On Saturday morning my friend-in-raw Karen from Nutrilicious and I took a raw vegan cooking demo with Toronto chef Claudia Gaviria from the Cruda Cafe located in the St. Lawrence Market. We were a big group all looking for a healthy and new way of preparing and thinking about raw and living food and this class was a great introduction.
Claudia knows her way around a raw kitchen. In the raw kitchen you will not see any pots, there is no stove, no oven but you will see high speed blenders, juicers, lots of knives for cutting all the veggies you will be eating, spatulas for scraping, food processors for mixing, dehydrators for making wraps and a Spiralizers to make pasta out of zucchini and carrots which I used to create this recipe.
Who knew you can have so much fun in the kitchen without actually turning on the stove!
Friends and family…do not stop inviting me for dinner or a lunch date! I eat all food that is prepared with love!
I know I will never be a full-time raw foodie, but I do love the idea of eating as much raw and living food as I can fill myself with. Live food is living food and I like that.
The recipe: This recipe was inspired by the delicious zucchini pasta from the Cruda Cafe.
To make the zucchini noodles: you will need a Spiralizer fitted with the smallest blade. I use one green and one yellow zucchini. It is best to make the noodles just before serving.
To make the spicy tomato sauce:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes soaked in water until soft
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 juice from a lemon
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups of tomatoes, any variety
Directions:
Using your food processor with the metal blade, add oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt until well blended.
Add sun-dried tomaotes, basil, parsley and cayenne pepper, process until smooth. (You may need to scrape down the sides of the processor).
Add the tomatoes and pulse until finely chopped, do not over process.
Serve over your zucchini pasta.
Any extra sauce will keep for a few days in the fridge.
To make the Almond Parmesan Cheese – This recipe is from Eat Raw, Eat Well by Douglas McNish – page 204
2 cups of whole raw almonds
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp fine sea salt
Directions:
In a food processor, process ingredients until no large pieces of almonds remain. The mixture should be light and fluffy and contain no visible pieces. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to one month.