A Lovely Salad for Brunch or RAW Diet

Fresh RAW Corn Salad

Many years ago, I spent nine months doing a completely RAW diet. In effect, it was also vegan for the most part, as I ate no kind of meat or cheese or eggs or even honey. I truly believe that going totally RAW is a great thing for anyone, most particularly if you have aches and pains in joints or a tendency to edema, or even diabetes. I had all of these. They disappeared within 2 weeks. 

Fresh Baby Arugula

It is amazing how many wonderful recipes I learned during this period, and how to circumvent many beliefs we have about foods or how they "must" be prepared. I guess for whatever reason, I never realized you could eat some vegetables raw. Corn, for instance is one I like almost better raw than cooked, as it is so sweet. I have a lovely recipe for a Fresh RAW Corn Salad that is excellent in the summer when fresh corn is plentiful and delicious. Another salad that is just perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner on a RAW diet, or for a nice lunch or patio brunch is an Avocado Mango Salad. Simple as it sounds with ingredients that go together quickly, it is a combination of mango, avocado and a little red bell pepper for color, dressed simply and served over a bed of greens. I love arugula for its peppery bite. It makes a wonderful counterpoint to the sweetness of the mango and the smooth creaminess of the avocado. Serve it over any greens you choose, or none, if desired. This salad is a pure delight, and also very pleasing to the eye as well.

This recipe will serve one person for a meal if you are on a RAW diet, or 2 if you are using it as a first course to a meal.

Avocado Mango Salad

Avocado Mango Salad

Serves 1 or 2

DRESSING:
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon agave syrup (or honey or other sweetener of choice)

SALAD:
1 red bell pepper, seeds & membranes removed, sliced thinly
1 mango, peeled, sliced thinly
1 avocado, sliced thinly
4 cups mesclun, arugula or baby greens
½ cup fresh herbs of choice: basil, cilantro

Whisk together in a small bowl the dressing ingredients. Combine in a large bowl the bell pepper, mango and avocado and pour the dressing over. Toss gently to combine. Set the greens onto a large plate and pour the salad over. Garnish with herbs of choice.

These are both really wonderful salads, once I ate very often as they were particular favorites. Being on a RAW diet does not mean all "rabbit food". At least it is possible to make fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables into some great foods that do not resemble a typical salad. I used one of Ani Phyo's cookbooks (Ani's Raw Food Kitchen) to start with and made some of her Black Sesame and Sunflower Seed Bread. It was so marvelous with guacamole, and I used it with some smoked salmon (smoked at under 115 degrees; still considered "RAW") and fresh tomato slices one morning for breakfast. It is thinner than bread, and obviously it is not real bread as we know it, but it is delicious and satisfying. I used her recipe for poblano chilies stuffed with cashew "cheese" but found her recipe for the mole sauce completely wrong. Having spent my formative "learning to cook" years in Guatemala, this recipe did not resemble anything I ever knew as a mole sauce. So, I made up my own, calling it Guatemalan Mole in the RAW. I love this mixture and it can also be made sweet and served over fruit if desired. I created soups regularly, using my Vita Mix blender for smooth consistency. 

Guatemalan Mole in the RAW

Serves 2 - 3

SAVORY VERSION:
1 tomatillo, cut in quarters
½ red bell pepper, cut in chunks
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 dates
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cocoa powder (RAW, preferred)
½ teaspoon ancho chili powder,or other hot chile, to taste
¼ cup water, as needed
1½ teaspoon unhulled sesame seeds
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 inch whole Mexican cinnamon (true cinnamon), OR 1 teaspoon ground)
2 allspice berries
½ teaspoon annato powder (sold in some specialty shops)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

If using a Vita Mix blender, place all ingredients into blender and puree until very finely ground, adding the water as needed to make a thick gravy-like sauce.

NOTES: If using a standard blender, place all ingredients in the blender except the whole spices and seeds. Using a spice grinder or a small bullet blender with flat blade, grind the spices and seeds until very fine, then add to the blender and process until well pureed.

SWEET VERSION:
1 tomatillo, cut in quarters
½ red bell pepper, cut in chunks
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup dates
2 packets Sweet Leaf Stevia
1 tablespoon agave syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil (can substitute Walnut oil)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (RAW, preferred)
½ teaspoon ancho chili powder (or other dried hot chile, to taste)
1 cup water, as needed
1½ teaspoon unhulled sesame seeds
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1½ inch whole Mexican cinnamon (true cinnamon), OR 1 teaspoon ground)
4 allspice berries
½ teaspoon annatto powder (sold in some specialty shops)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Follow same directions. May add 2 - 3 bananas to the blender and use this as a pudding, or use the sauce over other fruit, as desired. 


If you are interested in getting healthier, try the RAW lifestyle. There are hundreds of recipes all over the internet with great recipe ideas from the mundane to the sublime. There are more "cookbooks" than I can count that will help you to discover all that is possible on a RAW food lifestyle. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Making Thai Green Curry Paste; a Midwest Adventure

To start, I must first admit to knowing very little of Thai cuisine. Along with that, while I haven't made it a quest to find good Thai restaurants, I have been unimpressed with those I have tried. To date, the one time I ate at a Thai restaurant and enjoyed a soup (one of the Tom Yum, with chicken), it was at some little hole-in-the-wall place in the middle of nowhere, California, while on a trip. Admittedly, if it wasn't for my daughter in law, Julia, who is a true Thai food fan, I would never have eaten at that Thai place, or any other!

Ever since, I have been curious. Though, as I said, I have been unimpressed with any places I have tried since. When I read recipes, they do not inspire me. They just do not jump out as interesting. I know Thai food is supposed to be quite healthy; generally simple ingredients. Maybe that is part of the problem. I tend to love anything that has a multitude of ingredients going on. Indian cuisine just so completely engulfs my imagination and my palate. A list of 20 ingredients, with 15 of them spices - that is something I love.

Thai Green Curry Paste

Somewhere I saw a recipe for Thai Green Curry Paste and thought the ingredients sounded good together. I sat down to create what I thought would be good ingredients for a recipe of my own. In general, some things seem to be ubiquitous in any TGCP  recipe: cilantro, green chiles, lemongrass, fresh galangal (preferred) or ginger, garlic, Keffir Lime (preferred) or regular lime, coriander, cumin, pepper and some kind of oil and a fish sauce. Other possible additions are things like shallot, Thai Basil, shrimp paste, coriander roots, turmeric, soy sauce. 

I read one person's blog, very obviously a Thai person, who emphatically stated that Keffir limes are not to be substituted with Keffir lime leaves. They stated that this would be like saying if you didn't have an orange, you could use orange leaves instead. There is no resemblance. This makes sense. I have dried Keffir lime leaves in my spice cabinet, but no way to get the actual Keffir limes. I realize that Keffir and Persian limes also have no resemblance, but the regular Persian limes were all I had. Likewise, I had fresh ginger, but no way to get fresh galangal (a cousin to ginger, but with much stronger, more pungent flavor, said to help reduce fishy flavors). Where I live, I cannot get fresh lemongrass, though there are those tubes (Gourmet Garden brand, Lemongrass) in the grocery, stating Lemongrass Paste on the front, though the ingredient list contains other things to "stabilize" the ingredients or whatever. Still, it was the best I could do. Such times as I have been able to acquire fresh lemongrass, I have never been able to make the inner white parts smooth. Unless I slice exceptionally thinly across the lower stem, there are just fibrous bits in there.

Thai Green Chilies are also not available everywhere here. Generally Serrano and Jalapeno are the most accessible. Since my husband would not tolerate too much heat anyway, and if I want him to taste-test my experiments, I used seeded jalapenos, definitely at the lower end of the heat spectrum. If you want more heat, keep the seeds, of whichever chili is preferred. Fish sauce or shrimp paste? Nope. I could probably get one of those items, but if it tasted fishy, again my husband would not touch it. I have been able to sneak a little anchovy paste into a Caesar's Salad occasionally, but I would never use a fish sauce for anything else, so it would be a waste to keep. 

Okay, with all this in mind, it is obvious that my "Thai" Green Curry Paste is a very Americanized, upper-midwest-grainbelt sort of interpretation. Still, the flavors turned out an interesting mix; bright, clean, not-too-hot, a little bitter and very green. One recipe I saw said to use whole limes, skin and all. This captured my taste-imagination, so I did that. I am sure that is where the bitter notes came in. Had I used Keffir Lime peel and galangal, I would likely have some pungent bitter notes as well. Most authentic recipes call for pounding all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle. I have many mortars and pestles; none large enough to accommodate this many ingredients. Instead I used my Vita-Mix Blender, which comes with a plunger that allows one to push down the ingredients and keep blending. Using a regular blender might require stopping and starting numerous times, including starting out with some ingredients cut very small, or pre-ground. So, this is what I did:

Thai Green Curry Paste

This makes about 2 cups.

1 large bunch fresh coriander, stems and all
6 green jalapeno chilies, stemmed and seeded
2 shallots
5 Tablespoons Gourmet Garden Lemongrass Paste
4 large cloves garlic
1 chunk fresh ginger, about golf ball size, skin left on, cut in smaller chunks
2 whole limes, washed and cut in chunks
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon peppercorns (white, if available)
3 - 4 tablespoons oil (I used olive; all I had on hand - not very "Thai", I know)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a dry skillet over high heat, toast the coriander, cumin and pepper for a few minutes until fragrant. Place into the blender, along with all the rest of the ingredients. Blend, stopping as necessary to stir down ingredients, until the paste is as smooth as possible.

A good measure is 1½ to 2 tablespoons per person for a Thai Curry. Freeze it in portions to have on hand. I made 4 tablespoon (¼ cup) portions, since there are two of us in the house. I use the little old-fashioned sandwich baggies with a flap, put the paste into one corner, tie a little knot in top and freeze these little portions of anything (Red Curry Paste, leftover tomato paste, etc.) 

For use, in general, heat some oil in a pan and add in the Curry Paste to release flavors, add in coconut milk, vegetables (peppers, zucchini, carrots, peas and/or chicken or shrimp) and cook to desired doneness. Additions might be chicken stock, Thai basil, a pinch of sugar. I will be trying this out in the very near future. The paste also tasted wonderful raw, so it could also make something in a RAW food diet taste marvelous.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Things I am working on lately

My last post was about dehydrator Jam, and I left with the idea that the next jam I would make this way would be blueberry. It didn't happen that way. The very next day my sister-in-law arrived for dinner bearing gifts - a bag of delectably ripe peaches. They couldn't have been any more perfectly ripe, so they needed eating or working with, pronto. Since I was on a roll with the dehydrator jams, I decided on that.

Spiced Peach Dehydrator Jam

I love fresh peaches. Along with mangoes and raspberries, those are my favorite of fruits. I set about getting the peaches prepped for the dehydrator early the next morning. Most of the jams I have made have started with about 3 cups of the prepped fruit. I add in honey, and sometimes some spices. Sherri, my sister-in-law, loves peaches more than almost any other fruit, so I thought to make some of this jam for her to try. The thing is, she is a purist. She does not like tainting the fruit with other flavors. I, on the other hand, just love to add in spices. So although the batch of fruit was enough for what would usually be just one container, this time I divided it into two containers of about 1½ cups each, and adding spices to one of the containers. I added in cinnamon and cardamom and a little bit of vinegar. The other container was just the peaches and honey.

While both taste wonderful, I really liked the spiced batch better. Peaches really lend themselves to spices and even vinegar. My next project, tomorrow morning, is to make Spiced Pickled Peaches. I don't have any precise measures in mind yet. That will have to be another post. I believe I must have tasted Spiced Pickled Peaches before at some time in my life, because I can almost taste them in my mind. I can't wait to try this out.

Another thing I want to make is Blondies or blond "brownies". I have never made them, although I have eaten them. I am not terribly over fond of chocolate, though brownies are good once in a great while. Watching The CHEW the other day, Carla Hall made Blondies, and it just looked so good. Okay, so I went back to my recipe for brownies, to see if I could come up with a suitable combination of ingredients to make Blondies out of that as a basis. Carla also made a Praline Sauce, and I want to make that also. As a matter of fact, I think I might just go and do that right now, so we can have them for dessert tonight!  This will have to be continued later!

7:40 PM

I ran downstairs earlier (from my "office" in one of the upstairs bedrooms) and made my recipes for Blondies and the Praline Sauce. Both turned out fantastically well. The Blondies are chewy and rich and the Praline Sauce has just the right consistency and makes the perfect counterpoint. Too bad I had no vanilla ice cream, but this was surely enough on its own. I do not believe I would change a single thing about either of these recipes. 

Blondies with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate

Blondies with Pecan Praline Sauce

⅔ cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts of choice: macadamia, pecans, walnuts
1 cup white chocolate chips, optional

Heat oven to 350 (or Convect to 325). In a medium-large saucepan, melt the butter. Remove pan from heat and add the brown sugar and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely incorporated before adding the next. Add in the vanilla to combine. Separately, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, then add this to the saucepan and mix until almost combined. Add in the nuts and white chocolate chips if using and mix well. Pour into a greased 13 x 9-inch pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just barely moist. To maintain proper chewiness, do not over bake.

Pecan Praline Sauce

2 tablespoons butter

Pecan Praline Sauce over Blondies

1 cup light brown sugar, whisked together with-
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
¾ cup evaporated milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Pralines & Cream flavoring, optional
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

In a 4 cup saucepan melt the first 2 tablespoons butter. Add in the next 4 ingredients and whisk together well. Bring to a boil, lower heat slightly and allow to maintain a soft boil for about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the salt, vanilla, cinnamon and Pralines & Cream flavoring, if using. Whisk in and then add the second 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 small cubes at a time, whisking until completely absorbed before adding in the next 2 cubes, and so on. Allow to cool slightly. Pour over Blondies to serve. Also great over ice cream.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.