Juices, Chips & Dip

Happy New Year!!

So...have you made any New Year's resolutions?  If so, do they involve losing weight, eating better or getting in shape?  Most do!  One of the quickest ways to shed a few pounds or get over those pesky sugar cravings, especially after the holidays, is to fast (or feast) on fresh juices.  A great film to check out if you're new to the idea is, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead," featuring Joe Cross, who allowed his body to heal from a debilitating & painful skin condition in a very short time by feasting on fresh juices - check it out!  In tonight's (packed!) class at Whole Foods, I talked about juicing for weight loss, detoxification & healing from chronic disease & demo'ed two juices: Celery-Apple-Parsley & Carrot-Orange-Lime (yummo).

So many people say, "what do you do with all that pulp??" or "I don't want to juice because I hate wasting so much fiber."  Well...besides composting it (your soil will LOVE you if you do), I showed tonight's class one great way to use all that leftover pulp - chips!  (Of course, you'll want to wait until AFTER your fast before indulging in them.)  I think the Chili Cheeze Pulp Chips taste just like a chili cheese dawg...but then it's been a long while since I've had one of those!  ;-)  Let me know what you think!  Then of course, we (ahem - they...I'm still just juicing!) needed a little something else to go with the chips: enter Fermented Cashew Cheeze Dip - you must try this.

Pictures from class are here (I'll post more later):

And here are the recipes:

Celery-Apple-Parsley Juice

1 head celery

1 or 2 Delicious apples

1 bunch Italian parsley

Run ingredients through juicer.  Enjoy immediately!

Carrot-Orange-Lime Juice

6 large carrots (washed & trimmed, not peeled)

1 orange (peeled)

1/2 large lime or 1 small lime (peeled)

Run ingredients thorough juicer.  Enjoy immediately!

Basic Pulp Chips

1 C water (or more, if needed)

1/4 C chia seeds

1/4 C flax seeds, ground

2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

1-2 C (packed) fruit or veggie pulp

Other additional ingredients, if desired (spices, herbs, nutritional yeast, nut/seed butter, seeds, etc.)

Soak &/or stir chia seeds in 1 C water until they form a gel.  Add ground flax seeds & salt; stir - mixture will continue to gel.  Add any additional ingredients, if desired; stir.  Add pulp* & mix with a large spoon (or ideally with your hands!) until well combined. 

Spread mixture onto two lined dehydrator trays (or more if you prefer a lighter, more fragile chip) & score into squares.  Dehydrate at 115 degrees for one hour.  Lower temperature to 105 degrees & dehydrate a few more hours, until the chips peel away easily from the liners.  Flip onto screened dehydrator trays & dehydrate at 105 degrees until completely dry & crispy (chips normally take 24 hours or less to dry).

*Note: if your juicer leaves any large pieces of fruits or veggies in the pulp mixture, you may wish to process them in the food processor or blender with a little water before adding to the bowl with the other ingredients.

Chili Cheeze Pulp Chips

2-3 C water*

1/4 C chia seeds

1/4 C flax seeds, ground

2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

1/4-1/2 C nutritional yeast

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

Pinch cayenne

1-2 C (packed) carrot pulp

2-3 Tbs tahini

Soak &/or stir chia seeds in 1 C water until they form a gel.  Add ground flax seeds & salt; stir - mixture will continue to gel.  Add nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, paprika & cayenne, along with an additional 1 C water; stir.

Process the carrot pulp, tahini & 1 C water in the food processor until smooth.*  Add mixture to the bowl with the other ingredients & mix with a large spoon (or ideally with your hands!) until well combined.

Spread mixture onto two lined dehydrator trays (or more, if you prefer a lighter, more fragile chip) & score into squares.  Dehydrate at 115 degrees for one hour.  Lower temperature to 105 degrees & dehydrate a few more hours, until the chips peel away easily from the liners.  Flip onto screened dehydrator trays & dehydrate at 105 degrees until completely dry & crispy (chips normally take 24 hours or less to dry).

*Note: you may add the carrot pulp & tahini (minus the extra 1 C water) to the mixture without processing first.  If so, the tahini mixes more completely when stirred in before the other spices.

Fermented Cashew Cheeze Dip

1 C cashews, soaked & drained

1/2 C water

1 tsp probiotic powder (about 12 capsules)

1 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

2 Tbs finely minced parsley

Soak cashews in water for 4-6 hours; rinse & drain.  Blend soaked cashews & water in high-speed blender (VitaMix) until creamy.  You may need to (cautiously!) use a spatula with the blender lid removed to assist blending.  Add probiotic powder & blend just until incorporated.

Spoon mixture into a cloth-lined colander covered with another wet cloth.  Place in a warm location (e.g., on top of or next to the dehydrator) & drain overnight (8-12 hours, or more).  The cheeze will be slightly sour smelling and fluffy – this means it has fermented & is ready to use.  Spoon into a bowl & combine with salt & parsley; stir.

Note:  This is a very mild dip which enhances the flavor & enjoyment of chips or crudités without masking or overpowering their individual flavors.  You may, of course, add additional herbs, spices or other ingredients to suit your taste.

(All recipes copyright Kat Conrad, 2012)