Raw Butternut Squash Casserole

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I think I have found my new comfort food: Raw butternut squash "pasta" with creamy cashew "alfredo" sauce.  I was amazed that it actually was "pasta-like." The sauce was amazing. I did cheat with the sauce, though, as I accidentally bought roasted cashews awhile back, so I used those, which gave it a really unique flavor.

So, here's what I did: I peeled the squash with a potato peeler and cut the squash in long quarters. 

Then I used the peeler to take off strips of squash. I added a little oil to the strips (I think it would have been really good with peanut oil), stirred, and let it set while I made the sauce. 

For the sauce, I took the cashews and ground them in my Vitamix. (You can use a regular blender, but it may be grainy.) Then I added some smashed garlic, sea salt, and a little water. I blended it until smooth. (If I had had raw cashews, I would have soaked and drained the cashews and then made the sauce. I think half raw and half roasted would also be good.)

Then I poured the sauce over the noodles and added a little paprika for color. I put a dollup of blended raw young coconut meat on top, and a few sprigs of spearmint. It looked purty! I served it with pomengranate arils, which made a nice color combination.

Just a note - The next day I had some leftovers of this, and to my surprise, the flavors had blended to something that bore an uncanny resemblance to tuna casserole. This was fine in my book, because I had been missing tuna casserole something fierce! 

This, like most raw dishes, is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free.

Raw Corn Chowder

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This is my favorite raw soup - Corn Chowder. Corn is one of my biggest food sensitivities. I have to try to stay away from cooked corn and corn products like cornstarch, corn syrup, citric acid, and xanthan gum. But raw corn is a different story. I have long felt that if I have senstivities to a food it is because I lack the enzymes to break down that food. Where can I find those enzymes? In the raw form of that food. I know this doesn't necessarily go for all sensitivities - I'm not telling someone who blows up from a little bit of some food to try it raw. But if the sensitivities produce mild reactions, you may want to give it a try. It seems to be working for me.

Anyway, on to the soup...I start the night before by putting a cup or so of raw cashews to soak. The next morning I start making the soup by making corn milk. Corn milk? Well, I make it just like nut milks, so I call it corn milk. I take 2 or 3 cups of corn cut right off the cob, throw it in the blender, add water until it is about an inch or two over the corn, and blend, blend, blend. Then I take a bowl with a colander inside and line the colander with a clean loose-weave cloth that I only use for making nut milks. I take the blended corn and water and pour it into the lined colander, wait a minute or two for most of the milk to drain through, and then squeeze out the excess.

I rinse my blender and then rinse and add the soaked cashews. I add enough corn milk to cover, and blend until smooth. I add more corn milk and an avocado or two, depending on the size and your taste, and blend again until smooth. I add a little red pepper paste and/or some sweet red pepper juice (just a little) and just a little onion. Then add the rest of the corn milk and blend. Now I add some sea salt to taste and throw in some finely-diced onion and some corn just cut off the cob. Throw on a dash a chili powder if you like, and ENJOY!!!

The yellow from the corn milk, the green from the avocado, and the red from the peppers will make your cream base a lovely beige color, much like a conventionally-made cream-based soup. (You can adjust the color and taste by adjusting the amounts of  corn milk, avocado, and peppers.) If you like, you can leave out the soaked cashews and just go with an extra avocado for thickening. You can also make your corn chowder from almond milk rather than corn milk if you like, and you can add in other veggies and herbs, like diced red and green peppers, diced jicama, chopped green onion, cilantro - whatever.