I’d be totally lying if I said I weren’t a sucker for anything colored pink or purple. Which is why, when I came across these purple hull peas at the market, I couldn’t resist the splurge! The price was high, and I had no clue what I was going to do with them, but that only intrigued me more.
When I got home, I anxiously cracked open a pod, and to my surprise found a bean similar to that of the black eyed pea. ‘Crap’ I thought, I have to cook these! Not because I don’t sometimes eat cooked food, but because my dehydrator’s home is on top of my stove – Basically, cooking (with heat) to me, is so much more work than it’s counterpart. Funny what we get used to…
Any who, I sat in front of my computer, watched two hours of hulu, and shelled all of the beans. Whew, what a job! I knew after all that work, that this would definitely be a one time only purchase!
Parfait is a wonderful thing. It allows those of us who find boredom in single-flavour desserts to enjoy many tastes and textures elegantly layered in one tall glass. This one was inspired by Japanese parfaits, in which the most peculiar colours and foods are combined to make insane edible creations.
Avocado ice cream is among our favourite culinary discoveries of this summer. It seems as though avocado was created for ice cream making, with its smooth and creamy texture.
We wanted this parfait to tell a visual story and paint a delicious landscape. The layers of green ice cream, buckwheat crunchies, fresh cherries, and blueberry and vanilla creams are meant to resemble topography. Mountains and valleys, trees and flowers, and finally, at the very top – snowy peaks.
Just like all desserts on Golubka, this parfait is nourishing and full of ingredients that do nice things for your body. Go ahead, try it for breakfast.
Lately, I’ve had quite a few flops in the kitchen. Which is why, I was super stoked when I came up with this dish and it actually tasted as good as I hoped.
Since I have issues with purchasing more corn than I (or a family of 5) needs, I wanted to find a way, other than corn relish, to make good use of it. For some reason, corn cakes immediately popped into my head and I decided to roll with it. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so to the kitchen I went…
I was in love with all the colors in the corn cakes… Isn’t raw food pretty!? Enjoy!
I love to eat my smoothies with a spoon. I make them thick enough to pour into bowl so that I can top them with granola. To me this is heaven, the best way to have a bowl of granola and a smoothie all in one.
You may think that there is no real trick to making a smoothie that tastes like pudding. Well I beg to differ. To make a REALLY smooth and consistent smoothie, it takes some practice or just knowing what to pair together. You have to use the right ingredients in perfect amounts – to get that creamy consistency, texture and flavour. You can use more or less frozen fruit to make it thicker or less thick. Oh and of course you need a good blender, that can make or break the deal alone!
I have definitely made and had bad smoothies in the past. There is nothing worse than a watered down smoothie or one that just doesn’t have that mouth feel that you crave even when you’ve finished your smoothie. That’s what happens to me, I always want more even when it’s all gone. I truly can’t get enough of smoothies! They give me energy, fill me up and make me so happy! I get excited every time I make a new one, honest! Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
This decadent Blackforest Chocolate Cheesecake by Vanessa Sherwood drew quite a knockout reaction when she posted it on the forum. I’m sure you can see why. It is bursting with sweet cherries layered between a chocolate crust and a creamy chocolate cheesecake filling. Vanessa advised the members of the forum they can purchase raw cacao butter and coconut oil for great prices at Organic Living Food. She also said it can be replaced with a dark Green and Black’s chocolate bar. I know what some of you will be making your loved ones this Valentines!
The other day, we were taking a walk on the beach and recollecting our many summers spent on the Black Sea shore. Sochi (where the 2014 winter Olympics will be held) was where we usually stayed with family, in a charming old house. Whole days were spent on the beach, bathing in the gentle water and soaking up the sun, completely content. Summer in Sochi is truly magical, with warm windless days, chilly evenings, fireflies, and water temperatures that are refreshing yet welcoming. And that is where we got our yearly dose of figs. In our hometown, figs were a rarity – expensive and shipped from afar. But Sochi was a different story. Come the “velvet season”, at the end of August, and the many fig trees in the streets and backyards exhibited the plump fruit. For some unknown reason, the locals did not care for them. So we became fruit thieves in neighbor’s yards, justified by the fact that the figs would go to waste without our rescue. It’s a known fact that the less the time between harvesting and eating, the better the flavour. And freshly picked, those figs tasted like honey, and their sweetness lingered on our lips all season long.
The other true jewel of those times in Sochi was hazelnut. Hazelnut trees were abundant and beautiful with their trios of ready to pick nuts hidden in green cocoons. We would take bags of freshly harvested hazelnuts to the beach and crack the nuts with smooth sea rocks. They made for an unforgettably tasty snack. Folk medicine is rich with tales of the nut’s healing powers. In fact, one such remedy calls for the mixture of figs and hazelnuts to be taken at the end of the meal to aid digestion.
Now that figs have come into season, we decided to build this pizza around them with the addition of hazelnuts, caramelized onion, and basil sauce.
So I’m thinking.., “I deserve a treat…a cake….and a big one too.” Food is my biggest reward. My admiration and desire for colors and tastes is too great and impossible to neglect. I have no doubt that if I were to give up gourmet foods, the resulting hunger would spiral me into an irreversible depression. This is why I take culinary moments, especially involving cake, and turn them into physical and emotional celebrations.
Browsing through my memory on what used to be my priorities in life and comparing them to my current lifestyle, I quickly find even more reasons for celebration. My life used to be all about getting the right job, surrounding myself with successful people and being at every important event there was. Despite being successful in all of the above endeavors I found myself driving with my car back home thinking, “Why do I still feel so empty?”. My curious and somewhat stubborn personality wouldn’t rest until I fully explored the questions of what would truly make me happy. It took some time but I found the answers, all of those being in healthy lifestyle with vegan and raw foods. Despite being where I am right now, I still believe my youth was necessary for me to grow and looking back I would have not changed a thing. However, searching for happiness in nightlife, clubbing and attaching importance to ego-based matters did not fulfill my needs for internal happiness. It certainly gave me a focus on myself which prompted me to explore my needs in great depth. This doesn’t mean I became isolated, it just means I now know how to take time for myself and truly spend it in peace and tranquility. I learned how to appreciate nature, observe and enjoy the scents of cherries, mangoes, peaches, apricots, passion fruit and all other wonderful fruits of nature. They empower me to feel youthful, confident, wholly and most importantly they keep me healthy. I now take time when driving with my car to observe nature, fields of greens, valleys of grasses which calms me and leaves me with feeling of content and allows me to see the true essence of nature’s beauty. With my passion for healthy vegan and raw food I have touched and changed some people’s lives, as well as my own. I spend a good portion of time in day thinking about new gourmet – stylish looking recipes that would bring intrigue and interest in people’s lives so they would too join me on the journey of the eco and animal friendly lifestyle of healthy foods.
Sweet beets combine with creamy avocados for this alluring, satisfying, and not to mention stunningly-colored soup.
Serves 4
For the Soup
4 Medium beets
1 Avocado, chopped
1 Lime, juiced
2 Cups water
3 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp ground coriander
¼ tsp sea salt
Fresh cilantro leaves & black pepper for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
1. Roast: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the beets and remove stems and end. Individually wrap each beet in tin foil. Roast for 1 hour and allow to cool completely. Using a paper towel, rub off the beet skins. Chop coarsely.
2. Blend: Place the beets, avocado, lime juice, water, hemp seeds, coriander and sea salt in a blender. Blend until completely smooth.
3. Chill: Place soup into refrigerator, and allow to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Serve: Pour into serving bowls and sprinkle with cilantro and black pepper if desired.
The brownie universe isn’t exactly full of surprises. The combination of sugar, butter, flour, chocolate, eggs, a few extraneous ingredients, plus a little oven time, inevitably leads to some form of brownie action. Of course, the resulting degree of deliciousness is all in the details — just talk to the adamant nut-adders, the chocolate chip enthusiasts, or the “fudgy” versus “cakey” people that can seemingly never agree. Yet, by and large, the language of brownies is pretty much the same: delicious chocolate squares that just about everyone loves. Including me.
But I have a secret. With the exception of chocolate (which can be profoundly beneficial in its unprocessed form), I don’t use any of the “conventional” ingredients in my homemade brownies. In fact, I don’t even bake them. (I know — what a rebel.) Instead, by using exclusively natural, whole foods, the inherently gorgeous flavor of each healthy ingredient does all the sweet singing — without needing the crutch of sugar or butter. Undercover health benefits like antioxidants, good omega fats, potassium, magnesium (and more) nutritionally rank this dessert as more of an energy bar than an “extra 20 minutes on the treadmill indulgence.” Best of all, five ingredients plus five minutes is all it takes to go from zero to brownie.
Blueberries – nature’s candy and nature’s medicine, packed with antioxidants, fiber, and vitamin C. I just happen to live in blueberry country. It’s one of the few perks of living in the north. Every year I battle the bears out in the old logging roads to pick pails and pails of berries. I gobble them up in their natural state, in addition to using them in smoothies and desserts, before freezing heaps of them to enjoy throughout the year.
The taste of wild berries can’t be compared to store bought ones – in fact, I never buy them because I know what the REAL ones taste like. I often invite my raw food friends up to my little corner in northwestern Ontario, Canada to partake in my wild adventures, so consider this an invite to join in my summer berry expeditions!
I hope you’ll give this blueberry cheesecake a try. It’s delicious with the cardamom but you could easily omit it if you’re not a fan.
G / Design It’s amazing how easy it is to now go completely leather free, with amazing leather like fabrics by Joseph Noble. They make a range of fabrics with feel better than leather and last longer
G / Food The Ultimate Sausage and Pepper Pizza – RAW It’s Rawfully Tempting!
G / Food Chocolate Fruit and Almond Bark – D E C A D E N T and H E A L T H Y! Sooo Rawfully Tempting!
G / Food The edible cups are made entirely out of agar agar (a gelatin substitute).
G / Design a solar-powered collapsible lamp lights up when unfolded.
G / Food The Ultimate Sausage & Pepper Pizza by Rawfully Tempting
G / Food Creamy Mocha Mousse Cake
G / Video A visual poem by Tanya Davis. How To Be Alone
G / Food Killer Chocolate Fudge Mousse & Banana Parfait.
This is one DECADENT dessert and not for the feint of heart.
G / Style Well, this o so stylish hat called Double Crown O’Thorns, is definitely a bold look, especially if you wear the entire black head to toe suggestive accompanying outfit.
Photography Callie England
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