Lucid Bites: Vegan Recipes +

Raw Pasta Alfredo

For Pasta Noodles:
Using your Julienne Peeler make pasta noodles from about 3 large Zucchinis. Discard the skin pieces as you go, Place your pasta In a large bowl and massage in a tablespoon of salt. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour. Rinse well and drain/ pat dry with paper towels.

For Alfredo sauce:
…into your blender, add the following
Leftover white bits of the Zucchini (up to ½ cup)
½ cup Sunflower Seeds (washed, soaked 6 hours, rinsed, drained 2 hours min)
Juice from ½ Lemon
2 tablespoons raw Olive Oil
2 Dates (remove stones)
1-2 cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon Salt
Water as needed to blend, just under covering these items to start.
¼ cup Pine Nuts (or more sunflower seeds if you like)
¼ cup fresh Basil (stuffed tightly to measure)
1 tablespoon fresh Parsley

Blend everything except the Basil, Parsley and Pine Nuts into a smooth thick cream, add water slowly if needed.
Add the Pine Nuts. Blend again to break down pine nuts. Add more water if needed to create the desired thickness, just about the same as cold sour cream.
Finely chop the Basil and Parsley into tiny specks and stir into the sauce.

Allow the sauce to stand covered 30 minutes minimum, when ready to serve…

Add your sauce to your pasta in a mixing bowl a half cup at a time. Add sauce until desired blend. Serve into portions adding any extras on top you like.

Extras: - Any or All - bits and pieces stirred in, or on top, or both Mushrooms Bits, Broccoli Bits and/or Diced Red Pepper

Save any extra sauce for other treats, like spreading on corn on the cob.

Source: Purely Raw

Simple Hummus Veggie Wraps

How to Grow Alfalfa Sprouts

You see all you need to grow alfalfa sprouts:

• seeds
• glass jar
• stocking or similar woven fabric or screen

In the picture a metal ring is used to secure a patch from the lady’s hose over the jar’s mouth, but you could also use a rubber band or piece of string. You can use other kinds of woven fabric or screen. What’s important is that air and water can pass through it, but the seeds can’t. Note the small quantity of seeds in the jar. Two tablespoons per quart jar is about righ

STEP 1:

Soak the seeds overnight. Fill the jar at least a quarter full with room-temperature water and just let the jar sit.

STEP 2:

Pour out the water and let the seeds sit. You want to seeds to be wet and to have access to air. Therefore, don’t let the seeds gather in clumps at the jar’s bottom. In fact, take advantage of the fact that the wet seeds want to cling to the jar’s inside surface. Roll the jar around, causing as many seeds to stick to the surface as possible, then lay the jar on its side. If the surrounding air is cooler than 70° - 80°, the seeds will grow too slowly. Warmer temperatures encourage disease organisms. If you prefer growing them under warmer conditions, then rinse at least twice a day or more. If you are not rinsing enough, you’ll smell a funky odor in the jar. At this stage it doesn’t matter whether your sprouts have light or not.

STEP 3:

Rinse the seeds at least each 24 hours with cool water. Just run the water into the jar, swirl the seeds around, then pour out the water and repeat Step 2. The idea is to rid the seeds of disease organisims and toxins that  accumulate in the warm, moist conditions inside the jar. The picture at the right shows sprouting alfalfa seeds stuck to the side of a jar. The picture below shows the same jar at the top of the page. You can see that the small amount of seeds we began with now fill the jar with half-grown sprouts. At this point I poured half of the sprouts into another jar and continued rinsing them. Eventually both jars were full!

STEP 4:

When the sprouts are big enough — usually on the fifth or sixth day and looking like those at the right — spread them out and let the sun shine on them a few minutes — maybe 15 minutes, more if you want. This important step activates enzymes and makes the sprouts prettier by making their leaves greener. The brown seed-coats will have come off most beans. If you want, you can remove most of the coats by submerging the sprouts in water, then filtering out the coats, which tend to float to the top. Removing the coats won’t change the taste or nutrition.

STEP 5: ENJOY!!

Source: BackYardNature.net

Sandwich Image: Re-Nest.com

White Bean and Kale Soup

Serves 6

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced (1 cup)
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 1 small garnet yam, peeled and diced (1 cup)
• 1 Tbs. smoked sweet paprika, plus more for garnish
• 1 Tbs. curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 15.5-oz. cans great Northern beans, drained and rinsed, divided
• 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 8 minutes, or until lightly caramelized, stirring often.
2. Add kale, and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until wilted. Stir in yam, paprika, curry powder, and bay leaf; cook 1 minute more, or until fragrant.
3. Add broth, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 30 minutes, or until kale and yam are tender. Purée 1 cup beans with 3/4 cup water in blender or food processor. Add purée and remaining beans to soup. Simmer 10 minutes, then stir in vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each serving with paprika.

Source: Vegetarian Times

Types of Vegetarians

“I’m a level 5 vegan—I don’t eat anything that casts a shadow.” –The Simpsons

1. Raw vegan/Raw food diet

A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). “Raw foodists” believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost a significant amount of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body.

2. Vegan

Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin. Many vegans also refrain from eating foods that are made using animal products that may not contain animal products in the finished process, such as sugar and some wines. There is some debate as to whether certain foods, such as honey, fit into a vegan diet. See www.WorldPeaceDiet.com

3. Vegetarian (Lacto-ovo- vegetarian)

When most people think of vegetarians, they think of lacto-ovo-vegetarians. People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products are lacto-ovo vegetarians (“lacto” comes from the Latin for milk, and “ovo” for egg).

Lacto-vegetarian is used to describe a vegetarian who does not eat eggs, but does eat dairy products.

Ovo-vegetarian refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

4. Pescatarian (also spelled pescetarian)

The word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet.

5. Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian

You don’t have to be vegetarian to love vegetarian food! “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
(click on picture above for vegetarian starter kit)

Drink Green Tea.

3 Reasons:

**High in antioxidants, which can promote stronger bones, lower cholesterol levels, and lower rates of heart disease and some types of cancer.

**A good source of EGCG, a polyphenol that may help to reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol, prevent cancer, and boost the immune system.

**Antibacterial - a 2008 study from Egypt suggests that drinking green tea enhances the effects of antibiotics, even against drug-resistant bacteria and “superbugs.”

Introduce yourself by substituting a cup of green tea for a cup of coffee, and you will soon be enjoying the health benefits of this delicious beverage!

Source: Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging

Sicilian Pistachio Sauce

This beguiling, orange-scented sauce from Sicily can be served with tofu or vegetables, or as a topping for crostini.

2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher salt

1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs, moistened with water and squeezed dry

1 cup shelled pistachios

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop in the garlic. When the garlic is chopped and adhering to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the salt, bread crumbs, and pistachios and process to a paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn on the machine and add the orange zest, orange juice, and lemon juice. Drizzle in the olive oil. Taste and adjust salt. Thin out as desired with olive oil.

Yield: Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Advance preparation: This will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. It will become more pungent.

Source: Recipes for Health. NYTimes

Quinoa: A Protein-Packed Alternative to Grains

Steamed Inca Red quinoa, left, and traditional quinoa.

Quinoa (pronounced keh-NO-ah or, sometimes, KEEN-wah) is a relative newcomer to the American pantry. The tiny, ancient Peruvian seed, which has a mild, nutty flavor, is related to leafy green vegetables and is often used like a grain. Quinoa is as versatile as rice but it has a protein content that is superior to that of most grains, because it contains all the essential amino acids. In particular, quinoa is high in lysine, an amino acid important for tissue growth and repair. It’s also a good source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, and it has a high iron content.

Quinoa is very easy to cook. It’s important to rinse the seeds well, because they are naturally coated with a bitter substance that protects them against birds and other predators. Most packaged quinoa has already been cleaned, but it doesn’t hurt to soak and rinse it just in case. Quinoa cooks in 15 minutes, and it’s easy to tell when it’s done because the seeds display a little white thread that curls around them.

Basic Steamed Quinoa

Many recipes for quinoa suggest cooking it like rice, in two parts water for one part quinoa. This works, but I find the grains are fluffier if I cook them in three parts water and drain the excess water once the quinoa is tender. The tiny seeds swell to about four times their original size, so 1 cup uncooked quinoa yields about 4 cups, enough for 6 to 8 servings.

1 cup quinoa

3 cups water, chicken stock or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste)

1. Place the quinoa in a strainer and rinse until the water runs clear.

2. Bring the water or stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the salt and the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and translucent, and each grain displays a little thread. Drain and return to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dish towel, replace the lid and allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Fluff and serve.

Yield: about 4 cups, serving 6 to 8

Advance preparation: Cooked quinoa will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in a microwave or in the oven.

Source: Recipes for Health. NY Times