No Cooking Recipes

No-Bake Apple Pie Recipe

2012-09-18T02:38:00.001-07:00

In this post, there are two recipes for no-bake apple pies.

Berry Happy Apple Pie

This is a no-bake apple pie featuring apples and local fresh berries and hazelnuts.

Tools: cutting knife & board, high-speed blender, dehydrator, pie pan, mixing bowl, spoon, spatula, measuring cups, measuring spoons

Crust:

1 cup finely ground fresh shelled hazelnuts

½ cup ground flaxseed

4 tbsp. water

¼ tsp. sea salt

Method: Mix together well by hand until you can make it into a doughy ball. Spread out into pie pan. Use a spoon or spatula to help spread it evenly. Leave uncovered in the fridge for a two hours or until crust is set.

Filling:

1 cup chopped nectarines (about 2 nectarines and you could substitute peaches)

1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. cinnamon

5 tbsp. raw local honey

2 tbsp. ground flaxseed

3 cups finely chopped apples (about 5 apples)

Method: Blend all except apples together well until smooth. Pour over apples and mix by hand. Let marinate overnight or put into dehydrator for 4 hours in a covered bowl. Put this mixture in the pie crust.

Topping

½ cup fresh blueberries (or you could substitute any other fresh berries –chop them if they’re larger)

½ cup fresh hazelnuts coarsely ground hazelnuts

½ cup ground flaxseed

¼ soaked raisins with soaking water (you could also substitute date paste)

Method:

Dot the top of filling with the berries.

Mix other ingredients together by hand until they are like a crumble. Cover top of filling with this mixture.

Decorate with extra berries &/or apple slices.

Put in dehydrator for 2 hour at 110° F. Let cool & cover. Keep refrigerated. Take out of fridge ½ hour before serving. If you want it warmer, you could put in back in the dehydrator for an hour at 110° F before serving.

Here's a photo of a completed Berry Happy Apple Pie.

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Om Chai Apple Pie

This is also a no-bake apple pie featuring apples, Asian pears, Asian spices and coconut.

Tools: cutting knife & board, high-speed blender, dehydrator, pie pan, mixing bowl, spoon, spatula, measuring cups, measuring spoons

Crust:

2 1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes

6 tbsp. water

¼ tsp. sea salt

Method: Process coconut flakes in food processor or high-speed blender until they are very smooth & almost like a paste. Mix coconut together by hand with salt and water. Knead mixture by hand and spread into pie pan. Use a spoon or spatula to spread it more evenly. Leave uncovered in fridge until set.

Filling:

¼ tsp. ground anise seed

¼ tsp. ground cardamom seeds

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. fresh ginger root, peeled & finely chopped

1 pinch of turmeric powder

1 pinch of ground white pepper (optional)

1 1/2 cups of finely chopped, peeled & cored apple (save some peels)

½ cup of finely chopped, peeled & cored Asian pears (save some peels)

6 tbsp. raw local honey

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. of soaked chia seeds

1 tsp. ground flaxseed

½ cup finely chopped Asian pear, peeled & cored

2 ½ cup finely chopped apple, peeled & cored

½ cup fine coconut flakes

Method: Blend together all ingredients except ½ cup Asian pear & 2 ½ cup apple & coconut flakes, in high-speed blender until smooth. Mix marinade with spoon. Put into a covered container. Put this container in a dehydrator at 110 degrees F for 2 hours. Then put filling into pie crust. Decorate top with fine coconut flakes & apple &/or Asian peel peelings arranged in share of Om.

Spice Tip: Instead of pre-measuring the small amounts of the first three spices in the filling, you could pre-grind & mix larger amounts, keep them in a jar and then just use the total volume (3/4 tsp. of mixture instead of ¼ tsp. of each of them.

Premixed Spice Mixture ACC Spice Mixture:

2 tsp. ground cloves

2 tsp. ground cardamom seeds

2 tsp. ground anise seeds

Here's a photo of a completed Om Chai Apple Pie.

Extra Tips & Notes:

I really recommend using a high speed blender. After years of using weaker, cheaper blenders that broke down and sometimes even died while using them, I finally got a Vitamix. I've been quite pleased with it!

2. Get the best possible fresh organic spices. I also recommend getting whole spices and grinding them yourself.

Winning Raw Salsa recipe

2012-08-23T12:42:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm guilty of not posting anything for quite a while.

Finally I have something interesting to post and I get to brag a little too!

I created a recipe for a raw salsa & I entered it in the Crossroads Farmers Market Salsa Contest on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. I won the award for Best Use of Ingredients.

For those of you who don't eat tomatoes, have no fear because this version of salsa contains no tomatoes. The key ingredient in the blended portion is strawberries instead of the more traditional tomatoes.

As much as possible I tried to use ingredients that can be locally grown or bought from local farmers at the farmers market. I bought my raw apple cider vinegar from Rockridge Orchards, who have booths at a number of markets around the Seattle area including the Thursday Bellevue Farmers Market.

Below is the recipe for Rosy Rainbow Salsa.

Rosy Rainbow Salsa

By Silvia Wilson

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh strawberries, stemmed & chopped
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove elephant garlic, peeled & chopped
¼ cup water
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ cup red pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup orange pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup yellow pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
½ cup fresh blueberries, if small keep whole, if larger chop in halves
¼ cup finely chopped purple onion

Tools:

blender
cutting knife
cutting board
mixing bowl
spoon

Method:

In a blender, blend until smooth strawberries, olive oil, garlic, water, apple cider vinegar, cilantro, salt & cayenne pepper
Add blended mixture to other ingredients in mixing bowl.
Mix together with a spoon.
Serve with chips, salad or as a sauce to use with any other dish.

Makes 3-4 cups of salsa.

Notes:

ü Keeps best in a covered glass container in the fridge. A clean empty jar works well.

ü You can adjust the amount of salt and cayenne according to your taste depending on how salty or spicy you prefer it to be.

Because I prefer the base sauce to be very smooth and creamy, I use a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. After many years of using blenders that didn't have the power to blend properly or that just didn't last very long. Well, once I got a Vitamix, I just wouldn't go back to using those past unreliable, gutless blenders! Check it out below!

Below is a photo of the salsa showing the pretty pink color. I recommend having this salsa with carrot-coriander crackers by House of the Sun Raw Food which are pictured beside it.

Here's a photo of the ribbon that I received for my winning entry:

So Much More than Simply Salad

2011-07-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

People think salad is boring but there are so many things you can put in a salad.

When it comes to greens there are so many different greens that can be put in a salad.
Take a visit to your local farmers' market. There you'll find all kinds of fresh greens.
Be creative and try a new fresh green. By new, I mean a green that's new to you.

Of course besides greens you can also chop or grate in many other ingredients like beets, carrots, celery, fennel and tomatoes. You can also add finely chopped herbs like basil, cilantro, chives and green onions. Get even more creative by adding a bit of fruit like chopped apples and berries.

You can use a variety of ingredients to create delicious salad dressings. Check other postings on this blog for more about sauces and salad dressings.

Here's a tip to help keep those delicious ingredients fresher: When you chop up and grate your ingredients use ceramic knives and ceramic graters. Because they're not made of metal, they help prevent oxidization which makes fresh food start turning brown and yucky-looking very quickly. You can check out this article about food and oxidization.
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Use a salad spinner to wash your greens. Use the dirty water from washing your salad greens to water your plants.

Just to get you excited about the greens aspect, watch the following a little video I created. I found these lettuces at Let Us Farm who you can visit and shop with at Seattle's University Farmers Market.

Fruit Kebobs -Raw fruit treats

2011-07-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

Finally I'm starting to post on this blog. Apologies to anyone who's been waiting so patiently.
Years ago, I made this for a regular potluck. Recently, I saw that someone else had brought it to a potluck and I was reminded of this very easy recipe.
It's raw, fresh, tasty and easy! Plus it looks yummy and pretty too!

Fruit Kebobs
Accessories: bamboo skewers

Ingredients:
A variety of fresh fruits in bite-size chunks or pieces

Instructions:
Simply put fruit chunks on skewers.
Get creative with the different types of fruits, mixing flavors and colors.
Examples: banana slices, strawberries, melon chunks, grapes, orange slices, mango chunks, pineapple chunks.

Tip To keep fruits from turninging brown, dip fruit kebabs in fresh orange juice. This will sweeten the fruits too!

Here's a photo to inspire you.

This Blog is Under Construction

2011-05-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

Please come back soon to see the first real post!