Savory Dishes » Loving Superfoods

Sprouted Lentil Falafel

Lentil Falafels & Cucumber Dill Sauce

Falafel is a traditional middle eastern food that is typically made from garbanzo beans and fried. It’s often served in a pita bread or on a salad with a tzatziki sauce (cucumber-yogurt sauce). This raw version I created completely satisfies my greek food cravings and I can taste the aliveness in every bite.

Falafel Patties

1/2 Medium Onion (about 1 cup once shredded in the food processor)

2-4 Carrots (about 1 cup once shredded in the food processor)

1 Garlic clove

1 Cup Sprouted Lentils (1/2 Cup dry lentils)

1 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Ground Flax Seeds

1/4-1/2 of an avocado

3 Tbsp Parsley or Cilantro (dried or fresh)

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Coriander (seeds or powder)

1.5 tsp SunFire Salt

1/4 tsp Turmeric

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How To Make Raw Sauerkraut

Red & Green Sauerkraut

Making your own sauerkraut is one of the easiest things to do and much more economical than buying Bubbie’s sauerkraut (my favorite) from the store.

Sauerkraut is an excellent source for probiotics and one of my go-to foods when I crave cheese. It’s tangy like cheese, more probiotic than cheese, and tastes particularly excellent on salads and mixed with avocados.

Here’s the process I use to make my own which I got from this delightful video by Lauren Amerson (ShaktiGoddess1 on youtube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gObQR5Vm4M

Raw Sauerkraut Recipe

1 head cabbage (green or red)

2 Tbsp SunFire Salt

1 Tbsp Caraway Seeds (optional – I prefer my sauerkraut without this rye flavor)

Leftover brine if you have it (from your last batch or from a store-bought Bubbie’s sauerkraut)

Remove a few outer layer cabbage leaves (1-3) for later
Cut the core out of the cabbage and then shred cabbage with food processor or knife (smaller pieces are better for fermenting faster and getting more water out for the brine)
Put shredded cabbage in a large bowl and add salt (and optionally the caraway) and massage it in with your hands. Let this sit for 30-60 min until the cabbage wilts.
Massage the cabbage again, squeezing so that even more liquid is released. Massage for probably 5-10 minutes until the cabbage is very wilted and there’s enough liquid to cover the top of the cabbage.
Transfer the cabbage and then the resulting liquid (brine) into a quart size mason jar. (depending on the size of the cabbage head you may require more than one quart size jar). Press down on the cabbage so the brine rises to the top and there are no air bubbles.
Add a piece of the outer layer cabbage leaf to the top and press down so that the brine is above it. This keeps the shredded pieces below the brine level. (optional: add a weight on top of the cabbage leaf to make sure it all stays below the liquid)
Leave about 1 inch of air space at the top of the jar for the fermentation gases to escape and secure the lid tightly.
Label the jar with the date the jar was closed. Keep on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Check the taste of the sauerkraut to make sure it tastes tangy and like sauerkraut, then store it in the fridge (indefinitely).

Enjoy!

Variations on Tomato Soup

Tomato Soup with Cauliflower Popcorn Topping

I have two recipes for tomato soup that I love, so I figured I might as well merge them into yet another fabulous creamy tomato soup recipe. And it turned out delicious!

I hope this inspires you to play with the recipe based on what ingredients you have on hand and what flavorings you prefer. Here are a few raw soup guidelines that can help you in your creativity:

1. Use a tasty liquid base, like coconut water, orange juice and water, an herbal elixir tea, or at least lightly warmed water

2. Don’t blend the soup until smooth. A little bit of chunkyness or fibrousness gives your mouth something to lightly chew on. Chewing activates your salivary glands which further activates all of your digestive juices and enzymes in your whole digestive tract.

3. Add something chunky and chewy as a topper to your blended soup. Your tastebuds will get bored after about the third bite of the same taste, so having a few bursts of flavor will keep your tastebuds interested and the soup will taste good to the last drop. Even something as simple as green onions, hemp seeds or nutritional yeast flakes on top of the soup can make it work. But even better are sliced apples, avocado, tomato, live sprouts or Dulse seaweed. And best of all was when we added our Cauliflower Popcorn recipe into this Creamy Tomato Soup. Yummm!

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Cauliflower Popcorn

Even if you think you don’t like cauliflower, you may find you totally enjoy cauliflower popcorn. That was certainly the case for me. I always avoided the raw cauliflower made available for dipping at parties, but once tossed with the ingredients below, I will devour it, even eating it by the spoonful.

We’ve also discovered that this recipe works great as a soup topping or salad topping. That extra bit of crunch and burst of flavor makes our tomato soup experience even more delightful.

Here are some basic guidelines for making the Cauliflower Popcorn, although this is one of those recipes you’ll want to taste test and adjust to your liking as you go, especially since cauliflower heads can vary in size.

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Spicy Flax / Chia Crackers

Spicy Flax and Chia Crackers

The consistency of these crackers is so perfectly thin and crispy and the spicy/salty factor is just right. Follow the water and seed ratio exactly and then feel free to play with the spices for even more fun customizations.

2 Cups Flax Seeds, Chia Seeds or a blend of both (I prefer half of each)

4 Cups Water

Soak the seeds in the 4 cups of water until gelatinous (at least an hour or overnight)

Take 2 Cups of the seed/water gel and blend with 3 Cups of additional water until smooth. Pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl and repeat the process for the remaining 2 cups of the seed/water gel.

Now blend the following spices in about 1 cup of water:

1.5″ Ginger (fresh, peeled and cut into chunks)

4 Cloves Garlic

1.5 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 Tbsp SunFire Salt (or a bit less than this if you don’t like things too salty)

1/2 tsp Cayenne

1-4 Tbsp fresh peppers (bell, habanero, jalapeno – depending on how spicy you like it)

Add the blended spices to the bowl and stir thoroughly until well mixed.

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Pizza Soup & Salsa Soup

Pizza Soup

I had a lot of fun experimenting with making raw soups during our spring equinox cleanse and here are 2 more that we really liked: Pizza Soup and Salsa Soup!

Pizza Soup

Juice 1 zucchini (wow yumm!), a slice of onion & 1 red bell pepper.

Blend that juice with 2-3 tomatoes, 2 Tbsp Hemp Seeds, 1 Tbsp Oregano, 1 Tbsp Fiesta Mole & about 1/2-1 Cup warmed water (optional for a warmer soup).

Top with sweet baby tomatoes and green onions (or any other pizza-like toppings you desire).

Tip: In place of the warm water I used a decoction of astragalus, eleuthero, and shatavari I happened to have on hand during our cleanse. That’s why the soup in my picture is particularly frothy – that astragalus foams well. Stay tuned for more on how to make decoctions.

Salsa Soup

Salsa Soup

Blend until mixed, but not super-smooth: 2 Tomatoes, 1 Red Bell Pepper, 1 slice of Onion (~2 Tbsp), 1 Carrot, Handful of Cilantro, 1 tsp Cumin, 1 tsp Garlic Powder, 1/8 tsp Chipotle and 1 Cup warmed water.

Tip: In place of the warm water I used a decoction of Fo Ti I happened to have on hand during our cleanse. Fo Ti has an awesome miso-like flavor that rounds out the body of this soup. You could also use a miso base or add in a pinch of SunFire Salt to your water.

Many thanks to my friend Becca Ladd for the inspiration on this soup … I see why it’s one of her favorites!