RAW Endive boats with marinated mushroom salad

About this recipe:

I am crazy about these marinated mushrooms, they go great on just about anything. Combined with these endive 'boats' they are perfect party or finger food. This recipe is adapted from the 'I am Grateful' raw book. Shiitake mushrooms are known to lower cholesterol, cleanse blood and has anti-carcinogenic qualities.

Ingredients for the marinade:

• 1 t. jalapeno, finely chopped

• 1 t. fresh ginger, finely chopped

• 1/2 t. fresh garlic, finely chopped

• 2 T. nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)

• 2 t. lime juice

• 1 T. agave nectar

other ingredients:

• 2 belgium endives

• 2 c. shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

• handful of mini tomatoes, quartered

• handful of mixed greens or micro greens

1. Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender or coffee grinder and blend into a smooth sauce.

2. In a bowl, place the mushrooms and marinade together and refrigerate for at least one hour.

3. Cut the back end of the endives and peel each leave off. If you are not eating it right away, it is best to rub some lime juice on the back end of the leave to prevent the leave from turning.

4. Mix the greens and tomatoes together and spread out in the endive boats.

5. Top it off with the marinated mushrooms and serve!

Makes about 8 - 10 mushroom boats.

RAW Jicama Salad

About this recipe:

This is one of those great refreshing summer salads that is super easy to make. If you find it hard to find jicama, try a mexican market. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find organic jicama but thank god it has a tough skin. Make sure to look for mould spots before you buy one. This recipe contains mango so if you are concerned about your sugar intake just leave it out!

Ingredients:

• 1 softball sized jicama, peeled and shredded with a mandoline

• 1 red bell peppers, sliced

• 1 mango, sliced / diced

• 1 large handful of cilantro, chopped

• extra virgin olive oil

• pepper & salt to taste

optional (if in season):

• pomegranate seeds

• dressing made with 1/2 pomegranate juice and 1/2 olive oil

1. Add the jicama, bell pepper, mango and cilantro in a large mixing bowl.

2. Drizzle with olive oil or pomegranate dressing.

3. Decorate with optional pomegranate seeds.

Serves two.

Nori Salad Wraps

About this recipe:

My dear friend Sandra came up with the brilliant idea to make these nori wraps when eating salad. Its a super handy way to transport the greens to your mouth. You can basically make it with any kind of salad (or filling) you want, just make sure you dry the ingredients,  you don't want the nori to become soggy.

Ingredients:

• 4 - 6 raw nori sheets

• handful of arugula

• 1 carrot, julienned

• 1/2 of a small cucumber, julienned

• 1 (watermelon) radish, julienned

• 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned

• 1/2 avocado, diced

• 1 heirloom tomato, diced

• some olive oil

• squeeze of lemon

• squeeze of miso mayo

• pepper & salt to taste

1. Prepare the salad by mixing all the ingredients.

2. Lay a nori sheet flat on a dry surface.

3. Scoop a royal portion of the salad on the nori sheet. Make sure to leave some room on the corners (see photo).

4. Fold each corner in, just like an envelope. You can use a toothpick to keep it together.

5. Enjoy right away.

Spring Rainbow Salad

About this recipe:

What a happy time of the year it is. There's all this amazing spring produce that looks like a color explosion after the somber winter months. This is definitely my favorite salad for this season. I really got into making salad dressing with avocado as a creamy base, try it for yourself, I think you will love it as much as I do.

Ingredients for the salad:

• Salad mix of choice, I used arugula and fava greens.

• 2 watermelon radishes, peeled and thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)

• 1/2 avocado, diced

• small handful of fresh mint

• 1 blood orange, peeled and sliced in bite size bits

• handful of raw macademia nuts

• pepper & salt to taste

For the salad dressing:

• 1/2 avocado

• juice of one orange

• juice of half a small lime

• small handful of cilantro, chopped

• 1/4 inch of a jalapeno pepper, minced

• 1 spring union, chopped

• dash of olive oil

• freshly ground pepper

1. Toss all the salad greens together in a large mixing bowl.

2. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with pepper to taste.

3. Coat the salad leaves with the dressing, divide onto plates or bowls.

4. Decorate the salad with blood orange, mac nuts and avocado. Salt & pepper to taste.

Makes 2 meal salads or 4 side salads.

RAW Kale Salad

About this recipe:

Kale is really healthy, specially when consumed raw. It has a ton of carotenes, vitamin C and B6, and many minerals including copper, iron and calcium. Its also a good source of dietary fiber.

Ingredients:

• 5 stems of kale, curly kind

• 1/2 avocado, diced

• 1 large heirloom or vine tomato, diced

• juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1 - 2 T. olive oil

• pepper & salt to taste

• handful of raw pine nuts for garnish

1. Pluck kale leaves off the stems, shred leaves into bite sized pieces. Wash thoroughly, add to mixing bowl.

2. Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the kale. Massage with your hands until the leaves become more soft. This could take a couple of minutes.

3. Add the tomato and avocado, toss, drop in bowl(s).

4. Sprinkle with pine nuts and pepper & salt to your taste.

Makes one meal salad or two side salads.

RAW Sea Veggie Salad

About this recipe:

Sea vegetables have been shown to cleanse the body of toxic pollutants. The alginic acid binds with heavy metals in the intestines and eliminate them from your body. Sea veggies also enriches the bloodstream, assist in metabolism, promote healthy skin and are very high in mineral content.

Ingredients:

• fresh sea vegetables, soaked and drained

• cucumber, diced

• sunflower sprouts

• juice of half a lime

• optional: avocado, diced

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl and enjoy fresh! No extra salt needed.