in the refrigerator. Makes 2 cups (one pint) and keeps for up to a week. Or, divide into portions and freeze what you won't use in a week. This paté freezes really well by keeping its consistency after thawing, making it quite handy to grab and bring to a raw food pot luck in a pinch. (True story.)

♥

Parsley Pumpkin Seed Paté Roll-Ups

As a follow-up to my last blog on the Properly Combined Sandwich where I discussed how we don't want to eat bread (starch) and protein at the same meal, I thought I'd share a yummy and fun sandwich-like protein-combo lunch meal: nori roll-ups with a delicious filling of rich, savory seed cheese (protein) and chopped salad. Earlier today, a client was curious about how to make both seed cheese and nori rolls, so I decided to post a little step-by-step excursion here. You'll find the recipe for Parsley Pumpkin Seed Paté at the end.

Learning to make soaked seed/nut "cheeses" and patés is one of the best culinary steps I ever made. Since seeds are easier to digest, less expensive and less allergenic than most tree nuts, I like to focus on them. Soaked raw seeds and nuts offer the advantage of activated enzymes that initiate the breakdown of nut/seed proteins into amino acids (pre-digestion). As a bonus, they move through the body far more quickly than plain unsoaked seeds/nuts, nut butters and hummus or bean spreads. The spreads I make taste different every time depending on what seeds or nuts and seasonings I use, and are always fabulously satisfying.

To make Parsley Pumpkin Seed Paté Roll-Ups, first prepare your paté (easy recipe below) and your chopped salad, lightly dressed. My salad contained romaine, baby spinach, roma tomato and fresh garlic, all chopped and tossed with a tasty dressing of balsamic vinegar, mustard, novella olive oil, sea salt, agave and herbs.

Note: the packet of 50 nori sheets pictured above was purchased for only $7.99 at my wonderful local Asian/World food market. Sadly, the same sheets cost significantly more at the health food store. Many communities harbor these treasure trove Asian food stores - I am very grateful for mine. (This is where I learned from a master how to open a young coconut. Very easy once you know the secret!)

Step One: Lay nori sheet flat and spread a line of pumpkin seed cheese along the base (left/lower roll below). Leave room at the sides as contents will smush outward when you roll up. (FYI, you could lay out thick slices of avocado instead of seed paté - but not avocado and nuts/seeds in the same roll, please - too heavy!)


Step Two: Add a few spoonfuls of chopped salad (upper roll above), again keeping the one inch at each end free of filling.

Step Three: Stand behind the filling side of the roll and start rolling! (Don't worry about perfection, a few lumps are not a problem and after a little practice, you'll be an expert.) Just before you get to the end, dip your finger in cold water and wet the top edge of the sheet to help seal, then finish the roll.

Step Four: Plate, add raw veggie garnishes* and voila! Lunch is served. Bon appetit!


Parsley Pumpkin Seed Paté

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked 2-4 hours and drained
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 lemon's juice
3 Tbs cold-pressed raw olive oil
1 tsp raw coconut oil (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (about 3 stalks)
black pepper to taste
about 1/4 cup water, more or less as needed

Place pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, garlic and sea salt in food processor, then pulse and process with S blade into a fine meal consistency. Add lemon juice and oils and begin to process. As needed, add just enough water to help get things rolling smoothly. Process for several minutes until very well combined and creamy, pausing from time to time and using a spatula to bring everything down into the center until it really catches. When the paté is very creamy and seems finished, add parsley and black pepper and pulse-process until mixed through. Store refrigerated, either in a container to use as spread or, if you want to be fancy, as a log, like chevre. (To do this, use clean hands and shape into log form; roll in additional parsley or black pepper if desired; wrap in waxed paper or plastic film.) Keeps up to 5 days.

* One summer long ago, I worked at Friendly's as a waitress. Part of my job was to garnish the plates with pickles and parsley before taking them out to the customers. "Don't forget your pickles and parsley!" was the rallying cry of my manager. Of course, we would only use a tiny sprig of parsley, but I remember thinking how that brave little sprig, the only living thing on the plate, was no doubt the healthiest item on the menu.

Play in the Kitchen!

Did anyone ever tell you not to play with your food? If so, you may share a commonly held belief that preparing natural, healthy and raw food is a lot of work. But is it? I am here to suggest otherwise!

Eleven amazing people attended my talk last week on the New Raw Food Diet. More than half the group were already following raw or high raw diets and had wonderful insights and experiences to share, while the remaining attendees, introduced for the first time to the exciting world of living foods, were so open to learning. It was an honor to facilitate this meeting of our growing raw food community and I hope we will develop and expand our connections through future meetings and workshops.

One concern voiced by the practicing raw fooders was the time factor involved in raw food preparation. It is endemic in our culture to feel pressed for time - to be always on the go, rushing from place to place and "grabbing a bite to eat" in the midst of the chaos. Of course nothing could be simpler than grabbing an apple, banana or bag of baby carrots and eating out of hand, but making raw pasta, sauces or patés may be perceived as too time consuming - especially when the preponderance of convenience foods, fast food outlets and advertising for these products and venues repeatedly reinforces the idea that there's not enough time in the day to prepare meals. Even if we don't eat fast food and packaged meals, we are subjected to the messages they convey.

I agree it is a fact that preparing food takes time. This means that unless you are in the position to eat out, order in or hire someone else to prepare all your wholesome fresh meals, you will have to slow down a couple of times a day to make wholesome, fresh food for yourself. By doing this, you get to take care of YOU. Love yourself in these moments, and pour your love into your creation. Taking care of yourself is a beautiful thing!

And how do you find the time? Here are a few pointers. Number One is to change your thoughts around time. WANT to have the time, BELIEVE you have the time, and start to regard your time in the kitchen as PLAY, not work. If you are having FUN in the kitchen, you will WANT to spend time there making yummy food!

Beyond that, it helps to think ahead. Think about what you want to eat for the coming day or week and be organized by making shopping lists, purchasing ingredients in advance, soaking nuts for cheeses or seeds for sprouts in time to make the dishes you want, etc. Also, try to choose a day or an afternoon that you're not working to prepare a few more complex items for the week ahead (Sunday works for me).

Another way to help save time (and increase the fun factor) is GADGETS! These are not necessary, but they do broaden the scope of culinary possibility. Not all gadgets are pricey - for instance, salad spinners are very modestly priced and well worth the small investment for the time they save washing greens (I use mine every day), not to mention the secret glee of spinning and braking the machine! A simple spiral slicer costs under $30 and makes the best zucchini spaghetti in the world, with a chewy bite like pasta, but with no gummy gooey slimy thing going on, no wheat to clog you up, and talk about fast food! Just cut a zuke in half, put it in the machine, turn the crank and out come perfect strands, like magic. Top with your choice of: pesto, raw alfredo, oil and tamari, or even organic bottled marinara sauce (remember, it's not necessarily about 100% raw) and you're in business!

It's easy to make kitchen time play time when you have toys to play with! I am having the most fun ever exploring the world of raw food cuisine now that I have a juicer, spiralizer and - last but not least - dehydrator (this WAS a big investment), which I finally bought after months of saving up and thoughtful deliberation over what kind to get (I went with a white, 9-tray Excalibur with timer - yes!). I made my first two trays of Maiden Bread on Sunday, with vidalia onions, veggie pulp, flaxseed and sunflower seed meal, based on Matt Amsden's Rawvolution recipe. Amazing!

Of course, I needed to create a spread for this savory creation, so I also made (on Sunday - told you it works for me) the most amazing Pumpkin Seed-Macadamia-Pine Nut Cheese with Fresh Garlic Scapes* you could dream of. It's so dreamy, I should call it Dream Cheese. I can't get over how super quick and easy it is to make DELICIOUS, CREAMY cheese out of seeds and nuts - non-dairy cheese that tastes as good if not WAY better than goat cheese or boursin. All you need is a food processor, and enough forethought to start soaking your seeds a few hours in advance. Look how beautiful:


This recipe is based on Cheese with Spring Onions, posted by Zoe on goneraw.com. (http://goneraw.com/recipes/1619-Cheese-with-Spring-Onions)

Pumpkin Seed-Macadamia-Pine Nut Cheese Balls with Garlic Scapes

2 cups pumpkin seeds (soaked for 2-4 hours and drained)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
2 lemons' juice
1/3 cup olive oil
drizzle of black truffle oil (optional)
1/2 to 1 Tablespoon Himalayan pink salt
10 garlic scapes, chopped (plus additional minced scapes for rolling) (may substitute chives or green onions for scapes)

Directions: Put soaked seeds and nuts in food processor and pulse/process to fine meal texture. Add lemon juice and olive oil and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides with spatula as needed. Add truffle oil and 1/2 Tablespoon salt, and continue to process for a while (up to 10 minutes altogether). If it's not coming together, add a little water to obtain desired texture - it should be very thick yet creamy. Taste and adjust salt if you want. When cheese seems done, add in chopped garlic scapes and process briefly to break down and blend well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then remove, form balls and roll in minced garlic scapes (the balls, not you!). Or just store cheese in glass containers to use as spread. (I did both.) Keeps in fridge five days.


*Garlic scapes are the curly, upper sections of garlic plants. Scapes develop in mid to late June in my area, and sport a closed bud at their tip. If the scape is not removed, the bud will swell open into a round, edible flower and the garlic bulb will not develop. Scapes are trimmed away to help the plant send its energy down into the root instead of up into the flower, so that a nice, fat garlic bulb will grow for harvest later in the season. Garlic scapes are pungent, tender and tasty - a real Summer Solstice time, seasonal treat!