Tomato Tart / Ceasar Salad with Rawmesan+Croutons / Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Wow! These recipes were worth the effort! Took me three days to pull it all together. First I had to make rejuvelac (fermented wheat berry juice) so that I could make the nut cheese, which took a day. Then I had to dehydrate it. Had to make croutons also with the cheese, which also required hours of dehydration. Had to make dragon crackers so that I would have crackers to roll the onion rings in. Whew!

Keep in mind those new to raw food: all recipes shown here are fresh "alive" have not been cooked. We dehydrate crusts, crackers, croutons, etc., to get the desired texture, but all enzymes and vitamins are preserved (unlike cooking).

We had the tomato tart for lunch with one of my “splash” salads, which means a fresh vegetable and nut-filled bowl of whatever I can find in the refrigerator with very little leaf action. The tart was not as much work as I had imagined and pretty tasty, although I gave up when it came to making my own dehydrated tomatoes. I just used a jar of sundried tomatoes. This recipe is a keeper! Email me if you want me to send you the recipe.

I worked straight (including yet another trip to the grocery store) from lunch on for dinner. I had been dehydrating a single carrot since yesterday so that I could grind it up and roll the “croutons” in it. That damn carrot just would not get crispy. I finally just ground it up anyway, the clock was ticking. Rolled the croutons in it then it all went back into the dehydrator. The “rawmessan” was dehydrating too. I whipped up the ceasar salad dressing which was KILLER, and then began blending the stuffing for the squash blossoms.

Finally the crackers were ready, so I ground a few of those up and added the herbs, then dipped red onion rings in olive oil and rolled them in the crumbs, which didn’t stick very well (egg would have been nice, but this is vegan, remember?) and then they went into the dehydrator.

Ready to stuff the blossoms and discovered I couldn’t find all the parts to my pastry bag and nozzle…a momentary panic until I got resourceful and resorted to a large grip-lock bag. Man, it worked like a charm! The photo here does not do it justice. Oh! The stuffing was pine nuts, pistachios mixed with a delightful Indian herb mixture and it was just HEAVEN…a wonderful floral aroma, so delicious.

The rawmessan and croutons made the ceasar salad, pictured here in a beautiful new bowl that my dear sister Deb gave me as a gift to cheer me on for this project. Thank you, Debbie, I love you.

These are the most delicious recipes I’ve made so far, although I can see a growing annoyance in Daniel (husband-photographer). He repeated several times today “we can go back to paper plates after this project is over, right?, right?” He grumbled rather loudly at having to do the dishes again (although I was the one in the kitchen ALL day). Goddess bless him, he is helping me so much and I know he’s quite unsure why the hell I am taking on such a time-intrusive hobby, but I’m HOOKED and I am just having SO MUCH FUN, but I admit I am tired and looking forward to my day off of doing this tomorrow.

Count: 13 down, 39 to go in 9 weeks.
Next up over 4th of July holiday – Red Bell Pepper Soup with Mango / Greek Salad /Dolmas and Kaboch Squash Soup. God help me.