Category: Raw - Wholesome Chef Mici

Wholesome Chef Mici

Marinated Strawberries

5/16/2018

It's Strawberry Season!!!!

Oh I just love fresh, sweet strawberries, don't you!? My mom used to marinate them in sugar and put them over sponge cake with fresh whipped cream. I think they are good all by themselves! But feel free to put them on pancakes, ice cream, cake, etc...

Strawberries have a strong sour undertone that is balanced by a little sweet. The honey, sugar, or maple with break them down into a lovely syrup. Please pick wisely the type of sugar you use. Cane sugar is a good preserver, but lowers the immune system and leaches minerals from our bones and teeth making us weak. There are plenty of other options for sweet. Do the one that works for you. I'm a honey girl!

16 oz. Fresh Strawberries
1-2 Tbs. Honey or: coconut sugar, date sugar, maple syrup, maple sugar, birch xylitol, date syrup....

Wash and sanitize your berries.

Cut them in slices and add your sweetener to taste.

Stir or toss.

Refrigerate overnight.

It makes a nice syrup.

Enjoy!

Japanese Ginger Dressing

5/25/2017

2 Tbs. Onion
2 Tbs. Fresh Ginger Root, (peeled)
2 Tbs. Celery
1 Tbs. Ketchup
4 Tbs. GF Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. Ume Vinegar (or salt to taste and increase lemon by 1 tsp.)
1-2 tsp. Honey
3 drops Stevia
1/3 cup Rice vinegar
1/2 cup light sesame oil or other light oil of choice
2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Oil

One of things I loved when I used to eat out was the ginger dressing you would get on your salad when you ordered at a Japanese restaurant. Pungent and a little sweet. I found the right combinations with wholesome ingredients to make it just like the real thing.

This dressing is on the sweet side, so adjust to your taste.

Gather your ingredients, there are a lot!

Peel your ginger and cut horizontally to break the fibers into small pieces. This helps make for a smoother dressing. Sometimes the blender will not do the job and there will be ginger stings in your final product.

Blend it all up until smooth.

Store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Carrot Cake Truffles

4/19/2017

2 cups Nuts ( I used part Walnut and part Pecan)
1 cup Madjool Dates 8-10
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Apple Pie Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, all spice mix)
Pinch of Sea Salt
4 drops of Stevia
3 cups Carrot, finely grated
3/4 cup Almond butter
1-2 tbs. Honey or Maple syrup
Almond flour as needed (about 3/4-1 cup)

Cocoa powder or shredded coconut for rolling

My Birthday often fell at Easter growing up and my mom loved to make me a carrot cake shaped like a lamb. So since this year my birthday was a few days before Easter, again, I thought I'd come up with something different that mimicked my mom's idea.

The dessert name "truffle" derives from their traditional shape, which resembles the truffle mushroom. You can roll them in cocoa powder or nuts of choice. Theses carrot ones are mildly sweet with a hint of warm spices. Raw and Vegan. I keep them in the freezer and pull them out a few hours before guests arrive for a quick and delicious snack to serve. Super satisfying.

Makes 40-60 truffles depending on size you roll them into.

Blend your nuts in a food processor until fine.
Add your dates ( I find chopping the dates first, to be helpful on the processor.)

Finely grate your carrot and add all ingredients -minus the almond flour- to the food processor and blend till smooth.

Place mixture in a bowl.

Add enough almond flour to make the "batter" rollable. The amount will depend on many factors like how wet your dates or carrots are or which nuts you use or how oily your almond butter is.

Roll in shredded coconut...

Or cocoa powder.

You can melt chocolate chips and dip your truffles, but I find all that unnecessary. I'm not a big chocolate lover, but please do, if that pleases you.

~Happy Easter!

Raw Mint Macaroons

4/11/2017

Spring is here, and the mint in my garden is happy and abundant! It inspired me to make mint macaroons. You can make these with or without cocoa. The two versions with the same procedures are to follow. Light and not too sweet. Just right.

Makes 20-25 small (1 tbs.) cookies

Chocolate Mint Macaroon: White Mint Macaroon:
1 cup Blanched Almond Flour   1 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut 1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Vanilla   1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3 drops Stevia 3 drops Stevia
1/2 cup Duch Process Cocoa Powder 4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted
4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted 2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup
2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup 1/2 tsp. Mint extract
1/2 tsp. Mint extract 1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped
1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped   1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips
1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips

Place all your ingredients in a bowl.

If you can find the mini chocolate chips, they look the best since this cookie is on the small side.

If making the white mint cookies, wash and finely chop your mint. Then add to the mixture.

Mix everything with a spoon until well combined. You want the "dough" to be slighty wet but also sticky.

If you squeeze some of it, it needs to make a loose ball.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Wet an ice-cream scoop or spoon so the "dough" doesn't stick to it. Then scoop and pat the mixture in tight. Tap the side of the spoon and it should slide right out.

Let it set up in the fridge for an hour (or freezer for 20min). Store in a glass container in the fridge.

Great for a light dessert after a heavy dinner.

Minty goodness!

Vegan Caesar Dressing

8/4/2016

Who doesn't love Caesar Salad? I gave it up 20 years ago because of the dairy, but now its back!!! I think I've had it every day for weeks now trying to make up for lost time!

Ingredients:
1 cup Hemp Seeds
1 cup Pine Nuts
1 Tbs. Umeboshi vinegar
1/3 cup Lemon juice
1/2 cup Olive oil
4 drops of Stevia
1/2 sheet of Nori
2 tbs. Capers
1-2 Tbs. Fresh Jalapeños
1-2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup Water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lightly toast your pine nuts.

Blend all together in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Add GF Croutons and fresh ground pepper to taste. Super YUM!!!!

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Pie

7/30/2016

It's summer! Had to think up a fun snack for some Vegan clients of mine. Their kids love peanut butter, but this could easily be any nut butter you prefer. I like to serve it on a hot day directly out of the freezer for added coolness, but texture is wonderful out of the fridge, too. Happy no-baking! Keep cool....

Crust ingredients:
6-8 Madjool Dates, soaked 1 hour
3/4 cup Raw Almonds
1/2 cup Raw Walnuts
Salt
Optional: 3 Tbs. Raw Cocoa powder

Filling:
1/2 cup Grape juice
1 tsp Agar agar or grass fed gelatin
1 can High fat Coconut cream (like 15% or higher)
1 cup Nut butter of choice
1/4 cup of sweetener of choice (I used honey but maple or date, etc would be fine)
4 drops of Stevia
1 tsp. Vanilla
pinch of Sea Salt
2 Tbs. Coconut oil, at liquid temp.

Make your crust. Fist blend your nuts into a powder in a food processor. Then strain and chop your dates. Add enough to make a sticky pliable crust to pat into a pan.

Pat your crust into a pan. I used a 9"

If you have leftover crust, it makes nice snacks. Just roll into a log and cut into bite sized pieces. Wrap in parchment paper. See here for more instructions...

Bring your apple juice and agar (or gelatin) to a boil for 3-5 min until dissolved.

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and place in the fridge or freezer to start the stiffening process.

When you can see that the filling is stiffening due to the gelding, not freezing, then take it out and mix it smooth with a whisk.

Then pour into your pie pan and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set up.

If you'd like to make a ganache topping, you can prep that now. It's great drizzled on top or as a chocolate layer on top.

This is how it looks when set up. Easy to cut, but soft.

YUMmmmmmm!!!

Raw Nut Bars

4/3/2016

This is a great way to use up any extra raw crust when making tarts. They are a fun snack that you can make in a rainbow of flavors using dried fruit mixed with your choice of nuts and seeds. Adding things like cocoa powder or other nutritious powders to change the outcome. Have fun and make it just right for you!

Leftover Raw Tart Crust or start from scratch:
1 cup soft nut like walnuts, cashews, etc
1 cup hard nut like almonds
6-8 Dried fruit like Dates (Madjool is best) or any other you like
Sea Salt

Optional:
Vanilla or other extract
1 Tbs. cocoa powder or other nutritional powder you like
1 tsp. sweetener, to taste if needed (chocolate can be very bitter!)

Ok... Let's start with the quality of your dried fruit. Some can get mighty dry over time. Almost turning into sugar. If you have a really dry dried fruit, then you will need to pre-soak or hot soak them so they do what they are intended to do.

If they are plump, just use as many as you need to to make the bars sticky.

Soak your fruit over night if you have the time, or cut in half, take out seeds if they have them, and let soak 5-10 min in hot water.

Then drain and chop them into small pieces.

As stated above, Be creative. You don't have to use dates. It could be dried mango or berries...

What ever suits your fancy.

In a food processor, finely chop your nuts into a crunchy consistency. Then add vanilla, dried fruit and salt.

This is the stickiness you need. It should be able to hold together so you can roll it into a bar.

Add any protien powders, maca or cocoa to your mix. You may need additional sweeteners, as well, if using a powder that is bitter.

Here I am using cocoa powder in leftover crust from a tart.

Blend again, quickly to incorporate.

Take a handful of the mixture and roll into a bite sized piece.

Wrap in parchment paper, twisting the sides like a candy wrapper.

Store in the fridge.

Pitaya Smoothie

11/27/2015

Pitaya (also known as Dragon Fruit) is a low glycemic fruit with high fiber from Central America. I have a favorite smoothie at the local juice stop that I've been trying to replicate. It's been difficult because one of their main ingredients is passionfruit juice. Not easy to make or find. I substituted grape and lime. It's almost the same amount of wonderful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Serves well as a smoothie or make a bowl with added fruit and nuts. ~Serves 1

Just love that Magenta color, don't you?

1 package 3.5oz Frozen Pitaya fruit
1/4 cup Organic frozen strawberries
1/4 cup Organic frozen pineapple (best if you let the fruit ripen yourself and then freeze to be sure its nice and sweet)
1/2 Juicy lime, juiced
1/2 cup Purple grape juice (or more as needed)
2 drops Stevia

Dragon fruit comes in many colors, but you can usually find it in a 4 pack of the purple 3.5oz bags in the freezer section of your local health food store.

Or get one fresh from the market, when in season.

Place all in a blender and blend smooth. Add a little more juice if needed to make it just the right consistency.

What a yummy snack or fun treat when friends come over!

Raw Coconut Chia Pudding

4/9/2015

So I started a cleanse this week, the master cleanse to be exact. (Spring is a super time for cleansing) It was a 3 day process to get into it, starting with an all raw day (or living food day some call it). So I made an array of raw dishes with my favorite simple dessert: chia pudding. I added just one ingredient that I don't usually add, which made it worthy to post. Living food days are a great way to help keep your intestines clean and adds that vegetable power back into your diet that a busy lifestyle can sometimes overlook. This is the basic recipe with some optional additions to change the flavor to suite your fancy.

VANILLA RECIPE:
1 can of full fat Coconut milk (13.5 oz)
1/3 cup of Chia seeds
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
4 drops Stevia
1 pinch of Sea Salt
2-3 Tbs. Date syrup or maple or honey (whatever suites you)

CHOCOLATE:
Same as Vanilla recipe but add:
Pinch of Cinnamon
2-3 Tbs. Cocoa powder (I prefer dutch processed over raw)
Or for a richer pudding, melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in lieu of the cocoa powder

***Optional: For Chocolate mint add: 5-8 drops of peppermint extract to taste.

COCONUT:
This is my favorite way!!!
Same as the Vanilla recipe but add:
4-5 drops of Coconut extract
3 drops of Almond extract

Garnish with toasted Coconut

FRUITY:
Same as Vanilla recipe but add:
2-3 Tbs. All fruit Jam of choice
And garnish with fresh Fruit!

Mix all in a large bowl. Let set for 1/2-1 hour Stiring occasionally to make sure it doesn't clump. Enjoy!

If there's any left, store it in the fridge. Will thicken upon cooling as coconut milk has saturated fats in it. Heart healthy fats!

Marinated Beets

1/6/2014

I used to really dislike the earthy taste of beets. I've learned to love them by making them sweet from broiling, juicing and marinating them. If you don't like beets, think again. Try them in a new way with new eyes for this new year.

1 large beet
2 tsp. Ume Vinegar or 1 tsp. Sea Salt
1-2 tbs. Red wine vinegar or favorite of choice
2 tbs. Olive or Avocado Oil

Wash and peel your beets. I like to do it in running water.

Then grate them on a fine setting. The finer the sweeter they will be. I use the sink for easy cleanup. Beets can be messy. Try wetting your hands first so the red doesn't stick to you like glue.

Pour in your oil, vinegar, and salt. Let set for 15+ minutes. The hardest part about this dish is the grating. If you have an electric grater, go for it, but they never seem to have the settings to make it fine enough.

Enjoy on top of salad or as a side dish of its own.

Author

Mici is the owner of Wholesome Goodness.

These recipes are focused on wholesome ingredients from the garden or farm with very little sweet if any. They are gluten or grain free and organic, grass-fed or pasture raised.

She menu plans, shops, cooks, cleans and fills the fridge with healthy Gluten-Free meals and naturally sweet desserts!

She also teaches and does personal menu planning for those with restricted diets.

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"I have been richly blessed by Mici’s healing presence in my life. As a facilitator of personal transformation, her passion and dedication to serving others is evident. I have grown tremendously from her gifted use of emotional healing work, nutritional counseling, culinary artistry and organizational skills. She unfailingly demonstrates the highest efficiency and effectiveness, true strength of character, wisdom reaching well beyond her years and a generous heart of gold."

~Gabriella B.