Raw Food Party

Well last night I had such a wonderful and unique experience. One of my old instructors and I are friends and last night she had a dinner party that I was invited to. Raw Food - 100% vegan.

Once more Janet Rorschach, Chef Consultant and Instructor, pulls out the plug in our lives we call normallacy and introduces us to different ways of thinking. Her home is small, but extremely welcoming. Overstuffed chairs, bookshelves filled with everything you could think of from cooking (of course) to art, to fiction, to history and more.

She goes one step further and invites an array of people, who while in the working world might not have much in common, but here are brought together for the love of the food and the person hosting. A good dose of curiosity didn't hurt either.

Our cook for the evening was Ron Gilmore a "raw foodie" for the last 8 years and his girlfriend Diachin (and I am sure I am not spelling that right). http://www.rawmanandgreengirl.com/ and
http://www.uncookingshow.com/ Here we see Ron and Janet getting things ready for the evening's festivities.

So already I was skeptical but as I said before very curious. Nothing prepared or eaten touched the stove. The dinner party was in 2 parts. You could arrive early for the instructional part or come later just for dinner. You know I was there at the beginning.

We started with miso soup that had large diced advocado in it. This was really delicious.

There was also a crudite with all the standard veggies, but also jicama, asparagus and mushrooms. It was served with a zhoug sauce which is cilantro based and a bit like a pesto. It gets its bite from habanero. It was also served with a savoy dressing that stunned me on it's flavor. It was buttery, tangy and sweet. I was already thinking of so many other things I could use it on.

Savoy Dream Dressing
1/4 C raw Cashews (soaked for 30 minutes)

2 tablespoons lemon juice2 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon olive oil1 Tablespoon raw agave Nectar

1/2 Teaspoon sea Salt

Blend in high-powered blender till creamy.

Then we had "pasta" with basil pesto. The pasta was seaweed, which was soaked in water to make it tender and then again in lemon juice. I was really surprised, plesantly no less. I'm trying to find the name of the seaweed. The 'noodles' were clear and it was slightly curly. I totally forgot to get a picture of this.

Broccoli Salad with olives, of all things, really was something I didn't expect. I do believe that olives are way under-rated. But folks get brined olives not processed olives. That's why this dish was so darn good.

Next was dessert. OMG hold on to your to hats kids! Chocolate Mint Meringue Pie. So the crust was a combination of nuts, dates and a dash of cinnamon all done in the food processor. This was pressed into a spring form pan (about 8" pan) The chocolate filling was (you may want to sit
down) advocados, raw chocolate powder, mint extract, agave nectar, coconut oil all processed in a blender till smooth. This was put on top of the crust and chilled. Then for the meringue. He used the meat of 3-4 thai coconuts. The flesh is really soft like thick yogurt. A bit of vanilla and
some more agave. This went on top of the chocolate mixture and chilled some more. I was blown away at the flavor!

And again I only got one shot of the meringue going on top of the chocolate filling. I got so excited when we cut into it I forgot to grab the camera.

I must say that while Derek and I are now doing 2 vegetarian meals a week now I'm thinking about making one of them a raw meal. There are side affects folks! For one who cooks her food, eats meat and carbs...the sudden introduction to a full meal of raw veggies and nuts is,
well let's say musical and a tad painful. So it would take some getting used to.

Am I now a convert to the raw food movement? No..but I do have a better understanding of it and let's face it, I do believe it's healthy...in moderation hehe.

Eager folks listen intently as Ron describes his food and his philosophy.