walnuts | Raw Food Recipes

The Art of Flavour

Taste is the ability to respond to dissolved molecules and ions called tastants. Humans detect taste with taste receptor cells. These are clustered in taste buds. Each taste bud has a pore that opens out to the surface of the tongue enabling molecules and ions taken into the mouth to reach the receptor cells inside. There are five primary taste sensations:

1) SALTINESS Add a salty flavour to your food by using natural Celtic, Himalayan, and sea salts, but go easy on the portions. Even natural salts are not actually that good for us. You can also use nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), garlic “salt,” sun-dried tomatoes, and celery. Saltiness brings out all the other flavours to balance, especially anything sweet, so adding a dash to your chocolate recipes is a good thing.

2) SWEETNESS Sweetness balances the salty taste in your uncooking. Raw honey may be the first sweet flavour that comes to mind, but you can also use agave syrup, plain old fruit, maple syrup, dates and other dried fruits such as figs and apricots. Keep in mind that honey is not vegan, and maple syrup is not really raw. Both are better than refined sugar, however, and are packed with minerals and vitamins.

3) SOURNESS Balance salty and sweet flavours with a sour taste. A recipe containing these three flavours will provide great balance. For a sour taste use citrus juices, tamarind, raspberries, cranberries, pickles, tomatoes, rejuvelacs, and vinegars.

In general if your recipe has a good balance of the 3 flavors above, it is going to taste yummy!

4) BITTERNESS Generally speaking, bitterness is not desirable in large quantities, but it so happens that bitter foods and herbs can be quite healthy. They can also be tasty in the right quantity. Green tea and Okinawan goya (bitter gourd) are a case in point.

5) UMAMI Umami is a taste found naturally in seaweeds and is the response to salts of glutamic acid, like monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer used in many processed foods and in many Asian dishes. This stuff is definitely to be avoided, as is アミノ酸 (aminosan) found in far too many processed foods in Japan.

OTHER ASEPTS INFLUENCING FLAVOUR

A) AROMA Aromatics refer to the sense of smell, not taste, but they are closely related and influence each other. Aroma adds depth to flavours. Here are some aromatic ingredients to use in your uncooking: onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, celery, sweet peppers, ginger or galangal, citrus zest, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass. Aromatic herbs include parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint, etc. (fresh herbs are definitely better in the raw food context!) Aromas tend to come out far more when heating food, but do indeed apply to raw food preparation. Hot peppers and such like those listed below are also aromatic.

B) SPICINESS (HEAT) Spices add a combination of the above flavours, but also add different levels of heat, if not at least a “bite." Add dry spicy ingredients before marinating to balance the flavours better. Use oil to bring out the taste of dried herbs and spices. Items that add heat include black pepper, curries, chilis, cayenne, hot paprika, cumin, raw garlic, wasabi, cloves, tumeric, coriandar, mustards, etc.

C) CREAMINESS This is more of a texture than taste, but if all the spice is getting to be too much, a little nut mylk or kream can do wonders. No wonder so many hot Asian curries have coconut milk in them!

Too spicy? Add some sweetness or creaminess
Too sweet? Add some sour or spiciness
Too sour? Add sweet
Too bland? Add salt or some spiciness
Too salty? Add sour
Just needs a spark? Add acid or one of the aromatics added at the end of cooking, or just a touch of heat (spiciness)
Too harsh? Try just a touch of sweetness

Posts Tagged ‘walnuts’

Mila Chia Bars

July 8th, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

This is a different genre of healthy snack, a way to get your greens without them tasting overly ‘greens’ if you know what I mean. This recipe is from Integrated Health.

Ingredients:

6 ounces raw organic almonds
1/4 – 1/2 cup walnuts
1-2 tablespoons Mila chia seeds
1/4 cup dates, raisins, or other dried fruit
2-3 scoops of nutritional powder (such as chlorella, spiralina, nutritional yeast, rice bran solubles, etc.)
a golfball size hunk of coconut oil (about 1-2 tablespoons if oil is in liquid form)

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a food processor and then pour mixed ingredients in a glass dish and pat firmly. Cover and refrigerate. Cut into cubes (or other shapes) and enjoy! Place in freezer for a firmer bar. You can also experiment with different nuts, dried fruits, and/or add fresh fruits (e.g., berries) or even organic cacao. Be creative!

Posted in Snacks, Sweet Treats

Tags: almonds, chia seeds, coconut oil, dates, Mila, raisins, walnuts

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Chia Mylk

June 18th, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

This recipe for Chia Milk (makes full blender jar — 5 cups) is from Annie Appleseed Project.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp whole chia seeds or MILA
2 tbsp walnuts
2 tbsp raw sesame tahini
2 tbsp unheated, unfiltered honey
dash of vanilla (optional)
5 cups water

Directions:

In a jar or glass, soak seeds and walnuts overnight in 3 cups of water. Pour into blender jar, add 1 cup of water, and turn on blender, running it at medium speed. With blender running, add tahini, honey, and vanilla, then add 1 more cup of water. Blend only until smooth.

Posted in Mylks

Tags: chia seeds, honey, Mila, tahini, vanilla, walnuts

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Raw Walnut Chocolate Bark

May 29th, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

A delightful treat from the LabRAWtory.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp maca powder (optional)
2 tsp lucuma powder
1/2 tsp stevia
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Place coconut oil in double boiler or bain marie to melt very, very slowly (keep at 40C!). Stir in powders. Mix in stevia & salt to taste. Transfer to a plastic container to coat the bottom. The bark thickness will depend on the container size you chose. Sprinkle in chopped walnuts. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, flex plastic container to release & chop into small pieces.

Posted in Raw Chocolate, Snacks, Sweet Treats

Tags: cacao powder, coconut oil, lucuma, maca, sea salt, stevia, walnuts

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Raisin Fudge

April 25th, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

recipe and picture from The Raw Table

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cup sulphite-free raisins
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
dash of cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and balled up. Remove from bowl and press into square or round glass dish – alternatively you can shape into one large square with your hands. Freeze until firm, then slice. This may be kept refrigerated or frozen. This rich and satisfying recipe serves 6-8.

Posted in Raw Chocolate, Snacks, Sweet Treats

Tags: cacao, cinnamon, raisins, sea salt, walnuts

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Trine’s Apple Chocochip Cinamon Cookies

March 31st, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oat groats, milled into a flour
2 1/2 cups of walnuts, ground into a pâté
4 tbsp coconut flakes
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
4 tbsp vanilla extract
1 medium-sized apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into little pieces
cacao nibs – a few handfuls (to your taste)
2/3 cup of agave (or less if you want less sweet/drier dough to start with)

Directions:

First grind your oat groats and set aside. Then grind your nuts. If you can fit everything else into your processor you can just go from there, except for the apples, which you should stir last into the processor. Because I only have a mini processor, I grind the oats and nuts up in stages, and mix everything manually by hand. Easy enough! Dehydrate at least 8 hours, depending on what texture you like, and how moist your dough was to start with. (If you soaked your nuts, they will take more time!)

If you want less fat in your cookies, you can subtract nuts and add more groats. Oat groats are unfortunately not that easy to come by, especially raw. I love them, though! They have the added bonus of really making your bowels move. :)

Posted in Cookies, Dehydrated Foods

Tags: agave, apples, cacao nibs, cinnamon, coconut flakes, oat groats, vanilla, walnuts

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Mushroom Alfredo Sauce

March 18th, 2010

Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork

recipe by Lucy Yeh

I’ve come into a load of dried porcini mushrooms of late, and have been searching for ways to use them. So here’s a second mushroom recipe!

Ingredients:

Measurements of the ingredients below are estimations.

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup button(or any other kind) mushrooms
3/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts, soaked 8-10 hours
2-3 cloves garlic
splash of olive oil
sea salt to taste
freshly ground Pepper

Directions:

Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water (just to cover) for 15-20 minutes or til soaking liquid turns dark and mushrooms are re-hydrated. Put all ingredients in Vitamix including the mushroom soaking liquid and blend til creamy. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Stir in some finely chopped mushrooms to finished sauce to add texture. Serve over rawviolis (thin slices of daikon radish stuffed with nut/seed cheese and folded in half) or shredded veggie pasta.

Posted in Dressings & Sauces

Tags: black pepper, button mushrooms, garlic, pin nuts, porcini mushrooms, sea salt, shiitake mushrooms, walnuts

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