Raw Teriyaki Cashew Stir-Fry

It is the first day of my raw food cleanse and so far so good but not drinking on New Years... now that effing sucked.  You can hear more about it in my video blog that will be posted this evening. Started the day with a banana with almond butter, then had a basket of strawberries as a snack and then for lunch  I made the delightful stir-fry pictured above.  This is a top of the line raw recipe that anyone can appreciate.  It is super easy and I am considering never cooking my stir-fry's again... but I will not be giving up my brown rice!  You can use whatever vegetables you like for this recipe but I highly recommend using a lot of mushrooms, they really soak of the sauce and add a nice meaty texture.

I am on the hunt for some good raw food recipes so if you have any please share:)

Raw Teriyaki Cashew Stir-Fry

Teriyaki Sauce:
3 tablespoons nama shoyu ( I used Braggs)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic
1 inch of ginger peeled
2-3 dates depending on how sweet you like your sauce
1/4 cup water

Stir-Fry
1 1/2 sliced mushrooms
1 cup bell pepper cut into thin 1 inch pieces (I used red and orange but any color will work)
2 cups of chopped bok choy
2 cups of broccoli cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 carrots sliced thinly
3/4 cups raw cashews
other veggie possibilities: asparagus, snow peas, green onion, onion, zuchinni, cabbage or whatever you want....

1.  To make sauce add all ingredients into a blender and blend until a creamy sauce is formed.

2.  Place all chopped vegetables in a bowl and top with the teriyaki sauce and let marinade at room temperature for at least 1/2 hour and it is ready to eat.  The longer the sauce sits with the vegetables the better it will taste, I would recommend letting it marinate for 2-3 hours at room temperature to really let the vegetables soak up the flavor.

Raw Carrot Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Frosting

In spite of the normal disgraceful holiday binging I have been participating in I am still trying to gear up for my New Years raw food cleanse and juice fast which is why I came up with these delicious little suckers.  They are hella easy to make and hella easy to eat like ten of them so watch out.  I am slowly becoming obsessed with raw desserts which is awesome because they are healthy and uber easy, the only thing that sucks is I have like the tiniest food processor (if you gots a food processor laying around collecting dust holla).  Keep yourself posted because I will be pouring my heart out to the world throughout my cleanse and the remainder of my weight loss journey via vlog which should be interesting.

Raw Carrot Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups carrots finely shredded
2 cups raw walnuts
3/4 cups raisins (I used golden)
1/2 cup raw shredded coconut
1/4 cup agave
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (coconut oil can be melted by putting the jar in a bowl of hot water)
1/2 teaspoon salt

1.  Blend walnuts in the food processor until a powder consistency forms then add raisins, coconut and salt and to food processor and mix until the raisins are blended in smoothly with all other ingredients.  Place the walnut mixture into a bowl and add carrots and agave and mix with your hands.  The cake can be formed into pretty much any shape.  I used an espresso cup lined with saran wrap to make mini-cupcake looking things.  Top with Cashew Cream Frosting...


Cashew Cream Frosting

1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup agave
water
pinch of salt

1.  Place the cashews agave and salt in a blender and add water just until the cashews are covered and blend.  If mixture is too thick add water 1 tablespoon at a time until it easily blends.  Add to dessert of your choice.

Eggplant Parm with Cashew Cheese over Pesto Spaghetti Squash

I know what you are thinking, where the eff did this crispy picture come from?!  Well, I gots myself a real camera, no more crappy crackberry pics for me! :)  This is a true Vegan Beezie original I came up with today.  It is a mix between a couple of dishes I have whipped up in the past.  The idea for this dish came to me as I was riding home from the YMCA with a backpack full of donated food I stole (with permission) which included basil, slider buns, and pizza dough (slider and pizza recipes soon to come).  I decided to make a dish out of the basil since the other two items freeze well and since I'm trying to kick-up my whole foods intake this recipe seemed like a good way to do it.  It seems like a lot of work if your a lazy ass like me but if your funemployed like me you can still be a lazy ass and make awesome dishes like this.  All joking aside this recipe is totally awesome and I totally suggest you give it a try.  I will leave some possible shortcuts at the end for those of you with lives.

The Squash

1 large spaghetti squash split in half and innards removed
olive oil
salt

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Rub olive oil on the cut side of the squash and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt.  Place squash on a baking sheet cut side down and bake for 30-40 minutes until you can easily stick a fork in it.

2.  Once squash is complete scrape the "meat" out with a fork as to create a spaghetti pasta like consistency. See picture below...

While the squash is baking you can prepare the rest of the recipe...

Eggplant Parm

1 large eggplant sliced into 1/4 inch circles
salt
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings

salt and pepper
olive oil

1.  Begin by covering the eggplant with a generous amount of salt and let stand for 30 minutes for the water to begin to be pulled from the eggplant.  This is a very important step when making any kind of eggplant.  If your eggplant usually sucks it is probably because you are skipping this step, don't skip it!!! (while eggplant is standing make your cashew cheese and pesto)

2.  Once 30 minutes is up thoroughly rinse salt from the eggplant and prepare yourself for some serious assembly line dipping.  Place soy milk, flour and bread crumbs in shallow bowls or plates or anything that you can easily dip the eggplant into to.  Mix the garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper into the bread crumbs and your ready to begin dipping.  First dip eggplant into the flour till it is evenly coated, then the soy milk, then the bread crumb mixture.

3.  Once eggplant is covered in the bread crumbs place on a baking sheet that has a generous layer of olive oil and repeat the dipping until all eggplant has been covered.  Once the spaghetti squash is done bring the oven up to 425 degrees and throw the eggplant in for about 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides.

Pesto

2 cups loosely packed basil
1/2 cup of walnut halves
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1.  Place all ingredients in your blender or food processor and blend until a nice sauce forms.

Cashew Cheese

1 cup raw cashews
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until a smooth cream is formed.  I put my finished cashew cheese in a cleaned out agave container for easy presentation and storage.  See picture below.

Finishing off the dish

Mix the pesto in with the spaghetti squash, you can add some veggies to the spaghetti squash at this time if you wish, I added tomato and spinach to mine but you can add anything or nothing.  Other ideas for veggies that would work are mushrooms, bell pepper, onion or asparagus (cooked or raw).  Place a big plop of the pesto squash on a plate, lean 3-4 eggplant slices on the squash and finish with cashew cheese.

Some possible shortcuts you could do would be to use store bought vegan pesto instead of homemade or vegan cheese that you melt onto the eggplant instead of cashew cheese.

Note: All recipes in this post are very versatile and can easily be adapted to other recipes.  I put the cashew cheese on like everything these days, pizza, tacos, pasta, crackers... the possibilities are endless. Obviously the pesto can go on a ton of things, the spaghetti squash can be used in place of pasta in any dish and the eggplant can go on sandwiches, pizza or anything you can think of.  Be creative and have fun!!!!
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