Raw Layered Cashew Cheesecake

A few months ago I decided to do the Whole 30. But really, I decided to do a Whole 5. If you don�t know about Whole 30, the gist is that it�s a 30-day elimination diet, wherein you don�t eat things that cause inflammation, including dairy, grains, legumes, processed sugar and maybe a few other things. Then at the end of the 30 days, you�re supposed to slowly add back in those items, which should help you find out if you have particular sensitivities. They can�t stress enough the importance of doing the entire 30 days, and they basically say you shouldn�t even bother doing just one week, because that�s not enough time for the toxins or whatever to leave your body.


So all that being said, I decided to try it for 5 days. I wasn�t actually going for inflammation reduction or anything like that, I just wanted a short week-long reset. Forced focus on eating whole foods and vegetables. I sort of hated it, for a few reasons, including weird indigestion issues.

I did, however, see one major benefit, even after only a few days: the puffiness under my eyes completely went away! I feel vulnerable talking about this, because it�s truly my biggest insecurity. I�m not talking like, minor didn�t sleep well puffiness that I see people complain about. My situation is different. I�ve always had it, that puffiness that looks like I knocked back one too many the night before or like I�m 20 years older than I am. Circles that I edit out of photos of myself. Circles that mean I will never take a �no makeup selfie.� It doesn�t matter how much water I drink or how tired I am or whether or not I�m hung over or took a Claritin. I�ve spent hundreds, probably thousands, of dollars on under-eye creams and gels and masks and concealers, to no avail� since my teens and early 20s. I�ve pretty much chalked it up to genetics (which by the way, I�ve done tons of research on� and it�s very real. PSA: please don�t just assume people are tired or sick if they have under-eye bags or circles or darkness or puffiness, because genetics could be a major reason� definitely don�t ask if they�re tired or sick. Ugh. Can't even tell you how many times...). I still think part of my problem is genetics / it�s not a problem, it�s literally just my face� but since my Whole 5 experiment  I�m hopeful I can reduce a bit of puffiness through diet. (�There�s nuttin� the mattuh with my face, I got character!� Name that movie. It�s one of my all-time favorites).

So since that little Whole 5 win, I�ve been looking into what food sensitivities can cause this, and a big one that came up is dairy. Obviously just going in and getting an allergy test would be the quickest, easiest solution, but instead I decided to try a series of ill-planned elimination diets. Ill-planned because A: I�m not doing it right� you�re supposed to cut everything out and then add it back in? I think? IDK, I�m the girl who did Whole 5. B: the same week I decided to take a dairy break, I ordered 4 pints of Jeni�s ice cream because FLASH SALE, so now that�s tempting me. Fortunately/unfortunately, I don�t think my problem is dairy. I�ve been off for a couple weeks and have noticed zero changes since cutting the cheese (ah! Haha. Ha.), and I noticed in just 3 days before. So, back to the drawing board / maybe I should just go get tested (is it sugar? Legumes? Is it gluten� please don�t say it�s gluten. If you know anything about this particular issue, let me know!!).

But, the actual point of this post is that while off dairy, I made a raw, cashew-based cheesecake-like situation. I don�t even really care about cheesecake that much. I would even venture to guess that I sometimes go multiple years between bites of cheesecake. But suddenly my dairy elimination had me craving creamy treats. So I combined two recipes that I�ve drooled over since I first saw them: the almost raw caramel slice from Oh Lady Cakes, and the cashew dream cake from My New Roots. So, we have a chewy nut-date crust, a tangy vanilla �cheesecake� layer, a light coconutty date-caramel layer, and some chocolate sauce.

Raw Layered Cashew "Cheesecake"

I wasn't planning on blogging this recipe, and I only took one pic, with my phone, but it was so easy to make and delish that I want to share. I won�t repost their full recipes here, because you can and should go to their sites for the clues. But here�s what I did, and I highly recommend you do the same, because this dessert is so, so good, whether or not you eat dairy.

Crust: I followed My New Roots recipe for the nut-date crust, but used a combo of pistachios and walnuts. I would even recommend adding a pinch of cinnamon for a baklava-type flavor. I�m not sure how she filled up a 7-inch springform, because for me, this was the perfect amount for a tiny 4.5x4.5 ish casserole dish (with deep-ish sides). I lined the dish with parchment paper (because I was fresh out of plastic wrap) so that I could pop the whole cake out when it was ready. Worked like a charm.

Filling: I soaked 1.5 cups of cashews (overnight). Then I used half of them in each layer.

For the vanilla cheesecake layer, I just halved the rest of the ingredients (so, you�ll be blending up � cup soaked cashews, juice of 1 lemon, � teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tbsp + 2 tsp of both melted coconut oil and honey). I scooped this filling onto the crust.

For the date caramel layer, I followed the instructions, with these exceptions: I used full-fat coconut milk instead of almond milk, and I used half the amount of dates. Not sure if my dates were bigger or not, but dates, while au-natural, still have a ton of sugar, and that seemed excessive to me (also, I didn�t even have that many dates), and it turned out perfect, so use your own judgement there. More dates might have made the consistency a bit firmer, but after a night in the freezer, it made no difference to me. I poured this layer (which was a bit runnier than the first) on top of the cheesecake layer. Then I covered the whole thing, and froze overnight.

For the chocolate drizzle, I followed the instructions in the Oh Lady Cakes recipe, but used super-dark cocoa powder, and also added a smidge of nut butter for funzies. I poured it on right when I pulled the cake out of the freezer, and because of the coconut oil, it hardened up to a nice little solid shell. I topped it with coconut flakes, let it sit for a few minutes and room temp, and then devoured slice by slice. 

Be a Food Hero: Come Learn How to Stop Food Waste (March 7)

March 4: Rally Against Poverty / March 15: Discussion - Income & Food

Community Garden Planning in Burnaby Takes Root

On Saturday, February 25, Burnaby Food First hosted a Community Garden Planning workshop at Burnaby Village Museum. The idea was to get people thinking about available public land that might be suitable for community gardens. The intention was to plant the seeds of an idea...

Workshop facilitator Grant Rice soon discovered that those seeds had already been planted: many of the Burnaby community members who showed up had already picked out a potential garden site. They had come to find out how to make their gardens a reality.

Presentations by guests Jason Hsieh and Michael Denhamer helped participants look more specifically at opportunities, barriers and ways forward for the development of their imagined community gardens.



Hsieh spoke about his experience with the City of Vancouver, and walked participants through different guidelines and municipal policies that frame the process of establishing a community garden in Vancouver.



Denhamer, who works with Can You Dig It, explained the support that his organization can offer community garden groups in creating sustainable projects that become community assets. Can You Dig It has already helped communities create thriving gardens through 3-year commitments that aid in: navigating application processes and grant applications, locating infrastructure (such as water sources), licensing and insuring the garden, and helping new community gardeners establish governance.

This process was discussed at length in the small groups that formed following the presentations. Grant Rice, events and conference coordinator for Burnaby Food First, passed around maps of Burnaby and encouraged people to identify sites with the potential to become garden spaces. Working with Burnaby's website and maps, he helped participants examine the zoning and context of the sites.

Community gardens are more than communal green spaces. As Denhamer remarked, "community gardens grow food and cultivate community." Many of those who came would like to meet further to discuss future projects and next steps. Rev Kunz, who manages the Gathering Burnaby Gardeners Facebook group hopes that interested community members will get in touch through her page.

The afternoon was an exciting opportunity for Burnaby Food First to meet with local citizens who are spearheading gardening projects in their neighbourhoods. We hope this will become the next step of a greener Burnaby that provides greater food security within our municipality.





Many thanks to the United Way Lower Mainland for their continued support of Burnaby Food First initiatives, and to Burnaby Village Museum for the use of their facilities for our community workshop last weekend.

March 4 - Join Burnaby Food First at the Rally to Reduce Poverty in BC

This Saturday, come meet us @ noon at Library Square (350 W. Georgia) and raise your voice: call out for a strategy to end poverty in the province.

What does poverty mean to Burnaby Food First?

• Students and employees cannot afford to eat 3 times a day


• Invisible hunger: malnutrition results from a lack of affordable nutritious food


• Families cannot afford to eat a variety of foods


• People on fixed incomes may not be able to fit nutritious meals into their budget


• More and more people do not have access to land, & cannot grow food to supplement their diet


• Local farmers struggle to put food on our table

 

Raise your voice for empty stomachs! Come find Burnaby Food First at the rally:

Catering prize for Manitoba Eco-Network's Reel Green Gala on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning I presented the following recipes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with interim host, Nadia Kidwai.  These are full of flavour but I've also made them very easy to prepare. 

On March 16th, Manitoba Eco-Network will be hosting our annual fundraising event, The Reel Green Gala.  Sponsors include Assiniboine Credit Union, Tire Stewardship Manitoba, Stantec, and other amazing supporters such as VIARail, and local producers.  I'm offering catering for four, supported by Almost Urban Vegetables, for the chicken, Vita Health for many other ingredients, and I'll prepare Moroccan food.

Tickets are available at www.reelgreen.brownpapertickets.com.

Moroccan Chicken with Prunes and Almonds

 1 chicken � (3 1/2 lbs)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup prunes
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup whole blanched almonds
vegetable oil for frying

Rub all the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and cumin. Let stand for one hour.

Soak prunes if very dry.

Place onions in a wide shallow casserole with turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 cup water, cover and steam for 15 minutes.

Brown the almonds in 4-5 tbs oil in a large skillet and drain on paper towels. Brown the chicken evenly on all sides in the oil and transfer to the steamed onions. Cover with parchment paper and cook in tajine on the lowest heat for about 1 1/4 hours.

Discard the parchment paper. Add the prunes and bring to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat. Serve with almonds sprinkled on top.

Enjoy!

Beet Salad I and II

1 lb Beets
1 tb Sugar
1 Lemon; juice of
1 tb Olive oil
1 lg Pinch of cinnamon
1 tb Chopped parsley
Salt; to taste

Wash beets well, being careful not to break their skins. Cut off the
tops, leaving a stalk of about 1 1/2". Boil in a 3 quart saucepan
until tender, covered. Allow the water to cool, then slip off the
skins, trim off the tops, and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the beets. Let marinate
for 1 hour before serving.

Beet Salad II: Prepare as described above, but add 1 tsp. orange
flower water, 1/8 tsp. cumin, a pinch of paprika, and a little water
to the sauce.

Buddha Bowls

I'm still not exactly sure what a Buddha Bowl is.  I saw this article on Buzzfeed and became intrigued.  I think they are supposed to be hearty bowls full of raw or roasted veggies and healthy grains that make our bellies so full we end up looking like little buddhas.  Does that sound right?  While I'm not sure I want to look pregnant when I'm not, I am on board with hearty and delicious bowls of goodness, aren't you?  So I made my own with brown wild rice, roasted kale, broccolini and sweet potato, crunchy seasoned garbanzo beans and avocado.  While a lot of these bowls have a tahini-based sauce, for this I simply drizzled some good olive oil and sriracha on top of the finished dish and it, was, sublime.      

To get a nice crunch on the garbanzo beans, it helps to remove there outer skin.  This is tedious, I won't lie.  I'm weird, however, and enjoyed it... but I also enjoy pulling every single last hair out of a hairbrush.  I'd even enjoy it if it was your hairbrush.  Yeah, I'm weird AND disgusting.  Anyway, it helps to rinse the chickpeas (garbanzos, is their a difference?) under water while removing the outer layer with your fingers and discarding in the sink.  Trust me, make a double batch of these for snacking... they are delicious and much healthier than playing with stranger's hairbrushes. 

Buddha Bowls 

Makes 2 bowls

Printable Recipe

1 bunch kale (I used black kale), stems removed and chopped

2 cups diced sweet potato

1 bunch broccolini, stems removed

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and outer skins removed

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups cooked wild rice or brown rice

1 avocado, halved and sliced

Olive oil and hot sauce for drizzling (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  On a large rimmed baking sheet, place sweet potatoes, kale and broccolini.  Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 20 minutes, flipping veggies halfway through.  Remove, cover with foil and set aside.  In the meantime, place garbanzo beans in a bowl and add cumin, chili powder, salt and minced garlic.  Toss to coat.  In a skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add beans and saut� for 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until beans have a nice crunch.  To assemble bowls, add rice first, then roasted veggies, beans and avocado.  Sprinkle with olive oil, hot sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.