I’ve been experimenting with making my own super fresh salad dressings lately. This one turned out so good I had 3 helpings back to back to back. When I tell my friends some of the ingredients involved they make the “ewwww” face, but try to keep your mind and mouth open and give this a try! Trust me! Something about the sweet but tar flavor of the strawberries this time of year really lends it self well to both enhancing the flavors of other veggies as well as adding a wonderful flavor blanket on top. Ok enough jibba jabba, here’s the “recipe”:
- 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 8-10 strawberries
- 4 gloves of garlic
- 1 packet of stevia sweetener (although had I had honey, I would have used a spoonful of that instead).
First off, all the ingredients listed above are guesstimates. I made the dressing by intuition and to taste. So, with that said…puree the heck out of the mix until it is super smooth. Note, you may not need the sweetener, depending on the sweetness of the berries (or unless you just like things “tartier”…hey some of us do!). I just love the color of this dressing. It provided a great contrast to some salad greens, and blended amazingly well with the ingredients I included in my wrap, which were…:
- portabello mushroom slices
- red onion diced
- jalapeño slices
- romaine lettuce cut into strips
- almond slices
The taste of the semi sweet, semi tart, strawberry dressing worked so well with the semi-neutral, earthy taste of the portabellos and the almond slices (which incidentally added a great crunch to the mix). The onions and hot peppers played a nice contrast to the sweetness, much like one of my other favorite surprising taste combinations, chocolate and cayenne.
You can use that as a dressing in any fashion. I had two plate loads of salad right after the wrap I took a picture of…after I got the taste in my mouth, the camera wasn’t even a thought until the blind consumption of something super tasty was complete, and my lust for this newfound taste combination had been sated. Hah, I know funny language…but, trust me, my words can’t truly describe what my repeated trips to the table for this dressing can.
Try it out, it could be the perfect addition to a RAW Valetines! <3
Except for the garlic part…ok, better bring some fresh mint leaf as well. 
[ED-phewww…made it through the whole post without a single mention to strawberry fields…]
I’ve been guiltily purchasing prepackaged hummus from the super market to use in my wraps, and to help fill me up when I just know a salad will evaporate on contact. So, since I am at a point in my life where I am sick and tired of feeling guilty about anything, I decided to look up how to make raw hummus. It turns out that most of the recipes I found were surprisingly simple, and I happened to have (most of) the ingredients on hand.
The first thing I had to do was get my beans soaking. I had read somewhere that the enzymes in beans become dormant when the bean is in dried state, but as you begin to sprout the bean, then it enzyme activity is reignited. So, I soaked 1 cup of garbanzo beans for 8 hours or so in filtered, room temperature water. I then drained the beans well (make sure not too much water remains in the bowl or dish you use for this, your beans will start to stink–I KNOW!) and let them sit for another 8 hours before I rinsed and drained again. I repeated this process until I began to see the little nubs of sprouts start to wiggle their way out of the beans. You can let them sprout as long as you think is best, but at this point I took all my beans and began to make hummus.
Now, here’s the the basic “recipe” I followed:
- 1 cup pre-soaked and sprouted garbanzo beans.
- the juice of 2 lemons, freshly squeezed
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 tsp of sea salt
- 1 carrot, chopped
- about 5 squirts of liquid aminos
Now here’s the beauty of making hummus, the basics are really simple. Anyone with a food processor can do it 1-2-3, but you could grind it by hand. I can’t say if it affects the end result, perhaps it does, but what I did was use a tiny food processor that I have. But basically, I just addedall of the ingredients into my food processor and pulsed until it was pretty darn well processed. The resulting mash did not appear quite as smooth as store bought hummus, and perhaps better equipped food processors could do a better job, but it was pretty well mashed, and for the most part smooth. I had to add dabs of oil, and a little water as well in order to keep the mixture from becoming overly thick in the food processor. Be prepared to do so as you process. I also ended up having to add more oil, hours later, after the hummus had settled. Garbanzos suck up so much moisture it is amazing.
Here’s a pic of the hummus in the food processor:
After I had processed it as smooth as could get it (adding extra oil helped a lot), I put it in plastic containers that I reuse from the supermarket, added some fresh red bell pepper on top for adornment, spiced it with some paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper and then put it in the fridge to settle and to let all the flavors mingle and coagulate.
And, after it had sat in the fridge for about 2 hours or so, I took it out and decided to sample it as part of a salad I was making for dinner. The salad was pretty basic: assorted fresh greens cut into strips, grated carrot, chopped red onion, chopped red bell pepper, diced portabello mushroom, 1/2 Florida avacado diced, and of course, the raw hummus.
It was deeeeeeeeeelish! I will continue to tweek the hummus recipe and see if I can make it even better. It was good for a first try, but I would like to improve the creaminess of it. Part of me enjoys having to chew the bits of garbanzo here and there, but I have read that some people use raw tahini sauce to “complete” their hummus. I do believe that in authentic hummus recipes, that sesame seeds are used, and tahini is basically crushed sesame seeds mixed with oil. Next time I will definitely hunt down a small sack of seeds and add it in. As a matter of fact, I will be trying out several different flavoring ideas I already have. Stay tuned!
The wonderful blood orange, or Citrus sinensis, according to the Wikipedia entry, is quite the unusual fruit. I have had many of these fruits in my travels to both Spain, and Italy, and it is quite the treat when I find them here at the local market. I was able to purchase some for a reasonable price, and even though it is not “the season” so to speak, these oranges make quite the late night snack, and mouth refresher. Sometimes we need to break out of the monotony of eating the same fruits over and over, and I think using the blood orange not only lends itself to new flavors, but makes current dishes even better. For example, blood oranges can be used to make vinegrettes (with balsamic vinegar), and also they can be used in juicer mixes (like with carrots, apples, etc.). In Italy it is quite common for breakfast to be served with freshly squeezed blood orange juice (usually at room temperature). Yes, you will not find many chilled juices in Italy (especially southern Italy).
According to Wikipedia, “The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanin, a pigment common to many flowers and fruit, but uncommon in citrus fruits. Sometimes there is dark coloring on the exterior of the rind as well, depending on the variety of blood orange. The degree of coloration depends on light, temperature and variety. The blood orange is a hybrid of ancient origin, possibly between the pomelo and the tangerine. It probably originated in Sicily.” The taste is quite amazing. It is a warm, tangy taste, without the acidity of an orange, and the smooth taste of fruit punch.
“Sicilian Red oranges contain nutritional and preventive properties. As a result, growers incorporated blood oranges into their home remedies for centuries. Current research indicates that blood oranges are a good source of Vitamin C. The fruit’s red pigment, anthocyanin, is an antioxidant that reduces the risks associated with many ailments, including age-related illnesses. Blood oranges contain about 130 percent of the recommended amounts of Vitamin C, and diminish the risk of heart disease, some types of cancer and “bad” cholesterolcataracts, and aid in the body’s healing process. One medium-size orange contains 260 milligrams of potassium, 15 percent of the FDA’s daily recommendation. Potassium also lowers blood pressure, decreasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, helps to regulate heart rhythm, and affects body growth and maintenance. Eating a medium-sized orange provides 28 percent of the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber. Oranges provide more fiber than any of the top 20 fruits or vegetables. Oranges can also be a valuable source of iron, calcium and vitamin A.” build-up.
Some more pics of this tasty treat as I rip open the tasty flesh. Be warned, the juice will stain so be careful who you “splash”. Hahaha. Enjoy! (Notice the dark flesh. Ohhh so good)
