Raw Vegan Smoked Salmon and Scallion Cashew Cheese Cucumber Rolls (Aux Vivres Végé-Lox)

I wasn’t going to join in…

But then I saw this article co-authored by one of my former classmates debunking Dr Oz. I may have done a little cheer and a happy dance. I couldn’t keep quiet. Please read it and tell me what you think.

It seems like the new year ushers in the applause for “healthy” fasts and diets. I condone a balanced diet but not starvation. I don’t believe in miracle foods. While I tried a sweetener-free challenge last month, I am back to eating fruits and chocolate. Fruits are filled with vitamins, anti-oxidants and fiber and too good to pass up.

I am certainly not doing a juice cleanse. I was gifted my grandmother’s juicer, but have only made juice a handful of times so far. I juice because I like the taste of fresh juice. Proponents of juice cleanses focus on the increased consumption of vegetables (more than one could eat in their raw form), lack of fibre and a way to detox your body and lose weight. If you are not one to eat vegetables and enjoy juice, then yes, this could be a way to consume more nutrients found in vegetables but it does not replace eating whole vegetables. If you are healthy, there is no evidence that your liver, kidney or stomach needs a rest to assist removal of toxins. The higher glycemic index of juice (without fibre) may actually cause one to gain weight.

There is evidence, though, that vegan diets (moreso than vegetarian diets) protect against cancer. A study in BMJ from earlier this summer suggests that low carb/high protein diets are associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mainly exacerbated by those consuming animal protein. I recently added a link to Vegan Health on my side bar which has a lot of good information about nutrition advice for vegans, including supplementation (gotta get the vitamin B12), especially if consuming a raw food diet.

In any case, for those of you with a leftover juice pulp otherwise destined for the compost, or those with an excess of carrots, or those who rave about Aux Vivres‘ raw smoked salmon, this dish is for you.

My last visit to Montreal had me visiting the vegan restaurant for a second time. I have recreated their delicious Macro Bowl with tempeh, greens and a miso-tahini sauce, but also wanted to recreate their raw smoked salmon, or végé-lox as they call it. Made with carrot pulp and seasoned with red onion, parsley, dulse and liquid smoke, it is a delicious spread combined with their tofu cream cheese and capers. I used shallots and dill and added capers directly into the spread for a different twist. Instead of tofu, I went all raw with a scallion cashew cheese rolled into a light cucumber roll.

If you want something more sweet for your carrot juice pulp, I highly recommend these raw carrot cupcakes. What is your take on juice fasts? On miracle weight-loss products?

Any favourite recipes for juice pulp?

This is my submission to this week’s Raw Foods Thursday.

Raw Sea and Sprouts Soup or Salad (Sunflower Sprout, Apple and Dulse Soup)

Eating two heads of lettuce may seem trivial to some. In fact, for me, it probably isn’t much of a stretch to munch through…. of course, I never really have an empty fridge, so in addition to the new lettuce, I also had some spinach and beet greens to munch through first, and a bit of mixed greens, too. I also asked Rob to pick up some sunflower sprouts to spruce up some of my salads. Instead of coming home with a small packet of sprouts, he opted for the massive 1 lb bag of sprouts. Sprouts are light, trust me, it is a lot of sprouts! Why so many sprouts? They were 75% off! Priced to sell and for me to eat quickly!

While cooking greens is an easy way to eat lots of them and to extend their shelf life, I wanted to savour the glory of the sprouts. Unlike most bloggers, I have yet to succumb to the Green Monster breakfast smoothies. I have gobbled down breakfast smoothies in the past, and have thrown in some greens for good measure, but I keep returning to my easy chocolate protein power oats and berries instead.

What to do? Eat it for dinner! Make soup! Raw soup! A blended salad!

With 2 new raw cookbooks from the library, I have become very curious about some of the simpler raw dishes. Raw soups are among them, which seem like a glorious medley of vegetables and flavours. While I am no virgin to raw soups (remember that mango gazpacho?), the difference between juice, smoothie and soup always runs through my head. Plus, raw soups can easily be done wrong if your vegetables are not fresh, if you add too much or too little water or if your blender is not up to snuff. (This is definitely where the Vitamix excels because who wants a lumpy soup?)

Even though I drank it in a glass, this wasn’t a juice. It was a creamy pureed soup. The soup was only warmed by the blender, a welcome change during the recent heat wave and the biggest difference from traditional soups.

The sprouts are whizzed to make a lovely sweet green backdrop, sweetened by an apple, with depth added from lemon juice and dulse granules. The nuts and avocado add the protein and fat to make this a satisfying and filling soup and make it quite luscious. Not one to always like pureed soups, I really appreciated the fresh nature of this brew. With a side salad, it was a great meal.

Raw soups have also been dubbed as blended salads, so for those that don’t have a high-speed blender, instead of making a lumpy soup, consider eating this as a salad instead!  Eating all the sprouts can feel like you’ve turned into an animal (does anyone else feel like that with lots of sprouts?), so maybe try substituting some of the sprouts for mixed greens.

This is my submission to this week’s Summer Salad Sundays, to this week’s Wellness Weekend, to Cookbooks Sundays and to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Lime and Cilantro (Whole Foods Detox Salad)

Although I loved my foodie adventures in Colombia, eating away from home had me craving some serious salads upon my return. And a bath, a nice, long bubble bath. Withdrawing slowly from the plentiful tropical fruits and reintroducing my favourite vegetables. With a quick trip to the grocery store under my belt, I was able to fix my salad cravings.

While I don’t believe in detoxes, this is a spin off of Whole Food’s Detox Salad. Like my Raw Thai Pineapple Parsnip Rice Salad, broccoli and cauliflower form the vegetable base that is pulsed into small pieces. Grated carrots add more vegetables and a lovely orange! Currants confer sweetness, sunflower seeds supply crunch and protein and while the original salad uses a lemon-parsley dressing, I went with a cilantro-lime route instead. The other twist in the dressing comes from dulse granules. Whole Foods uses kelp granules, but I had dulse, another kind of seaweed, so I used that instead. This salad needs to be marinated for best flavours, and keeps really well as leftovers.

This is my submission to this week’s Summer Salad Sundays, to this week’s Healthy Vegan Friday, Virtual Vegan Potluck to this week’s Weekend Wellness and to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Chickpea and Edamame Beans with Watercress and Shiitake Mushrooms

Sometimes greens go on sale, so when T&T had 2 bunches of watercress on sale for 88 cents, I figured I had nothing to lose by trying a new green. I didn’t even know what I wanted to make, but I knew it would come to me.

Of course, greens can easily be interchanged. Baby spinach may be sweeter, but Swiss chard could work as well. Want something with more bite? Add arugula. Want something with an even stronger peppery snap? Try watercress!

I love Japanese food because it highlights simplicity while balancing all the major tastes (bitter, sour, sweet, hot, salty, and delicate). While most of the Japanese dishes I make play more on the sweet side, I loved the change of pace with this more earthy stir-fry.

Adapted from ExtraVeganZa, I fooled around with the veggies, but the essence of the dish was the same. I swapped watercress for the spinach, used more shiitake mushrooms and edamame beans, and added in snow peas. The primary flavours were ginger as well as the earthy-flavour from the dulse (a kind of seaweed).

My only initial complaint was from the cornstarch, because I don’t really like it. It was more noticeable when the dish was eaten fresh, less so as leftovers. I found it important to deglaze the pan, although next time I would omit it and deglaze with less liquid. Otherwise, it was fine as leftovers. 🙂

Not sure watercress will make it into my backyard garden, though, as it doesn’t seem to be suitable without lots of water!

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Lynne from Cafe Lynnylu.