Cucumber radish salad

Servings: 5

This is a slightly altered version of the traditional Hungarian cucumber salad. My grandmother used to make it every Sunday for the whole family and I learnt it from her. Originally it is prepared with vinegar instead of lemon juice and vithout radishes, and served with a dollop of fresh sour cream on top.

Ingredients:

3 snake cucumbers (you know those really long ones)
10-12 small radishes
1 tablespoon sea salt

for the dressing:
juice of a large lemon (use the zest as well if you like - I usually do)
2 large cloves of garlic crushed
extra virgin olive oil to taste
pink Himalayan salt to taste
1 level teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika (ground sweet red peppers)
a bit or freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of cayenne
1 teaspoon agave syrup to balance the taste

Preparation:

Wash the cucumbers and cut the ends down as they tend to be very bitter.
Slice them thinly (1mm thick slices) and layer the slices with sea salt in a large colander. Place it in your kitchen sink or in a larger dish and let it sit for about 1 hour (may be longer). You will see loads of liquid coming out the cukes. Rinse them thoroughly (you don't want all that salt ending up in your salad) and squeeze as much liquid out as possible.
Mix the cucumber with the similarly thinly sliced radishes in a bowl.
Prepare your dressing: juice the lemon and mix it with all the other ingredients. Use the lemon zest if you like - it gives a nice kick to the salad.
Mix the dressing with your greens and taste it again to see if it needs anything else.
Put it in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Enjoy!

Fudge bon bons

Servings:

about 6 little bon bons

YUMMY little balls of delight. Great for a quick chocolate fix. Indeed, I prepared these spontaneously while on a chocolate craving kick. So, this is a trusty rusty quick chocolate craving-appeaser!

Ingredients:

1/2 an avocado
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp coconut oil
a mixture of cacao powder and carob powder, to taste (i used 2 tbsp of each because i love me some chocolate fudginess!)
a couple squirts of agave
a splash of maple syrup
a sprinkle of cacao nibs
a handful of coconut flakes
a pinch of maca

Preparation:

Mix everything together. I mashed it up with a spoon but I'm sure you could use a food processor. But it worked with a spoon and I'd rather wash a bowl and spoon than a food processor :)

Roll into little balls and dust with coconut flakes that have been ground up in a coffee grinder.

Decadent Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of cashew pieces. (soak them for 4 or 5 hours)
* 1/4 cup of packed, pitted dates cut in half. (soak for 30 minutes )
* 1/2 cup of reserve water from soaking the dates
* 1 1/4 cups of pitted and coarsely chopped fresh cherries
* 1 cup of firm young Thai coconut meat (I used one large coconut)
* 1 cup of coconut water
* 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of agave syrup
* 1 scraped vanilla bean
* 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (or 2 vanilla beans)
* 2 pinches of sea salt
* 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
* 1 capful of cherry extract (Boyajian brand)
* 2-3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder

Add all the ingredients into the Vitamix and blend until smooth. Pour into a container and chill in the fridge until nice and cold (several hours or overnight).

Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker (according to the manufacturer’s directions). It takes about 30 minutes to reach a nice soft serve consistency. Stick ice cream into the freezer for a couple hours for a firmer texture that you can scoop with an ice cream scooper.

Quicker Than Instant Chocolate Pudding

Servings: 4-6

They (I don’t care who!) say it is beneficial to eat a little dark chocolate every day, so here is my “go to” recipe when the need for something chocolatey arises. A Vitamix will allow you to whip up this delectable dessert in less than 1 minute, but if you haven’t made the investment in this powerful machine yet, any high speed blender or food processor will do. I know there are many pudding recipes out there but what makes this recipe so unique is the Grade B maple syrup. Although agave and other grades of syrup will work, Grade B maple syrup gives the pudding a richer, almost caramel-like, flavor. Prepare to be amazed!

Ingredients:

2 medium avocados (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
2 Tablespoons filtered water*
2 Tablespoons chocolate powder*
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation:

Remove avocado pits and scoop avocado into Vitamix or your preferred blender/food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend. This pudding freezes well. Just thaw, stir, and serve.

Vegan Tabouleh

Servings: 2-4

I made this to go with tonight's dinner using a carrot instead of bulgur wheat or quinoa for the starch.

I made the whole thing in my food processor and it took me about 8 minutes including cleaning the machine. Now it's chillin in the fridge and will be ready for dinner or lunch or a snack, in a wrap or on top of a green salad.

Ingredients:

1 carrot
3 leaves curly kale
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
2 roma tomatoes
juice of one half lemon, about 2 tbs

Preparation:

Process ingredient separately and then mix together in a large bowl. Chill and serve.

1 carrot in the FP with S-blade. Chop until it's about the size of rice. Transfer to large bowl and set aside.

3 leaves curly kale
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
in FP with S-blade. Chop until shredded and put it with the carrots

2 roma tomatoes in FP with S-blade and chop until bite sized. Careful not to over process or you will have tomato sauce. You want nice chunks.

Add the juice of one half lemon, about 2 tbs and stir well.