Recipes from Erika's Kitchen

Here are some recipes I have developed and enjoyed over the past 10 years on the Raw and Living Foods Lifestyle. Many are my own, some inspired by others and friends.

One of the questions I am most often asked is: What do I have for breakfast.
Here are two of my most favorites recipes.

Erika’s Mid-morning Breakfast Delight - Sprouted Raw Three-Grain Cereal Buckwheat, Quinoa & Fenugreek

3 tablespoon sprouted buckwheat
3 tablespoon sprouted quinoa
1 tablespoon sprouted fenugreek, or as desired
1 teaspoon cinnamon, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cardamom, (green pods) freshly ground or 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup (optional)
1/2 apple or pear, finely cubed
1 handful of chopped sunflower sprouts or coarsely chopped sorrel, foraged wild greens such as lambs quarters, dandelion, purslane. I love sorrel from my garden; it has a lovely tangy flavour.

Place all ingredients into a bowl, cover with almond or nut milk (recipe below). You can also add fresh or frozen berries.

Add freshly ground flax seed (I use a coffee grinder to grind my flax seeds). Begin with 1/2 tablespoon, then slowly, over the next few days, increase to 2 tablespoon a day. I grind my flax seeds at the very last, when ingredients are in by breakfast bowl, to assure freshness.

Sprouting Chart

Buckwheat, hulled 1 cup, soak for 6 hours in a strainer and bowl, sprouting time: 2 days

Fenugreek 1 cup, soak for 6 hours in a jar, sprouting time: 2 - 4 days

Quinoa 1 cup, soak for 4 hours in a jar or fine strainer, sprouting time: 1 to 1 1/2 days

I sprout many of my seeds, grains and legumes on the kitchen counter in a good quality strainer. Unless well drained, when sprouting in a jar, the seeds might become sour during the sprouting process. I find my strainer method excellent; it saves a great deal of time as well.

Place what you wish to sprout into a stainless steel strainer, (purchase a high quality one, you don’t want it to rust) rinse until water is clear, then place strainer with the seeds/grains/ into a bowl filled with spring water, making sure the seeds/grains/legumes are submerged in the water. The bowl must be deep enough so the strainer will not touch its bottom. After the required soaking time, lift the strainer from the bowl, rinse the seeds/grains/ well, (water your house plants with the soak water), rinse the bowl, place the strainer with the seeds back into the bowl, cover with a plate, rinse twice a day until sprouted. The little sprout tails must not be longer than the seed/grains to have the highest nutritional value.

Place your sprouted material in a jar with a lid and keep in the refrigerator. Sprouting will continue but at a much slower pace due to cooler temperature. Do not rinse 6 hours before placing the seeds/grains into the jar. You can sprout enough for 5 to 6 days.

Almond Milk

1 cup almonds, soaked for 12 hours, drained and rinsed
4 cups spring water
pinch of Celtic sea salt

In a blender, blend ingredients until smooth. Pour through a strainer or sprout bag to remove the pulp. Save the pulp for nut patties or cookies. You might also like to blanch the almonds. This is wonderful, alkaline, fresh milk. I personally do not strain the milk. You can use any soaked nuts or seeds to make this milk,

For sweet milk, add:

1 tablespoon non-alcoholic vanilla extract
2 tablespoon raw honey (agave nectar, maple syrup, or 2 medjool dates, pitted can be substituted for the raw honey)

 

Veggie Bowl with Sesame Seed Yogurt

Sesame Seed Yogurt

1 cup un-hulled sesame seeds, soaked 10 to 12 hours, and drained; or dry seeds
ground in coffee grinder
1 organic lemon, thinly peeled and quartered, seeds removed
1 pinch Celtic sea salt
3 cups spring water
1 tablespoon agave nectar; or maple syrup; or 2 medjol dates

Blend in a high-powered blender until smooth.
Yields 4 cups. Yogurt will store in your refrigerator for up to two day

Veggie bowl

1 cup grated beets
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrots
2 tablespoons raisins, soaked for 1 hour
1 apple or pear, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries or any berries in season
1 cup sunflower sprouts, chopped for garnish

In a bowl, place a 1/4 cup of each of the veggies (or amount desired) ¼ of the apple or pear, mix in the raisins and garnish with chopped sunflower sprouts. Cover with seed yogurt and serve.
Serves 4

This incredible recipe is from the book: RAW FOOD real world, by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart with Vanilla Cream

Makes one 9-inch tart, about 12 servings

Ganache, in traditional pastry terminology, refers to a mixture of cream and melted chocolate, sometimes tempered with butter. Using coconut butter instead, this version goes from artery clogging to heart healthy. You can substitute raw carob powder for the cocoa to make a carob tart, which is also good. However, we don’t recommend substituting agave for the maple syrup in this dessert – it won’t come out quite right. So if you are a more vigilant sort of raw foodist, you might want to leave this one out of your repertoire, but you’ll be missing out!

Keep the tart chilled until serving - if you let it sit out at room temperature too long it will soften and start to melt, especially in warmer weather.

This rich tart, a creation of Debbie Lee, the opening pastry chef at the restaurant, tastes almost sinful. It will rival any chocolate cake you have eaten.

For the tart crust:
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup fine almond flour (see instructions below)
1/2 cup maple syrup powder or 3/4 cup syrup boiled down to 1/2 cup
1/4 cup coconut butter
Pinch of sea salt
In a food processor, using the S blade, mix all the crust ingredients until thoroughly combined into a dough. You can do this by hand as well using a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Press the dough evenly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour or more.

The ganache filling:
21/4 cups cocoa powder
21/4 cups coconut butter
blend all of the filling ingredients in a blender until smooth. Taste the ganache to make sure it’s not grainy. If it is, continue blending further until completely smooth. Pour into the chilled tart crust. Lightly lift and drop the pan onto the counter to release any air bubbles. Place in the refrigerator to chill and set at least 3 hours.

For vanilla cream:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours or more
1 cup coconut meat
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup coconut butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 additional teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender, blend all the vanilla cream ingredients until completely smooth. Transfer to a separate container and refrigerate to chill and set, 2 hours or more. This will make a firm, scoopable cream. For a slightly softer cream, use half the amount of coconut butter.

For serving:
1• Use a chef’s knife to cut the tart in half. It helps to run the knife under hot water, and then dry it with a towel between cuts in order to cut more smoothly. Cut each half in half again and each quarter into 3 pieces for 12 evenly sized slices.

2• Top each slice with a spoonful of vanilla cream.