Nuts About Rawnola
This is my first post in almost a year! It's been an absolute whirlwind - in the space of a year I quit my full-time teaching job, moved from the Gold Coast back to Sydney, went to Hawaii for three months, and now I'm back in Sydney, uncertain but very excited about what the future holds.
Did some experimenting in the kitchen the other day and discovered my new brekky BFF - this nutty recipe will seriously take your cereal game to the next level! You can sprinkle it on top of smoothie bowls, porridge, or just enjoy it on its own.
Ingredients
3/4 cup walnuts
1 cup quinoa flakes
12 pitted Medjool dates
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsps ground flax
2 Tbsps pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
Add the quinoa flakes and dates to a blender or food processor and pulse until all the dates are broken up.
Add remaining ingredients and keep pulsing until everything is well-chopped and mixed, but don’t pulse too long or else it will become a chewy ball.
Serve with plant-based milk and sliced fruit. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Raw Cauliflower Rice Sushi Rolls
Not only do these sushi rolls look good, they're good for you too!
Ingredients (makes about 8 rolls)
4 nori sheets
1/2 a head of cauliflower
the following vegetables, thinly sliced:
carrot
capsicum
avocado
spring onions
parsley
Kale pesto:
few leaves of kale
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Celtic sea salt to taste
Sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil
fresh juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp dulse flakes
Hawaiian black lava salt to taste
1. Process cauliflower into cauliflower rice using a blender or food processor on low speed.
2. Blend pesto ingredients and stir pesto through cauliflower rice.
3. Wrap cauliflower rice and veggies in nori sheets using a bamboo mat.
4. Dip in sauce to serve.
*This recipe uses pine nuts but you can replace pine nuts with avocado in the pesto to make it a nut-free recipe.
Raw Lemon Detox Balls
You've probably heard of the lemon detox diet (not one that I recommend), but have you heard of Sisi-friendly lemon detox balls? They provide the same detoxifying effects without robbing your body of the nutrition you need. In fact, these seedy, fruity balls are packed with superfoods to nourish your body!
Ingredients
1/4 cup medjool dates
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 cup prunes
1/4 cup goji berries
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flaxseeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup sprouted raw buckwheat
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup poppy seeds
juice and rind of a bush lemon
desiccated coconut for rolling
1. Process seeds and buckwheat in a food processor until a meal/flour consistency is achieved. Set aside.
2. Process dried fruit until it all clumps together.
3. Add seed meal, lemon juice and lemon rind and process until well combined.
4. Form your mix into balls and roll in desiccated coconut.
5. Refrigerate balls to firm up before serving.
*You can also store these in the freezer (if you don't devour them all in one go!).
Raw Blueberry and Lime Macadamia Cheesecake
I was blessed to be in Hawaii for 16 days in April, helping out at a free community health expo and presenting health seminars. While I was there, I really wanted to make a raw cheesecake for our team as there were many team members who had never tried raw desserts before! Needless to say, they all enjoyed the experience!
Photo credit: Taj Pacleb Photography
Some of them went a bit crazy at cake o'clock!
Photo credit: Beejay Crisostomo
I wanted to create something using iconic Hawaiian ingredients, which is why I chose macadamias instead of cashews. I'd always thought macadamias were an Aussie nut, but it turns out Hawaii has a $40 million macadamia nut industry!
Photo credit: Earl Kapule
Trust and believe me when I tell you this recipe is yummy, creamy, zesty, and fruity - please try it yourself!
Crust:
💟 1 cup raw macadamias, activated (soaked in water for several hours)
💟 4 cups raw cashews, activated
💟 10 medjool dates, pitted
💟 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1⃣ Process 2 cups of nuts (set remaining 3 cups aside for filling) with dates and coconut (save some for garnish) in a food processor until well blended and sticky.
2⃣ Press mixture into the lined base of a 9" springform cake tin.
3⃣ Set aside in freezer.
Filling:
💟 fresh juice of 2 limes
💟 1/2 cup coconut nectar
💟 1 cup coconut oil
💟 1/4 tsp pure Hawaiian sea salt
1⃣ Blend the remaining nuts, lime juice, coconut nectar, coconut oil, and salt until very smooth (I alternated between food processor and Vitamix to get the consistency right).
2⃣ Pour mixture onto base and distribute evenly with spatula.
3⃣ Freeze overnight.
Topping:
💟 3 cups frozen blueberries
💟 8 dates
💟 1/4 cup coconut oil
💟 1/4 cup almond milk
1⃣ Blend all ingredients until smooth.
2⃣ Pour onto filling and freeze for a few hours.
3⃣ Remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving and garnish with coconut.
✴️ Please don't substitute the coconut oil with any other oil - it's the secret ingredient to getting the cake to set. All other ingredients can be adjusted according to your taste. All ingredients purchased from Down to Earth Organic and Natural retailers, my favourite stores in Hawaii!
✅ Coconut oil actually raises HDL (good cholesterol), despite the bad rap it's had over the years - previous studies that condemned it were performed on partially hydrogenated coconut oil rather than raw, cold-pressed virgin coconut oil.
Give it a go and treat yourself, or surprise a friend with a deliciously healthy birthday cake!
Sisi xo