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Julies Raw Texas Chili
Chili con carne is the official dish of Texas. It’s a Spanish word meaning “peppers with meat.” If you are cooking at an Official Chili Cook Off, you better not be puttin’ beans in yor chili or yor gonna be run outta town. It’s against the rules and downright tacky. (It’s considered a thickening agent and filler) I’ve often heard cooks say, “If you know beans about chili, you know chili ain’t got no beans.”
But no one said anything about cookin’ it!
Here is my version of Texas Chili, no beans so I won’t be run outta town.
Step 1
Process in food processor until it’s a nice even, small crumbled texture, adding spices last:
2 cups carnival or butternut squash
½ medium onion
2 cloves garlic
½ – 1 bunch cilantro (save some for garnish)
2 -3 T chili powder
1 t salt
1 t white pepper
2 t dried oregano
2 t dried thyme
1 T paprika
1 T cumin
2 T powdered raw cacao (optional)
Dash cinnamon
Dash ground clove
Cayenne to taste
Step 2
In one cup of water soak until soft:
half of a 3 oz bag of sun dried tomatoes
Blend in blender with soak water until smooth. Add more water if needed, should be thick. Add this paste to the nut mixture.
Step 3
Stir into nut mixture:
3 Roma tomatoes, deseeded, diced
Juice of one lime
½ – 1 cup sprouted lentils (optional)
1 Portabello mushroom - this is just for extra texture so any size or amount you like – discard stem and scrape out dark under gills, cut into cubes. Make them small and even sized.
Serving:
Warm serving bowls and spoons in the dehydrator. You can place a big bowl of chili in the dehydrator to warm, but I warmed it on the stove, low, stirring the whole time. You’re not cooking it, just warming it through. Garnish with chopped onion and cilantro. I found it very filling, I should have used smaller bowls.
Add other spices or more of any of the spices to taste I ended up adding cayenne and more chili powder and pepper to my serving.
Also when I cubed up some butternut squash, I soaked it in salt water for a little bit then drained it. Some squashes have an astringent quality and soaking and rinsing helps this. Probably fine if you skip this step.
If you feel like it needs more liquid, use rejuvelac, carrot juice, coconut water, lime juice – something with flavor is always better. But of course you can just use water. I had hot tea on the stove and added about a half a cup of that (it was a Mango Green tea!)
Ultimate Raw Granola – A great snack or breakfast cereal
Instructions in order of length of time needed to prepare:
2-3 cups hulled buckwheat groates
Put in gallon jar with a net or gauze or nut milk bag, rubber banded over mouth. Rinse and rinse and rinse. Buckwheat is a little starchy. Let soak for 1 hour then drain. Let sprout for 1 – 2 days, rinsing 3 times a day, until sprout is almost as long as the buckwheat.
Rinse and drain. (You can also then spread grotes on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate. Use for a trail mix base or with nut milk and fruit for a nice cereal. Ummm, crunchy!)
NOTE: All dehydrating done here is at 115 degrees or less.
1-2 pounds strawberries, sliced and dried
½ pound blueberries, dried
1 cup goji berries, soaked and drained
1 cup raisins, soaked and drained
2 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seed
1-3 cups chopped nuts, (pecan, hazelnut, almond, cashew, pistachio…whatever favorite nuts you like)
1 cup chopped dates (I toss them in powdered coconut or cinnamon to keep them from sticking together before I mix them in)
juice of 1 orange
Mix all together with 1 cup raw honey, ¼ – half cup tahini, optional cinnamon to taste, orange zest and coconut is a nice addition as well.
Let rest for 15-30 minutes and pour out and pat down with your hands, on dehydrator trays.
Dry at least 3 hours @ 115 degrees or until you are able to flip granola over. (Place another tray/sheet on top of tray of granola and flip over, peeling off dehydrator mesh sheet.) Dry at least 3 more hours. It will crisp up after cooling. After cooling completely, store in gallon glass jars or Zip Lock baggies. Serve in bowl with sliced peaches or blueberries and nut milk! It only takes about a half a cup and it totally fills you up – very satisfying!
This looks like a bunch of trouble – but don’t try to do it all at once. Get your groates sprouting. Later dry some fruit, or purchase already dried fruit when you are ready to mix it all together. This makes a lot and you don’t need a huge bowl to satisfy you. It’s packed with nutrients and WAY better for your kids than a box of sugary stuff that has no real nutrition – and this is live, vibrant food!
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COCONUT CEVICHE
Ceviche is really popular in Costa Rica. Here is Texas we make it a little more spicy. Many of the sodas (outdoor cafes) you stop at in Costa Rica will bring you a little cup of cevice with your beer. It is usually just fish, lime juice and maybe some chayote squash or jicama or onion. Raw fish soaked in fresh lime juice, will cook the fish in minutes. For those that have never tried it, it really is refreshing and satisfying.
My original raw version uses coconut instead of fish.
- meat of one young coconut, cut into short ribbons
- 1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon green or red onion, chopped
- juice of one lime
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 chayote squash, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced pablano pepper (or other spice pepper your choice, to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
Mix all together and serve in small bowl with sliced jicama (good to scoop with) and avocado. The lime and tomato give it enough juice, but if you find you need more juice or want it juicer, add some carrot juice or rejuvelac. Granny Smith apple would also bring a fresh taste to this.
Also, with chayote squash: I peel it first, slice it in half and remove the woody seed area. After I slice it, I rinse or soak it in water to remove some of the astringent qualities. If you haven’t tasted one, they are much like a Granny Smith, without the tartness. And again, any of these ingredients can be increased, decreased or omitted. That’s the beauty of raw food recipes!
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MOTHERS NATURE PROVIDES
Remember, the best food comes in its own serving dish…yum!
