Raw Chocolate Mousse

At the library, I randomly picked up The Raw Food Diet by Christine Bailey. I’ve done some raw cooking before, so I was intrigued.

 

The first recipe I tried was her chocolate-orange hazelnut mousse, but I adapted it quite a bit to suit what we had at home and our tastes.

 

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1 orange

25 g cocoa powder (or 10 g cocoa powder plus 20 g dark chocolate)

1 tbsp agave

2 tsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

30 g chopped hazelnuts

¼ cup water

 

Instructions:

1. Halve, pit, and chop the avocado. Put the flesh in a food processor.

2. Juice and zest the orange and add to the avocado.

3. Mix in all the other ingredients. Process well, until smooth.

4. Chill for 30 or more minutes, then serve.

Ricotta and Lemon Whole-Wheat Pancakes

I do love to experiment with pancakes and since ricotta and lemon work so well together, that’s what I put in the recipe this time. It was a refreshing, fairly healthy breakfast.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
½ cup flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour (or spelt flour)
2 tbsp sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1½ cups milk
¼ cup ricotta
zest from 1 lemon
juice from ½ lemon
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
oil
agave or honey to serve with it

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter.
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
3. Add the yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla to the butter. Mix well.
4. Warm oil over medium heat in a frying pan.
5. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, then pour tablespoonfuls into the pan. Brown the pancakes on both sides.
6. Serve with agave or honey.

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

Root vegetables are sweet and tasty and can be made in many different ways. Roasting them in oil, vinegar, and agave or honey brings out their sweetness. This is a great side dish and I served it with the kale, coconut, and tofu entree I posted about yesterday.

Ingredients:
3 parsnips
3 carrots
olive oil (about 2 tbsp)
agave or honey (about 1 tbsp)
balsamic vinegar (about 2 tbsp)

Instructions:
1. Peel, wash, and dice the vegetables.
2. Mix together the other ingredients. Coat the parsnips and carrots with the sauce.
3. Roast at 220 C for 25 minutes.
4. Serve.

Butternut Squash with Puy Lentils and Goat Cheese

Puy lentils are the caviar of lentils. They are small and delicate, have a fuller flavour than other kinds of lentils, and retain their firm shape even when cooked for quite a while. M isn’t terribly fond of lentils, but I am, and I thought I’d make her a dish with puy lentils to see if she liked this type any better.

So I cooked the lentils for 20 minutes in boiling water and at the same time, I baked a butternut squash in the oven. I added cream to both the lentils and the squash, and served it all with goat’s milk cheese. The squash’s sweetness, the faint peppery flavour of the lentils, and the sourness of the cheese all combined to make a hearty vegetarian main course.

M still isn’t a big lentil fan, but she said she’d eat this dish again. And that’s a good start!

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
200 g puy lentils
water for boiling
150 ml cream (single or double; it depends on how rich you want it)
honey or agave
100 g goat’s milk cheese
salt, pepper, parsley to taste

Instructions:
1. Bake the squash for 20 minutes at 200 C. Then cut it in half and de-seed it (save the seeds to roast later, if you want), and bake for another 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the lentils for about 15 minutes, until they are cooked but still firm. Pour out any excess water.
3. Add half the cream to the lentils and the rest to the squash. Make sure it doesn’t run off the squash.
4. Sprinkle the squash halves with a little honey or agave, to bring out the natural sweetness. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until fully cooked. Continue cooking the lentils over low heat at the same time.
5. Serve the squash halves with piles of lentils that have been topped with crumbled cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.

Lemon and Agave Drink

I sleep really poorly, so I've been trying to cut down on caffeinated drinks. Instead, I've been drinking warm water with agave (which is a natural sweetener) and lemon. It's really soothing and tasty, and it warms me from the inside out the way coffee or tea would. M often makes it for me in the morning and brings it to me in bed!

You can use honey instead of the agave, but I'm slightly allergic, so I mostly avoid honey. Agave comes in light or dark versions and they have slightly different flavours, so experiment to see what you like, and what proportions work best for you.

Ingredients:
water
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp agave (or honey)

Instructions:

1. Boil water.
2. Add the lemon juice and agave.
3. Mix and drink.

Couldn't be easier!