Posted by Jill

Serial and I always try to eat healthy, but a few times a year we decide to add in more raw foods.  Minimally, we like to cut out the processed stuff, wherever possible.  So when I was flipping through one of my raw food books and stumbled on a recipe for a raw cereal made from just two ingredients (three if you count the optional dried fruit), I was all about it.

The book I was flipping through was Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis.  It's not a great starter book, it contains the dishes that they serve in their restaurant so they involve more prep work.  If you're looking for a good entry level book for eating raw, check out Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney. (not sponsored, just my opinion on books I purchased).

I adapted the recipe for Maple Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies and cut out about half of the ingredients (mainly just the spices and stevia).  I've been making this for a few weeks now, in big batches before the week starts, and we are both loving it.  I forsee this being a regular recipe in our rotation and saying a permanent goodbye to the boxed cereals from the store. 

This recipe is made with Raw Buckwheat Groats, which are available in most health food stores in the bulk bin section.  They are about $2-3 USD per pound, and each pound will yield a TON of cereal. 

Nutritionally, Buckwheat is really great.  It's comparable to other grains in calories, but it really shines in the fiber and protein categories.  A 1/4-cup serving of dry groats contains 32 g of carbohydrates and 5 g of fiber, which will help lower cholesterol and keep you feeling full, for a longer time than grains with less fiber.  That same serving contains 1.5 g of total fat and 6 g of protein, which is great for energy and nutrient absorption. 

We like to add dried berries to our cereal, although it would be delicious on it's own as well.  We've tried blueberries and goji and now they are both regular guest stars in our recipe. 

3 cups raw buckwheat groats
1/2 cup raw coconut nectar (or other sweetener like agave or maple syrup)
Dried fruit* - optional (we like goji berries and blueberries)

*you really could add anything that you like in your cereal.  dried fruit is just one suggestion.  we're planning to try versions with cacao powder, flax seeds, vanilla, honey... the list goes on.

1. Soak the buckwheat groats in a large bowl with about 6 cups of water, for at least 2 hours.  The groats will expand and the water will become a little thicker. 
   
2. Drain and rinse the buckwheat groats in a mesh strainer or cheesecloth bag, with fresh water.  Your goal is to rinse them clean of the water they were soaking in.
3. Put the soaked and rinsed groats in a blender or a food processor with the maple syrup and pulse until they are combined.  The texture should be like cake or pancake batter, but not quite as smooth.
4. Spread the mixture on nonstick sheets and dehydrate at low temps (115 F for raw, 175-200 F for non-raw).  If you don't have a dehydrator, check your oven settings.  Ours has a "warm" setting that is low enough for raw foods.
   
5. Let the mixture dry for about 3-4 hours, then check on it.  It should be dry on top, but still somewhat wet on underneath.  Take a spatula and flip the mixture over, leaving it in big pieces, where possible. 
   
6. Continue to let it dry for another 3-4 hours, checking on it every hour or so.  The goal is to dry the cereal out, but not burn it.  
7. Once it is fully dried, mix in the dried fruit and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  It should keep for a few weeks.

Enjoy!

You know when you go to Whole Foods, Earth Fare or whatever health food chain your city has, there is always a raw sesame kale salad in the prepared food section.  Well that salad is my favorite.  It's delicious and seems to always be made exactly right.  I always end up buying a container and scarfing it down before Serial has a chance to get some.  Me and kale, we're tight like that. 

Now that it's summer (or at least it feels like it everyday), I've been craving raw foods more.  This salad is top on my list and I've been able to recreate that same one I see in the store from my own kitchen.  It's so easy too. 

There are different kinds of kale leaves, but the one I most often see in the store is the curly kale or the dino kale (you can see the types here).  For this recipe, the curly kale works better.  You could use others and it would taste the same, but the texture is best with the curly version. 

Curly kale is kind of rough when it's raw and this recipe will soften and the leaves into a salad that is super tasty.  I usually make this in the morning before work and let it sit in the fridge until lunch or dinner, at least 4-5 hours. 

Ingredients

• 1 Bunch Kale
• 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
• 4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar

Directions

• Tear the kale leaves from the stalks, and into medium size pieces.  Place the pieces into a large bowl.  Usually at this point, I have about 4-5 cups of loose kale.
• Add in your oil, aminos and vinegar.  Use your hands to massage everything into the leaves.  They are coarse pieces so just stirring with a spoon won't have the same effect.  Use your hands and make sure each leave gets a good coating.  You'll probably have a little bit of liquid left in the bottom of your bowl when you're done and that's OK.
• Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, if the leaves were coarse to start.  If they weren't as coarse/curly, they won't take as long to soften up.  Once the marinade sets in, the leaves will soften up and they will appear to shrink down.  They're really just loosing their toughness and laying flatter.  I usually end up with 2-3 cups of salad when it's all said and done.
• This salad keeps for the whole day, but I find that it's not great past that.  It gets too soggy.  Try to make it in the morning for dinner that night, or make it the night before to have at the lunch the next day.
• Enjoy!
  

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The Ingredients:

2 Cups Basil
1/2 Cup of Soaked Cashews (soak at least 4 hours)
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/3 Cup of Olive Oil
Salt to Taste

The How To:

Pour all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for several minutes until nuts are finely ground. The longer the cashews are soaked, the creamier it can turn out. However, even after soaking them for 18 hours, there still was a slight crunchy texture about it, which both Jill and I really liked. It makes about 1.5 cups of pesto.

The Yummy End Product:

The result is a nice, garlicy spread that tastes fantastic. We bought some Quorn Chik'n Cutlets and stuffed them full of our cashew pesto. Super delicious! The next time I make this, which will be soon, I'll experiment by adding some boiling/simmering water to the food processor to make it more creamy or maybe add some agar flakes to make slices. I'm not sure yet.  While it didn't turn out to be cheezy, it was really good and another recipe I'm excited to make!

If you like what you read, we would love to hear from you in the comments section!  It's fun to get feedback and it helps us create future posts.  And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or RSS!

Last week Serial got us started on making our own nut milk and it has been so great to have it for our coffee and smoothies.  With the milk comes the leftover nut pulp and we have a few different recipes we wanted to try, but we decided to start with a raw pesto. 

Back when we lived in the south, there was an amazing restaurant in Boone, NC that made a vegan pesto tempeh sandwich that still makes us drool whenever we think about it.  So we set our sights on making a pesto.  It was super simple and tasty and so far we've used it on a homemade vegan pizza and tonight I plan to use it to saute some tofu and veggies.  The raw garlic gives everything an extra kick.  And requires me to brush my teeth 3 extra times before bed. 

Yields: 1.5 cups

1 cup nut pulp (we used cashews, you can read more about it here)
3-4 garlic cloves, depending on taste
1/2 cup fresh basil (dried basil won't give the same results)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a food processor (we use a Ninja), combine the nut pulp, basil and garlic and pulse until well mixed.  If you want a milder garlic taste you can saute the garlic cloves with a little bit of oil before adding them to your food processor.  Raw garlic has a bit of a "bite" to it, but we love it.  We actually used about 8 cloves of raw garlic, but that's way too much for most people.  If you don't like the raw taste, a few minutes in the skillet will give it the roasted garlic taste instead.  Play around with the recipe and see what you like best!
   
2. Slowly add the olive oil and continue to pulse until it reaches the consistency you desire.  We used a half cup of olive oil, but you might prefer a little less or a little more.  There's no wrong way to do it.
3. Add in the salt and pepper, if you are including it.

That's it!  Store it in the fridge and use it on anything you like!  If you have any good recipes for pesto, we'd love to hear them.

If you like what you read, we would love to hear from you in the comments section!  It's fun to get feedback and it helps us create future posts.  And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or RSS! 

I don't often go a day without a sweet snack so to keep to my overall health plan, I have a go-to recipe that I use as a base for no-bake raw cookies.  They're made with only a few basic ingredients and can be altered to whatever I have in the kitchen.  They taste delicious and won't derail my whole day. 

This is the recipe for the basic cookie - feel free to play around with substitutions.  There really isn't a "wrong" way to make this.  You could add oats or ground flax if you're low on nuts.  Or you could add applesauce if you don't have a sweetener.  You get the idea.

Yields: 7-10 Cookies

1 Cup Nuts - any kind, I most often use raw almonds
4-5 Dates or 1/4 Cup Raisins
1 Tbsp Agave or Coconut Nectar
Any additional ingredients that you like (optional) - I most often use chocolate chips, dried fruit or nut butter

1. Use a food processor (I use a Ninja) to grind the nuts down to a powder
2. Add in the dates/raisins and the agave/nectar then pulse until everything is blended and the dough easily forms a ball
3. Add in any additional ingredients that you like.  For the cookies in the picture I added chocolate chips to the cookies and dipped the bottom in more chocolate.  It was one of those days where chocolate could do no wrong.
   
4. Form into cookies and store in the refrigerator.  They will keep for at least a week - I've never kept them longer than that because they're pretty tasty.