I had a lot of fun trying these three recipes out of. The joy was in creating something that wasn’t what it looked like. Though I was hesitant at first when I opened up Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
Raw food is OK but I have never felt I really needed to try it outside of what I already did – salads, fresh fruits, veggies, the occasional smoothie, periodically eating raw when hiking – that kind of thing. But I am a sucker for cookbooks and will read nearly anything with food involved.
I wandered through the recipes and was taken in by a photo of the three recipes combined. I knew I had to try it! The recipes involved “not meatballs” made of walnuts, zucchini noodles and adorned with a sauce that is amazing. I’ll admit I adapted the sauce a bit. Tomatoes are horrid in the PNW 90% of the year, where as well drained salt-free canned tomatoes are always ripe. Yes, this means that my version was not true raw food but I can live with that shame 😉 It did though show me that raw food could be a lot of fun – although with how much time I spent making the meal I can see how raw foodists are so dang skinny…lol! Either that or they go buy a spiral slicer (OK, I want one now!) I truly enjoyed this book so much that I returned the library copy and bought a copy for my collection!
The authoress, Jennifer Cornbleet, has a website as well to check out. Do go and look!
I used a package of Colavita Sun-Dried Tomatoes I had on hand (find at Cost Plus World Market) that while not cheap are so amazingly wonderful tasting. I used the entire package.
“Meat”balls with Marinara Sauce over Noodles
Nut Balls –
- 1 cup raw walnut pieces
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp lower sodium soy sauce
- ¼ tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried minced onion
Soak the walnuts for at least 6 hours in 4 cups cool water. Drain the nuts and add to a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
To make the nut balls use a Tablespoon size disher, portion out and then roll quickly to make smooth balls. Keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Marinara Sauce –
- 1 ripe tomato, seeded and chopped (about ½ cup) or a 14.5 ounce can no salt added diced tomatoes, well drained
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, oil packed and drained ( Colavita Sun Dried Tomatoes, 4.23-Ounce (Pack of 6)
)
- ½ cup bell pepper strips (frozen is fine)
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
- 1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
- ½ tsp granulated garlic (or ½ tsp fresh)
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Combine everything in a food processor bowl and process until mostly smooth, with some small chunks. Refrigerate until ready to use, keeps for up to 3 days.
Zucchini Noodles –
- 2 medium size zucchinis (spring size, not the bloated summer ones!)
Peel the green layer off and trim the ends. Using the peeler make thin peelings, rotating the zuke around, until you reach the inner core with the seeds. Toss the core.
Stack up the peelings into small stacks, cut into fettuccine like strands.
To assemble –
Place one zucchini worth on each plate, arrange like pasta. Top with a couple meatballs and divide the sauce over. To eat take some noodles and wrap into the sauce. Delicious!
Serves 2.
PS: For an excellent video on making the noodles and sauce check Jennifer’s video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owpk18SyBJg&w=640&h=390]
~Sarah