Best Raw Granola

This is the best raw granola I’ve made yet. The nuts and seeds need to soak, so usually I start soaking the almonds at night, then in the morning I put the pumpkin and sunflower seeds on to soak and start making the granola in the evening. So it’s in the dehydrator overnight and usually ready by the next morning. Sprouted buckwheat groats are optional, but make a really nice, extra-crunchy addition. I usually have them on hand, I make them up by themselves and just sprinkle some into the finished granola.

This raw granola is great with kefir. I’ve not tried it with nut milk yet but I bet it would be delicious with either almond milk or cashew milk. I love it just for a snack too, I eat it by the handful. It would store and travel really well if you go hiking too.

Ingredients:

2 cups almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 apples, grated (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or  vanilla bean powder
1-1/2 teaspoon maple syrup *
1/2 teaspoon stevia powder
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup dried sprouted buckwheat groats (optional)
2 Tablespoons mesquite powder (optional)
2 Tablespoons lucuma powder (optional)

Instructions:

Soak the almonds for 12-48 hours, drain and rinse. Soak pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for 4-6 hours, drain and rinse.

Put the soaked nuts and seeds in a food processor or blender and process until they are finely chopped but still a bit chunky. You want a bit of texture rather than a paté consistency.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients except the dried sproouted buckwheat groats, and mix well. The mixing is a bit of a chore if you use a fork or some other implement. I suggest you do what I do and just get your hands in there and mix it up really well.

Spread it evenly over 3 dehydrator trays covered with Teflex sheets. Dehydrate at 105F for 10-12 hours or until crunchy.

* Maple syrup isn’t raw. In this recipe it’s used more for flavoring than sweetness, so if you want a purely 100% raw granola you can leave it out.

Almond Milk

This delicious, creamy almond milk is so satisfying that it was the key to my easy transition to being completely dairy-free. I’ve wanted to give up dairy for some time now, but the one challenge was my morning latte. This almond milk was so good it almost made me forget to add the coffee. It’s given me the key ingredient that’s allowed me to create non-dairy beverages that I like even more than cafe latte.

This almond milk is delicious by itself, in smoothies, milkshakes (or mylkshakes) or on raw granola.

Ingredients:
3 cups water
1/2 cup  raw almonds, soaked 8-12 hours (3 hours at least), or 1 cup for a thicker milk
1-2 tablespoons organic raw honey, 3-4 soaked, pitted dates, or sweetener of your choice
1/2 vanilla bean, 1/2 tsp of vanilla bean powder, or 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
pinch of Celtic or Himalayan sea salt

Instructions:

Soak the raw almonds for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Discard the soak water and rinse. Soaking almonds makes them much easier to digest and more nutritious by activating the enzymes and neutralizing an enzyme inhibitor that makes nuts hard to digest for some people.

Put almonds and water into blender and blend until smooth.

Straining Almond Milk

Strain through a fine mesh strainer, a piece of muslin or muslin bag, or a special nut milk bag (if you can, get a nut milk bag, it will make this process so much easier, and they are easy to clean). If you’re using a strainer, stirring with a tablespoon in a spiral motion will help the almond milk to move through faster. If you’re using muslin gather up the ends and squeeze to press the milk through.

Save the almond pulp to use in other recipes such as raw cookies or porridge. Rinse out the blender, add the almond milk and the rest of the ingredients and blend thoroughly until frothy and creamy.

You can drink the almond milk as is, or use it in other recipes. It will keep in the fridge for a couple days.

Raw Granola & Almond Milk

Raw food is so quick and easy to make, it’s the perfect thing for people who “don’t have the time to cook”. Well, here’s the perfect solution – don’t cook! Jennifer Cornbleet demonstrates how to make both Almond Milk and Raw Granola in under 8 minutes, real time. Okay, so she had to soak the nuts overnight, but that’s just being organized and takes maybe 2 minutes. And of course you have to wash up afterwards, but it’s not like you have to scrub a baking tray with cooked on granola! Have a look at this video and see how easy it is.

Here’s my recipe for how to make almond milk.

Here are the instructions for the raw granola using soaked nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Use equal amounts of each ingredient.
Ingredients:

Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
Raisins (or dried figs or dates)
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon

Soak nuts and seeds in one container the night before you want to have your granola. Rinse and drain the next morning. Any type of raw nuts or seed you like can be used.

Add all ingredients to food processor. Process until it resembles a granola-like consistency.

You can eat this right away or store it in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. Top with fresh fruit such as blueberries, sliced banana, or pineapple.

Serve with almond milk.

Raw food author and chef Jennifer Cornbleet shows you how to make a quick and delicious gluten-free raw granola, which is then topped with raw almond milk. From her DVD, Raw Food Made Easy . Produced by Larry Cook. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Quinoa Salad

If you like couscous salads but are looking for something even healthier, and wheat-free this salad fits the bill. It’s light on the digestive system, but filling. The quinoa provides lots of extra protein and fiber. Like couscous quinoa cooks very quickly, so it’s an easy dish to prepare anytime.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 handful of mixed salad greens, roughly chopped or torn
1 handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
1 handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 large leaves spinach, roughly chopped or torn
3-4 broad beans (fava beans), or fresh peas, shelled
1/4 red or yellow bell pepper (also called capsicum), finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
handful of almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 teas ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:
1/4 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teas wheat-free tamari (can substitute shoyu soy sauce if you don’t mind wheat)

Garnish:
sunflower and pumpkin seeds to garnish

Instructions:
If you cook a bit extra quinoa than you need, you can use the leftovers the next day in this salad. Otherwise, see my article on How to cook quinoa. Make sure it’s cooled before you mix it in with the other ingredients.

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly.

Pour the dressing over and toss briefly to evenly distribute it.

Garnish and serve.

Serves 2.

Cook’s Tips:
This recipe uses very loose measurements because for recipes like this I encourage you to change and adapt them to your taste and the ingredients you have on hand.

[GlutenFree]