Thursday, December 3, 2009

Raw Food Thursday!

I typically do my monthly all-day raw food cleanse on the first Tuesday of every month, but I had plans to eat dinner at a delicious vegan-friendly soul food restaurant that day. So I pushed my mini-detox back a few days.

I welcomed my raw day with this most delicious Coconut Almond Butter Smoothie:

Raw almond butter, a frozen banana, shredded coconut, flax seed, and water combined to make a super-creamy, coconut-ty breakfast drink. I love fruity smoothies, but I think I like the nutty, creamy ones even better.

Before lunch, I snacked on a crisp red pear and a few of these Cashew Cinnamon Bun Babies:

The recipe came from the lovely Chocolate-Covered Vegan (a.k.a. CCV). It's one of several in her line of fudge baby balls, a delicious homemade take on the classic Larabar. I used her recipe for Cashew Cookie Larabar Babies and added cinnamon for cinnamon bun-like taste. I only allowed myself three of these all day since each ball was about 100 calories, but I could have eaten the entire batch in one sitting.

Lunch was a Deconstructed Salad with Carrot-Miso Dressing:

The dressing recipe came from Gena's Choosing Raw blog. It's almost oil-free (with just a teensy drop of sesame oil), so I ate a ton of it. Instead of pouring it over my veggies, I used the dressing for dipping romaine leaves, red bell pepper, cucumber, celery, and cauliflower.

My mid-afternoon snack was the highlight of my day — a square of raw chocolate!

And this wasn't just any raw chocolate. I made this stuff using a Nativas Naturals Organic Superfood Chocolate Kit! They sell these kits for $10 at Whole Foods and each contains a block of solid cacao butter, a packet of organic cacao powder, and an add-in (either cacao nibs, goji berries, or golden berries). I purchased the "cacao nib" kit (those little dark spots in the chocolates pictured above are the nibs). It's so easy to make, and the chocolates are melt-in-your-mouth amazing. But it is super-dark chocolate (80% cacao!), so it's not for the faint of heart.

I snacked on an orange and some more cashew cookie babies before hitting the gym. Dinner was a satisfying bowl of Raw "Peanut" Noodles:

Another Gena recipe from Choosing Raw (her stuff is always so amazing!). This dish doesn't actually contain peanuts (since they're not raw), but it tastes just like peanut noodles. Granted, I added a couple tablespoons of raw almond butter to Gena's recipe, even though it wasn't called for in the recipe. That may have added to the nutty taste.

I also cut the oil down from one cup to a 1/4 cup and subbed water for the rest. The sauce was incorporated into "noodles" made from zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper, and cucumber. And I topped it with a little crushed red pepper flakes to add some spice!

23 comments:

The Voracious Vegan said...

YUM YUM YUM!

I love everything in this post....but I think I'm IN LOVE with that make your own chocolate stuff! How genius! I've never heard of something like that but now I NEED one! It sounds amazing and I'm glad to know it is fairly easy to do. I think I would have gone with the cacao nibs too.

Love those raw peanut noodles - aren't they great?

Dani said...

wow you make eating raw look delicious, especially those cashew cinnamon bun babies.

Jen Treehugger said...

How good do those noodles look!
Just saying the words "Coconut Almond Butter Smoothie" gets me all excited - wow this is a great raw day Bianca.
:)

T said...

Oooh, I think I could go raw for a day with that kind of set-up. Especially the carrot-miso dressing...

miss v said...

i've been meaning to make these peanut noodles for a while now. and after the holiday, i need a raw-cleanse month!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

LOOOVE your festive smoothie glass! And yes, Gena's recipes are definitely amazing.

Anonymous said...

Yum, everything sounds so good! I'm much more of a nutty, creamy smoothie girl too :)

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

i wanna dive into that salad.

Chocolate-Covered Katie said...

Oh my goodness, you MADE your own chocolate bar???

*Bows down to Bianca*

By the way, not only do your Cinnamon Babies sound delicious, they look delicious as well. The photo looks like professional quality, blurred in all the right places. Where'd you learn to take such good photos? Did you take a photography course? I never cease to be amazed by your many talents.

Anonymous said...

That carrot-miso dressing looks awesome!

Gina said...

Well, everything looks amazing, but especially the "peanut noodles". Yummy raw day Bianca!!

Anonymous said...

I've been lookin for ways to incorporate a raw food body cleanse..glad I came across your post AND blog. Got some good shtuff in here!

Kandi said...

i almost bought one of those chocolate kits a couple of weeks ago but passed.. now i think i'll have to try it! :)

Jessica said...

Delicious day! I want that smoothie now! Your dinner looks fab.

Sheridan said...

Bianca's photos always look amazing because she has a degree in photo journalism! And she's just super talented too. Hehehe. She will probably answer that for you, but I'm proud of her, so I thought I'd let you know! ;)

Bianca - I wanna make my own chocolate bars! That sounds like so much fun! This whole day of food looks and sounds great!

Cyn said...

Your raw food always looks so yum! I love those noodles - and the chocolate sounds amazing.

Heather said...

Looks fantastic Bianca! I've been trying, without much success, to eat more raw foods. I have in the freezer lots of raw nuts (cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds) I just need some recipes!

Happy Older Hippie Woman! said...

Hur-raW!!! What a diverse selection! I saw the chocolate kit at a store, so now I know what the little bars look like - thanks! Once in a great while I wish I could make the leap to "all raw", but I really do like casseroles, hot soups, stews, vegan burgers...

Mihl said...

Everything looks so delicious, as usual, especially the cashew cinnamon bun babies.

River - The Crafty Kook said...

I love your festive glass! So cute!

You, chocolate-making devil! It looks so good! I would have gone with the cacao nibs option too! :-D

Michal said...

Holy yum! Everything on the post is looking tasty. Im so interestead in that dressing, it looks really good :)

Mary said...

Your smoothie looks so nice in that Christmas goblet. It gives me an idea: eggnog milkshake!

aTxVegn said...

Your raw food days always look incredible.