(raw vegan, gluten-free*)
With Garlicky Broccolini, Sweet Vidalia and Fennel Gratin, and Blueberry-Macadamia Rawscarpone Crumble.
That’s right, now you’ve heard it all! After last night’s success, I’ve decided to shoot for a weekly “TV Dinners Gone Raw” night, inspired by these cute compartmented plates I found on sale at Bloomingdale’s recently. You can’t deny the power of presentation, and raw food in a TV dinner format aroused even the pickiest eaters in my household! What’s better is that it makes for a smooth preparation, as theming calls for similar ingredients yet results in a complete, multi-course meal. Upon laying out every course within their respective partitions, I popped them into the warming drawer (you can also cautiously use oven on lowest setting) for about 15 minutes. Voila! The kids almost thought they were getting a real TV dinner classic!
Makes 5 servings then some:
“Spaghetti & Meatballs”:
- Spaghetti: 3.25 lbs. goldbar squash, slice lengthwise into wide thin strips with a vegetable peeler, then cut into noodle-like strips. Rest in bowl with light sprinkling of sea salt and pepper. Drain excess water, drizzle with olive oil and dehydrate 1 hour at 115 degrees.
- Meatballs: 1 cup of soaked walnuts plus 1.5 cups coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms marinated at least 1 hour with nama shoyu. In a food processor, blend together with 2 cloves garlic, thyme, oregano, crushed red pepper, flax seed oil, sea salt and pepper. With your hands create balls using about 1.5 tablespoons of mixture at a time, and dehydrate for 4 to 6 hours at 115 degrees.
- Marinara: 2 lbs. plum tomatoes, scooped & seeded, cut & quartered. Place in bowl & season well with sea salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours, tossing occassionally, then draining liquid through a sieve. Add to food processor, along with 6 large olive oil marinated sun-dried tomatoes (not the dry-packaged). Add 1 large garlic clove, fresh basil leaves, more fresh thyme, dried oregano, crushed red pepper, sea salt & pepper to taste, and blend thoroughly to a marinara sauce consistency.
* Do not use nama-shoyu for gluten-free preparation.
Garlicky Broccolini:
- 1 lb. broccolini, bottom third of stem removed, cut into bit sized pieces. Place in a bowl with 3 smashed large garlic cloves, tossing occasionally. Add enough sea salt & pepper to taste. Let sit for at least one hour. Add garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil and allow to sit at least another hour before removing cloves and dehydrating at 115 degrees for an hour.
Fennel & Sweet Vidalia Gratin:
- 1 medium sized vidalia onion, 1 medium sized fennel bulb finely sliced into half moons. Also include some fennel fronds for pretty specks of green. Place in bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and allow to sit for at least 2 hours. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for one hour.
- Gratin: In a food processor, blitz 2 teaspoons sea salt with one large garlic clove. Add one cup soaked cashews, black pepper, and about 1/8-1/4 cup flax seed oil. Add only enough cold water to get creamy, smooth consistency. Finally, mix a few heaping tablespoons or as much to taste, to the vidalia and onions after dehydrating.
Blueberry-Macadamia Rawscarpone Crumble:
- 1.5 pints fresh blueberries, marinated for at least 2 hours with the gooey seeds of 1 vanilla bean, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a good squirt of agave nectar.
- Rawscarpone: 1 cup of soaked cashews, 1.5 tablespoons coconut butter, gooey seeds of 1 vanilla bean, good squirt of agave, and a pinch of sea salt. Blend very well to the smoothest consistency using drizzles of cold water if necessary.
- Macadamia crumble: 1 cup soaked macadamias, blended to medium to fine crumbly texture with 2 tablespoons vanilla-infused maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 3 hours.
- (Assembly) Spoon mixture into dish, pressing down to make a pie-like crust. Add a good dollop of the rawscarpone and spread evenly, add blueberries to cover, then finally add another small dollop of rawscarpone followed by a few more macadamia crumble.
<3, JMK
