Low Glycemic Balsamic Vinaigrette

Just a simple and yummy dressing. Originally it was made with maple syrup instead of yacon.

Source: allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: -

Yields: 1¾ cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive oil
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar (aged is best)
• ¼ cup yacon syrup
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put it all in a 1 quart mason jar and shake well.

Hummus

This recipe is a work in progress. I am still narrowing it down. Personally I don't like lemon in my hummus, but if you do just add some at the end.

Source: mevashlim.com
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3-4 hours
Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• Garbanzo beans, 1 lbs.
• Baking soda, 1 tsp.
• Tahini, 1 cup
• Garlic, minced, 4 + 1 cloves
• Onion, diced, 1 medium
• Parsley, chopped, 2 tbsp.
• Cilantro, chopped, 2 tbsp.
• Coriander seeds, ground 1 tsp. 
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Cumin

Instructions:

1. Soak the garbanzo beans in water over night in the fridge together with the baking soda, for at least 12 hours.
2. Drain and wash the beans, place in a large pot together with the onion, parsley, cilantro, coriander seeds, 4 cloves of garlic and little salt.
3. Bring to boil and cook for about 3 hours. The garbanzo beans should be very soft and easily squashed between your fingers.
4. Turn off flames and let stand for an hour.
5. Drain the liquids, but don't throw away. Also save a cup of the cooked garbanzos.
6. Put the rest of the garbanzo together with tahini, 1 clove of garlic, cumin, olive oil (generously) and salt in a blender and process until smooth. If too thick then add some of the cooking liquids.
7. Serve hot or cold. Pour the unprocessed garbanzos on top of the plate.

Vipassana Sunflower Soy Dressing

I was recently fortunate to visit the North California Vipassana Center again and help a bit in the kitchen. While there I made sure to get the recipe for the famous Sunflower Soy salad dressing which I've named years ago "Sunflower Crack". It's funny how so many students that undergo the retreat remember the salad dressing of all things as one of the highlights. To put in perspective: the other type of dressing they serve is a pretty yummy Italian Dressing, but the instructions in the kitchen are to prepare FOUR TIME more of the sunflower soy than the Italian because it is so popular. I've only seen one other website out there that shared the recipe, but the quantities were all wrong and it came out super salty. Here is the original and correct one:

Source: dhamma.org
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: N/A
Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 3 cups canola oil (non-GMO)
• 1 cup cold water + 1 after blending

 Instructions:

1. Combine all (except last cup of water). 
2. Run in blender (Vitamix works best) until there are no traces of seeds, but don't over blend as it will get syrup-y.
3. Pour into container and whisk in the last cup of water.

For gluten-free option try substituting the soy sauce with tamari sauce and/or Bragg's aminos. If you're not into canola oil then go with another type of gentle flavor oil. Olive oil is probably not the most ideal for this dressing.

Raw Dairy Free Chocolate Drink

This drink is based on a product I found at the local farmer's market. I am trying to reverse-engineer it and I think got the recipe pretty close now. I won't say the name of the company because I don't want to affect their business., but they have really good raw chocolate products.

Source: Undisclosed
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Yields: 2.5 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups filtered water
• ⅓ cup raw cashew butter
• 4 tsp raw cacao powder
• 3 tsp raw coconut sugar or your sweetener of choice
• Vanilla extract or vanilla bean
• Pinch of salt

 Instructions:

1. Use a blender to mix everything.
2. Store in the fridge. Will stay good for about a week but if you are like me it will be gone the same day.

Mimi Kirk's Raw Cookies

I was looking for stuff to do with almond pulp after making some almond milk and came across this wonderful recipe from youngonrawfood.com. It resembles power balls in consistency more than your standard dry cookies. Some people are hesitant about the flavor of raw deserts but everybody I gave these to agrees they're awesome, even my "raw skeptic" friends.



Source: youngonrawfood.com
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 hours
Yields: 4 cookies

Ingredients:

• Wet pulp from almond milk
• 1 banana
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil 
• 5 medjool dates, pitted
• ½ cup medium flake shredded coconut
• ½ generous cup raisins or dried cranberries or both
• 1 tablespoon agave or sweetener of choice (I've used lucuma powder). Taste batter when finished to see if it’s sweet enough for your individual taste.
• ½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• Dash of cinnamon
• ½ cup cacao nibs or chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place almond pulp, banana, coconut oil and dates in food processor.
2. Pulse chop until everything is blended in.
3. Mix in until well incorporated coconut, raisins/cranberries, agave, walnuts, and cinnamon.
4. Use a cookie scooper and place a scoop on non-stick sheet of dehydrator tray.
5. Dehydrate at 105-110 for 10 hours or more, depending on how dry you want them.I prefer a crust on the outside and a small part of the center softer. You do not have to remove the non-stick sheet.
6. You can also flatten out the cookie if desired…

These are so good warm right from the dehydrator with a cold glass of almond milk.