Raw Recipe One

Today is the day of my first raw recipe.

I know, I know -- I have a friend whose raw recipe for banana walnut bread is:

Take one bite of banana and one handful of walnuts and chew slowly, enjoy.

But as usual, I want more!

In anticipation of this day, I took a cup of raw walnuts and soaked them in water in a specially purchased.....drum roll....Mason Jar. Now I grant you, any container, including a glass bowl and saran wrap would have worked, but it felt oh-so-authentic to use a Mason jar. Even when I was purchasing the Mason jars at the local hardware store (an authentic local hardware store, by the way), several folks gathered around to see what I was "putting up."

I slept later than I wanted today. Actually, I awoke at 8 full of vigor to start my first raw creation, and then thought, "well, I will just do a "tester" and see if I am really awake." (A tester, for those of you who do not know my penchant for making up words, is testing to see if you are really awake, by laying down again and closing your eyes. If you fall asleep -- you were not awake in the first place; and if after a few minutes of stirring, you don't -- then voila! the day begins.)

Well, the tester indicated I needed more sleep. I re-emerged at 11 a.m., and in my pajamas, and with coffee in one hand, I gathered the dusty food processor from the top shelf of the pantry and began my new life as.....

A RAW FOOD CHEF

modest and humble though I try to be.

My first recipe was walnut pate. It called for fresh parsley, but the baby squirrels who delight in eating from my garden, topped all of the herbs except the baby basil (oh please dear young playful squirrels, leave it for me) and the mature rosemary which they must not like. So I used a little dried parsley and topped one pate with lots of chopped fresh cilantro which I purchased at the store yesterday.

Taste test: A+ if I do say so. It had a nice onion and garlic kick; I think this same recipe could be made with cinnamon for a breakfast or sweet spread. Or with some chipolte for a kicker spread.

Ease of preparation: Embarrassingly easy. Probably 5 minutes plus clean up of the food processor. Once the nuts were soaked -- everything was bing, bang, bam -- eat! I was still sipping my first hit of coffee when it was ready.

The Gordon Test: He grudgingly took a teaspoonful and said, "I can see where you would like this." I said: "what's the hold up here: you like walnuts, you like lemon, you like onion." And he said, "yes, but it is blended and raw." The fact that he took some into his mouth and swallowed -- MAJOR.

Remember, my beloved does not even like the smell of a vegetable and when I cook veggies, I do it when he is not home and turn on the fan and open the doors so the smell will leave before he returns.

RECIPE

Into a food processor (dusted from lack of prior use) I added:

1 cup of rinsed, previously soaked walnuts (I soaked overnight for convenience)
1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp of Nama Shoyu
1 tsp virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
hit of kosher or sea salt

I pulsed it with the S blade into a paste, using a spatula to smooth it down.
When it was almost done - I added 1 tablespoon of minced onion and sprinkled it with dried parsley. (If you have an herb garden and no squirrels or rabbits, fresh is better)

I removed the paste from the food processor and put it in cute little ramekins (but of course). I garnished one with fresh cilantro, and left the other plain for tasting purposed (although it was screaming for a garnish of fresh red bell peppers, or chopped green olives, or a sprinkle of chipolte, or, or.....

Remember --
for a sweet treat, leave out the savory things and add a little agave and cinnamon, maybe some dates or raisins.

I wrapped my creations in saran wrap and put in the refrigerator where they will keep for a few days, if not devoured sooner.

Since I am conscious of reducing my caloric intake, I must warn that this recipe has more calories than a leaf of lettuce, so use as a garnish unless you are twiggy.