Maki with Avocado and cajun Portobello Fillets

The maki rolls taste fantastic! This dish is from the book conscious cook by Vegan chef Tal Ronnen. I would definitely encourage everyone to buy a copy. The recipes in his book are very delectable and aesthetic. I cannot reproduce the recipe due to copyright laws.

Raspberry-Strawberry Jam

Who knew that jams and preserves were so easy to make? You can have fabulous homemade berry jams and preserves at your fingertips in just a matter of minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups Strawberries

2 cups Raspberries

3 cups Brownsugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Place the berries, brown sugar and Lemon juice in a pan and boil it for 40-50 minutes. (you can add 1 teaspoon of Lemon rind if you want a tart and tangy lemony flavor.) Keep stirring the mixture.

2. Pour the hot jam into a glass jar and refrigerate.

3. Easy as 1-2-3. :)

Carrot Rice

Carrot rice is another spectacular South Indian specialty that is not only pleasing to the eye but to the palate as well. Its a great way to eat your veggies and get much needed antioxidants for your body.

Ingredients

3 Cups cooked rice
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoon of chopped Coriander
1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon Turmuric
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1/2 lime
1 teaspoon grated jalopeno pepper
2-4 mid sized tomatos (use as many as desired, I used 4 tomatos.)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 red onion chopped
4 cups carrots

Directions

1. Cook the Rice in a pressure cooker. If you don't have a cooker you may boil it in water until it is cooked.
2. Place 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil in a heated pan and add cumin. Allow Cumin to crackle and add the red onion, ginger, cumin power, garlic and Jalopeno. After 4 minutes, add the diced tomatos and turmuric and make a nice thick gravy by letting the tomatos cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the 4 cups of carrots to the pan and mix well.
4. After 2 minutes, add rice, salt and lime juice. Mix well.
5. Garnish with Coriander.

Tempura Beet Rollatini with Balsamic Gastrique

The rollatini was creamy, crunchy and most of all amazingly delicious. The cashew cream in the beet rolls tastes like ricotta cheese. If you don't want to fry the beets you can just cook them and slice them thin and place some cashew cream mixture in and roll them up. This is most certainly a very exotic dish to cook and eat! This is another Tal Ronnen recipe from the book Conscious cook. :)

Ponzu glazed Tofu Crystal Rolls

Ponzu glazed Tofu Crystal Rolls are very tasty. The firmness of Tofu, combined with noodles and carrots give it a crunchy taste. Mint also adds a little zing to this dish.

Tropical Tapioca Pudding

This has to be by far the very the best dessert on earth! The soft and spongy tapiocas with sweet coconut milk is a treat to relish. Tropical fruits like Papaya, Guava and kiwi are not only loaded with antioxidants but are also extremely tasty. This is a must try dish from the book Conscious cook.

Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)

Chocolate Croissants are easy to make and bake. :) Chocolate has great antioxidant properties and is wonderful for your body, but the same cannot be said of pastry dough. lol. Treats are fine every once in a blue moon and portions are also of essence when consuming any food. Anyways, Chocolate Croissants make a delicious treat and are fun to make!

Ingredients
1 packet of Puff pastry dough
1 cup semi sweet Chocolate chips.

Directions
1. Cut the thawed Puff Pastry dough out into 6 squares. Then cut each square into a rectangle by making a cut diagonally. Now you should have 12 rectangles.
2. The widest part of the rectangle faces you. Place 4-5 Chocolate chips in the center of the rectangle and roll it up from the widest part towards the pointy part. Curve the ends and make sure it is sealed properly. The Croissants are to have a semi circular shape.
3. After they are all rolled up like Croissants, place them in an oiled pan and bake them for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Chocolate Mousse

The Chocolate Mousse is very silky, smooth and rich with all its Chocolate goodness. This dessert is super delicious as well as super easy to make. Chocolate has many great qualities; aside from being an antioxidant, it boosts energy and increases neurotransmitters like Serotonin which are experienced as feelings of happiness. A study has found that eating Chocolate may add an extra year to your life. :)

Ingredients
1.5 cup of Semi sweet Chocolate chips
1 lb Silken Tofu

Directions
1. Blend the Tofu in the blender till it is like a silky paste.
2. Melt the Chocolate chips by placing them in the Microwave for 40 seconds. Stir with the spoon to see if chips are melted, if not place them in the Microwave again for 20 seconds.
3. Place the melted Chocolate chips in the blender and blend Tofu and chips together. Add some water if needed and stir.
4. Refrigerate for 1hour and then serve.
5. You may add fruits and nuts if you wish.

Rose Ras Malai

Rose Ras Malai is another delectable dessert dish that you can enjoy. The Rose essence becomes a treat for the senses as it not only smells good, but tastes great as well. In the picture I have not poured in the soy milk in the bowl so you can view the 'malai' piece, but it is intended to be served with soy milk.









Ingredients
Roohafza Rose syrup (available at Indian stores)
2 Cups Soy Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
4 ounces of Tofu (firm if you are using this recipe, silken tofu if you want to blend the tofu, sugar and syrup together and form balls and pour sweetened soy milk with Rose syrup on top).

Directions
1. Boil the 2 cups of Soy milk, sugar, and the Rose syrup for 12 minutes.
2. Cut the Tofu horizontally to make 1/2 inch thick Tofu slices. Use the cookie cutter to cut out the shape of your choice.
3. Place the cut Tofu in the boiling milk and boil for another 1o minutes.
4. Let it cool and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
5. Serve cold. :)

Angel hair Pasta with Avocado Pesto

Avocado are not only incredibly tasty, but are also great for health as well! Avocados are loaded with Vitamin E, antioxidants, are great for the eyes, heart and lower Cholesterol. The Cashews are also another source of antioxidants and Magnesium. Beyond being healthy, the taste of Cashew cream is just heavenly.













Ingredients
1 pound Angel Hair Pasta
2 medium Avocados cut and seeded
1 cup Cashews
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
5 cloves of Garlic
7 Basil leaves
1 Jalopeno
1/2 lime
2 teaspoon salt or according to taste.

Directions
1. Boil water and place the pasta and salt into the boiling water and cook until well done. 15-20 minutes. Remove excess water as well.
2. Place the Cashews in the blender and pour in enough water to dip all the Cashews in water.
3. Blend the Cashews until nice and creamy.
4. Blend in the Avocado, salt, lime Jalopeno pepper, Basil, and Garlic cloves with the Cashews.
5. Stir in the oil with the mixture.
6. Add the Avocado mixture to the pasta and stir well. Turn on the stove and cook for 7 minutes.
7. Angel hair pasta with Avocado Pesto is now ready to serve and eat! Yay!

Hawaiian Mango-Coconut Bread

The glorious Hawaiian Mango-Coconut Bread is a specialty at the Luaus in Hawaii! Mangos are so yummilicious and healthy. So are Coconuts and Cashews that will be added to this recipe. Life is about celebration, and how about adding a little Mango sweet bread to add to the celebration.
Ingredients
3 cups of sweet Mangoes sliced and peeled.
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white Sugar
1/2 cup Cashews
1/2 cup shredded Coconut
1/2 cup Raisins
3 teaspoons baking soda mixed with 3 Tablespoons of Vinegar
1 cup Oil

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease the pan and add the mixture of all the ingredients.
3. Place it in 2 bread pans for 50 minutes.

Say Aloha! to your Hawaiian Mango-Coconut bread. :)
This bread was soo good, OMG!