Raw Vegan "Cheese"cakes

I've been posting (and eating) a lot of sugary desserts lately, so I figure it's time to take a break from those and make a dessert that's actually good for you. The desserts I usually post are healthier than traditional ones, as they have substitutions like coconut oil for butter, and apple purée for eggs, but they're still not exactly health food. These "cheese"cakes actually can be considered healthy and nutritious, and they're delicious! It's a win win!

I've made them in mango and strawberry flavors, but I bet most fruits would be delicious. Blueberry is next on my list. I made these in muffin tins lined with unbleached baking cups (I always walk out of Wild By Nature with something new), but I bet this recipe would work in a traditional cheesecake springform pan. I'll try it for Andrew's birthday next week and fill you in. He was a big fan of the strawberry ones!

I prepared the crust exactly as directed in the original recipe. I've tried other raw vegan crusts, but this one is by far the best. I even got over my intense dislike of stevia for use in the filling and found a brand that doesn't make me gag!

Non-nausea inducing Stevia

The original recipe called for coconut oil and cocoa butter.
I don't have the latter, so I improvised and used coconut butter.

Tasty medjool dates from Blue Mountain Organics.
I went a little nuts recently in their online store.

It's best to freeze these, then let them sit on the counter for a couple minutes before serving.

Raw Vegan "Cheese"cakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Crust:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1/4 cup packed medjool dates, pitted
• 1 tsp. water
• Pinch of salt

1. Grind the almonds in a blender or food processor. Be careful not to over grind them, stop when you reach a crumb consistency.
2. Roughly chop the dates and grind them in with the almonds until they have turned to crumbs also.
3. Add the water and salt and grind again until a dough forms.
4. Press this dough into the bottom of lined muffin tins.

Almond crumbs

The crust in the muffin tins

Filling:

• 2 cups chopped fruit, such as mangos, strawberries or blueberries
• 1 cup cashews
• 3 Tbsp. agave
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 drops of liquid stevia
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped (vanilla extract could work, too)
• 4 Tbsp. coconut butter, melted

1. Blend all the ingredients in a blended or food processor until everything is thoroughly mixed.
2. Pour over the crust, and freeze for a few hours until firm.

Strawberry Nachos and Other Strawberry Delights

Strawberry season is in full swing on Long Island! I had been looking forward to strawberry picking for weeks as the weather warmed up. Logan joined me this year and had a blast. I think he ate more than he actually picked!

He's been enjoying the strawberries we have growing in containers at home, too. 

Father's Day always coincides with strawberry season, so I usually make strawberry themed desserts. This year featured chocolate covered strawberries (a given), and strawberry nachos. Yes, strawberry nachos. I roughly followed a recipe from pinterest to come up with this delicious dish. The baked tortillas tasted just like cinnamon toast crunch and were tasty in their own, even before I topped them with strawberries and homemade chocolate!

Strawberry Nachos

• 4 tortilla wraps
• 4 Tbsp. butter substitute, melted
• Cinnamon
• Sugar
• 1 cup diced strawberries
• 1 Tbsp. liquid sweetener
• Chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Brush the tortillas with the butter substitute (I used Best Life), and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
3. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.
4. When cooled to room temperature, cut the tortillas into bite size chips.
5. Combine the strawberries with the liquid sweetener, and pour over the chips.
6. Drizzle chocolate over the top, and serve immediately.

Andrew and I made chocolate covered strawberry mojitos with the leftover strawberries from strawberry picking and chocolate mint growing right outside the backdoor. I couldn't stay up late enough to finish mine (I know, lame), but the few sips I had were wonderful!

I dehydrated the last handful of strawberries and mixed them into loose green tea. 

Raw Vegan Chocolate Bars

I love food. If I'm not eating it, I'm thinking about it, writing about it, talking about it, or creating it. A couple weeks ago while thinking about it, I had the thought to make my own chocolate bars. As I've probably already mentioned, chocolate is part of my daily life. I don't mean that I eat a whole cake every day, but at least a square with a glass of wine, which I indulge in more than I care to admit. I'm on the hunt for a good organic red wine. Every one that I've tried so far tastes like sludge. I'm led to believe that wine needs added sulfites to be palatable. If anyone has any suggestions though, send them my way!

Anyways, while browsing pinterest one day, I found this recipe for chocolate bars. Already having the ingredients in my cabinet, I got to work.. and was pretty disappointed. It came out more like fudge, and was way too sweet. I prefer a dark chocolate (72% cocoa to be exact!) that's more bitter, so I made it my mission to perfect this recipe. I came up with 3 different recipes of various cocoa contents (the original recipe is about 50% cocoa). These don't have lecithin, which reduces the viscosity of chocolate, so they're a little on the soft side. They're best kept in the freezer, but they taste almost as good as a vegan Endangered Species bar!

Have fun with these. Make them your own! I've made them using dehydrated raspberries and strawberries, the latter of which is almost as good paired with chocolate as wine is! I've crushed up pretzels and made a chocolate pretzel bark, and I have homemade mint extract sitting in the cabinet, waiting to be ready to be added to one of these chocolate confections. My coworker made a delicious bar by adding ginger and curry powder. Anything goes!

Dehydrated Raspberries

Dehydrated Strawberries

Our garden strawberries, ready for picking!

The first bar has a mild cocoa content, so it's still pretty sweet. It's a little on the soft side, but it's good for people who don't like a dark, bitter chocolate.

Chocolate Bar #1

62% cocoa

• 3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. agave

1. Mix all ingredients and pour into a mold, such as a plastic container. 
2. Freeze until ready to eat.

This next one is probably my favorite. It was delicious mixed with crushed pretzels!

Chocolate Bar #2

67% cocoa content

• 3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp. agave

1. Mix all ingredients and pour into a mold, such as a plastic container. 
2. Freeze until ready to eat.

This last bar has the highest cocoa content and is the most bitter. It's also the most solid, so it most resembles a store bought bar.

Chocolate Bar #3

70% cocoa

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp. agave

1. Mix all ingredients and pour into a mold, such as a plastic container. 
2. Freeze until ready to eat.

Strawberry Almond Soup

It's here! Strawberry season is upon us. The official start to the season doesn't usually begin until Memorial Day weekend, but with all the warm, dry weather we've been having on Long Island, the strawberries are off to an early start. I haven't been to any of the U-Pick farms out east yet, but I have stocked up on the organic strawberries that have been on sale in the grocery stores. Among the few strawberry concoctions I've created so far, this strawberry soup I adapted from this recipe takes the cake. It was so easy, and unbelievably delicious. With the summer heat making it's appearance, I'm sure  I'll be making plenty more "stove free" soups like this.

Logan couldn't get enough of it. I filled his bowl four times, can you tell?

Strawberry Almond Soup

Serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as a side

• 2 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds
• 1 1/2 lbs. (about 5 cups) of strawberries, tops removed
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1. Blend the sunflower seeds in a blender until a paste begins to form.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Chill in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

No leftovers!

This recipe inspired me to make my own extracts. Extracts can be used to enhance the flavors of baked goods, soups, smoothies, stir fries. You name it. I've already made vanilla extract, so I thought, why not almond, and mint while I'm at it. The pretty containers I salvaged from my mom's collection are overflowing with mint. I need something to do with it! Plus, it would taste really good with the vegan chocolate bars I'm working on perfecting. More on that later!

My containers with lavender, spearmint, and chocolate mint

I won't be able to give you a review of my extracts until they're ready in a few weeks, but if you want to experiment with me, here's how..

Almond Extract

Chopped almonds

• 1 cup of raw almonds
• 2 cups of vodka

1. Toast the almonds in a 400º oven for 10 minutes. (Toasted almonds are delicious btw, eat them as is, or garnish your strawberry soup with them).
2. Pulse the almonds in a blender or food processor in short bursts. The goal is to just get them chopped, so don't blend them into a paste.
3. Add the chopped almonds to a glass jar, along with the vodka.
4. Keep in a cabinet for 6 weeks, shaking daily. 
5. Strain the solids with a cheesecloth, and you've made almond extract! (Hopefully)

Mint Extract

• 1 cup of loosely packed mint
• 3/4 cup of vodka
• 1/2 cup of water

1. Mix everything in a glass jar.
2. Keep in a cabinet for 3 weeks, shaking daily.
3. Strain the solids with a cheesecloth, and enjoy your mint extract!

Valentine's Day Brunch

I hope everyone felt the love yesterday! I definitely did. I got so many kisses from Logan, got to see one of my best friends, and had a wonderful day with Andrew. I don't care how many people call it a "hallmark holiday" or complain about it for whatever reason.. Scrooges. I like any excuse to get dressed up, go on a date, get flowers and feel extra loved. We skipped hallmark this year anyways and made our own cards, much more sustainable and less wasteful than those commercial cards that usually get tossed in the garbage. I got an idea from pinterest (where I seem to be getting all my ideas these days), and made cards out of Logan's drawings.


Megan, who I've been friends with since forever (we can never figure out how long we've known each other for), came for a vegan brunch in the morning, since she was taking Logan on a date as her valentine. I made heart shaped pumpkin pancakes by scooping batter out with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and pouring it in a "V" shape on the griddle. They came out much better than I thought! With more "pinspiration" I made a couple creative fruit platters, along with a vegan whipped cream using only two ingredients.

Coconut whipped cream

• 1 can coconut milk (not the lite stuff)
• Cinnamon, to taste

1. Refrigerate the can of coconut milk overnight. The liquid will separate, and you will be left with a semi solid chunk of coconut.
2. Remove the solid portion with a spatula and/or fork and transfer to a bowl.
3. Whip the coconut into a cream using a whisk.
4. Add cinnamon, starting with 1/2 a tsp and adjust according to your taste.

Don't throw out the liquid after removing the solid.
Add it to a smoothie or drink it straight.

While not as flavorful as whipped cream, it's still pretty good, and it's definitely healthier. I forget where I was reading this article, but a British chef was saying how Americans have lost their taste for the "subtle". It's true. It seems that unless it's packed with flavor, it's not considered tasty. I hope to break that stereotype and train my palette to appreciate everything along the flavor spectrum. 

Meditazione, meaning "meditate" in Italian.

Andrew and I took our date all the way east to Bridgehampton. Around Christmastime I heard about a new type of wine. It's actually not all that new, but it's something that's recently come back to modern day vineyards. It's not a white, nor a red nor a rose, but it's an orange wine. It's only being fermented in a few places in the world, and we're lucky enough to live about an hour away from Channing's Daughters, one of it's producers. The drive was totally worth it, I've never tasted a wine like that in my life! It tasted like a white, but with characteristics of a red, and it had a unique orange color. We sampled two different types, Envelope and Meditazione. The latter was so delicious that we bought a bottle to bring home. This is a must try for anyone who appreciates wine!

I'm so glad my forsythias were in bloom for Vday.
I took branches from a tree at my moms and placed them in
water. It took 2 weeks, but they're worth the wait!
Photo cred Meg_Shut. Find her on Instagram.