I have been loving raw food desserts lately from coconut cream pie to coconut chocolate pudding and  pineapple dips. I decided it was time to make some raw food brownies. After a bit of searching, I realized that it seemed the most popular raw brownie on the web was from My New Roots. I couldn’t miss out on this one but wanted to add a little something else….When my granny made brownies she always iced them and topped them with chopped walnuts, so I knew I wanted to put a little icing on these bad boys. How convenient that they happen to be made mostly from walnuts, too! I wonder if my granny would enjoy this healthy version of a frosted brownie.

In other news, I just completed the Vancouver Sun Run this weekend! I’m feeling so proud of myself, as I had never run 10km before and this really pushed me to pretty much double the length of my regular runs. If you don’t know what the Sun Run is, it’s basically a 10km run that takes place each year in Vancouver. It’s the largest 10k in Canada and this year had about 48,000 people run it! It started to get tough for me around 8k, but my boyfriend stuck with me and I only ended up walking for less than a minute! Here’s a picture of us at the start line with our friends:

It seems that the most popular raw brownie recipe ever is from Sarah over at My New Roots. I used her raw brownie recipe and combined it with Lucuma Icing from Meghan Telpner. The combination was great. The icing has a sort of caramel-like flavour, which is amazing because all of the ingredients are so good for the body!

Pop over to One Green Planet to view the recipe for this vegan dish!

This is a fantastic dessert recipe perfect for Valentine’s Day. This tasty dessert contains all the luscious chocolate-y goodness of regular pudding– but it’s even better!! It contains no dairy  or gluten whatsoever. I consider this recipe to be raw, but because there is pure maple syrup in it…it technically is not raw. Regardless, anyone you make this for on Valentine’s Day will love it. And if you don’t have anyone to make it for than you are lucky and can have it all to yourself!!

Raw Coconut Chocolate Pudding  (adapted from Raw Food Real World)

• meat from two coconuts (approx. 2 cups)
• 3/4 – 1 cup coconut water
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/4 cup coconut palm syrup
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla bean powder
• pinch of Himalayan sea salt
• raspberries and strawberries

Starting with 3/4 cup coconut water, blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. I used my new Vita-Mix for this!!!! Adjust thickness by adding more coconut water if desired. I served this with raspberries and strawberries and thought it made the perfect combination. Enjoy!

For another healthy Valentine’s recipe, check out this raw coconut yogurt.

These recipes come from one of the raw food classes I took earlier this year. They are slightly adapted to use what I had on hand. I don’t have a Vita-Mix and these three recipes can be made without that pricey piece of equipment! Although they may be a little chunkier….ha ha ha!

Eating raw isn’t an all or nothing thing for me- I just like the idea of preparing and eating raw food dishes because of their high nutritional content. So use what you have on hand and if it isn’t perfectly raw than so be it!

Eat these tapas style, or put them together in a wrap!!

Raw Falafel

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tomato chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 shallots
• 1/4 cup olives, stones removed (*I used kalamata which means my falafel aren’t technically “raw” due to the way they are processed)
• 2 tsp oregano
• pinch of cayenne
• pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 tsp himalayan sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Process all of the ingredients in a food processor until throughly mixed. Form into falafel balls and dehydrate at 145 degrees F for 1 hour, and then 105 degrees F for another hour or so.

Raw Hummus

• 2 cups grated zuchinni, some water squeezed out
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 clove garlic, chopped
• pinch of black pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (start with 1/4 cup until desired thickness is reached)

I hope you all had great holidays and fun New Year’s celebrations! I had a great Christmas, spent in Whistler with my family and my boyfriend. It snowed the whole time, and I gave snowboarding a go. Our car was jam-packed so when we picked up a little Christmas tree there one was only one place for it…thanks Mom! We also had no room to bring up ornaments for the tree….but we are a festive family and thought of something suitable

New Year’s was also spent in Whistler and my boyfriend and I enjoyed a great meal at Earl’s and more than enough jagerbombs!!

With the holidays behind us though, it’s time to get back on track! But that does not mean you have to skip dessert. 

Raw food desserts are amazing because they taste delicious and sweet, as dessert should, but they are made with healthful and nutrient-dense ingredients! I first tried this coconut cream pie in a raw food class that I took. It blew me away that something could taste this good and not only be healthy, but also contain so few ingredients. It was so rich and satisfying that just a small portion is all you need.

This recipe can make one large 9-inch pie, but I chose to make 5 smaller pies instead.

RAW Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

• 2.5 cups dry coconut flakes
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup packed, finely chopped dates
• 1/4 tsp raw vanilla powder, or 2 vanilla beans

• 1 1/4 cups coconut milk (this is coconut meat and water blended together- not canned coconut milk.
•  3/4 cups coconut meat
• 3/4 cup packed, finely chopped dates
• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• 2 pinches salt
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp raw scented coconut butter

Blend all ingredients except coconut butter in blender until smooth. Add coconut butter last and blend until smooth. **If you have a Vita-mix this will be easy…if you are like me and don’t have one, you may need a bit of extra liquid or to do small batches. I ended up using a food processor for this step because my blender sucks.** Pour into prepared crust and top with coconut flakes. Refrigerate or freeze for about an hour. Enjoy!

This is another delicious recipe from my raw foods class. The class that this recipe comes from focused on high nutrition snacks. I would suggest making these in bulk as they can take up to 48 hours to deyhydrate. If you make one giant batch you can store them in the freezer. The chocolate used in this recipe contains only healthy ingredients- these snacks provide a perfect burst of energy for you….which is what a snack is really about.

Pineapple Dips

• Pineapple(s), sliced into 3″ x 1″ pieces

I thought I’d share this smoothie recipe with you today. This is a variation of a recipe I learned in my Raw Food Class, as I will be getting my Raw Chef Certification in about a month. I really love learning about raw foods….the ingredients used are so packed with nutrients, and it’s so exciting to learn about. I hope that you will enjoy more raw food recipes from Koko’s Kitchen in the future.

This particular smoothie is great anytime, but especially after a workout. The coconut water is amazing for rehydration, and the sweeteners used (coconut sugar and lucuma powder) are extremely low glycemic, and won’t spike your blood sugar levels. The cacao powder is a fantastic, healthy source of energy.

For those of you wondering what lucuma powder is, wonder no more. Lucuma is actually a fruit from Peru, and the powdered form is becoming easily available. You can add the powder to smoothies, puddings, baked goods, and frozen desserts. It’s slightly sweet and can be used instead of sugar…since it’s so low glycemic, it’s a great option for diabetics. It also helps to emulsify fats and oils with sugars, which is why it can be used in ice creams and frozen desserts. Try this new superfood in your next smoothie!!

Raw “Post Workout” Smoothie

• 1 young thai coconut, meat and water
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tbsp lucuma powder
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder

My garden’s lettuce box has been growing like crazy and we have an abundance of arugula, salad bowl lettuce, mesclun green, and romaine. I love love love our romaine- it’s sooo crisp and fresh and you can’t get more local than your very own backyard. I decided to make a caesar salad, because it was a perfect way to showcase this lovely lettuce. My friend was over for dinner and she couldn’t get over how good the salad tasted- she was sure it was the homegrown lettuce! This is a really neat Caesar salad dressing, because it’s completely raw. There is no mayo, or eggs, or anything like that, yet it’s creamy and garlicky, just like regular caesar salad dressing. Instead of using croutons, I just used cashews, as I’m not eating yeast right now. I know the argument that cashews aren’t technically “raw” but I don’t eat 100% so it’s not a big deal for me.

I took some pictures of the other wonderful things we have growing here, too. I think the only things I left out were our tomatoes, marionberry, strawberries, some herbs, and the several kinds of beans that I have yet to plant.

Romaine:

Lettuce Box:

One of the raspberry ‘bushes’….gotta give this little baby some love for the next couple years!

Parsley:

Peas (and those little containers contain personal cantaloupe!):

Rosemary- my favourite herb!!

Rhubarb:

Garlic (I cannot WAIT to harvest this and eat it…mmm….garlic….)

I found this recipe on the internet, but apparently it is adapted from Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Detox Diet Book. It makes about 3 cups, and keeps for about 10 days.

Raw Caesar Salad

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp miso
• 5 dates
• 4 celery stalks
• freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.

So I have dabbled in a couple of raw food dishes, such as the raw cheesecake I tried in the summer. I’m feeling a bit less than myself lately and was sick over the past week or so. Because I am in pastry school, I find myself consuming a lot of sugar, and I basically went from a near zero sugar diet, to one where I’m bringing home cakes, pies, tarts, and bread several times a week, and while a lot gets shoved in the freezer right away, it’s the odd bites that catch up to us. I want to start cleansing my diet again, as my school winds down, and wean myself off the sugar once more. I thought a good place to start would be a raw food dish, and though I don’t necessarily think that having a completely raw diet is the best diet, I know that I can count on raw food recipes to provide light, healthy nourishment. I got the recipe from here and only slightly modified it. I really enjoyed the dressing and used it on several salads I had in the following day or two. This was a very nice lunch, and also a great side dish at dinner. Enjoy!

Raw Vegetable Pasta

Dressing:

• 1 inch ginger
• 3/4-1 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil (toasted)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 4 tbsp mellow white miso
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• zest of one orange
• 1/3 cup water

Blend in a blender or food processor until creamy and emulsified.

Pasta:

• 1 large zucchini, sliced with a vegetable peeler
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced into matchsticks
• 1 carrot, sliced into matchsticks
• 1/2 small cucumber, grated
• Scallions or green onion to garnish
• Sprinkle of raw sliced nuts of your choice
• handful of cilantro, chopped

Prepare and mix all veggies, save the scallions or green onion. Toss them with 1/4 cup sauce, adding more if necessary, and sprinkle with scallions. Sprinkle with sliced nuts and cilantro.