My Favorite Soup: Cauliflower Leek

This is bar none my favorite soup.  It’s yummy, healthy and really easy to make.  And what’s even more fantastic about is that my mom and I just made up the recipe on the fly.

Ingredients:

– 1 head cauliflower, chopped up

– 1 container soft tofu

– 1/2 cup soy milk (make sure you’re using unsweetened) (Note: used 1 cup – too much)

– 4 cups vegetable stock (Note: used 5 cups – too much)

– 2 leeks, white parts only, or one whole leek, chopped

– 1 tablespoon olive oil

– 2 cloves garlic

– Dash cayenne pepper

– Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

– Heat olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot.  Add leeks and saute until soft.  Add garlic.

– Add vegetable stock and cauliflower

– Simmer until cauliflower is soft

– In a separate bowl, combine tofu and soy milk and mix with stick blender until smooth, then add to soup

– Use stick blender to mix everything until creamy

– Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Variations:  added 1/3 cup  frozen peas before blending and cooked wild rice after.  Yummy.  Or add a chopped potato in with the cauliflower.

Raw Persimmon Cheesecake with Pomegranate Coulis

I am really proud of this cheesecake – I think it might be the first raw persimmon cheesecake to hit the interwebs! I couldn’t find a recipe for raw persimmon cheesecake so I made my own based on Sweetly Raw’s Mandarin Orange Cheesecake on a Pecan Ginger Crust with a Cranberry Pomegranate Compote, and Candied Pecans. I give it a 4/5 Happy Monkeys.  The texture is spot on and it makes a nice, healthy treat.

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Soup!

This soup came together in a heartbeat when I didn’t have much time to make lunch.  All it took was some previously pureed roasted pumpkin, a can of organic bpa-free coconut milk, vegetable stock and a liberal hand with the spices. A quick and easy 4/5 Happy Monkeys, and a recipe that is completely of my own devising to boot!

More Pizza! Raw Pizza Margherita

This raw pizza margherita is an easy follow-on to my last pizza recipe (Raw “Pizza Supreme”).  I used the same crust and cheese and just added some fresh tomatoes, dill and basil.  What could be easier?  Also for this one, I didn’t dehydrate it because I wanted that fresh flavor.  Instead, I just took the crust and cheese out of the fridge a little early so they could warm up to room temperature.  This recipe get a 4/5 Happy Monkeys, only because it is simpler and is missing the complexity that the sausage brings to the Pizza Supreme.  Still very delicious though! Unfortunately, the buckwheat bothered my stomach, but this could easily be done with an almond-based crust, or even just some raw crackers.

Yum Yum! Raw “Pizza Supreme”

I love this recipe for Raw Pizza Supreme from naomipoe in the Raw Freedom Community forums!  It was my first time attempting any raw food with buckwheat and it was much easier than I expected.  After reading all the posts and links in this thread, I found out that you only have to soak the buckwheat for 30 minutes! No sprouting required!  Thus, buckwheat is actually easier, not to mention cheaper, than using nuts as a base.  The only unfortunate part is that my tummy didn’t react well to the buckwheat.  I am learning more and more that it is just not gluten that I react too, but most grains too.  Even though buckwheat isn’t officially a grain, it still set me off 😦 It’s too bad because I really liked both making and eating this crust.

This recipe would have gotten a 5/5 Happy Monkeys but I had to downgrade it since it upset my stomach.  It still gets a 4/5 Happy Monkeys because of how tasty it is but next time I will try it with a buckwheat-free almond-based crust.