Rawsome! Mushroom Loaf

My 6-day fast has come to an end. I have plenty of energy and have dropped 7 pounds. I feel great and I want to stay feeling that way. So, I'm following up by transitioning to more of a raw foods diet.

Raw food. Not only does this raw mushroom and nut loaf make for a great family dinner entree, but it is a big success with guests during the holidays. I served it at our raw foods potluck and party last December; everyone was amazed how good it was. I'm serving it on Valentine's Day, too.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups almonds, soaked overnight, then rinsed
1-1/2 cups pecans, soaked overnight, rinsed, then dehydrated until crunchy - about 12 hours
1 cup chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms (if dried, soak for 2 hours first)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon of herb mixture: 1 tablespoon each of dried: sage, thyme, rosemary and parsley
1/2-3/4 cup water
4 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 tablespoons flaxseeds, soaked in 6 tablespoons water for 15 minutes

Directions:

1. Puree all of the ingredients in a food processor until well ground, except the celery, onion, bell pepper and soaked flaxseeds.
2. In a large bowl, combine the celery, onion and hydrated flaxseeds with the rest of the ground ingredients and mix well.
3. Shape the mixture into a shallow loaf on a solid dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 12 hours.

Serves 8

Recipe adapted from Rawsome! - Maximizing Health, Energy, and Culinary Delight with the Raw Foods Diet by Brigitte Mars. Page 202.

Meatless Monday Campaign

After a busy weekend of preparing food and entertaining guests, I wanted something on this cold and frosty day that was warm, nourishing and easy to fix for dinner tonight. One of the benefits of be a member of Linkedin.com is that you can join groups, and groups email digests, and group members share a plethora of information. The downside, of belonging to any online community or surfing anywhere on the Internet is that you can be inundated and overwhelmed with solicited content. I recently had to change a bunch of email preferences to curb the quantity of emails I am receiving daily and weekly. That said, from time to time I find a tidbit of info that has meaning or benefit to me. This is how I found out about the Meatless Monday Campaign and this delicious morsel shared by Tracy Ritson of the Green Publishing Group on Linkedin.

The following recipe "Meatless Monday Winter Warm-Up - Hearty Lentil Soup" comes from Angela on Sustainable Scribe by PLANET FORWARD.

"Monday! As you may or may not know, Planet Forward supports the Meatless Monday campaign – a non-profit initiative in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It’s part of an eco-friendly worldwide movement to reduce consumption of animal products in favour of more plant-based meals to fight global warming and improve our personal health. This week we bring another vegetarian recipe for you to try.

Beans are a staple for vegetarians as they are a healthy (and fat-free) source of protein and carbohydrates. Plus they are more familiar to flexitarians and other non-full-time vegetarians than tofu, tempeh and seitan. Our hearty lentil soup recipe can be made ahead of time and you can even freeze it (in an air-tight container) if you make too much. I am a huge soup fan especially during the long-cold Canadian winter and this is one of my favourites.

Hearty Lentil Soup - serves 4 people as a main course with a salad and bread (gluten-free ideally but whole-wheat/grain is good too)

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot sliced
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt/pepper to taste (if needed)
• Tabasco Hot sauce (optional and to taste)

Note: To the above, I added green onions, corn, peas and fresh tomatoes quartered, and a half tablespoon of Mountain Rose Herbs All Purpose Seasoning.

Preparation:
In a large pot, saute onions, celery and carrot in the vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes until onions are transparent. Add the vegetable broth, lentils, bay leaves and salt/pepper (if needed).

Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils are soft, about 45 minutes. Remove bay leaves and stir in hot sauce (if desired) and that’s it. Easy-peasy. Serve with a side salad and fresh bread to round off a great and satisfying meal.

Don’t forget - to join the movement, sign up online by going to your local Meatless Monday site or you can go here http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ to learn more. If this Monday passed you by, next week is another chance to go meatless – it’s only one day for an eco-friendly cause. Join us.

Bon (vegetarian) Appetit!" - Angela