Cooking with Ish

It all started at a yoga class, a talk about spring cleansing of the body and eating healthy food. I normally cook healthy, I think!! But the winter here, being as cold as it is, can be a deterrent to eating healthy. I come back home and ask my husband of  almost 23 years, what he would like to eat on his birthday? ” I want something simple and healthy,”  he says. “What kind of a cake shall I make for you”, I ask, and the reply is  “I don’t really care for one!” I wistfully think of the time, when birthdays meant rich food and exotic cakes. Generally a Bagara baigun ( fried eggplant cooked in a rich peanut-poppy-ginger based sauce) or Paneer makhani ( homemade cheese cooked in a creamy tomato sauce)  followed by a Carrot cake, Chocolate torte or a Brazilian nut cake. It was also a time for experimenting with new recipes.. So, “Simple and Healthy” and yet exotic required a little bit of  Mr Google and my imagination and here is my first attempt at a raw food spread….And all I needed was a blender and a food processor

I discovered the magic of nuts and raw veggies pureed together and the creaminess of avocado that added to the deliciousness of it all.. Simple flavoring of lime juice and crushed chilli peppers…

Then I couldn’t resist making a nice hot soup as the weather is still quite cool…

Smoothie ~ Raspberry, banana, apple

Lettuce wraps ~   Orange beets, carrot & avocado filling…

Canapes ~ Toasted Sourdough layered with cauliflower- cashew mush & cucumber

Miso soup ~  Yellow Miso paste flavored with carrot, ginger, celery

Vegan Chocolate cake with coconut frosting 

Now for the recipes :::::::::

Smoothie….. makes 3 tall glasses

3/4 cup raspberries frozen
2 large or 3 small bananas
3 cups apple juice
2 Tbsp Hemp protein powder

Blend them together in a blender….

Lettuce wraps ~   Orange beets, carrot & avocado filling…

Romaine Lettuce 1 bunch… I made about 12 wraps …

2 large beets grated
4 carrots grated
1/4 cup pistachio
1 Avocado
2 teaspoon honey-mustard spread
2t Lime juice
1 t crushed Bird’s eye red chilli pepper
Salt to taste

I ground the pistachios in my coffee grinder and blended all the veggies and the rest of the ingredients together in my food processor….

A delicious filling for the lettuce wraps

Canapes ~ Toasted Sourdough layered with cauliflower- cashew mush & cucumber

1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 cup of crushed cashews
1t paprika or crushed Bird’s eye chilli pepper
1-2t cumin or garam masala
1-2t Olive oil
1/2 cucumber thinly sliced

6 slices of sourdough bread
Salt to taste

I ground the cashews in my coffee grinder and blend all cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients (except the cucumber & the bread)together in my food processor….

I spread about 2T of the cauliflower-cashew mush on 6 slices of toasted sourdough bread followed by a layer of sliced cucumber

This mush easily be spread on about 10 – 12 slices of bread

Miso soup ~  Yellow Miso paste flavored with carrot, ginger, celery

1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated celery
2T ginger
4T yellow miso paste
5-6 cups of water

Roast all the veggies together in about a tsp of oil for about 2 – 3 minutes.. add about 1/2 cup of water and cover and cook until the veggies are soft about about 7 – 10 minutes… Add rest of the water and miso paste…

You could add some thin rice noodles to soup too, they would go well in the soup…

Vegan Chocolate cake with coconut frosting ~ small & store bought, after all whats a birthday without a cake??