Allow me to present this super delectable, light yet very nourishing Raw Bell Pepper (Capsicum) Soup! Woud you believe it has just 4 main ingredients (5 if you count fresh parsley, which you can substitute with dried parsley or dried herbs)? :)
[Pictured here with watercress & raw cashew mayonnaise.]
The Ingredients:
2 Bell Peppers (Capsicums)
1/2 medium-large Avocado
1/2 medium Courgette
1/5 small red Onion
2-3 tsp fresh Parsley (or 1.5 tsp dried parsley)
1/2 tsp mixed Herbs (optional)
1.5 cups water (add more if the soup is too thick)
The Process:
(1) Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until almost smooth – I personally prefer to have some texture to the soup, so I do not blend it until it is completely smooth.
(2) The idea is to have the soup raw, i.e. warm but at a temperature that does not destroy the vital Enzymes and vitamins (so 43 Degrees Celsius or lower). Add 1 1/4 cup tepid (room temperature) water. Boil some water and add 3/4 cup of boiling water. However, I have found that because a few vegetables come from the fridge they absorb the heat of the water very quickly and the overall temperature falls below 40 instantly, so unless your veggies are made into a soup in the middle of a summer and come from the warmed up counter, safely mix 1 cup boiling and 1 cup cold water together, then add to the blending jug. {Add a bit more water, if the soup is too thick – as vegetables’ water content varies.}
(3) Blend until smooth. Pour into bowls and Enjoy! :)
I’d like to introduce my super quick (as you can see from the picture;) recipe which I often make for lunch or as a light dinner, changing ingredients with seasons and on occasion creating sauces and dips to accompany it! :)
This is an easy one, a definite time-saver, and it fulfills my old passion for sandwiches and wraps. I find them perfectly satisfying yet not too heavy.
You can, of course, elaborate on the recipe and use more ingredients like microgreens, alfalfa or clover sprouts, carrots, courgettes and make them as perfectly even and pretty as time allows – however, when in a hurry, I normally cut up whatever veggies I’ve got, throw them together into a leaf, roll up and munch! :)
This is what you’ll be needing to create the ‘breadless rolls’ I’ve made:
large leafy greens such as chard (silverbeet) or rainbow chard [as per picture above], large spinach leaves, collard greens (i.e. broccoli leaves, kale) for the ‘wraps’.
1 tomato
1 avocado
1 bell pepper (capsicum)
some parsley or basil
some good salt (black pepper – optional)
freshly squeezed lemon juice to drizzle the filling (optional)
The Process:
Wash all the veggies and the leaves thoroughly.
Cut off the stocks from the leaves and place one leaf o na board or plate where you are going to roll your rolls.
chop up or Julienne (looks prettier but takes longer:) your veggies
Place a few strips of capsicum, tomato and avocado into the leaf, drizzle with some lemon juice and optionally sprinkle with some good salt. I normally place the filling to the right or the left off the main vein of the leaf, if it’s wide enough, this helps to wrap it better (see the next point).
Fold your leaf around the veggies to form a roll. I normally wrap the bottom part of the leaf up first, then the top, then the side on which vegetables are closer to the edge, and continue to roll in that direction until you roll to the opposite end.
Make as many of these as you like – enjoy! :)
A Tip: When folding your wraps, break the main vein of the leaf at the places you fold it, as this will keep the leaf from unfolding.
Dear Radiant Readers! :) The pear season is in its peak now in New Zealand, and two weeks ago I got a few kilos of deliciously ripe sugar pears, and as the weather had been so hot, I decided to freeze these beauties and convert them as quickly as possible into some delicious ice-cream!:) The coolness and sweetness of the pears combine very well with the richness of cashew and chocolate in this recipe! If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, then trust me (I love ice-cream in all seasons) you can enjoy this little ice-cream gem just as much in winter – all by yourself or with a group of friends after a nice home-made dinner:)).
So, here is the recipe:
For the ice-cream:
2 cups frozen pear slices (freeze for 8 -10 hours)
1/2 to 1 cup raw (or cooked) cashew cream [depending on how creamy you like your ice-cream to be]
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence or powder
For the Chocolate Crunch:
2 Tbs coconut oil
2 Tbs Cacao Powder
1 Tbs Raw honey, Agave or Coconut Nectar (Use yacon or stevia if diabetic)
The Method:
Place coconut oil into a warmed bowl to melt the oil. Alternatively, place the bowl with the oil into a larger container with hot water in it to allow the heat of the rising steam underneath the bowl melt the oil. Once the oil is runny, add the rest of the Chocolate Crunch ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork or a whisk.
Blend 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup cashews untill completely smooth.
Place two cups of frozen pears in with the cashew cream and vanilla into a Processor and process untill homogenous (completely smooth).
Scoop your ice-cream into an ice-cream bowl or glass and pour the liquid chocolate over it. The chocolate will freeze instantly, creating a very delicious crunch! :) Dig in and enjoy! x
When growing up in Russia, I used to love spring onions from the market available as the first local greens each spring! The salad of choice would have been spring greens with a finely cut boiled egg and mayo. To transit this into my Raw Diet I have experimented a bit and came up with a salad of sacha inchi powder mixed with lemon juice and salt on a bed of beautiful greens with a gorgeous aroma of fresh dill! Dill is one of my favourite herbs, and adding it to any salad instantly brings up memories of hot summers, bright sunshine and school holidays spent in nature away from the big city! :)
The Ingredients:
1 Medium-size Zucchini (courgettes)
4 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce
1 Spring Onion bulb
1 small or 1/2 meadium-large avocado
3-4 sprigs of dill
Juice of 1/2 medium-size lemon
3/4 Tbs sacha Inchi Powder (or ground pine nuts or ground hemp seed powder or sprouted hemp protein)
Pink Himalayan salt to taste
1 Tbs Flax, hemp or organic extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
The Method:
Grate the zucchini on a medium-size grater. Cut Romaine Leaves into fine strips. Place both into a bowl or a plate.
Cut the avocado into bite-size pieces and chop the spring onion and dill. Add to the salad.
Mix the sacha inchi powder with the lemon juice and salt and pour the mixture over the greens.
Mix all the ingredients up, serve and enjoy! :)
Note:As this salad contains quite a bit of protein, it can be eaten as a meal on its own. The greens in the salad are alkalising, the dill has a lot of chlorophyl and antioxidants & essential oils that are beneficial for health. Definitely do make and have more, should you feel like it! :)
I would love to share one of my most favourite breakfast recipes – Fruit Salad with Cashew Cream & Bee Pollen (can be replaced with sacha inchi if you are vegan). This recipe isn’t just for Christmas, you can have it any day in your life! ;)
Apart from my favourite Green Smoothies, having this for breakfast is one of my favourites and I treat it as a bit of a luxury, as it is just SO incredibly Delicious! However, it does take very little time to prepare – around 5 minutes only! I love this dish for breakfast because it is light and, at the same time, very nourishing. The fruit is deliciously sweet and light, the cashew cream keeps you full for a long time and the bee pollen is the really amazing whole food that one could possibly simply live on, it can be seen as the “ultimate” multivitamin as it has all of the vitamins, minerals and many antioxidants. [To read pros and cons on bee pollen, scroll to the end of the recipe.]
Fruit Salad with Cashew Cream & Bee Pollen.
The Ingredients: A Helpful Note: using seasonal fruit is the best, as I am in New Zealand – the stone fruit are in right now, so I use apricots, peaches and plums. If in Europe during winter months – use ripe Pears or apples or tropical fruit like pineapple to make it more exotic.
3 Kiwi Fruit (green or golden)
3 Apricots or Plums
2 Peaches or Nectarins
5 Strawberries
For the Cream:
1 cup of cashew nuts
1/2 water
1/4 teaspoon natural vanilla essence (optional)For the Superfood Toppings:
1 Tbsp Bee Pollen
1/2 Tbsp Cacao Powder or nibs
1 Tbs Goji Berries
The Process:
Blend all the ingredients for the Cream in a blender until smooth. If you are not using a High-Power blender (such as Vitamix, Omniblend), it’s best that the cashew nuts are pre-soaked for 1-2 hours before blending.
Cut the fruit into bite-size pieces, place into the bowl.
Pour the cream over your fruit, sprinkle with Bee Pollen, cacao powder, cinnamon (and optionally goji berries) and serve.
Enjoy! :)
On Bee pollen:
If you are a strict vegan, do omit this from the recipe altogether, and you can replace the bee pollen with Sacha Inchi nut powder!
Studies show that bee pollen aids recovery, athletic performance and fatigue. I certainly feel the “buzz” whenever I take bee pollen! I know that some of you may not agree with consuming it because it is collected from bees and it does constitute their food. However, as most bees do get fed and generally much worse things are done to the bees this isn’t such a big crime against bees, especially, if you do this now and again OR if you are treating a particular condition = once you are well enough, you can use many other foods and super foods to keep up the good health! Also taking bee pollen from a small-scale bee farm and asking the right questions can save you the guilt. If you have a chance to have your own or a communal bee hive, you can collect some of the pollen in the height of flower blossoming season – when the bees’ legs are full of pollen and by placing a little “bristle mat” in front of their hive, some of the pollen only gets collected.
