Unstirfry with Cauliflower Rice

A new friend lent me some cookbooks, so hopefully we will have many recipes to post in the next few weeks!

Until then, here is a recipe we tried out a little while ago. The recipe is raw (although we had to substitute a few non-raw ingredients.) I like the idea behind eating raw foods, and whole foods in general, although my love for warmth keeps me from going raw. Maybe if I lived in a warmer climate, like Hawaii, but for now, I'll stick with my cooked food, thank you!

This recipe is from "Vegan Fusion", with a few changes.

2 1/2 cups chopped red cabbage
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
1/2 cup julienned snow peas
1 cup thinly sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
3/4 cup cashews

Dressing

1/2 cup sesame oil
3 TBS agave nectar or pure maple syrup
2 TBS umeboshi plum vinegar or raw apple cider vinegar
3 TBS Nama Shoyu **
1 small kaffir lime leaf, or zest of 1 lime
1 (1/2″-inch piece) peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
1 TBS dehydrated onion flakes
1 tsp seeded and diced Thai chile or jalopeno
1 TBS tamarind paste

Cauliflower “Rice”
4 cups cauliflower florets
1/2 cup macadamia or pine nuts
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 TBS dehydrated onion flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. Combine all of the vegetable medley ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Place all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Add to the vegetable medley and toss well.
2. Prepare the cauliflower rice by placing all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse-chopping until a smooth but textured consistency is reached. Do not over-process or it will get too mushy.
3. Serve the vegetable medley on a bed of cauliflower rice

** We didn't have Nama Shoyu, plus I can't have soy anyway, so we used BBQ sauce. This is our non-raw substitution.

This salad was delicious! I was a huge fan of the cauliflower rice... I think it would be a perfect thing to bring on a picnic, and eat lying in the sun. The recipe says that if you want softer veggies, you can leave them in the sun for about 30 - 45 minutes, stirring them occasionally.

I'd really like to try and lose some weight. I'm already down to my pre-pregnancy weight (and have been for a while), but I would like to try and get into better shape for the summer. I have some pretty bad eating habits, such as skipping breakfast, and eating big meals late at night. I don't really have much more to say on this subject, but I figure that now that it's out on the internet, it'll be harder for me to give up on it and slack off! Now all you readers can get on my back when you see me eating entire cakes. Only half the cake from now on! 

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:

-1 red pepper
-1 orange pepper
-2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp basil
- 1 C. raw cashews
- 1 1/2 C. water
- 1/2 C veggie broth
- salt and pepper

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450° F. Cut peppers in half, core and seed them. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes.
Step 2: Meanwhile! Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent. (About 10 minutes)
(Also, you should probably start cooking your pasta around this time. We used rotini.)
Step 3: Meanwhile! Blend cashews and water in blender until smooth. Once your peppers are roasted (and chopped), and your onion/garlic is ready, add to blender. Add basil, broth, and blend until smooth.
Step 4: Heat in a saucepan and season to taste!
Step 5: Nom nom nom.

This sauce would also make a great alternative to regular tomato sauce on a pizza, or as a spread for grilled sandwiches!

On an unrelated note, we took Rowan to the Muttart Conservatory the other day. He was generally unenthused, but he woke up right before we left, so we got a few cute photos of him. This particular face is the precursor to the single eyebrow raise.