Stirring the Senses!

Chocolate Body Paint!

Hah! I knew the title would get your attention! However, I must say that this is a thoroughly good use for this recipe which is really more of a vegan ganache. But because the primary ingredients are coconut oil, cocoa powder and carob, it melts down to the loveliest consistency and would be wonderful drawn all over your sweetie! Come on, don't be shy! All of the ingredients are very nourishing for your skin and the taste is divine!

I created this recipe one evening about a month ago in San Diego when an old friend of mine from high school and his wife were coming over for dinner. My sons girlfriend and I had been at Whole Foods that afternoon and decided to create a wonderful vegan meal starting with watermelon and jalapeno soup and ending with rolls of rice paper  that we stuffed with plum and basil and strawberries, banana and mint. Of course they wouldn't have been complete without a sauce but we couldn't use the traditional butter and heavy cream to make one. What I did use was carob, coconut oil, cocoa powder, coconut milk and some agave nectar all blended in my VitaMix. The  result was a delightful accident, a byproduct of experimentation plus a certain amount of crazy creativity. It was absolutely delicious and a perfect foil for the luscious fruit wraps that we had prepared.

 I have since taken this recipe and modified it a bit adding toasted hazelnuts to make a vegan nutella and at Cassie's suggestion , silken tofu to make a filling for a tart that we poured into a raw nut crust. It is really a wonderful base for so many things. For the record, if you don't already own a VitaMix, this recipe is a very good excuse to buy one and it will pay for itself time and time again. The VitaMix is a very high powered blender and it can take cubes of ice and whole fruits , skin seeds and all and pulverize them into the most amazing smoothies in no time flat! I have created soups in mine that were wonderful and in about 1/4 of the time that I would normally spend. Fresh nut butters and homemade nut milks are easy to make and only take about 5 minutes of preparation! I knew that I could probably make this ganache in my regular blender , but I would have had to waste too much time pulverizing the ingredients first. It can be done and the results should be excellent, but the VitaMix is so strong that it melted everything for me in no time flat, creating a sauce that was as velvety as any ganache that I've enjoyed and without any of the dairy to mask the pure flavors! 

To make about  2 cups of delectable "Body Paint" you  will need:

I bag of sweetened organic carob chips

3  tablespoons of good cocoa powder- I love the Green and Black

A liberal dash of cinnamon

1 cup of coconut oil - The Whole Foods 365 brand is very good

Agave nectar to taste

Coconut milk to thin as needed -about 1/2  cup

The formula is simple! Just put all of the ingredients into your blender or VitaMix and move it through the settings until you are rewarded with a melting and creamy sauce! If I were doing this in the blender I would probably warm the ingredients first over a double boiler and then put them into the pitcher. You really do need the emulsifying effect of the blender though because as the mixture whips it will thicken a bit like mayonnaise. Add the agave to taste and coconut milk to create a smoother consistency and then pour into a sauce boat to serve! Because of the coconut oil and  carob chips the sauce with begin to solidify but it will still be silky and wonderful. At room temperature it's definitely a sauce but once you put it into the refrigerator it will solidify a bit and turn into a creamy ganache. Either way it's wonderful! I hope that you'll enjoy experimenting with this recipe, I haven't tried it yet but I'm pretty sure that a bit of espresso powder would  be a lively addition! Heat it up a bit and you have a fondue to be served with bananas and pound cake! How about marshmallows! The possibilities are endless, but I think that I like it best served up with a silken sable paint brush!

I do hope that you will take some time with someone that you love and enjoy! 

Papaya, Mango, Cucumber and Lime salad

Californian's are blessed  to live in a region where there are many farmers markets going on at all times. They are all wonderful, filled with fresh local produce and beautiful handcrafted wares, but my absolute favorite of them all is the market that has been held at the La Jolla Childrens School Playground for at least the last 10 years. Held every Sunday morning rain or shine from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm, its a feast for the senses filled with stands brimming with the freshest flowers and fruits that you've ever seen. It was at this market that I discovered something absolutely delightful called a sweet lime, which was indeed , a sweet lime! The vendors are generous with samples and it is impossible to leave this place empty handed!  

One of the best parts of the market are the food vendors! Here in the "Food Court" you can find freshly prepared Mexican, Ethiopian, Persian and French food. No one could possibly leave hungry! My absolute favorite thing to eat here besides the brie, spinach and caramelized onion crepe that I wolf down with sheer ravenous pleasure is actually a very easy salad made with the freshest fruits that I've ever seen. I don't have a picture of it, so hopefully my words will suffice.  Besides, in my opinion the imagination is always the best cooking tool!

There is a very simple stand next to the creperie and it's run by two lovely Mexican women in traditional dress who stand all morning and slice mangos, papayas and cucumbers to order. They work with the loveliest rhythm, humming and easily slicing long spears of the freshest fruit, which they then arrange  in a tall plastic cup , squeeze the juice of a fresh lime over each one and a dusting of ground chipotle chile pepper. I think that this total feast for the senses costs about 4.00. It is one of the most delicious salads that I have ever eaten and because you have to eat it with your hands, one of the most delightful! This one salad never ceases to prove to me that sometime the simplest things are the absolute best.

I make it at home only when the fruit is ripe enough! I love the combination of the fresh fruit and the crunchy cucumber laced with the chiles and lime. The only things that I do differently are to mix up the lime juice,chile and chopped Thai basil to which I  then add a bit of dark agave nectar and a sprinkling of Fleur de Sel. The agave adds a hint of something sweet and floral that I like and the salt is a perfect foil for the sweet and spicy!

To make this incredibly simple pleasure just slice a fresh mango, papaya and cucumber into long (about 6 inches) swordlike spears. Arrange them on the prettiest platter that you have and dress them with the lime juice, chile, agave nectar and basil dressing (approximately the juice of 2 limes, 4 good dashes of chile, 3 tablepoons of agave nectar and 1/4 cup of chopped Thai basil whisked together ,more or less of anything to taste!) Then sprinkle with the Fleur de Sel. That's it. You can also use fresh watermelon here with alot of success and even very ripe canteloupe. 

These same ingredients make a wonderful fresh cocktail or mocktail if you throw them into the blender with some ice and tequila or sans tequila and a bit of peach juice ....Purely a pleasure for a hot summers day!

Just remember to wash your hands before you touch your eyes... the chile is delightfully hot stuff!

http://www.lajollamarket.com/

 

 

From the Cleveland Green Living Examiner- Whole Foods Markets- "Vegan Greens"

Tonight, I had such a delightful evening! I decided to break away from my computer and treat myself to a cooking class at the Whole Foods in Woodmere. My son's darling girlfriend was the chef for the evening and because she is a vegan and a exceptional cook, I knew that I was in for a treat! Whole Foods Markets have a really great tradition of hosting excellent food events and many evenings I've walked into the store in University Heights to find the rambunctious and talented Chef Dave cooking some pretty incredible meals. Tonight's feast was no exception,  when I walked into the test kitchen and was greeted by Cassie and her delightful partner in crime Nadine , I just knew that I was going to have fun! The meal was three parts, a Fresh Pea Soup with Tarragon, a Radichio, Radish and Fennel Salad  and for dessert, a Raw Vegan Chocolate Decadence!

One of the things that I was the most impressed with was the quality of the Mise en Place , translated "Putting in place" which is a French technique for keeping everything in order and at your fingertips. Consequently, we were able to enjoy, see and understand everything that was being use to create our meal, which sometimes is a problem in cooking demonstrations due to lack of preparation! Needless to say the ingredients used were sparkling and beautiful and as I watched Cassie make the Raddichio salad I was impressed by the ease of the preparation. They wisely chose recipes that were not intimidating, but fun, for example the dressing for the salad was whipped up in the blender in just a few seconds. It was delightful, made of fresh mint, maple syrup, mustard, lemon juice and excellent olive oil, it was the perfect counterpoint to the crunchy salad. As she moved on to the soup, deftly sauteing leeks and adding the garlic, vegetable broth and peas, Cassie explained that all of the recipes with the exception of the dessert had come from the Vegetarian Times and she explained the ease of using their website and recipe database.  Letting the ingredients for the soup sit for a bit allowing the flavors to meld, she went on to create our dessert, which I must confess was my favorite part of the meal!

This dessert was unexpected and absolutely amazing. I'm no stranger to raw food, but this one surprised even me. I watched as Cassie peeled and seeded 3 avocado and put them into the blender. She proceeded to add 1 cup of dark agave nectar, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa (she likes the Green and Black kind), 2 tablespoons of organic vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon of Vietnamese cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. All of this she put into the blender with the avocados and processed it all until it was smooth. She had a bit of water that she added to thin it out just a bit and that was all. They spooned it into flute champagne glasses for us and it was absolutely delicious and so incredibly easy. Topped with fresh raspberries or strawberries this is the kind of dessert that I could make as a treat for my brother who is diabetic or my best friend who has Crohns disease. 

This was healthy and intelligent cooking all the way around and I am impressed with Whole Foods for offering this kind of in store programming. For the whopping price of 5.00, I was treated to a delicious vegan meal cooked by fun and extremely knowledgeable women. Neither  Cassie nor Nadine had any trouble at all answering my questions and we were given the recipes to take home.  I truly recommend that you go to their web site and check out their calender! You're bound to find a class that will intrigue you, expand your culinary repertoire and delight your taste buds and you'll make some new friends too! Breaking bread together is still the best way that I know of to create a compassionate world so grab a friend, go to their next class and start a new tradition! Go to: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/  for their online store calender!