I want to preface this recipe by saying – don’t get scared by the ingredient list! People often get inundated by a long recipe because they think it will be hard or time consuming. This recipe took about 30 minutes for me to make, including washing the processor in between uses. Many of the same  items are listed for each recipe, and once you have everything together you literally just have to throw it in a blender and hit a button. Easy! You can also make the dressing, chorizo, and sour cream ahead of time and store them in the fridge.

I made raw nacho chips from Chef Russell James’ mexican e-cookbook to go along with the salad. They were delish! If you have a dehydrator, I highly recommend them. If you don’t – the salad tastes amazing and is VERY filling even without them.

Raw Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Makes: 2 big salads or 4 side salads

For the salad:

• 1/2 a head of Red leaf lettuce, chopped
• 1 Red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• Pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup corn (I used frozen)
• 1 tomato, sliced into wedges or chopped
• 1 avocado, sliced

Cilantro Lime Dressing

I had a bunch of cilantro in the fridge, so I improvised a great cilantro-lime dressing. I used WAY too much oil (as I usually do), so the oil is cut in half for this recipe, which I think will do nicely. This recipe makes just enough for the two salads, so if you like an abundance of dressing, you should probably double it.

• 1 cup of cilantro
• 1/4 cup XV Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic -minced
• Squirt of agave

-Put everything in a blender and blend away.

Walnut – Sunflower Seed Chorizo

• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp XV Olive Oil
• 2tsp lemon juice
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1Tbs chili powder
• a sprinkle of cayenne (if you like it hot!)

– put everything in a food processor and pulse until it reaches a crumbly-but-still-juicy texture.

Cashew Sour Cream

You can actually make this sour cream the night before, or make a big batch of it to use on salads throughout the week. It makes a great condiment and can be used to add flavor to almost anything. If you put it in the fridge, it will firm up a bit and can be used as a spread or dip!

• 1 cup cashews
• Juice of one small lemon
• 2Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1.5 cups water
• 1/2 tsp salt

– Blend everything together until creamy and smooth. You may need to add a little but of water to get it to your desired consistency.

Now just mix everything together (or assemble beautifully) and enjoy!

The post Recipe: Raw Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Beautiful raw food is always so daunting. It is full of mystery and oohs and aahs. We always admire it but rarely have the time to replicate it. However, this gorgeous, raw lasagna dish is easy and fast, and stores so you can feed off of it all week. Talk about a dream dish!

This recipe is courtesy of my favorite aussie activist, Leigh-Chantelle of Viva La Vegan. Check out LC this summer, speaking and wooing the pants off everyone at Vida Vegan Con and The Animal Rights Conference.

Easy Raw Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini, sliced with vegetable peeler
• 1 carrot, sliced with vegetable peeler
• Spinach leaves
• 1 ½ cup macadamia nuts, processed or cut up finely
• a handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
• a handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped

Sauce:

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 ½ avocados
• 8 dates, soaked
• 2 lemons

Mince Mixture:

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 10 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• ¼ cup raisins

Preparation

• Using a food processor, process the sauce mix and set aside for later use
• Process the mince mix, setting aside for later
• In a square baking dish, layer the zucchini slices on the bottom
• Spread half of the sauce mix on top, setting the remainder aside
• Sprinkle the carrot on top of the sauce, then the mince mixture
• Sprinkle the spinach leaves on top of the mince mixture, then the remaining zucchini
• Spread the remaining sauce mixture on top of the zucchini
• Combine the macadamia nuts, parsley and cilantro and sprinkle on top

Serves 4-8 people
Serve straight away or keep cool in the refrigerator

The post Easy Raw Lasagna appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Balls

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Almond Butter Cookies (flattened balls?)

Chocolate and Coconut Snowballs

Donut Holes

Chocolate-Peppermint Donut Holes

Bonus:

Caramels!

The post Fast and Easy Raw Treats: Balls and Holes appeared first on Chic Vegan.

These treats can be composed of a few ingredients and take a few minutes to prepare (Averie is the queen of this), or they can contain exotic ingredients and require some time. Either way the results are delicious, healthy and sure to please even the most carnivorous food critic. Here are some delicious treats that initially triggered a “no freakin’ way” reaction from me. But once I got a taste of these babies it was pure magical heaven.

*all of these recipes are raw, vegan, gluten, and soy free.

Raw Strawberry Cream Pie

Cacao Coconut Ganache Tart

Raspberry Cashew Ice Cream

Pumpkin Pie

Coconut Pineapple Cupcakes

Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Raw Vegan Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

The post 7 Unbelievable Raw Desserts appeared first on Chic Vegan.

The task of raw food prep may seem daunting at first, but once you have the basics under your belt, the rest comes naturally. First you make lots of salads, then smoothies, then you start to soak and sprout, and the next thing you know you are breaking out the big guns and buying dehydrators, juicers, and (the holy grail) a VitaMix.  Although, none of those things are mandatory they are a whole lot of fun. The best part of raw food is that you get to be creative, enjoy yourself and experiment!

Staple foods: What you need in your pantry

There are some things that you should always have on hand, considering they are included in most recipes or can easily be thrown into any dish to add nutrition, texture and flavor.

• raw nuts -cashews, almonds, macadamias, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.
• raw seeds -sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax, sesame, etc.
• agave -available in raw form. Best sweetener ever.
• dried dates -used in most desserts. They last forever if you store them in the fridge and they can easily be re-hydrated if fresh dates are needed.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – Awesome on its own, and used in many recipes.
• Nama Shoyu – Unpasteurized soy sauce.
• Sea salt – an unrefined salt that is still full of its beneficial minerals.
• Lots o spices
• obviously, a plethora of fruits and veggies (the sky is the limit)

Types of Preparation

Sprouting – is a process of soaking, draining and rinsing seeds, grains or beans so that they germinate (sprout). This increases the digestive enzymes, nutrients and makes the seed infinitely better for you! Learn how to sprout here.

Soaking -Soaking nuts, seeds, grains and beans before eating release enzymes and nutrients, making them easier to digest and easier for your body to absorb all the nutritious goodness. Learn more about soaking here.

Dehydrating – Raw foods can be dehydrated up to 105 degrees. You can use dehydration for tons of things including making crackers, crusts, desserts, drying fruits and veggies,or warming up certain foods. There are endless ways to use a dehydrator.

Freezing – Many desserts should be kept in the freezer if you are not eating them immediately after prep. As with cooked food, you can store anything in the freezer for use at a later date.  Learn more about freezing raw foods.

Making it Easy

Love salads -after produce shopping, chop and store fruits and veggies for quick use. Make lots of your favorite dressing and store them in the fridge or freezer. Be creative! One big salad a day is easy and so, so, so good for you.

Dehydrate once month -Designate one day to dry enough crackers, chips, crusts or cookies to last a month. Freeze and thaw as needed.

Sprouting like a champ -Sprouts go bad VERY quickly. Make one type of sprout every week. Once you have all of the sprouting accessories it only takes a few seconds a day to monitor and take care of them.

Shake it up– Shakes and juices are quick, easy and serve as a whole meal. Just throw all ingredients in a blender or juicer and viola! Clean up is as easy as a little rinse!

Always make extra – Anytime you make a salad dressing, sauce, dip, dessert, and so on -make lots. Then freeze it. You will notice quickly that many things you make are used differently in many recipes.

Plan ahead -Plan your menu a week in advance. That way you can be sure to have all of the items you may need. You can also plan a few dishes that have recurring ingredients so you only have to make something once.

Don’t go overboard– Some meals require you soak nuts for a few days before its made, or different elements of the recipe have to be dehydrated for hours. Only make one or two meals a week that require a lot of planning like this.

Keep the basics on hand– Most of the stuff in the above list should be readily available in your kitchen. If there are certain ingredients that regularly show up in your recipes,  make sure you keep those on hand as well.

Whole produce -Apples, celery, carrots, oranges and tons of other produce taste great just the way they are, and they make the easiest most nutritious snack I can think of!

Try It! Some Delicious Recipes

• Zucchini Fettuccine with Sesame Mango Sauce
• Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta
• Raw vegan peanut butter cups
• Raw Vegan Pan Bagnat
• Carrot Cake Smoothie
• Matar Paneer
• Apple Cranberry “Cheesecake”
• Red Pepper Poppers
• Tomato Flat Bread

*Photo of the Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta courtesy of The Raw Chef Blog.

The post Making Raw Easy appeared first on Chic Vegan.