Repost from my raw food archive. I can’t wait to make this pate again.

A trip to the farmer’s market in L.A. was planned with the hope that I would find different varieties of artichokes but circumstance wouldn’t allow me to get there before they closed so my sister came to the rescue.

Normally she doesn’t shop for fresh artichokes so I gave her instructions [from what I’ve learned] on how to choose a fresh young artichoke. A girl on a mission, she visited two farmer’s markets and even stopped by Whole Foods and when the search was over she ended up with a bag of standard green globe artichokes – two large, four medium, and eight babies [baby artichokes that is].

She warned me that some of the artichokes were prickly. Some varities do have thorns on the tip of their petals and others don’t. There was one particularly devious artichoke that got me a couple times. If you take a close look at the above photo, on either artichoke, you will see on the tip of the petals a brown thorn. That is what you should beware of so handle with care when an artichoke sports thorns.

Artichokes are not impossible to work with but, work is required to get at the prized heart, which is what I was after to make this recipe. My sense of adventure didn’t waver after trimming, peeling, and sometimes tugging the petal of ten artichokes. Let’s just say I needed the practice at getting to the heart of the matter.

I sampled a couple pieces of the fresh raw artichoke hearts. It has a mild taste with a faint nutty flavor [at least this is what my taste buds told me]. I had a few recipe options but preferred the simplest of them since all the work went into excavating all those artichoke hearts.

Artichoke Paté

Embellish on this paté by adding any one or a combination of these ingredients: capers, chopped celery, cucumbers or bell peppers, shredded carrots, or add a little heat with a sprinkle of cayenne or some jalapeno or other hot peppers.

Combine all the ingredients in a food process. Process and the scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to process. Repeat until the mixture is at the desired consistency for the paté. Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

This recipe is best served fresh but can keep a coupe days in the refrigerator. Bring this paté to room temperature when ready to serve.

Serving Suggestions

* Spread on dehydrated crackers.
* Spread on leafy greens with your choice of toppings and fold to make a sandwich. I made a one using romaine hearts, spread the paté on the leaf and topped with sliced cherry tomatoes ~ fresh and delicious.
* Stuff into fresh mushroom caps, cherry tomatoes, or celery stalks.
* Try it as a dip with assorted veggies like carrots and cucumbers.
* Scoop on a bed of mixed salad greens for the first course of a meal.

I bought a bunch of carrots over a week ago and knew it was high time to use them up before they start to turn bad. At first glance, all the carrots still were good looking – bright orange in color. But it was on second glance that I noticed these carrots were starting to take a turn for the worst. I chopped off the top and bottom tip of each carrot. Armed with my peeler I stripped away the outer skin/layer, then set the prepped carrots aside and gathered the other ingredients.

The destiny of these carrots is nothing too complicated. It’s matter of shredding the carrots and joining it with mediterranean inspired ingredients and flavors, and wrapping them in big beautiful leafy collard greens.

Beautiful colors! The pop of vibrant orange in the center if the pretty leafy green looks beautiful. This is a light yet hearty meal. It doesn’t take too many of these tasty wraps to fill you up.

Speaking of wraps, I don’t know how skilled you might be at using collard greens as wraps, but sometimes I’m just all thumbs when it comes to getting the collards to wrap up nice and neat. Then other times there’s no problem, they roll and wrap perfectly. I say the more practice the better, and it’s a great excuse to make these again and again. Also the right amount of filling in proportion to the size of the leaf plays an important part. If presentation isn’t a major concern, filling the collar and folding it like a taco works.

Shredded Mediterranean Carrots Wrapped in Collard Greens

I will use white, yellow, or purple carrots the next time I come across them. If you don’t have dried currents on hand, substitute with more raisins. The Mediterranean carrots stand alone as a delicious and savory carrot salad or side dish.

Using a shredder attachment, shred the carrots in a food processor or use a handheld shredder. Combine shredded carrots and all ingredients, except the collard greens halves, in a large bowl. Stir and toss to combine well and set aside until ready to wrap. Can make ahead. Keeps refrigerated up to 2 days.

Assemble
Take one half collard leaf, spoon carrot filling in the center, folder over the outer edge, take one end of the leaf and fold it in, and roll to the other end. Plate and garnish with fresh dill sprigs or lemon slices. Enjoy!

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This was lunch today. There was some advance prep work done so making these wasn’t too time consuming. I made the “raw” jicama rice three days earlier, and this morning I marinated the shiitake mushrooms. Mmm, I just love the rich woody flavor and meaty texture of these mushrooms.

When it was almost time for lunch, I started gathering the goodies. I pulled the jicama rice from the fridge to bring it to room temperature, and then about a half hour later had fun making…

Shiitake Sushi

Rice
3 medium jicama, peeled, roughly chopped

Process chopped jicama in a food processor until it resembles small gains of rice. Squeeze out most of the excess liquid with clean hands or a cheesecloth.

Marinated mushrooms

3.5 ozs shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

Stir together the soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, and ginger. Add the mushrooms and coat with the marinate. Marinate at least an hour. Slice larger mushrooms into approximately 1-inch strips.

Nori Squares
1 sheet untoasted raw nori [I used Maine Coast Sea Vegetable], cut into bit-sized squares

Take a sheet of untoasted nori and cut with a serrated knife [I used my Kyocera serrated ceramic knife] to cut along the perferations on the sheet. There should be seven nori strips, but I only use the five inner strips, saving the 2 outer strips for another use. Stacked the nori stripe atop each other, picked up the stack, fold it over and cut it in half at the fold with a pair of kitchen scissors. Fold the cut stack in half and cut in half. You should have 20 squares, approximately 1 1/2 inches.

1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
small piece fresh ginger, finely grated
fresh chives, cut in half

Assembly

Shape the jicama rice into small bite-sized squares and place on a nori square. Top the rice with a slice or two of avocado, then a pinch of grated ginger, and then a slice or two marinated mushrooms. Garnish with fresh chives.

Makes about 20 pieces

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This treat is ridiculously simple to make, yet it is absolutely elegant. Whole pears + raw chocolate = a winning combination.

Serve these decadent pairs as a snack or dessert. It’s like a spin on candied apples. On that note, chopped hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, almonds, even raisin, goji berries, currents, sunflower or chai seeds would dress these up nicely if you want to add something extra.

The pears shown in the image above are juicy bartlett pears, but any variety of pear would work just fine. I will try the lovely Beurre Bosc pears next time. In fact, there are two I’m looking at in the fruit bowl and they sure look like they are begging to be dipped in chocolate.

Chocolate Sauce

This chocolate sauce recipe is taken from the chocolate sauce recipe I featured in Cacao :: Herb of the Month, and doubled.
Make this sauce ahead; keeps refrigerated up to two weeks.

Remove any labels, like the organic stickers, from each pear and rinse the pears with water. Chill pears in the refrigerator for about an hour. Meantime make the cacao sauce dip.

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.

Makes 3/4 cups

Cover the pears with chocolate

Pour the chocolate sauce into a bowl that is deep enough to submerge a pear. Slice off the bottom to create a flat even surface. Take each pears by its stem and dip it into the bowl of chocolate covering as much of the pear with chocolate as desired, then place the pear on a small plate and allowing the excess chocolate to run onto the plate creating a pool off chocolate.

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I absolutely love pesto. When I veer from the traditional tried and true pesto recipe, I like to experiment with different ingredients and flavor combinations. For this pesto recipe I added a little bit of Provence. The star ingredient: Herbs de Provence.

You can serve pesto many ways: toss it with raw zucchini pasta, as a dip with veggies or raw crackers, as a sauce for raw pizza, or as a spread for a raw sandwich or wrap. Another option is to use pesto as a stuffing. Herbs de Provence pesto found a home inside the shell of mini sweet peppers. The crunch of these peppers paired with the savory richness of the pesto make a great crowd pleasing appetizer, and another good thing, it is so simple to make.

Mini Sweet Peppers Stuffed with Herbs de Provence Pesto

The pesto will keep stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to one week. It can also be frozen and stored for up to one month.

Herbs de Provence Pesto

Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Yield 4 1/2 cups

Assemble

Cut off the tops of each mini sweet pepper. Remove the peppers core and seeds, and stuff with pesto. Serve right away or arrange on a platter, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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I haven’t made kebabs, or shish kebabs, of any sort for a while, so when I found my bamboo skewers [they had made their way to the back of the drawer temporarily lost in darkness], I got inspired to make fruit kebabs.

Any combination of fresh fruits would make a great kebab. I used blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, and banana. The colors are gorgeous. Speaking of color, you could go with a theme like red, white, and blue [strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas], or an all berry kebab, or a tropical theme kebab sprinkled with shredded coconut.

Getting everyone involved in making their own kebabs is a fun idea; this way they can thread the skewer with chunks and pieces of the fruits they like the most. Prep an assortment of fruit and place each fruit in individual bowls. Arrange the bowls of fruit and dipping cream along with the bamboo skewers, plates, napkins, and serve it buffet style!

In the image above, the fruit kebabs are placed over a pool of creamy citrus flavored dip. The wonderful things about these fruit kebabs, besides being healthy and delicious, they are super easy to make, and are great served for breakfast, dessert, as an appetizer, or snack. If you don’t have bamboo skewer, you can certainly swap the skewers for bowls and present beautiful fruit bowls drizzled with citrus cream.

Fruit Kebabs with Citrus Cream Dip

Make ahead: this dip will hold just fine in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Fruit Kebabs

Rinse and prep fruit into bit-sized chucks and pieces.

Citrus Cream Dip

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy.

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Here we are, it’s fall, it’s October, and I’m posting another heirloom tomato recipe. It’s not my fault. It seems heirloom tomatoes have an extended [late] season here in California. Believe me I’m not complaining. I find these beauties irresistible and just have to pick up a bunch. I’ve made many raw recipes using a variety of tomatoes and wanted to try something new, and then I thought ~ carpaccio.

Carpaccio is an Italian dish, traditionally made of very thin slices of raw beef. Here I made a vegan version of this classic Italian dish, using the gorgeous ripe colorful heirloom tomatoes pictured above. Making this carpaccio is simple, it’s a matter of thinly slicing the tomatoes. Also, any number of fruits or vegetables would make a great vegan carpaccio.

Carpaccio is generally served as an appetizer and is usually dressed up with olive oil, capers, and pine seeds but you can get creative using different flavors [fresh onions, garlic, shallots, olives, capers, lemon, lime], and herbs and spices [basil, rosemary, chives, tarragon, oregano, pepper, parsley]. You can use any type of chopped or whole nuts and seeds in place of pine nuts.

So, if heirloom tomatoes are still available in your area, make sure to take advantage and make this easy and delicious dish.

Multicolor Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio

The trick to this tasty dish is slicing the tomatoes ultra-thin.

Thinly sliced each tomato. Arrange the tomatoes in a roll on a platter keeping like color together, or arrange the tomatoes, alternating colors, in concentric circles on a platter or individual plates.

Thinly slice red onions using a mandoline and sprinkle the red onion over the tomato slices. Mince the garlic cloves and sprinkle atop. Next stack the basil leaves atop each other, roll tightly from one end to the other, and slice crosswise to make thin strips. Sprinkle the basil strips and pine nuts over the tomatoes and onions, drizzle with olive oil, and season with sea salt and pepper.

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

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Zucchini spirals are easy and fun to make. You can use any number of delicious pesto, like the basil pesto I used here, or pates to fill them. Red pepper coulis compliments the flavors of this dish. Serve this recipe as a fun finger-food appetizer [have napkins ready], or as a meal with a side salad.

Basil Pesto

Add the basil, parsley leaves, pine nuts and garlic to a food process and pulse a few times to chop and mix the ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula, if necessary. Add the sea salt, black pepper, and the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is running. Add more sea salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Makes about 1 cup

Red Pepper Coulis

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until well mixed and chopped. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Pour the red pepper mixture in the strainer. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to press the mixture against the strainer to push the juice through. Reserve the red pepper pulp for another use – keep refrigerated.

Makes about ½ cup

Zucchini Spirals

Zucchini spirals can be made a day in advance, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

1 large zucchini, scrubbed

Using a mandoline or similar slicing device, cut the zucchini lengthwise into 1/8-inch slices. Arrange the slices on a clean working surface for assembly.

Option: To make the zucchini slice softer and more flexible, lay the zucchini slice on a dehydrator tray and place in a dehydrator for about 30 minutes.

Assembly

Using a teaspoon dot and spread each zucchini slice with basil pesto. Roll up each slice – starting from one end roll to the other.

Pour about 1 – 2 tablespoons of red pepper coulis among each plate and place zucchini spirals, seam side down, atop the coulis.

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 2 – 4 as an entrée

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