A couple of summers ago I was the proprietor of a very small raw food business called, Real Food. I created, packaged, labeled, schlepped and sold my dehydrated goods at our local Wednesday afternoon Farmer's Market. As much as I love being in the kitchen and creating raw food recipes, being a vendor at the Market was very labor intensive and a rainy afternoon would leave me with a left over abundance of perishable raw food. One afternoon per week just wasn't enough time to reach a big enough audience of healthy consumers.There was also the challenge of the whole commercial kitchen issue. When I grow up, I want to live in a home with a licensed commercial kitchen. But for now, I just make my food for myself, my family and a few happy and beloved friends. Especially on weeks like these when I've been home bound and iced in, I often find myself happily creating in the kitchen. Some women knit, read romance novels or do scrapbooks.....but as for me, I do food.
I've shared the recipe for my favorite Jalapeno Corn Chips (from Raw Food Real World) a couple of times on this blog. But here is a photograph of them fresh out of the dehydrator.
The secret to my chips and crackers is the use of an off-set spatula. In my opinion, there is no better tool to insure the flattest, smoothest and most perfectly spread batter on a Teflex sheet.
Then there's spicy glazed nuts:
Lemon Macaroons:
The number one seller of all of my food has always been the grawnola. Uncle Larry & Aunt Debbie in Salt Lake City swear by it's mild laxative effect. Must be that ground flax seed!
Two kinds of crackers....Italian and Pesto:
Ginger Snap and Coconut Carmel Cookies (thanks for the tip SS), both from Living Cuisine by Renee Loux Underkoffler:
I also made cashew cheese and a fresh batch of almond milk. Now I can rest. As the ice is beginning to melt, it feels so good to know that my kitchen is fully stocked in Real Food! And because I like you and because so many people have asked....here is my granola recipe. Yeh, I know...giving everything away free....well, one of these day's, God and me willing, I'm going to have a recipe book or two published and I hope you'll remember me then *wink*Ruby's Raw Granola
2 apples, any variety
1 generous cup of soaked dates
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 Tbsp vanilla extract 2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup walnuts, soaked a couple of hours
2 cups buckwheat, rinsed well & soaked a few hours
2 cups almonds, soaked
3 cups pecans, soaked
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup goji berries
1 cup golden flax seeds, ground or whole
3 cups thick rolled oats (optional since not technically raw)
In a food processor, place one apple, the soaked dates along with about 1/4 cup of the soak water, maple syrup, orange juice, zest, cinnamon, salt & walnuts....grind until completely smooth. Transfer into a large mixing bowl.
Add the remaining apple, chopped. Then place the almonds & pecans into the food processor, Coarsely chop nuts in a few quick pulses. Add them to the bowl along with the apple mixture, add all other ingredients.....combine well.
Spread the granola on lined dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 6 - 8 hours. Peel off the Teflex sheeting and continue to dehydrate until the granola is crunchy. Break into pieces and once completely cooled, store in airtight containers. This granola will last for many weeks.
