Wednesday, March 21, 2012

"Risotto" with Cherry Tomatoes, Black Olives and Jalapeno Cheeze

Spring is here! The flowers and trees are blooming and the air in Georgia looks like a yellow fog right now. OK, maybe that's an a bit of an exaggeration. It certainly feels like that! The pollen count is reaching record highs. Our temperatures, unusually high for this time of year, have been in the 80's. Here at our house some of us are doing a little sneezing. Honestly I am shocked that our allergies are not more severe. I think all the raw food is equipping our immune systems to handle all the allergens better than usual. I work at an Herb Shop as a herbal educator http://www.georgiaherbshop.com/ and we are seeing lots of folks come in to find natural remedies for their allergies. There are many, many things you can do herbally, but your first line of defense is a healthy diet. The Herb Shop will be having a class explaining how to combat and prevent allergies naturally this coming Sunday March 25th at 5:30 p.m. http://georgiaherbshop.com/georgia-herb-shop-events/abundant-health-classes/. The class is FREE! So if you are here in Georgia, near Atlanta, plan to attend. You will learn a lot!

So on to tonight's recipe. This recipe has been adapted from Ani Phyo's recipe in Ani's Raw Food Essentials. Tonight we experienced a raw dish that is designed to look like Risotto. It absolutely looks like Risotto as you can see from the picture below!



Looks can be deceiving. One should never expect raw food meals to taste like cooked ones.
Sometimes they are much better than cooked food and sometimes not. This one was no Risotto! I am a little spoiled. I have had and have prepared very good risotto. So I might have had my expectations a little high considering this particular dish.

Don't get me wrong this dish in and of it's self was good. My husband said it would be an excellent raw sandwich spread or perhaps a dip. I would agree with that completely. It was tasty but we broke out the carrot sticks and pita chips because the taste was slightly overpowering by itself. It almost tasted and had texture like chicken salad. Very interesting.

So here is the recipe:

Risotto With Cherry Tomatoes, Black Olives, and Jalapeno Cheeze

First prepare "Raw Sushi Recipe"
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced turnips
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar

In a food processor, combine the turnips, pine nuts and salt. Process into "rice-size" pieces. Add the vinegar and pulse gently to mix. I did end up adding a little purified water to help it combine better. I few teaspoons.

Next prepare one recipe of Jalapeno Cheeze by processing:

1 clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
2 cups of soaked sunflower seeds
the juice of one lemon
1/2 cup water,  or as needed to process
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

Next, slice 1 cup of cherry tomatoes in halves. Now mix the "rice", the "cheeze" the and tomatoes well. Top with black olives and enjoy.





Rawmometer Rating "3"
Husband, "Wasn't quite what I expected. Good for a dip or sandwich spread."
Oldest Son, "Better on bread mom, not by itself."
Oldest Daughter, "Not my favorite, but not bad."
Youngest Son, "Alright."
Youngest Daughter, "This is great!" (go figure, LOL)



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