Healthy Treats: Raw Brownies

Praise Ullr (or whomever you attribute snowfall to), we woke up to a much needed coat of white this morning, and forecasts are calling for more in the near future.  Our sad slopes have been missing their white sheen, and friends and neighbors gathered last week to celebrate the full moon with a winter-wishing bonfire.  The lack of powder has kept me home-bound, dreaming up genius (I think) homemade holiday gifts.  I am almost done shopping, and in the midst of a few projects (which I might share next year if they succeed), which is a Christmas record for me.  

One thing I have not started yet is baking. While I love the abundance of butter and chocolate and sugar, and an excuse to eat it, sometimes I want sweets that are kinder to my waistline. If you are on the hunt for a lighter treat, a fairly healthy snack, or something that satisfies your vegan and gluten-free friends, these are a knockout.  They taste like a home-made Larabar, with sweetness from dates and coconut, protein from nuts, and a deep chocolate flavor from raw cacao.

Raw Brownies

barely adapted from My New Roots

• 2 cups walnuts
• 1/2 cup raw unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup raw cacao (if you are not worried about these being raw or the increased nutritional value, unsweetened cocoa powder is a fine substitute)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 5-7 whole medjool dates, pitted
• 1/2 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped

1. Process walnuts in food processor until finely chopped, add coconut and pulse a few more times until combined.

2. Add cacao and salt and pulse to combine.

3. While the processor is running, add the dates, one at a time, until the mixture begins to come together and can be pressed into the processor with your fingers.

4. Remove blade from food processor and loosely mix almonds in.

5. Press mixture into an 8x8 inch square baking dish lined with waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Experimenting in Raw: Vegan Tacos and Gazpacho

We just spent a rainy/cloudy week in Seattle where we celebrated graduates, spent time with family, and went backpacking (photos below). We were intending to climb Mt. Baker, but the new snow created a high avalanche danger and the weather forecast was poor. Instead we headed to Leavenworth and hiked 10 miles up the Chiwakum Creek Trail. We awoke to blue skies and a chilly morning. After a quick realization that climbing any of the nearby peaks was not an option, we hiked out and headed to fake Bavaria for lunch.

We returned on Sunday to a heat wave in Aspen (not nearly as bad as Denver, but still hot).  Yesterday at 5 pm our downstairs was 82 degrees (it was probably 10 degrees warmer upstairs).  I made a swift decision to not turn on the stove.  Instead I tried a raw menu from Roost, one of my favorite food blogs, that has been enticing me for a few weeks.  I find the raw food movement to be inspiring and interesting.  While I love cooking too much to take it on as a diet, I think experimenting with raw recipes provides a way to explore creativity, especially with vegan cooking.  The dinner was delicious.  The best part was the walnut taco filling, which tasted real.  I of course found myself dreaming about how great it would be with toasted walnuts, but that is the mind of a cook.  Here are the recipes I used.  All are from Roost except the pico de gallo which is my own.   I will make the walnut filling again and use it in vegan (cooked) tacos.

Raw Walnut Tacos

• 2 cups walnuts 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon ground chili powder 
• 2 ½ tablespoons coconut aminos (or Nama Shoyu) 
• 1 head green cabbage 
• Pico de gallo (recipe below) 
• Mashed avocado (or prepared guacamole) 
• Cashew sour cream (recipe below) 
• 1 lime 
• Handful of cilantro roughly chopped 

1. Place walnuts, cumin, chili and coconut aminos in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles taco meat. 
2. Peal off several cabbage leaves, and cut them in half depending on their size 
3. Spoon walnut mixture, sour cream, avocado and pico de gallo onto leaf 
4. Top with squeeze of lime juice and cilantro

Pico de Gallo

(makes 2 cups)

• ½ jalapeno pepper 
• 1 clove garlic 
• Zest of 1 lime 
• Juice of 1 lime 
• 4 tomatoes 
• ½ onion 
• ½ cup cilantro leaves 

1. Remove seeds and ribs from ½ of a medium jalapeno pepper and coarsely chop. 
2. Combine jalapeno, garlic, lime juice and lime zest in food processor and process until finely chopped 
3. Coarsely chop tomatoes and onion and add to mixture along with cilantro leaves 
4. Pulse until tomatoes are approximately ¼ inch dice

Cashew Sour Cream

• 1 cup raw cashews 
• ½ cup water 
• ¼ cup lemon juice 
• ¼ teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth

Spiced Melon Gazpacho

• 2 ½ cups fresh cantaloupe 
• ½ avocado 
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
• ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger 
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• Pinch of chili powder 
• Cashew sour cream to garnish (recipe above)

1. Combine all ingredients (except the cashew sour cream) in blender and blend until smooth
2. Serve in small dishes garnished with cashew sour cream

And a few shots from Washington backpacking:

Greta the dog and me

Dad, me, Steve (Nor)