Kat Conrad - the raw & the uncooked: 2013

Just about everyone loves bread. I actually don't really miss it, but most people who try to go all raw say that bread is one of the hardest foods to live without. Well, whether you're all raw, high raw, gluten free or just trying to eat a little better, you don't have to live without it - you can absolutely include bread in your life! My raw bread is free of grain, flour, gluten, sugar, eggs, preservatives, etc. & is packed with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fiber, phytonutrients, good fats & FLAVOR!

You will need a dehydrator to make raw bread - or at least an oven with a very low setting. Some convection ovens have a 'dehydrate' setting (my Jenn Air convection oven was my first dehydrator). If you can afford it, an Excalibur dehydrator is worth the investment.

I demo'ed & sampled two variations of my raw bread, along with marinated mushrooms, raw cashew mayo & avocado spread at Whole Foods Market (3rd & Fairfax in Los Angeles) on Wednesday, March 13, to what started out as a semi-small gathering but became SRO. Steve Factor was my sous chef, & even the amazing Chef Be*Live showed up to support me - what a special treat! :-)

Kat & Chef Be*Live (aka Brian James Lucas)

Raw Onion Bread

3 C yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 C golden flax seeds, ground

1/2 C water

3 C zucchini, chopped (& peeled, if desired)

1/2 C carrots, chopped

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

1 Tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Optional: green onions, parsley, basil or other herbs, spices, etc.

Thinly slice onions (easiest using the food processor or mandolin); set aside.

Grind flax seeds using a high-speed blender (VitaMix) or coffee grinder. Add to a large bowl & set aside.

Add water & a handful of zucchini to blender & begin blending. With blender running, slowly add zucchini & carrots until liquified. Add vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt & turmeric; blend until incorporated. With blender running on low, slowly drizzle in olive oil until incorporated, then blend on high for a few seconds.

Add mixture to bowl with flax seeds; mix well. Add onions to bowl & mix well - use your hands for best results, & to add a little of your love to the dough! <3

If desired, add other ingredients such as green onions or other herbs, spices, etc. to the bowl & combine.

For thick bread, spread onto one lined dehydrator tray & dehydrate at 140 degrees for one hour. Reduce temperature to 115 degrees & dehydrate for approximately one additional hour, or until the top of the bread is dry to the touch. Place a screened dehydrator tray on top of the bread, flip over & remove the original tray, then peel away the liner from what was the bottom of the bread. Dehydrate an additional 8-10 hours, to desired dryness. If the slices in the middle are still a bit too soft, cutting the bread into pieces during the drying process will help them to dry more evenly.

Nope, it's not an omelet. :-)

Kat & Steve Factor

Enjoy this bread with my raw Eggless Salad, raw burgers (recipe & demo to come soon!), raw cashew mayo, marinated mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, lettuce or spinach, sprouts, or any other sandwich ingredient you love!

Raw Cashew Mayo

1 C cashews, soaked/drained/rinsed

1 date, soaked

2 garlic cloves

1/4 C lemon juice

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt

1 T fresh thyme

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Soak cashews in water between 2-6 hours; drain & rinse thoroughly. Soak date in water for at least 30 minutes to soften.

Add all ingredients except olive oil to high-speed blender (VitaMix) & blend until creamy. My personal preference to achieve the creamiest mixture is to remove the lid from the blender & use a spatula to assist blending & maintain the vortex - if using this method, be very careful to hold the spatula firmly & don't allow it to come in contact with the blades!

Once this mixture is creamy, with blender running on low, slowly drizzle in olive oil until incorporated, then blend on high for a few seconds.

Enjoy as you would any other mayonnaise - but even more! Should keep in the fridge for several weeks, if not consumed before then!

Kat assisting the blender...not recommended by VitaMix. ;-)

Raw Marinated Mushrooms

2 C sliced mushrooms (Portabella, Baby Bella, Crimini, Shiitake, etc.)

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt

Place sliced mushrooms in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with salt; stir. Set aside for approximately 30-60 minutes, stirring once or twice during this time. You may also place in the dehydrator to speed up the process & for a richer flavor. Use as you would sautéed mushrooms - for instance, on a sandwich with raw bread! ;-)

Raw Leprechaun Bread

This is the second bread I gave the class to sample, in honor of St. Patty's Day & as a great example of how to use leftover green juice pulp & zucchini peels from the onion bread!

1 C flax seeds, ground

1/2 C water

1 Cameo apple

1/2 C zucchini peels

2 garlic cloves

2-3 C green juice pulp (e.g., celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, collards, green apple, lemon, ginger, etc.)
1 Tbs coconut or apple cider vinegar

1 Tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt

1 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder - if using this, add 1/2 tsp additional salt)

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Instructions very similar to first recipe... :-)

Grind flax seeds using a high-speed blender (VitaMix) or coffee grinder. Add to a large bowl & set aside.

Add water & a handful of apple to blender & begin blending. With blender running, slowly add apple, zucchini peels, garlic & any large pieces from the green juice pulp until liquified (set aside remainder of pulp). Add vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic salt & paprika; blend until incorporated. With blender running on low, slowly drizzle in olive oil until incorporated, then blend on high for a few seconds.

Add mixture to bowl with ground flax seeds; mix well. Add remainder of green juice pulp to bowl & mix well - use your hands for best results, & to add a little of your love to the dough! <3

If desired, add other ingredients such as green onions or other herbs, spices, etc. to the bowl & combine.

For thick bread, spread onto one lined dehydrator tray & dehydrate at 140 degrees for one hour. Reduce temperature to 115 degrees & dehydrate for approximatey one additional hour, or until the top of the bread is dry to the touch. Place a screened dehydrator tray on top of the bread, flip over & remove the original tray, then peel away the liner from what was the bottom of the bread. Dehydrate an additional 8-10 hours, to desired dryness. If the slices in the middle are still a bit too soft, cutting the bread into pieces during the drying process will help them to dry more evenly.