Chocolate Salad
Does it sound gross? Does it sound non-vegan? Does it sound too good to be true? Well read on my friends...



Ingredients:
2 tbsp raw cacao nibs
2 medjool dates
8 tbsp orange juice, water or a combination
1 1/2 tsp raw tahini

5 bananas
5 sticks celery

Instructions:
Okay I hate to publish recipes on here that need specialised equipment but there is something you're going to need to make this recipe and you really can't do it without... that is a coffee grinder attachment for your blender. It's just essential. I actually use mine several times a week, I think is is great and if you're getting a new blender, definately go for one with a coffee grinder attachment.

Okay, with that said, lets get onto the recipe. For the salad part, just chop up your bananas and celery however you like and mix them together in a bowl. For the chocolate sauce, start by grinding the cacao nibs to a powder with your coffee grinder attachment. Put this powder aside in a bowl and put the dates (minus their stones!) in the blender with half the liquid. Blend to a smooth consistency with the coffee grinder blade. Then put the rest of the liquid and the cacao nib powder in and blend the whole lot together. Pour it over the salad and voila!
You can shock people by having chocolate sauce for dinner or you can use this as a chocolate dip with fruit skewers at parties or you can use it for anything else you can think of! Enjoy!

Cirrus Salad
Some of you may realise that cirrus clouds are the soft, fluffy, wispy looking ones and that is just why this is named cirrus salad - the dressing is pure white and has a creamy but almost fluffy texture. Divine!



Ingredients:
For the dressing
-slightly less than 1/4 cup really raw cashews
-juice of half a lemon or lime
-half a small clove of garlic
-about 2 or 3 tablespoons of coconut water
-1/2 a medium sized stalk of celery
-a three or 4 centimetre (1 1/2 inch) piece of cucumber, peeled

For the salad-apple
-celery
-zucchini
-cucumber

Instructions:
For the dressing
Grind the cashews to a powder in the coffee grinder attachment of your blender** then add the other solid ingrdients and blend again. Finally, add the lemon/lime juice and coconut water and blend till it is a smooth consistency - I advise adding the coconut water in small amounts until the dressing is a thick/runny as you desire.
For the salad
Chop the celery and cucumber (I don't normally advise peeling things because a massive amount of nutrients are located just beneath the peel - it is necessary to peel the cucmber for the dressing but I add the peel into my salad to make up for it!) Slice the apple using a mandoline or by hand and turn the zucchini into pretty spirals with a spiraliser (or slice it however you desire). Pile the cucmber, celery and apple in the middle of the bowl, surround with zucchini and pour dressing on top. Voila!

Mushroom Pizzas
I don't know why I call it a pizza - because pizzas make me think meat, cheese, grease, fat and death for both what's on it and the person eating it. These amazingly delicious little guys have none o' that!



Ingredients:
- mushrooms. I would prefer to use two large mushrooms, eg field mushrooms or portobellas, but these little ones were all I could get at the organic markets so I went with it and used about 6.
-1 1cm slice of fresh pineapple
-some fresh basil leaves

For the white sauce (aka 'cheese' minus death and grease)
-1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked then dried (Or just use them straight)
-1/4 cup raw macamdamias (as above re soaking)
-1/2 clove of garlic
-juice of half a lemon
-coconut water (can use young or mature but I prefer mature, find young is too sweet)

For the tomato sauce
-1 quite large tomato
-1/2 a small carrot
-4 tbsp chopped red capsicum (I would never actually measure this, but I would say this is about how much i use)
-6 slices of semi-dried tomato (I dry my own)

Instructions:
For the 'cheese'
Put the nuts and garlic in the coffee grinder attachment of a blender and process until they are finely crumbled. Then add the lemon juice and some coconut water, about 3 tablespoons. Process again, then add more coconut water until you reach the desired consistency. If you don't have a coffee grinder attachment, you can use a regular blender or a food processor.

For the tomato sauce
Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until it reaches the desired consistency.

For the construction
Spread the 'cheese' sauce on your 'pizza bases,' aka mushrooms, until it is all used up. The spread the tomato sauce over the top of this. Tear your basil leaves into small pieces and place on top of the tomato sauce, then finish with pineapple sliced into approximately 1x2cm cubes.

If you cna bring yourself to share, little mini versions like those in my picture would make a nice appetiser at parties, pot-lucks etc. Or you can just sit and gobble a whole plate by yourself, loL!

Blackberry Mousse



This is delicious, with amazing texture... and what could be better than purple food?

Ingredients:
1.5 - 2 cups of berries (I have tried mulberries and blackberries, mulberries was my personal favourite but I imagine any other berries, eg blueberries or raspberries, would also work!)
2 medium avocados
1 banana
1/2 a very large mango
2 medjool dates

Instructions:
Remove the seeds from the avocados and scoop the flesh into a food processor. Remove the seeds from the dates and roughly chop them, then place in the food processor with the banana and mango. Process all of this until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides if necessary. Then add the berries and process again until the mousse has a uniform colour.
Serve with a sprinkling of berries or some banana slices on top. Can be eaten on slices of apple, rolled up in green leaves (eg bok choy) or with a spoon! :-)

Smushy Corn Dip



Not the best name for a dish, is it? But it tastes so good that it doesn't really matter what you call it.

Ingredients:
-1 ear of corn (well, a bit less than a whole one - I ate a bit as I went :-)
-4 tbsp chopped capsicum/bell pepper (I used about 3 tbsp yellow and 1 red)
-1 tbsp chopped onion
-1/2 cup lettuce, packed (any kind - I used buttercrunch)
-a pinch of dukkah (this is a delicious spice blend - if you can't find it, use cumin instead)

Instructions:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process until it reaches the desired consistency. That's it! Eat with raw flax crackers or veggie sticks (I suggest carrot, sweet potato and asparagus).

Tropical Chocolate Ice-Cream Pie
Oh this is so good, you (and any lucky people you share it with) won't believe it is raw and vegan! It tastes so decadent and rich but is actually good for you!



Ingredients:
For the filling -
1 small-medium black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit)
1 medium banana, broken into chunks and frozen
1 tbsp raw carob powder
1/4 cup paw paw (papaya) flesh, chopped
For the crust -
1 large dried fig
1 medjool date
1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight then dehydrated for 8 hours (you don't need to do this but it makes them easier to digest and better for you, plus I think they taste better)
young or mature coconut water (could substitute orange juice or water)

Instructions:
For the filling - put the chunks of banana in a food processor and process until they resemble a smooth cream. This will take a while and if your food processor starts heating up you might have to let it rest ocassionally. First the banana will go all crumbly and weird, but eventually you will get an amazing cream, honest! When you do, add the black sapote, (scoop the flesh out of the skin and remove the seeds as you come to them) paw paw and carob powder. Process until the mixture is thick brown and chocoalte pudding-y, stopping to scrape down your processor is necessary. Place this is your prepared crust (see below) and either enjoy immediately (the best) or store in the fridge or freezer for laster consumption. (If you put it in the freezer, get it out at least half an hour before you want to eat it).

For the crust - chop the almonds in a food processor until in the smallest chunks you can get (if you have a really good foos processor you will eventually get something resembling flour - stop before this happens!) Then chop the fig and date roughly and add to the processor, processing until they are fully chopped and you have a moist mixture which holds together slightly when pressed. Depending how moist your dried fruit was you may not need any liquid - if the mixture is still a little dry, add liquid sparingly and process until it is just 'shapeable.' Press the mixture into the base of two small individual serving bowls or one large pie pan or similar. Refrigerate overnight before adding the filling.

Now, the filling serves three (me,my mum and my dad) but my mum can't eat nuts, so the crust only serves two. You'll have to figure it out for yourself if you want to serve the same amount of people with both - this was so tasty I didn't want to tamper with the amounts!

ABC Soup
This is like alphabet soup but only the first three letters... and a zillion times better tasting! And there's two Cs not one. Okay so maybe it's not that much like alphabet soup. But make it anyway!



Ingredients:
1 medium carrot
1 large rib of celery (with leaves!)
about 1/2 a small beetroot
about 1/3 of a medium avocado
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 spring onion chopped

Instructions:
Chop the carrot and beetroot and push them through a juicer, then push the celery through too - this should leave you with about 100ml of juice, so if you don't have this much add a little more of whichever veggie you would like. Pour the juice into a food processor and add the avocado, then process until it is the most beautiful smooth creamy consistency - add more avocado if its not creamy enough. Pour into a bowl, sprinkle the parsley in the middle and drop the slices of spring onion around the outside. This makes for stunning presentation, but make sure to mix all the parsley and spring onion through as you eat, cos it tastes great!