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Raw vegan chili and a raw meal plan for the lazy chef in all of us

I've moved! Visit my new blog La Belle Vie for more recipes and healthy living tips. Don't forget to update your bookmarks!

 Hearty bowl of raw chili

Ok, it's been a great great weekend for many reasons: went to an amazing clothing swap put on by V. A. S. T., went to my adorable niece's birthday party, attended a wonderful raw potluck (yum!!), and went to my uncle and dad's joint bday lunch at my uncle's place. And to make everything even better, there were amazing people and conversations throughout it all!

So that part has been great. Of course, all the family get togethers mean that I haven't been eating as raw as I normally do. And I'm really noticing how much better my body does when I'm eating mostly raw. I feel much more grossly full and sluggish on cooked foods. And my throat is burning as it's giving me some serious acid reflux issues. I've also been on this stupid cleanse (I bought it a long time ago and figured I had better use it before it expired and I wasted all that money). I'm sure it's great and everything, but it involves swallowing 4 HORSE PILLS in the morning and SIX AT NIGHT. Omg, it's brutal! My throat closes up like one pill in! Ugh, next time I am sticking to tea based cleanses; SO much more enjoyable.

Oh yeah, AND I'm giving a presentation to a bunch of clients tomorrow with some senior people. I don't mind giving presentations in general but I'm still kind of nervous. OH AND my eyebrows are a MESS; but I can't do anything about them because I have an appointment on tuesday for them. I would feel much better about all of this if I didn't look like I lived in a forest before the existence of mirrors. Anyway, this is not helping with the burning throat issue. AT ALL.

Anyway, back to happier times...at the potluck, I was speaking to a bunch of people about going raw and the inherent challenges of doing so. And it came out of that that one of the biggest challenges were: what to eat on a daily basis. So, here's a meal plan for a delicious raw day (and yes, I snack A LOT). All these items are super easy to make - perfect for a rawbie (newbie + raw?) who wants more than just salad (though, you know me and salad so god knows why! :P), a busy girl/boy who appreciates delicious food and/or the lazy chef in all of us. BONUS: these are all delicious items your non-raw friends and family will also enjoy!:


Easy as can be!

Now for the chili recipe...Ok, so note that this recipe can be made with whatever veggies you have one hand really. This is just how I make it. It's very flexible, so you can customize to flavours you like best :)


To make
1 zucchini
2 beefsteak tomatoes (or the equivalent in other types of tomatoes - beefsteak were just the only canadian ones around. and they're deLICOUS!!! Seriously, how have I not known about their wonderfulness before!)
1/3 red onion (or 1 small yellow onion)
3 cloves garlic, derooted
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded
1 medium carrot
3-4 portabello mushroom caps
1/4c coriander
1 red pepper
cumin, to taste (meaning I didn't measure well...maybe 2tsp?)
tumeric, to taste (see note next to cumin...)

OK, so remember in a previous post I was ranting about how wonderful food processors are because you never need to hand-chop anything ever again?? Well, guess what! For this recipe, we are not going to chop one thing by hand. Yay!!
So, have a big bowl nearby. Using the S-blade of your food processor, chop one veggie at a time, achieving the desired texture with each before moving on to the next (meaning: don't just go for over processed mush for all of them, strive for a little variety!). Once you're done with one veggie, empty the contents of the food processor into the big bowl, and move on to the next veggie!

I stir in the spices at the end, once all the veggies are in the big bowl.

For a protein punch, add some curried lentil sprouts (mix lentil sprouts with olive oil, cumin, tumeric and cayenne until well coated) or walnuts ground with a bit of cumin.

Enjoy your day in the raw!! Told you it'd be easy!!

Comments

jose said…
We made this last night, along with the cucumber and carrot salad with spicy peanut sauce and it was fantastic! Thank you! Such wonderful food!
yay! i'm so glad you guys liked it!
thanks for the comment and for reading!
Karmalily said…
This was really good and easy. I really like the suggestion to chop each veggie individual so you can get a a particular consistency. When I made it it wasn't 100% raw since I added a handful of Daiya and a Tbs of chili powder, but it was delicious. I'll definitely be making this a lot.r
karmalily - what a great idea! mmm this would be so so good with some vegan cheese
wyllow said…
tried the vegan chili recipe twice.. I'm chopping by hand and it tastes delicious but it never gets as "soupy" as your pic... is it b/c I'm chopping by hand?
wyllow - yes, in particular the tomatoes. I learned this with salsa - I normally handchop and it's lovely and not soupy and more like a salsa chutney. But when I'm lazy and use food processor, it's more like store bought.

If you chop by hand, letting it sit overnight or for a few hours might help because the juice in the tomatoes and zucchini will draw out.
eva said…
cute bunnykins bowl!!! we had those growing up :)
i'm so so sad - i broke the bowl:( i found a place that sells them but it turns out they're antiques so the bowl is like 30$!! if i didn't think i'd break it again, i'd buy it. i really can't have nice things...
Sarah said…
This looks great and very easy to make - my kind of recipe! :) Question: How many servings does this make?

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