Crisp Fall Evening - Dinner for 4

Lately I have had a number of requests to share some of my recipes. I particularly like what we had last night and thought it I should share it with you. (Sorry - no pictures...I'm working on getting a camera so I can get visuals.) I gained my inspiration from our friend and hip raw food goddess, Tanja Andrews, who recently had a fantastic spot on a Bay Area home show. Check her out here: http://www.dreamhomebayarea.com/index.html
On this clip, she made a raw pumpkin soup and a kale salad. I took the base of her soup, but jazzed it up a little to suit my family's taste buds and it turned out to be a success! I made her kale salad exactly as she did and it was really fresh and delicious. I will include the recipe here so you have a copy to look at. Then finally, I served my raw corn bread recipe. I came up with this idea because of my old love of warm soup or chili and corn bread in the cold months. The raw results of my tinkering in the kitchen did not disappoint.

Marinated Kale Salad

1 bunch of Lacinato or dinosaur kale, chopped
olive oil
sea salt

Once your kale is chopped, place into a mixing bowl and add just a touch of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Massage and mix the oil mixture into the leaves until they are shiny and covered. Allow this to rest for at least an hour, or so, until the leaves have begun to wilted just slightly.

Add:
1 apple, gala or other crunchy variety, chopped and not peeled

And toss with a dressing made of:
1 tbsp. stone ground mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup basalmic vinegar
1/4 cup agave or raw honey
juice of 1/2 lemon

Serve!

Pumpkin Soup

1 pie pumpkin, seeds and insides removed, skin peeled and cubed
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup fresh hemp or almond milk
1 -2 tbsp. nut butter (I used macadamia nut, which was delicious!)
4 dates, pitted
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. curry

Add all ingredients into your Vita Mix, or other high horse powered blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more liquid if your soup seems too thick. I blended mine until the engine of the blender warmed it very nicely to around 100 degrees. I garnished this with diced red bell peppers and a bit of cilantro. Truly delicious!

Warm Corn Bread

4 ears of fresh organic corn - cut from the cob (you can substitute 16 oz. of frozen organic corn)
1/2 sweet yellow onion
1/3 of a large red bell pepper
3/4 cup ground golden flax seeds
1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds
juice of one lime
1-2 jalepenos (you can use a milder pepper, if you prefer)
1 tbsp. raw honey (I added just a bit more to mine ;-)
2 tsp. sea salt
1 clove minced garlic
and for good measure I added a few good splashes of Tabasco sauce - another ingredient I haven't given up)

Blend all ingredients in your food processor until you have a nice grainy texture. On Teflex lined dehydrator trays, begin scooping the mixture and build muffins or biscuit like formations. Mine were about 3 inches wide and 1-ish inch thick. My husband said they looked like little hockey pucks. Place into your dehydrator and set at 105 degrees overnight or for about 8 hours. Flip your muffins over and continue to dehydrate another 12 or so hours or until you reach your desired consistency.

We enjoyed ours straight from the dehydrator, while warm and the kids slathered on a little more raw honey....YUMMY!