Spiralized Zucchini With Raw Vegan Puttanesca Sauce

Happy July everybody! We are ten days into Summer and we already had days with temperatures reaching 106°F! It looks like we will have another hot Summer. With temperatures like that many people are looking for simple, easy to make meals. For many, eating out or ordering take-out meals is the best way to escape the kitchen.

Those who like cooking choose simple, quick, lighter, and easy to make dishes. Raw food lovers are here on the sunny side, since most raw food dishes fall int this category. Fresh, seasonal ingredients dominate in most recipes. Spiralized vegetable often replace traditional salads since they seem to be a bit more nutritious and filling, and so good, that even those who like traditional, cooked pasta are willing to try them. A good pasta sauce makes the dish so be creative.

~ Spiralized Zucchini With Raw Puttanesca Sauce ~

Ingredients: 

for the "pasta"

• 3 medium large zucchini (should make enough noodles for four people)
• freshly pressed juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of Celtic sea salt 

for the sauce

• 1 cup ripe cherry tomatoes (or other type ripe tomatoes chopped)
• 1/2 cup marinated sun dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup marinated mixed olives, black and green, drained and seeded
• 1 Tbsp marinated capers, drained
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small hot red pepper, seeds removed
• fresh juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 Tbsp virgin olive oil 
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (packed) 
• 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano 

for the garnish - per person

• 3-4 halved cherry tomatoes
• a few fresh basil leaves
• a handful of fresh pine nuts
• freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Wash, peel and spiralize the zucchini. Tenderize the noodles in a large enough bowl by adding lemon juice and salt. Mix gently and let sit in the fridge until the sauce is ready.
• Toss all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse blend until ingredients are well chopped and blended. Do not over process. You want to have a thick, but slightly chunky texture.
• Portion out the pasta. Top it with a generous amount of pasta sauce and garnish with cherry tomatoes, basil and pine nuts. Add fresh pepper to taste. Serve right away and enjoy in good company!

Tip: If you have the right ingredients, this dish takes only a few minutes to make. I took a short cut and used marinated tomatoes, olives and capers. If you are using dehydrated ingredients, you will have to re-hydrate them first and marinate them in virgin olive oil with addition of Mediterranean herbs, garlic, salt, lemon juice, or vinegar. You can add a small hot pepper if you want to. Marinate the olives and tomatoes in separate jars. Plan ahead and prepare these ingredients two to three days ahead.

If you do not have a spiralizer in your kitchen you can use julienne vegetable peeler to make your pasta. It is a bit tedious, but doable.

A plastic free spiralizer

A few words about Puttanesca sauce. The original recipe was probably created in Naples sometime around the World War II. It contains anchovies and is cooked. The recipe I created comes pretty close to the original taste, but it may outrage a purist. This is a "danger" you have to calculate if you are trying to adapt traditional dishes to a raw food lifestyle.

Wishing everybody a truly spectacular time in July - in radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique

Dominique Allmon©2018

    

Raw Vegan Mango Turmeric Ice Cream

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather June brought us. It is difficult to believe that it is still spring since the temperatures are already in upper 90s. We even had a day with a record temperature of 107°F! If this continues we can certainly expect a very hot summer. 

At this point it is irrelevant whether we believe in global warming, climate change, or a cyclical recurrence of hot weather pattern. What matters is that we develop strategies that help us survive the summer heat. 

Now is the time to add cooling ingredients such as cucumber, fennel and water melon, and cooling herbs such as mint, cilantro and dill. Summer also is indisputably the best time to add chilled and frozen dishes to your daily menu. Smoothies, ice creams, and chilled juices and soups are nutritious, easy to make, and naturally cooling. They can easily replace dehydrated or heavily spiced foods during the summer months. Follow your gut feeling and eat what nourishes you most.

~ Raw Vegan Mango Turmeric Ice Cream ~

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe mangoes
• 2 cups Thai style coconut milk 
• 2 Tbsp powdered turmeric root
• pinch Celtic sea salt
• a few drops of liquid stevia

for the garnish

• 1/2 tsp powdered turmeric root for garnish
• 1/2 ripe mango cut into slivers

Method:

• Wash and peel the mangoes. Remove the seeds and chop the fruit flesh into manageable chunks. Save about 1/2 cup fruit flesh and cut it into even smaller chunks. Set aside and keep it ready.
• Toss mango into a bowl of your blender. Add coconut milk, stevia, salt, and turmeric, and blend until smooth. Adjust the taste to your personal liking. If your mangoes are fully ripe you will need very little stevia. Allow the turmeric to come through. Add more if you like the taste of this golden spice.
• Transfer the blended mass into a flat glass container. Add mango chunks and mix well. Cover the container and place it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• Test the hardness of your ice cream. If you are fully satisfied, scoop the ice cream into individual dessert bowls. Garnish with fresh mango slices and powdered turmeric root. Enjoy in good company!

Tip: If fresh mango is hard to come by, use frozen one. Do not over blend. Keep the mixture much thicker than a smoothie. If you have an ice cream maker, use it! Simply follow the instructions of your device.

In radiant health - passionately raw - Dominique

Dominique Allmon@2018