One of my favorite foods is cabbage because it’s super versatile, has hardly any calories, is free of wheat and gluten, is great for digestion, and is beautiful in color (purple and green). It tastes awesome in salads, gives us valuable probiotics as pickled sauerkraut, plus it works perfectly as a “shell” to be stuffed with yummy fillings to make a delicious hand held treat. I’m currently reintroducing heart-healthy fats into my diet from flax and chia seeds (omega-3), some nuts (vitamin E and antioxidants), and olives to keep my skin supple and moist, especially now that autumn is upon us. I picked up a bunch of avocados at the Farmers’ Market, but am disappointed they didn’t make it into my bag!

Today, I filled up a red cabbage shell with Chiffonade green cabbage. Watch our “How to Chiffonade” video I shot for Vegetarian Times Magazine: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/video/10). Please watch on the Vegetarian Times website to help generate viewer numbers. Thank you!

I’m also embedding it below from my own YouTube channel:
Ani’s Raw Food Asia + Vegetarian Times Magazine: How to Chiffonade

I first filled up my purple cabbage shell with Chiffonade green cabbage. Next, I layered on a Black Olive Tapenade, from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, page 155,  and Candied Onions, inspired by my Buckwheat-Battered “Fried” Onion Rings, from page 116 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials, plus I added maple syrup to sweeten the onions. I then topped it all with artichoke hearts, and would have added avocado, if I had some on hand.

Black Olive Tapenade
makes 4 servings

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced, about 1 clove
• 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup green olives, pitted
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon thyme, fresh
• 1 teaspoon rosemary, fresh

Candied Onions
makes 4 servings 

• 4 cups thinly sliced sweet onion, about 1 whole
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tamari or nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), to taste
• 1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup, to taste

Place all ingredients into mixing bowl. Set aside to marinate and wilt for at least 10 minutes. Add syrup to your liking. I choose to make this sweet! Squeeze excess liquid before using.

Will keep for several days in fridge.

It was Kanga’s 8th ‘birthday’ and also our anniversary on Labor Day. Each year, I make my darling pooch a heart shaped cake (you may have seen the photo from last year’s birthday on page 301 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials). This year, the cake was made with sunflower seeds and a few Medjool dates. Kanga was so eager to eat it, she got green birthday candle wax on the tip of her nose….so cute!

In a blink of an eye, the cake was gone! And, I wonder if you can guess who’s in the background with her ‘magic’ tatoos….hint….London and the UK.

For our birthday ladies’ luncheon, I made Jicama Rice, Mexican style by processing Jicama, then adding chopped red bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, cilantro, and a pinch of sea salt. Recipe below…. It was a lunch of British guests, one of whom is a celiac. That means she needs to avoid wheat gluten. I love that about the raw food diet, it’s free of wheat, gluten, refined sugar, dairy, and guilt!

I had made myself a beet, parsley, lemon, and cucumber juice earlier that morning, then mixed in the beet pulp with a sunflower pate. I used this pate to stuff poblano peppers, then dehydrated them for a few hours to soften. For a sauce, I blended a simple tahini with lemon juice, salt, splash of water.

This was the dessert my lovely friend Kate Magic made us for dessert! It was made with figs, cacao, coconut, and lucuma…and it was incredible! But this was one course poor Kanga didn’t get to try (dogs and cacao don’t mix well…chocolate).

Jicama Mexican Rice
makes 4 servings

• 4 cups jicama, peel, dice
• 1/2 cup onion, yellow, chop
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 cup red bell pepper, dice
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chop
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, chop, to taste (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive or hemp oil, optional

Place jicama in food processor, process into small bits. Be careful not to over process. Scoop into mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss to mix well.

Kanga’s Birthday Cake
1 serving

• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted

Place sunflower seeds in food processor. Process into small pieces. Add pitted dates, and process. Sunflower will stick together and bind into a cake ‘dough’. Form dough into heart, and serve.

Note: Sweets should be served in moderation to dogs, as to humans as well.

If serving to humans or to mix up variations to this recipe, try adding in sea salt, vanilla, cacao / carob, and or  goji berries.

On Day 3 of my SF book tour, I visited the vibrant Spencer Christian and beautiful Janelle Wang for a return appearance on their afternoon talk show The View from the Bay. Spencer already loves raw vegan foods, and this visit, we may have won Janelle over to our side with my Jap Chae Korean No-Cook Stir Fry Noodles and Berry Kream Tartlets. (The recipes follow below).

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

It’s always fun to be made up by a professional make up artist. Skye said she’s been working weeks without one day off. A perfect candidate for the raw vegan diet. 

Abbeba kicked off this show with her dehydrated crackers and salsa. I like to remind folks raw dishes like guacamole, salsa, gazpacho, and salads are already popular, so raw foods really aren’t that much of a stretch from what we’re already eating.

I met this pretty teen last year on my Ani’s Raw Food Desserts tour. She seems to have grown a foot or more, and has the coolest parents. Her pops brought her to the Ferry Building for my talk on Saturday, and her mom brought her to the TV station. She’s thriving on raw, and is continuing to convert and inspire her friends. What an inspiration.

The 2 recipes I made on air were for my Jap Chae, page 224, and Custard Tartletts, page 267. Jap chae is one of my favorite Korean noodle dishes, and it’s traditionally made with rice noodles.  This recipe was inspired by my mother, who pointed out how similar kelp noodles are to rice noodles.  Mom helped me figure out how to season my noodles with pretty much the same ingredients as the cooked version.

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

JAP CHAE – Korean No-Cook Kelp Noodles with Vegetables
(page 224, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup julienned carrot
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 (12-ounce) package kelp noodles
• Soy sauce (Nama Shoyu is unpasturized)

Place the onion and mushrooms in a large mixing bowl and toss with salt or soy sauce until mixed well.  Nama Shoyu is a raw unpasturized soy sauce, and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a live food. Another wheat free soy is tamari, if you prefer that. Set aside for at least 15-20 minutes to marinade and soften.  Add the carrot and sesame oil.  Mix well.  Add the noodles and toss to mix well.

Custard Tartlets
(page 267, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

CRUST (food processor):

• 2 cups nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pitted dates

CASHEW KREAM (blended)

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water

TOPPING

• whole fresh berries

To make crust, add nuts and salt into your food processor, and process into small pieces. Add dates to bind together your batter.

Line tartlet pan with plastic wrap. Press 2 tablespoons of the batter into pan. Remove tartlet crust, and place on plate.

Make kream by blending cashews with vanilla and water until smooth.

Scoop into tartlet crust. Top with fresh berry, and serve.

We’re offering a special on raw cashews and kelp noodles this month in celebration of my newest book. For organic ingredients and my favorite kitchen tools, visit my estore at: www.GoSuperLife.com

Video TRT: 4 min, 42 sec

This is a book trailer for my latest book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. In it, I show you how easy it is to make a delicious, fast, raw food Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat, from pages 145-146.

Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat (bean-free)
Makes 4 servings

A vegetable chili made with chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, and corn kernels. Spiced with cumin, and oregano for a real chili flavor similar to the cooked bean version. Top with Taco Nut Meat for an added layer of texture and south west flavor.

• 3 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup red and green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup mushroom, chopped, any type
• 1/3 cup corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 batch Taco Nut Meat, below

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl, and mix well. Scoop about 1/3 of the mixture into blender and puree. Scoop puree back into mixing bowl.

To serve, scoop into 4 serving bowls. Top with Taco Nut Meat, and enjoy.

Taco Nut Meat
Makes about 1 cup

Walnuts are ground and spiced with cumin and coriander to make this taco flavored nut meat crumble. Use it to top salads, soups, and inside wraps to add taco flavor and texture.

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin, ground
• 2 teaspoons coriander, ground
• 1 teaspoon Braggs or Nama Shoyu
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place walnuts into food processor, and process into small pieces. Add remaining ingredients, pulse to mix well.

Will keep for 1 week in fridge.

For organic ingredients and kitchen tools, visit my estore and Go Super Life!

Here’s a sneak peak into one of my favorite recipes from my new book, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials (available June 1st). We shot this recipe last Thursday for TV, cable, and web.

I’ve been craving raw Tomato Chili the past few days, so I made sure to pick up some beautiful tomatoes, bell pepper, and fresh oregano at the farmers’ market. When I went to make this last night, I realized I had run out of chili powder, so I used chipotle powder instead. It turned out spicy hot. To help cool it down, I made a batch of raw Taco Nut Meat, which helped a bit, but not enough. So then I added some Cashew Sour Kream, and that helped. It was delicious, and energized me to write late into the night.

This recipes is simple and quick to make. I enjoy the mediation of chopping with my knife. But you can also just place ingredients into your food processor and let it do the chopping for you for an even shorter prep time.

Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat
(from pages 145-146 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)
Makes 4 servings

TOMATO CHILI

• 3 cup tomatoes, chop
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chop
• 1/4 cup celery, chop
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, chop
• 1/3 cup mushroom, chop
• 1/3 c corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon garlic, mince
• 1 – 2 teaspoon chili powder, to taste
• 1 teaspoon cumin, powder
• 3/4 teaspoon oregano, fresh or dry
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, toss to mix well.

Place half of your mixture into your food processor or blender and puree. Scoop back into bowl with mixture and toss to mix well.

NUT MEAT TOPPING

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin, powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander, powder
• 1 teaspoon bragg’s or nama shoyu, or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients into your food processor, and process into small pieces.

To serve, scoop raw Tomato Chili into bowls. Top with Taco Nut Meat. Enjoy.

Tomato Chili will keep for 1-2 days in fridge. Taco Nut Meat will keep for a week or more.