Raw Pumpkin Pie Balls and Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls!

I wanted to title this post A Tale of Two Balls but I suppressed my inner 13 year old, aren't you glad?

I love dessert and I definitely have a sweet tooth, my favorite treat is chocolate! I go through bricks of that stuff a day just to satisfy my cravings. Unfortunately I'm also really sensitive to refined sugar and caffeine and eating massive doses of chocolate can leave me a bit jittery. So lately I have been expanding my culinary horizons and enjoying raw desserts galore, like these epically awesome raw balls.

The chocolate peanut butter balls are my all time favorite raw balls EVER. They are lighter and less dense than most raw desserts I've tried and they are absolutely packed with intense chocolatey peanut butter flavor. Melt in your mouth delicious and much softer and creamier than the average piece of chocolate.

The pumpkin pie balls are perfect for this time of year. They are so soft and creamy, just like a bite of pumpkin pie and I made sure to fill them with all the traditional spices.






Chocolate Peanut Butter Raw Balls

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup oats
6 medjool dates (if they aren't medjool increase the amount of agave)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder

- Blend the cashews, walnuts, and oats into an almost fine powder in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine totally until it is a moist and crumbly. Pack into balls with your hands and eat right away or store in the fridge to eat later.






Pumpkin Pie Balls

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup walnuts
3/4 cup oats
5 medjool dates
4 Tbsp pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cloves
2 Tbsp agave nectar

- Blend the cashews, walnuts, and oats up into a fine powder in the food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until they form a moist, dense mixture. Form into balls and enjoy right away or store in the fridge until later.

Quick note!

There are dozens and dozens of raw ball recipes around the web, I've tried many of them but my recipes are, of course, my favorite! But I am so grateful for the inspiration that other people's ideas and recipes give me and I'd like to acknowledge them. I think it is really important for all of us bloggers to support each other and give each other credit where credit is due. So, many, many thanks for my raw ball inspiration to Chocolate Covered Katie, Oh She Glows, Girl on Raw, and Loves Veggies, Yoga, Running, and Chocolate.

Big Announcement! Introducing...Voracious!

I have a very exciting announcement to make: I have opened my own vegan bakery - Voracious! It is the first vegan, feminist bakery in the Middle East! I have been wanting to share this news with you all for so long but I forced myself to wait until I was really in the swing of things and everything was up and running smoothly.





I have spent the past several months working on recipe creation, testing, and finalization. While I have taken my inspiration from many sources, every single recipe is entirely my own creation. The hardest part of this whole process was the fact that here in Saudi Arabia it is hard to find a regular supply of even the most basic ingredients. To make sure I would always be able to make any of my recipes I had to source several different locations throughout the province for a variety of unreliable ingredients.





Also, because of the laws of Saudi Arabia, as a woman I can't have or work in my own brick and mortar bakery, so I operate my little bakery right out of my home kitchen here on our private compound. I am having a blast!






Voracious has been an immediate success; people are not only interested in living a more compassionate lifestyle, but also in eating more healthfully - and Voracious meets both of those needs perfectly!







We have done a preliminary distribution of the menu but I'm still polishing it up, and during this phase of working all the kinks out I'm still pondering a few items and whether or not they should be added or removed. But you can see a sneak peek here!











Isn't it beautiful? I am really proud of the introductory paragraphs on the second page. Here is what they say:

Voracious is an ethical, health conscious bakery committed to providing delicious home baked vegan desserts. From classic chocolate chip cookies and apple pie, to banana bread and coconut lime cupcakes, we can accommodate small orders for a family dinner or large orders for your next party.

All of our dishes are 100% vegan, with no meat, no dairy and no eggs, which makes everything cholesterol free, dairy free, lactose free, and saturated fat free; perfect for the mindful diner. Many of our dishes are refined sugar free and suitable for people with food sensitivities.

If you are looking to try a healthier twist on an old favorite, savor a decadent home baked dessert, give a unique and thoughtful gift to a loved one, or impress at your next party, please think of Voracious and our food that you can feel good about.


Thanks for reading and I hope that someday you get to try some of Voracious' desserts!

Everyday Nums! #13

Breakfast

I love snacky meals, as you will definitely be able to tell after today's eats! For breakfast I had a piece of whole grain bread topped with peanut butter and sweet, sweet agave, a juicy clementine, a few strawberries and a chopped up apple. I have a confession to make...I don't really like plain apples, green or red. I put them in my green juices to sweeten them up, and I do like them roasted and covered in spices...but plain...they are SO boring. I ate a few pieces of this one and then saved the rest for Cody.







Lunch

Well look at this: another snack fest! Eating like this is so much fun, your meal goes on forever as you taste bite after bite of different flavors. Yum! This was zucchini, cucumber and bell pepper with Kristen's Raw Tuscan Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Dip. Yes, I know this is the zillionth time I've blogged about this dip, but I can't help it - I'm in love! You have to make it, it really is the best thing ever. I also had a plate of oranges and strawberries, can't get enough of those either!







Dinner

A bowl of roasted beans and veggies and delicious, amazing naan from the great blog Holy Cow! Recipes from a Vegan Kitchen. This recipe was really easy to make, too easy, in fact! It made me suspicious and I thought it wouldn't turn out well, but it definitely did. I didn't grill it, I cooked it in a frying pan and jazzed it up with tons of garlic butter on top. They were super crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, the perfect way to end my day.





For dessert I snacked on the sweetest thing ever: mushy, juicy, fluffy Polly neck!

Global Vegan: The United Kingdom

As you might know (because I've mentioned it half a billion times) I was born, raised, and have spent most of my life in Saudi Arabia, just like my mom and my dad. I went to university and grad school in the UK and in the US, and my family had a few short adventures elsewhere, but for the most part I am a child of the desert!

I have an American passport, and I AM American. In fact, I have ancestors who were in America as early as the 17th century. But America, as much as I love the place and loved my time there, has never felt like home. I always felt out of step, a bit detached from everyone else...even before I was a crazy vegan!

But, on the other hand, I am definitely not at home in Saudi Arabia. Growing up on the isolated and very unique Aramco compound Dhahran made sure of that. Saudi culture is not my own, and neither is American culture. If anything, I only really feel at home in Aramco with its eclectic mixture of nationalities, all expats sharing a similar, very specific journey. Growing up in Saudi Arabia as an expat is especially hard because once your family leaves there is really no going back. Saudi Arabia does not give out visitor visas, there is no such thing as tourism at all. So goodbye is usually permanent. If you want to know more about growing up as an Aramco Brat check out this documentary my friends made: Home: The Aramco Brat Story.



Growing up, the only country I really felt like I got and was at home in, was England. Actually, pretty much all of the UK! Many of our family friends were British, all of my riding instructors were English and I learned through the British Horse Society, and you know how important horses are to me - this was a HUGE part of my life! We spent nearly every summer of my childhood in London for my mom to take more BHS courses, and then in Ireland so we could ride horses at the Castle Leslie riding center - heaven on earth!



7 years old, Trafalgar Square, London



7 years old, London



9 years old, Castle Leslie, Ireland



16 years old, Castle Leslie, Ireland



The view from our friend's house in Moffat, Scotland



19 years old, riding in Richmond Park, London with my mom

I love England most of all, London, especially. In fact, I attended my first year of University there and adored it. What I can remember, anyway! In those days I was the quintessential wild child, instead of chugging green juice I was chugging Jack Daniels!



18 years old, London, getting ready for the annual Fall Ball with my date Jack.



Richmond University, London, Class of 2004. Can you spot me in the very back?

As many of our most poignant food memories are formed as a child, you can imagine that English food ranks up there as one of my favorites. People have such a misconception of English food as bland and boring but that is absolutely not true! You just have to know where to look, and that is usually in your local pub!



The Ploughmans Sandwich is a quintessential English classic and in my pre vegan days it was always a favorite with my tastebuds. Between two crusty slices of bread it has sharp English cheddar, mixed with the tangy sweetness of Branston Pickles (not your average pickle - don't even think you can sub regular pickle relish for this, it is totally different!), and piled high with fresh juicy tomatoes.



To recreate this creamy yet chunky tangy mixture I combined chickpeas and tofu with all the right spices to create a delicious vegan version of this scrumptious sandwich.

Ingredients

2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup silken soft tofu
1 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
3/4 cup Branston Pickles (if you can't find Branston pickles sub with my red onion marmalade. Won't be exact but will be pretty close!)
Thick, crusty bread
Sliced tomatoes
* a pinch of turmeric would give this a nice orange color like many traditional English cheddars, I forgot to add it!

- In a food processor combine the chickpeas, tofu, nutritional yeast, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend until just combined and a bit creamy, you want a few chunks in there!

- In a large bowl combine the chickpea mixture with the Branston Pickles, spread onto bread, top with tomatoes and enjoy!

Cooking the Books: Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping

Can't you just tell how amazing this dish is!?! Look at the creamy pumpkin and cashew ricotta drenched pasta and luscious caramelized onions topped with that buttery, crispy sage bread crumb topping! This dish is just begging to be made for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It absolutely screams 'warm and cozy seasonal dish ready to be devoured by omnis and vegans alike!'



This was the inaugural recipe for my new series here at The Voracious Vegan: Cooking the Books! I've said before that I rarely use cookbooks or follow recipes, I prefer to let my creative juices flow when I'm in the kitchen and to make my own recipes. But, I was thinking about this and realized that following recipes from cookbooks is a wonderful way to stretch my wings, get me making dishes I might not have thought of on my own, and introduce me to new flavor and textures, and of course, I get to eat all the deliciousness! A total win win! And I've recently gotten a slew of vegan cookbooks that I can't wait to try out!



This recipe came from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon. Veganomicon truly is the ultimate vegan cookbook. Sometimes cookbooks don't appeal to me, I flip through and feel totally lackluster about all the recipes. But every single one of Isa's cookbooks are exactly my taste! Every recipe sounds scrumptious and this one was no exception. I can't even explain how amazing it was, you will just have to make it for yourself!

Don't Forget!

Another great way to celebrate this beautiful season is to help out others who are not as lucky as we are. PLEASE go to the amazing Chocolate Covered Katie's blog so you can help her make money for a very good cause: Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness!


Also...

Make sure to check out the Crazy Sexy Life website this week (www.crazysexylife.com), they just informed me that they are featuring one of my raw pasta recipes! I wish I could see it, I'm so happy, but that website is blocked here in Saudi Arabia because it contains the word sexy....

Everyday Nums! #12

Breakfast

What else but a green juice!?! I love these things, really and truly. It has become exactly what my body craves as soon as I wake up in the morning. It gives me a ZAP of energy that I bet would be a lot like what most people get from coffee. I don't drink coffee, so I'm not *totally* sure, but I'd be willing to bet on it! This green juice had chard, celery, carrots, apples, the seedy center of a zucchini, parsley, and ginger. Ginger really is awesome in green juice, try it! Oh, and will you check out the awesome perfection of how exactly my green juice filled the glass? I wish I could get a job eyeballing green juice ingredients, I seem to be extremely talented!






Lunch

Remember when I told you about that delicious raw Thai noodle dish that Robyn from Girl on Raw made for me? Well, I couldn't stop thinking about it and telling Cody about it so finally I got around to making it myself. I couldn't find miso paste so I used asian bean paste, added some garlic, used less oil....and still loved it! This really is one amazing dish. I hope you try it because it will definitely be a favorite! For my noodles I used zucchini, bell peppers, sprouts and broccoli slaw.




Afternoon Snack

Hummus, veggies and fruit! Doesn't get much simpler or much better than that! People always ask me how I get my hummus so creamy and I'm shocked by the regularity of this question. Hummus making is EASY! Take a can of chickpeas, drain the liquid, toss them into a food processor with several cloves of garlic, hefty splashes of tahini and lemon juice, and blend blend blend while drizzling in some good quality olive oil until you get the consistency you like. Add sea salt and devour!






Dinner

Rice and Beans for my main squeeze! This isn't really something that I would make for myself, but Cody adores dishes like this. His dad is from Louisiana so this kind of food is in his blood, I suppose. I sauted up a bunch of squash, onions and garlic, and once they were nice and tender I added a can of Amy's Baked Beans (delicious!), some water and tomato paste, and then to thicken up the sauce I added some ground up raw cashews and nutritional yeast. It ended up being epically delicious, even I loved it!




Dessert

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups! SO delicious and easy to make. Chocolate and peanut butter are totally made for each other. Salty, sweet, creamy, heaven. If you want to make them yourself you will be thrilled with how easy they are. Melt a ton of vegan chocolate. Spoon it into paper cupcake liners, turn them around and around until the bottom and sides are coated. Pop them in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Melt a ton of peanut butter. Pour the slightly melted peanut butter into the frozen chocolate molds and pop back into the freezer for another 20 minutes. Once they are firm, top with more melted chocolate, more freezer time, then EATING time! (You don't need to continue storing them in the freezer once they've all set up. The fridge will be fine.)

Raw Thai Veggie Wraps with Green Curry Coconut Lime Sauce

The other day when I was making my scrumptious Tuscan Pesto wraps, I decided to make Cody something a little different. He is a huge fan of Thai Curry and I thought I could make him a veggie wrap that would capture all the key flavors of one of his favorite dishes. And I did! It was easy and SO tasty!

The sauce is creamy and rich, with a lot of spice from the green curry paste and just enough tang from the ginger and lime to keep you coming back for more!

Ingredients

All of your wrap fixings, whatever veggies you like!
1/2 cup raw walnuts
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tsp green curry paste (I would have used more but this stuff was ferociously hot!)
1/2 inch of ginger
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 cup water
pinch of salt

Blend all of the ingredients (except veggie fixing!) in a food processor. I chose to leave a few dollops quite thick, for dipping, and then add in most of the water, to thin the sauce out.

I tossed all of the veggie filling with the sauce and piled it into butter lettuce wraps.

Cody loved it and gave it his lip smacking approval!

A Day at the Races!

This afternoon Cody and I participated in a fun 3K walk/run/bike charity race that raised money for cancer research and awareness. I knew that I was going to need lots of energy to keep me going so here is what I ate for the day to get me rarin' to go!



Breakfast

Breakfast on this fine morning was a gigantic glass of green juice with a little something special. No, it was NOT spirulina, thank you very much. It was raw, fresh ginger! I've never used fresh ginger before but now I know that it will be a staple in my pantry from now on. Just a tiny sliver added to our juice punched up the flavor, warmed our bellies and gave us a HUGE jolt of nutritional benefits. Yum!







Lunch


Can't you just taste the amazing freshness of this meal!?!? It makes me hungry all over again to look at those beautiful colors. I filled a few butter lettuce leaves with my most favorite dip in the whole entire universe EVER (Kristen's Raw Tuscan Sun Dried Tomato Pesto) and then piled them up with broccoli slaw, bell peppers, cucumbers and sprouts. Then I wrapped up the ones that would close all the way and just ate the last little rebel all freestyle! Delicious! I couldn't get enough of this meal, it was one of my favorites.



Pre Race Snack

This is one of my favorite snacks/light breakfasts/post workout refuels/desserts, etc. It is so quick and easy to put together, and it always tastes so yummy! It is whole grain bread spread with a bit of almond butter, topped with sliced banana and drizzled with agave nectar and a dusting of cinnamon.


And we're off!



Before we left I had to get some good luck kisses from Jack. He was a bit resistant at first (he is way too cool for kisses) but I hauled him in (look at the grip I have on his neck scruff!) and laid a big ol' smack on his juicy nose.



He promptly licked the yucky kiss right off his nose. I told you he was too cool for kisses! (If you look really closely you can see my green GO VEGAN pin that I am wearing. I figured, it's a run to raise money for charity, what better pin to wear than one that proclaims a great and easy way to PREVENT cancer!)



I decided that I needed some extra protein (since, you know, I'm a vegan and we totally don't get any - *major eye roll here*) so I gnawed on Polly's head a bit. She is my sweet, tasty, patient best friend!



Before the race we got our cute t-shirts and Robyn (the awesomeness behind the fabulous blog Girl on Raw) and I decided it was the perfect time for an impromptu modeling session! Aren't we so glamorous? Hmmm...maybe we could be Saudi Arabia's Next Top Models???





And, of course, while everyone else was stretching and warming up before the race, what does Tasha do? Mingle with all the cute pups, of course! Seriously, I am so much more excited to meet people's dogs than I am to meet the actual people. These three were such adorable sweeties, I just couldn't resist smooching them!





These were my two main views during the race: the backs of all the people in front of me and Cody's sweet face. We alternately jogged and walked. I might be 27, but my knees are 67 and don't do well running, even though I love it so much. That is why I stick to the elliptical and summit climber when I do my cardio!



The weird (and slightly creepy) finish line! Success!



Dinner

Dinner was more raw veggie wraps. Told you I couldn't get enough!



Dessert

S'mores! I know, I know, they are pretty scandalous, being topless and all, but they were delicious! Like I mentioned before my dad just got back from the states and brought me a bunch of vegan goodies, like these amazing Sweet & Sara Vegan Marshmallows. Have you tried these? They are BRILLIANT! They taste better than 'regular' marshmallows, more real, old fashioned and authentic, not the overly sweet and chemical filled, nearly flavorless puffs that most marshmallows are these days. These are so complex and beautiful, I love them.



Dessert Dessert

More goodies from the states: Tings! Let's all sing the Vegan anthem now: I LOVE TINGS!

We had a great day over here in Saudi Arabia! Hope that wherever in the world you are, you are having a fabulous day too!

Everyday Nums! #11

Breakfast

Brekkie Nums was a green juice....that tasted like death. Normally I like my green juices, they have all sorts of super amazing foods in them: chard, carrots, apples, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, cilantro, and many other amazing things that I have on hand. But this green juice had a little something extra: spirulina. My dad just returned from a trip to the US and brought me some goodies from Whole Foods. Well, let me just say that spirulina is not my friend. Ughgh! I almost couldn't drink this thing, I just kept chugging and telling myself 'it's good for you! it's good for you!' Is there any way I can disguise the gnarly taste so I can still get all the amazing health benefits it offers?



Lunch

Lunch was SO much better than brekkie nums! My wonderful and inspiring friend Robyn from Girl on Raw invited me to her (amazingly decorated) house for a delicious raw lunch.





First she served us these amazing spring rolls, filled with bell peppers, spinach, carrots, sprouts and mint. The mint really made these treats something special, it was such an unexpected taste that worked so well with everything else. The spicy chili dipping sauce had me sweating!



This raw pasta dish is one of the most amazing meals I have EVER had. I always knew Robyn was a good un-cook but this was really out of this world. I could not believe how amazingly fresh and delicious this was, it had such a complex flavor. There was miso, ginger, dates, and so much more, that just made my head spin. When I was done with the noodles I still had a bit of the dressing at the bottom of the bowl. I'm not ashamed to say I asked for a spoon so I could slurp up every last bit of the tastiness! Here is the recipe for this dish, it is from Choosing Raw, and you should definitely go make this right now!



Then we had hours and hours of awesome chatter, the heartfelt kind that you can only really have with another woman. Aren't strong, courageous, genuine women the most amazing thing? And isn't it even better when they have two cute little pals for you to cuddle? Sam is the black cat who is probably too cool for school, and Lucy is my little Arctic fox cuddle bunny. She is so smart and sweet!



And to follow up all the delicious raw food Robyn prepared I supplied dessert in the form of triple chocolate cupcakes. YUM! Not raw and absolutely packed with sugar, but they were healthy for the soul!





Dinner

After such a beautiful lunch I really wanted something light and refreshing for dinner, so I kept it simple and wilted a bunch of spinach, bell peppers and red onions and topped that with a handful of almonds. After a few bites I decided to jazz it up and I drizzled it with a bit of tahini and lemon juice. Delicious.

Dessert



I can't get enough of this lately. I eat at least 2 or 3 oranges a day and I'm going through strawberries like I can afford them...which I can't! But they are so delicious, how could I resist!?!

Also, PLEASE go check out the wonderful blog Chocolate Covered Katie to learn about how you can help make the world a much better place in a very simple way through Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness. It really is as simple as clicking your mouse and people will benefit in a very real and tangible way.

Red Onion Marmalade

Red Onion Marmalade has always been one of my favorite things, but up until now I had never made it for myself. One taste of this amazing spread and I bet it will be one of your favorite things, too. It has the buttery taste of cooked onions, the tangy bite of vinegar and the sweet, molasses mellowness of brown sugar, all together in one place. It is delicious spread on toast in the morning, on top of crispy fried tofu, in a baked potato, topping a veggie burger, mixed with mashed black beans to make an insane dip for crackers and chips, there are a million different ways to use this yumminess!





Here it is on top of crispy fried tofu, served with a side of steamed broccoli and my cheddar jalapeno biscuits. The tofu was marinated in soy sauce, olive oil and lemon juice and then dredged in nutritional yeast, AP flour, cornstarch, garlic powder and ground flaxseeds and then fried up in a thin puddle of olive oil.


Ingredients
2 red onions, chopped small
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
3 cloves garlic, chopped small
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

- In a small saucepan combine all of the ingredients. No need to be specific about the order, just get them all in there, and stir it up.



Onions and garlic in the vinegar, water mixture



Brown sugar and ginger added!

- Bring to a gentle simmer/boil and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes, to an hour. You want to cook until most of the liquid is gone, everything is soft and it has the consistency of jelly.



Bubbling away!

- Enjoy!