Salad Recipe: Moong and Alfalfa Sprouts Salad
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Salad Recipe: Moong and Alfalfa Sprouts Salad Home-grown sprouts truly are the best organic locally-grown food. Not getting unwanted pesticides, food additives, and other harmful fat-bolstering chemicals. Sprouting can be done in any part of the world and in any climate. This is because sprouting is done indoors, right in your own kitchen. Apart from that; it is a great opportunity to let your children have fun growing their own food, and to observe the miracle of seeds turning into sprouts and plants. The vitamin content of some seeds, grains, beans, or nuts increases by up to 20 times the original value within only a few days of sprouting. Research shows that during the sprouting process moong (or mung) bean sprouts (or just bean sprouts, as they are often called) increase Vitamin B1...
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Raw Wild Asparagus dip/spread/sauce
By Stanka Vukelić Photos: Stanka Vukelić Raw Wild Asparagus dip/spread/sauce In springtime, in the Mediterranean area, picking wild asparagus is deeply embedded in the habits of people. Asparagus ‘hunting’ is a favorite pastime, because, in addition to providing several hours of outdoor activity in the pure forest air; the day ends with a delicious and nutritious meal. Picking asparagus in the wild is a great exercise after a long winter! And on top of that – it’s loaded with nutrients and antioxidants (more info below). We also love to go for a ‘spring hunt’ in the forest, and after that, we usually prepare this delicious wild asparagus dip/spread/sauce. It is made of avocado, asparagus and lots of dill. The sauce can be used for veggie rolls/pockets, or as a spread/sauce for bread and pizza. It is a perfect dip...
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Raw food recipe: Zucchini Spaghetti with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
By Stanka Vukelić Photos: Stanka Vukelić Raw food recipe: Zucchini Spaghetti with Creamy Mushroom Sauce Last week, the Zucchini Spaghetti with Mediterranean Sauce were a huge hit; so you leave me no choice but to share with you another great sauce for your spaghettis. This one is just as easy to make, but before getting started you’ll need to do some preparation. The first thing is, the sauce is made from cashew nuts, which need to be soaked overnight. The second thing is, we want to use fermented mushrooms. For me, this is easier, because I usually have a glass of them in my fridge, but if you want to skip the seven-day fermentation process; you can use fresh mushrooms as well. Maybe you ferment the mushrooms for another time – because they are really awesome this way. On...
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Raw food recipe: Zucchini Spaghetti with Mediterranean Sauce
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw food recipe: Zucchini Spaghetti with Mediterranean Sauce This is a real raw food classic and one of our favorite raw food recipes. Another great recipe which is delicious and quick and easy to prepare. It is also ideal for a first tasting of raw food. Works especially well during tomato and zucchini season. The spaghetti is made of zucchini, but you can use also squash or carrot. There are quite a few ways you can turn zucchini into noodles. Some people use julienne peelers. You can also use an ordinary potato peeler. The most popular tool with which to make vegetable noodles is a Vegetable Spiralizer (special spiral vegetable cutter). I’ve been using my mandolin. If using a mandolin, use the thickest blade setting possible. Pass the zucchini over the blade lengthwise...
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Detox juice recipe: Apple Beet Juice
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Detox juice recipe: Apple Beet Juice This is a very simple to make juice, which helps boosting your immune system and detoxifying your liver. We’re constantly consuming toxins, whether it is from air, clothes, drinks or food, and your liver is responsible for clearing these toxins out of your body. One of the best—and easiest—things you can eat or drink to help detoxify your liver is: fruits like apples, and veggies like beets. In Chinese’s medicine, a healthy liver is associated with happiness. A healthy liver will make your life more happy, creative and joyful. All you need is a juicer, apples, and beetroots. Juice them with their skins on and consume right after making it. Best, of course, is if you use organically grown produce, but if you cannot get your hands...
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Turmeric Sauerkraut Recipe – The Fermented Health Booster
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Turmeric Sauerkraut Recipe – The Fermented Health Booster Sauerkraut wasn’t our favorite food all until we started fermenting our own Turmeric Sauerkraut. Ironically, we now eat it every day, be it in sandwiches or as an added extra flavor for salads and soups. Besides the fact that they taste great and really grow on you, there are several great reasons to start making and eating fermented foods. Eating fermented foods will introduce beneficial bacteria into your digestive system. Probiotics have also been shown to help slow or reverse some diseases, improve bowel health, aid digestion, and improve immunity! Gut bacteria and enough digestive enzymes help you absorb food better. Fermentation allows you to store these foods for longer periods of time without losing the nutrients. Researchers have established a compelling link between gut...
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Raw cheese recipe: Almond Ricotta Cheese with Paprika
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw cheese recipe: Almond Ricotta Cheese with Paprika This is a recipe for a dairy-free nut cheese made with your own probiotics! Raw nut or seed cheeses offer a great, healthy alternative to dairy cheeses. The base is made from soaked almond and cashew nuts, which gives it that perfect texture. You can use other nuts instead, just be aware that there will be a difference in flavor. This cheese has a much stronger taste – in comparison to the other recipes – due to the addition of garlic and dried tomatoes. To create the “cheesy” taste, I use lemon juice, nutritional yeast and rejuvelac. The rejuvelac aids in the fermenting process and increases the health benefits greatly. For making the cheese, you will first need to make the rejuvelac, which will act...
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Raw recipe: Coconut Turmeric Soup
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw recipe: Coconut Turmeric Soup If I were to recommend one soup – it would be this one. Because of one reason: It doesn’t matter what kind of diet you’re on; it fits everybody’s taste. This soup is not just for raw fooders, or vegans, or vegetarians – I think it’s just for everyone who likes to experiment and discover new and exciting dishes. One of the main ingredients is Turmeric; it offers many health benefits, so it is good to incorporate it into our diet. The other ingredients are coconut milk and avocado, and as a kind of ‘noodles’, we use alfalfa sprouts. It is prepared in 20 minutes and can be used in many different ways. Served separately as a soup with alfalfa sprouts, or as a sauce for raw spaghettis...
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Raw cheese recipe: Almond Ricotta Cheese with Dill
By Stanka Vukelić All photos: Stanka Vukelić Raw cheese recipe: Almond Ricotta Cheese with Dill This is a recipe for a dairy-free nut cheese made with your own probiotics! Raw nut or seed cheeses offer a great, healthy alternative to dairy cheeses. The base is made from soaked almond and cashew nuts, which gives it that perfect texture. You can use other nuts instead, just be aware that there will be a difference in flavor. To create the “cheesy” taste, I use lemon juice, nutritional yeast and rejuvelac. The rejuvelac aids in the fermenting process and increases the health benefits greatly. For making the cheese, you will first need to make the rejuvelac, which will act as the probiotic during the process of fermentation. Please note that you need to add a couple of days for the preparation...
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Raw breakfast: Spelt or Buckwheat – Banana Porridge
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw breakfast: Spelt or Buckwheat – Banana Porridge We love porridge; definitely one of our favorite foods so far. This breakfast is simple, wholesome and can be enjoyed on the run too. The perfect breakfast. It’s made of sprouted spelt or buckwheat and bananas. Spelt, also known as dinkel wheat, or hulled wheat, is an ancient species of wheat; it’s much more nutritious and also much easier to digest than wheat. If you prefer not eating gluten, or if you are gluten intolerant definitely use buckwheat. Despite the name, there is no wheat in buckwheat, it is a fabulous option for gluten-free diets and an excellent alternative to grains (buckwheat is not a grain). Warning: Buy organic buckwheat of light green color (like in photo); the brownish is usually heat-treated and does...
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Raw Breakfast: Buckwheat – Mango Healthy Morning Mix
By Stanka Vukelić All photos: Stanka Vukelić Raw breakfast: Buckwheat – mango healthy morning mix If you’ve been experimenting with raw foods, you may be wondering what to eat for breakfast, besides fruits, smoothies and juices. Here is one of my favorite raw food breakfast recipes. It is very quick and easy to prepare, since you don’t want to spend much time preparing your breakfast in the morning. It’s made of sprouted buckwheat and mango fruits. Mango fruit is a nutritionally rich fruit, with unique flavor, fragrance, taste, and health promoting qualities – and it is labeled as a “super fruit.” Buckwheat, regardless of its name, is not a cereal. It is a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel, making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other...
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Growing sprouts – How to grow your own superfood in your kitchen!
By Stanka Vukelić All photos: Stanka Vukelić Sprouts – How to grow your own superfood in your kitchen! Sprouts are the easiest and fastest way to organically grown superfood in your kitchen. ‘Too little room’ or ‘not that kind of guy’ is no excuse for not growing sprouts even in the most urban conditions. You don’t need to have any experience; the procedure is easy, and the results are amazing. They are the ultimate shortcut to fresh home-grown food of exceptional value – and satisfaction. What sprouts can do Alfalfa sprouts are the shoots of the alfalfa plant, harvested before they become the full-grown plant. The sprouts contain a concentrated amount of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin content increases dramatically with sprouting. The vitamin content of some seeds, grains, beans, or nuts increases by up to 20 times...
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Raw turmeric sauce / spread / dip
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw turmeric sauce / spread / dip This raw turmeric sauce is made of zucchinis, ground sunflower seeds, and of course a lot of turmeric – the king of spices (more about turmeric). The sauce can be used for veggie rolls/pockets, as a spread/sauce for bread and pizza, or for Sunflower Seeds Crackers. It is a perfect dip for celery stalks, carrots, or other vegetables. Also great for zucchini noodles! Yummy! If you are mostly cooking, then is a raw turmeric sauce a healthier alternative to cooked sauces; use it for lentils, and beans (a much healthier choice over processed food). Watch to let the cooked dishes cool down to 115ºF (46ºC) – so that you can hold it in your hand – before adding the raw turmeric sauce. Through that, the raw...
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Raw Sunflower Seeds Crackers – GLUTEN FREE Crackers
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw Sunflower seeds crackers – GLUTEN FREE crackers Before becoming mostly raw vegans, we liked to eat salty stuff like crackers and other snacks. This is our raw version of it – of course much tastier and much healthier than the snacks from your local store! These Sunflower seeds crackers are made of sprouted sunflower seeds and tomatoes. You can use them as a snack or side dish for lunch. Recipe for sunflower seeds gluten free crackers Preparation time: 15-20 min. Soaking: overnight, or 8-12 hours Dehydration: 12-14 hours Ingredients for 2 dehydrator sheets: 12.5 ounces (350 g) of sunflower seeds 12.5 ounces (350 g) of tomatoes 3 medium garlic cloves (or as you like) 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt 5 dried tomatoes in extra-virgin olive oil 1 fresh-squeezed lemon...
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Raw recipe for dairy-free cheese – Brazil nut cheese
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw recipe for dairy-free cheese – Brazil nut cheese This is a recipe for a dairy-free nut cheese made with your own probiotics! I love raw nut or seed cheeses. They offer a great, healthy alternative to dairy cheeses. The base is made from soaked cashews and Brazil nut, which gives it that perfect texture. You can use other nuts instead, just be aware that there will be a difference in flavor. To create the “cheesy” taste, I use lemon juice, nutritional yeast and rejuvelac. The rejuvelac aids in the fermenting process and increases the health benefits greatly. For making the cheese, you will first need to make the rejuvelac, which will act as the probiotic during the process of fermentation. Please note that you need to add a couple of days...
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7 After-New-Year Detox Smoothies
By Stanka Vukelić 7 After-New-Year Detox Smoothies Hopefully not many of you will be intoxicated somewhere on a New Year’s party – but just in case that you will be – or that you might want to start the new year in a new spirit – here are several detox smoothies which will help you on your ‘new’ way. 1. Raw Beet & Apple Detox Smoothie Credit for image and recipe: Powerhungry.com RECIPE 2. Back On Track Green Monster (Banana-Free) Credit for image and recipe: oh she glows.com RECIPE 3.Detox Smoothie Credit for image and recipe: zoomyummy.com RECIPE 4. Ginger Cucumber Detox Smoothie Credit for image and recipe: abiandjoseph.com RECIPE 5. Hangover Detox Smoothie Credit for image and recipe: livewellnetwork.com RECIPE 6. Introducing...
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Easy desserts to make: Raw chocolate-orange cake
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Easy desserts to make Instead of getting something sweet from the local store, we’ll give you a recipe for a chocolate-orange cake, which won’t take you no more than 15 minutes to make it. And of course: it’s cheaper, it’s better, and it’s healthier than anything you would buy. Raw chocolate-orange cake recipe Preparation time: 15 minutes Chill: 120 min. Ingredients for a round cake of 9” (24 cm) in diameter – Dough: 1 1/2 cups of coconut flour 1/2 cup of carob powder ½ cup of cocoa powder 4 tablespoons of honey or other natural sweetener ½ cup of water Cream: 6-8 ripe bananas 2/3 cup of extra-virgin coconut oil 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder 2 teaspoons of vanilla 1 tablespoon of orange rind http://www.wikihow.com/Zest-an-Orange (use organic orange if possible)...
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Three salad ideas by Dr. Nandita Shah
By Dr. Nandita Shah Three salad ideas from our contributor Dr. Nandita Shah (slightly adjusted by Stanka) Note On These Recipes Some of the recipes have been converted from American recipes, and some ingredients have been substituted with what is easily available elsewhere. It’s easy to measure dry ingredients, but it’s hard to fix an exact quantity on vegetables and fruits whose sizes vary. Also a medium-sized onion in India would be a small one in the US or jaggery varies in sweetness and so on. Please use these recipes creatively and not mathematically. Please do not stick to the quantities given in the recipes. Taste the food as you make it and add and subtract to the recipes as it suits your taste. Nandita Sprout Chaat/Moong (Mung) This is a healthy salad, which is always a...
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Making a raw dough from pumpkin
By Stanka Vukelić Photo: Stanka Vukelić Raw dough for pizza or bread Many raw pizza and bread recipes, while delicious, are very heavy because of the nuts that are usually being used to make it. This recipe is devoid of any nuts whatsoever! The dough is light on the stomach, tasty, and suitable for everyday consumption. It’s made of winter pumpkin and sprouted buckwheat. Pumpkins vary greatly in shape, size, and colour. The fruit is one of the most widely grown vegetables. Buckwheat, regardless of its name, is not a cereal. It is a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel, making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain gluten proteins. The bread can be used in various ways. We use it for sandwiches, vegetable spreads...
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