In my theme of discussing foods starting with each letter of the alphabet, I had trouble with the letter “E” - if I have trouble with “E” then who knows what will happen when I get to X!!!

I thought about eggs, but I mainly talk about raw food here, and even though I have gone through stages of having raw eggs in my smoothies, it’s not for everyone.

Then I thought about Eggplants - but I’ve got to admit I’ve never actually used them in a raw food recipe, so I gave them a miss.  Same with Endive… and Eshallots are not very exciting…

So then I did a google search for foods starting with “E” - and except for those listed above, the only other food listed was Enchilada!  And I thought Enchilada was a dish, not a food in itself

But that got me thinking and I remembered in Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Food book, that there was a recipe for raw enchilada’s - so that is going to be our food of choice for the letter “E”.  

Tortilla:
4 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup orange juice
1 clove of garlic
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Spread on a teflex sheet about 1/8 of an inch thick and dehydrate at 105 degrees. When solid enough to turn (3 hours) flip onto mesh screen and dehydrate until the other side is solid (1-2 hours)

Filling:
4 cups mixed veggies, diced finely - red pepper, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Dash cumin
Dash chili powder

In a bowl, combine the filling ingredients and let sit for at least 1/2 an hour.

To assemble:
Slice the sheet of tortilla in half so you have two large pieces. Place the mixed vegetables down the centre of each tortilla in a long strip and roll the tortilla up, sealing the edge with a little water if needed. Place the rolls back into the dehydrator for 1/2 an hour to warm.

E is also for enjoying the extraordinarily excellent experience of exceptionally exquisite enticing enchilada’s!

Following on from my food related posts “The Amazing Apple”, “The Brilliant Blueberry” and “The Classic Chick-Pea”, comes “The Delicious Date” - one food that is a must in your household pantry.

Dates are the fruit from the Date Palm Tree and are cut from the palm and ideally sun-dried.  The palms are found in dry, tropical countries and the fruit when dried is very sweet. 

Saudi Arabia is known as the “Home of the Date Palm Tree” with the palms having a 10,000 year history in that region, and more than 300 different varieties of date grown.

Dates are little powerhouses of nutrition, being high in fibre, amino acids, minerals especially potassium, vitamins, and they are low in fat.  The carbohydrate content is high (65-85g per 100g), but the fibre assists in slowing down the absorption of the natural sugars, and often they are eaten with other foods such as nuts, which also balances the carbohydrate content.

Dates are a wonderful replacement for sugar in recipes that need some sweetness, and soaking them for a few hours softens them ready for blending. 

One of my favourite sweet recipes using dates is from Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Food book- and it literally takes 5 minutes to make!

Date Nut Torte:

Base of Tort:
2 cups raisins (or dates)
2 cups walnuts

Blend in a food processor until well blended and moist, it should be a fudgey consistency. Press into a pie plate about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Frosting:
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked
1/2 lemon, juiced

In a food processor, combine dates and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Spread frosting on top of the torte base.

For a firmer texture, refrigerate for a few hours.

Enjoy!

Goodness it would be easy to be a chocoholic!  It is actually in my genes to love chocolate – truly!  My grandmother would eat a 750g block of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk fruit and nut almost every day, she lived on it!

Now every time you think of chocolate, instead say “rancid fat, cow pus, mouse poop and cockroach bits” over and over (yes, that IS disgusting!), and you’ll soon not want that chocolate anymore!  I’m not making this stuff up – just do a search on the internet on what percentage of rodent feces is allowable in chocolate!  The fats in any processed food have a high proportion of trans fats which are the dangerous kind; and most milk comes from cows that have been bred to have larger udders and therefore more infections – so the allowable content of pus molecules in the milk keeps being raised, as the cows get sicker.

So if that’s not enough to put you off processed chocolate, try the enormous sugar content that has too many negative effects to even attempt to list here – and also have a think about the child slave labour often used on cacao plantations.

Whew, so after all that bad news, we need a treat!  This isn’t a recipe that you would make every day, but for every now and then it is quite divine – especially when poured over strawberries.

Depending on how much you want to make, use this as a guideline:

Warm Chocolate Sauce

1 part raw organic tahini
1 part raw agave nectar
1 part raw, fair trade, organic cacao powder
½ part pure coconut oil
Add ingredients together and slowly add small amounts of boiling water to make a smooth, rich sauce.

Enjoy!

This recipe comes from Alissa Cohen and is found in her fantastic book “Living on Live Food”; it is just perfect for the holiday season! Many people think that living healthfully on raw food means that you have to go without flavour and enjoyment – but this recipe proves how good raw food can taste!  It’s so simple and easy that even I – the self professed Kitchen Klutz - can make it (picture proof below). 

Your guests will think it is absolutely divine – guaranteed!

Pecan Pie

Crust:
2 cups pecans
½ cup dates, pitted and soaked
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
1½ cups dates, pitted and soaked
½ cup pecans
1/3 cup raw honey
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup macadamia nuts
½ cup water

Topping:
1 cup pecans

For Crust:
Blend pecans in a food processor until fine
Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth
Remove from processor and pat down into a pie plate

For Filling:
Place pecans in food processor and blend until smooth
Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until creamy
Pour filling into pie crust

Topping:
Place pecans decoratively on top of filling

Enjoy!!