Raw Vegan Cookies, Teeccino & Soba Noodles

First up is a raw vegan salad ... and then I'll get to the raw cookies!

Raw Broccoli Slaw Salad

This is a simple easy one for when you're away from home. I used 1 bag of pre-cut broccoli slaw (broccoli stems, carrots and red cabbage) + 1 chopped cuke. Then dress it up with some cold-pressed sesame oil, a splash of Bragg's and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Now on to the cookies ...

Raw Cashew Cacao Chip Cookie

• raw cashew butter
• raw cacao powder
• raw sweetener (agave or honey)

Combine everything in a bowl until well mixed. Sorry I don't have exact measurements, I pretty much just winged it on this one. I like dark chocolate so I added quite a bit of cacao, but you can make it to suit your tastes.

Form small balls with the dough and flatten into rounds. To keep the cookie 100% raw, use cacao nibs or chopped raw nuts (I used carob chips because that's what I had). Refrigerate until firm.

Raw Gingerbread Sandwich Cookie
 

This was one of those things where everything goes wrong, but you love it anyway! My initial goal was to make a raw mock whipped cream using cashews. I've successfully done this several times in the past using whole cashews. But for some reason today I decided to experiment with cashew butter. I should have stayed with the whole cashews! The cashew mixture was tasty, but not whipped cream-like at all. It was just basically sweetened cashew butter. But I went ahead with my cookie idea anyhow.

I combined raw cashew butter with raw honey in the food processor (again sorry no exact measurements). Then cut a ginger snap flavoured LÄRABAR in half (if you're a purist you can make your own). Form the LÄRABAR into two balls and then flatten into a cookie shape. Layer on the sweetened cashew butter on one cookie and place the other on top to create a sandwich. Refrigerate until firm.

The end result was creamy with a hint of gingery deliciousness, even if it wasn't what I was aiming for. Ah, life! :)

"Coffee" with Sweetened Cashew Butter

Yup, you guessed it. I tossed some of that raw sweetened cashew butter in a warm mug of Teeccino herbal "coffee". Teeccino is a great option for late at night if you're hankering for a coffee, but want something that's caffeine free so you won't be up until 3 AM (like I was last night thanks to an invigorating late yoga class).

Cold Soba Noodles with Wasabi Sauce

The wasabi sauce added just enough kick to these buckwheat soba noodles without over powering it with too much spice.

I'm still having my daily green smoothie first thing in the morning. The recipe is pretty simple (greens + fruit + water), so I didn't post one today.

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season and making some time for healthy raw vegan food (well at least a little bit).