Mexico Meets Lebanon - High Fiber Citrusy Salad (Vegan / Vegetarian / Gluten Free / Low Carb)

Down the street is an amazing lebanese restaurant called Skaf's.  They have amazing Middle Eastern food, but it is quite more refined than many of the other local places that I have been to.

Now that I am eating less meat  (in fact you can find me on instagram at meeatlessmeat ) I would like to try and recreate some of my favorite international foods without the meat.

This one is a no brainer since it's a salad and doesn't have meat to start with.  I didn't have some of the ingredients in my house.

I will provide the recipe for both my Mexican influenced version and the Lebanese version

Ingredients for Mexican Version

4 cups of cabbage; shredded

1/4 cup of avocado oil

2 Tablespoon Pressed Garlic

1/8 cup lime juice (2 limes)

1/4 cup of packed cilantro; chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Shred cabbage (usually I use the light green kind and shred it much thinner than this)

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl

Toss with cabbage and let marinate for at least a 1/2 hour in the refrigerator

For the Lebanese Version

substitute the limes for lemons

The avocado oil for olive oil

the cilantro for mint leaves

Sprouting!!! Types of Seeds ~ Benefits of each sprout ~ sprout times ~ instructions ~ raw ~ vegan

This post on Sprouting will be constantly updated as I experiment with various seeds, nuts and legumes.  Keep checking back as I am doing research on the benefits, techniques and uses.

To get us started, here is a list of sprouts and their soaking times that I found at Vegetariantimes.com

FOOD	SOAKING TIME (hours)	SPROUTING TIME (days)
Almonds	8-12	No Sprouting (if pasteurized) 3 Days (if truly raw)
Adzuki Beans	8-12	4
Amaranth	8	1-3
Barley	6	2
Black Beans	8-12	3
Brazil Nuts	3	No Sprouting
Buckwheat	6	2-3
Cashews	2-4	No Sprouting
Chickpeas/Garbanzo	8	2-3
Flaxseeds	½	No Sprouting
Hazelnuts	8-12	No Sprouting
Kamut	7	2-3
Lentils	7	2-3
Macadamias	2	No Sprouting
Millet	5	12 hours
Mung Beans	8-12	4
Oat Groats	6	2-3
Pecans	6	No Sprouting
Pistachios	8	No Sprouting
Pumpkin Seeds	8	3
Radish Seeds	8-12	3-4
Sesame Seeds	8	2-3
Sunflower Seeds	8	12-24 hours
Quinoa	4	2-3
Walnuts	4	No Sprouting
Wheat Berries	7	3-4
Wild Rice	9	3-5

Juicing and Some of My Favorite Combos...

This particular post is going to be constantly updated.  I have been trying different combinations of fruits and vegetables with my juicer in the mornings.  Some are great….some are just ok…and some really suck.  Here are a few of the combinations that I have enjoyed.  I will continue to post the ones I like, along with photos, as I make more

This is the juicer that I am using.  I have had it for almost 2 years now and love it.  It's quite the work horse and I have never had one item that it wasn't able to handle.  It is fast, efficient and easy to clean.  

The Morning Cleanser

Ingredients

1 - 1 inch piece of ginger root

2 cups of Fresh Spinach

1/2 Cucumber, peeled

3 Medium Carrots

1 Medium Beet 

1 Medium Apple

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Cucumber Refresher

1 Tomato

1 cucumber

2 stalks of Celery

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Watermelon Spritzer

1 orange peeled

1 cup of grapes

2 cups of watermelon chunks

handful of Mint Leaves

Splash of Club Soda

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Cinnamon Delight

1 Pink Grapefruit; peeled

1 large Red Apple

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

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Garden Salad

3 Broccoli Florets

1 clove garlic

3 carrots

1 tomato

2 stalks celery

1/2 Green Pepper

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Mushroom and Almond Pate (Vegetarian / Vegan )

The other day I activated and dehydrated a bunch of organic almonds.  I've been snacking on them throughout the day and was contemplating making almond butter, but I decided to come up with an appetizer that everyone could enjoy…..

You can always use any raw, organic almonds but if you would like to activate your own almonds you can find the instructions here Activated Almonds

Ingredients

1 small onion (1 cups) chopped

2 Tablespoons of Butter (Olive Oil or Almond Oil for Vegan)

4 ounces of sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup of activated almonds

4 teaspoons of Coconut Aminos (Soy Sauce or Tamari)

1/4 teaspoon Turmeric

3 cloves of garlic pressed

dash of pepper

2 ounces of Goat Cheese (or soft vegan cheese)

Instructions

In a skillet saute butter, onion, garlic, mushrooms, turmeric and pepper.

Cook until veggies are soft and onion is translucent

Move to a food processor and let slightly cool

Add coconut anions and puree until smooth

Add goat cheese and mix until blended

Serve with Quinoa Chips

Chia Seed Indian Kheer (Vegan / Vegetarian )

Chia Seeds are an ancient grain that called Salvia Hispanica which grows in the deserts of Mexico.  They were used by the Aztecs and Mayans as energy and endurance boosters.  In fact, the word "Chia" means strength.  They are considered a concentrated food meaning that these tiny seeds pack a serious punch when it comes to healthy Omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates (the healthy kind) protein, fiber, antioxidants and calcium.

This is a version of the Indian dessert Kheer without the processed white rice that is normally used.

Ingredients

1 Cup of Silk Vanilla Coconut Milk (carton)

1/4 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk

2 Tablespoons of Agave Syrup

1 tsp of ground cardamom

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon 

4 Tablespoons of Chia Seeds

unsweetened Coconut Shavings

Sliced Almonds

Directions

Mix all ingredients (except coconut shavings and sliced almonds) in a container with a lid.

Seal tight and shake.

Store in refrigerator for at least 5 hours.

Serve cold with Coconut Shavings and Sliced Almonds as garnish

Raw Broccoli Salad (Raw / Vegan / Vegetarian)

This makes a really great lunch especially if you make it in the morning and let the flavors meld together

Ingredients

2 cups of Organic Broccoli slaw

1/2 an Avocado - Cubed

1 small Tomato - Seeded and Cubed

1/2 Tablespoon of Garlic - chopped

1/2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

1/2 of one Lemon - juiced

2 Tablespoons of Hemp Hearts

1 Tablespoon of raw chopped almonds

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Toss all ingredients together....simple as that

Notes

You can also (and I have in the past) save the stalks from fresh broccoli and cut them into match stick sized pieces, but since I discovered Organic Broccoli slaw I save so much time

Activated Almonds

What are activated almonds?  

Activated Almonds are raw almonds that are soaked in water to force them to sprout and the dried at a very low temperature.

Proponents of activating almonds equate it to sprouting seeds and nuts.  It is believed that the act of soaking causes the almond to sprout thus releasing the enzyme inhibitors making them more bioavailable while at the same time instilling them with other beneficial nutrients.

I just like their crunchy texture and have found them more enjoyable than plain old raw almonds.

Soak Almonds in enough water to cover for 12 hours.

Then drain them and rinse them under water

  

Put them in your dehydrator or an oven set to the lowest setting at dehydrate for 24 hours

You will know they are ready when they are  nice and crunchy and not chewy at all 

Store in an airtight container and enjoy

Homemade Organic Onion Salt

On Sunday Afternoons I like to go through the refrigerator and see what I can salvage before they go bad.  Usually I have a lot of fruits and vegetables that are starting to look a little sad.  This weekend I ended up with three nice big onions that were still in good shape, but with no immediate need for them, I decided to dehydrate them and make Organic Onion Salt.

I happened to have 1 White Onion, 1 Brown Onion and 1 Red Onion

Peel off the outer papery shell and slice 1/4 inch thick or less

Line them up on as many dehydrator trays as necessary to keep them in a single layer

Turn dehydrator to 145 Degrees and dehydrate for about 12 hours or until they are crispy

One they have reached a point where they break in your hands and are not leathery at all, place them in a blender, food processor or coffee grinder (one only used for spices)

I really like my Magic Bullet, it is convenient for everything from making smoothies, infused oils and butters and now I know they are good for making garlic salt too!

Add 1/2 Tablespoon of sea salt.  I used Pink Himalayan Salt and Black Hawaiian Lava Salt (a mixture of sea salt and activated charcoal) A little of this salt goes a long way.

Blend until a fine powder is formed.  You may have to shake your blender a few times in-between blending.

Store in an airtight container.  It's really good and I know it's organic because I know exactly what is in it.