A delicious Raw Sunflower Seed Hummus recipe - And a recipe for Red Bell Paprika

Mom's Sunny Hummus

This is a delicious raw-food recipe my mother created when she was doing exclusively a raw food diet for 2 years. She used to teach living raw food cooking classes and this is one of the recipes she would share.

The complexity of flavors here is delightful. The ingredient list is a bit long, but just get everything out beforehand, then putting it together will be a snap. It's worth it.

This recipe is so tasty, healthy, and decadent, I hope you try it!



SUNNY HUMMUS Recipe:

Prepare the soaked sunflower seeds:

1 c. hulled raw sunflower seeds
1 big pinch ascorbic acid powder (Vitamin C)

Rinse then soak the sunflower seeds in a jar of water with the pinch of ascorbic acid powder added.
Let soak 8 to 10 hours.
Drain and put in a high-powered (VitaMix) blender container.

ADD:

1/3 c. high quality extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 c. raw tahini (sesame seed paste)
3/4 to 1 c. (4 to 5 ounces) cubed raw yellow-skinned summer squash
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. cumin powder
2 t. onion powder
2 t. Nama Shoyu (raw soysauce)
2 t. Star brand yeast flakes (nutritional yeast)
1 t. BioSalt (recipe on this blog)
rounded 1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. Red Bell Paprika (see recipe below) or sweet paprika
1/4 t. ascorbic acid powder
3 to 4 pitted Kalamata olives
1 Pinch tumeric powder (for color)
1/2 to 1 t. toasted sesame seed oil, optional
3/4 to 1 c. water, as needed

Puree together adding water as needed to just freely vortex in a VitaMix blender (a vortex while blending makes a creamier hummus). Puree until smooth and a little warm.

ADD:

1/16 t. finely ground psyllium husk powder (to stabilize the hummus).

Chill the hummus to thicken.


To Serve:

Spread the hummus 1 to 1 1/2-inch thick on a serving dish.
Sprinkle heavily with Red Bell Paprika or sweet paprika.
Pour over top GOLDEN OIL (recipe on this blog), or garlic-chile infused olive oil or UDO'S Oil,
This raw food is excellent slightly fermented (let it sit out on your counter a few hours).
Serve with vegies to dip.




RED BELL PAPRIKA Recipe:

This has a sweeter flavor than regular paprika.

Dehydrate organic red bell peppers that have been diced, in a food dehydrator.
Grind the dried peppers
Mix the ground red bell peppers at a 50/50 ratio with Hungarian paprika.
Store air-tight and use as you would paprika.



Enjoy,

Leila

Soft Butter Spread (Stays soft even when cold)

Soft Butter Spread

This is a healthy way to have a cold spreadable butter. Use coconut oil if you intend to use this for cooking, to avoid creating trans fats. You can store this in your refrigerator and still spread it on your toast.

Please do not use margarine. It has never been good for us!

SOFT BUTTER SPREAD Recipe:

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 lb (4 sticks) real salted butter, softened (preferably organic)

1 1/2 to 2 c. healthy, light tasting liquid oil *

1/4  t. sea salt or BioSalt, or to taste (recipe on this blog)

Method:

In a blender or food processor, process the softened butter and 1 1/2 c. oil of choice, adding more oil as needed, until smooth and creamy. Another option is to use a hand mixer. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Recipe easily doubles.

* Examples of healthy oils than may be used: Fractionated coconut oil, GOLDEN OIL (recipe on this blog), chia seed oil, Cranberry seed oil, hemp seed oil, avocado oil, or extra light tasting olive oil.


Note: Do not bake, saute, or cook with anything but coconut oil and/or real butter (or animal fat) because they become unhealthy when heat treated. Even when healthy oils are heated below their smoke point, they still oxidize and turn into trans fats (not good).



Enjoy,

Leila

Home Made Nut Butters with Added Protein - Great for Low Carb Diets

Protein-Packed Nut Butter 

This is a cool recipe. This protein-enriched nut butter resists that oily separation, that can be messy and annoying, even when stored at room temperature. Nuts stay fresher longer when kept in the refrigerator however, so I recommend doing that.

This recipe uses no unhealthy hydrogenated fats or starches, which are usually used in commercial peanut butters to prevent separation. You can tweak the recipe to reflect your tastes. If you add the xylitol, you have a sugar-free nut butter (most peanut butters contain sugar too).

Try this recipe if you are eating a low-carb, low sugar diet, or high protein diet. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, using a vegetarian or vegan protein powder, will immensely enhance your needed protein consumption.


PROTEIN-PACKED NUT BUTTER RECIPE:

Difficulty level: Easy


1 1/3 c. Fresh roasted nut butter of choice (almond, cashew, peanut...)
1/2 c. Unflavored, unsweetened protein powder of choice
1/4 t. Powdered BioSalt (recipe on this blog), to taste
1 T. Powdered xylitol, optional
1/2 c. Coarsely ground roasted nuts, optional


Method:

In a seed or coffee mill, grind together the BioSalt and xylitol to make a fine powder. You may add some of the protein powder to this,
to make grinding easier. (A Krupps Seed mill is the best.)

In a food processor, place the room temperature nut butter, protein powder, and xylitol/BioSalt mixture. Process to blend well. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.

Blend the mixture until it makes a smooth paste.

If you like a chunky-style nut butter, add the coarsely ground nuts of choice and pulse the food processor to just mix in.

Transfer to a container with an air-tight lid and store until needed.


Variation:

In the finished nut butter, you can swirl in 1/2 cup commercially prepared xylitol-sweetened jam or jelly. Do not use a raw jam or freezer jam, or it will spoil. Grape jelly would be good, for example.


Note: 

You could add a touch of GOLDEN OIL (recipe on this blog), if the mixture seems a bit too thick. It will make the fat content of the nut butter even healthier.

Cranberry Seed Oil - High in Omega-3's!

The Amazing Cranberry Seed Oil

Photo: http://www.fruitessentials.com

I'm very excited about this discovery and wanted to share it with you. I found this when researching healthy fats for the body. This oil is pleasant to the taste and is great for internal use, as well as for cosmetic use. I plan on using it in salad dressings, smoothies , and as a garnish for foods. I have already been using it in some of my cosmetic formulations and hair care formulations. I love this oil.

Cold Pressed American Cranberry Seed Oil is a quite stable oil having a shelf-life of 2 years, and is one of the few oils that contain high amounts of the beneficial Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Hemp Seed Oil is another highly beneficial oil, but it has to be shipped from outside the United States. Flaxseed oil is another choice but it oxidizes and goes rancid extremely quickly, plus it doesn't taste the greatest. Then there is my most favored oil, chia seed oil, which is about 60% omega-3 fatty acids, and has the perfect ratio of omega fatty acids; 3:1 (3 parts omega-3 to 1 part omega-6). Chia seed oil can withstand high-temperature cooking and tastes great, but good luck finding it (for now).

Note that Hemp Seed Oil has from 19 - 25% omega-3 fatty acids, 43 - 62% omega-6 fatty acids, and about 7 - 9% omega-9 fatty acids. Flax Seed Oil has about 28% Omega-3 fatty acids and 7% omega-6 fatty acids. See +www.mountainroseherbs.com

We tend to get too much omega-6 fatty acids in our diet and not nearly enough omega-3 fatty acids. Using cranberry seed oil is a great way to change that for the better. You can mix the cranberry seed oil with coconut oil or olive oil to improve the benefits of these oils, plus cut down on the cost of using cranberry seed oil alone. I have plans to create more healthy oil blends for food and cosmetic use. I'll let you know how it goes...

Some Benefits of Cold Pressed American Cranberry Seed Oil:

Very high in antioxidants, containing the highest tocotrienol (Vitamin E) level of all the edible oils.

Cranberry seed oil is one of the only oils with balanced high levels of both Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids.

Cranberry seed oil has a 1:1 ratio of omega-3:omega-6 fatty acids (35% omega-3 and 35% omega-6).

So there you go.


See: +http://www.fruitessentials.com/cranberryseedoil/cranberry_health_benefits.html
+http://www.camdengrey.com/essential-oils/cranberry-seed-oil.html


To your health,

Leila

P.S. Here is a short article about what oils are safe to cook with and why. Most oils I never cook with, I just use them raw.

+http://www.immunitrition.com/uploads/Cooking_with_Grape_Seed_Oil_or_Rice_Bran_Oil_-_Is_it_Safe.pdf

Green Oil, Rosemary Oil, Garlic Rosemary Oil (A Very Healthy Olive Oil Substitute)

GREEN OIL 

A very nutritious olive oil substitute created by my mother for those people who cannot eat olives or olive oil.

GREEN OIL Recipe:

4 c. virgin (golden/green) avocado oil
1 c. hemp seed oil
1/2 c. unrefined pumpkin seed oil

2 c. grape seed oil (or rice oil)

Method:

Mix the oils and store in glass mason jars in the fridge up to 2 weeks, or longer term in the freezer.

Use:

Drizzle on foods as a garnish. Use in salad dressings, etc... Do not Saute, fry or bake with this delicate oil.


Variations:

Rosemary Infused Oil:

You can make a very tasty rosemary infused oil by adding from 1 T. to 1/4 c. minced fresh rosemary...OR... 1/4 c. crushed dried rosemary to the 2 c. grape seed oil (or rice oil) and very gently heating it on the lowest heat for 30 minutes or so, to infuse to taste.
Let cool to room temperature,
Strain out the rosemary if desired.
Add the rest of the oils.
Store in the refrigerator.
This is a safer way to make herbal infused oils, avoiding possible contamination issues.

The old way to make this flavored oil is to just infuse the rosemary in the oil blend for 2 weeks and store  in a cool, dark cupboard, shaking the jar 2 times a day. Then optionally strain to use.

Garlic Rosemary Oil:

This makes a delicious garlic rosemary oil! To a portion of Rosemary Infused Oil, simply add crushed and minced (or pressed) fresh garlic, 1 hour before serving.

Rosemary

Enjoy!

Leila

Golden Oil (Better than UDO'S OIL)

GOLDEN OIL


This is a great tasting, highly nutritional oil formula that my mom created to use in the place of a commercial product called UDO'S OIL.These are healthy fats, so enjoy adding them to your diet!

Make sure all your oils are fresh. Taste all your oils first. If any of them taste bitter or rancid throw them out, they have oxidated.


GOLDEN OIL RECIPE:

1 c. melted coconut oil (warm)
1 c. raw sesame oil (or grape seed oil)
1 c. red rice oil (or flax seed oil)
1 c. raw sunflower oil
1 c. avocado oil (or almond oil or hazelnut oil)
3 T. melted red palm oil
1 T. sunflower lecithin or non-GMO soy lecithin, optional
1/4 t. Vitamin E oil, optional


Method:

Stir in each oil into the warmed coconut oil. If it thickens too much, set over a hot water bath and stir until liquefied. Store tightly closed in a glass container in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks. Freeze for long term storage. You can take out a little oil at a time for use, storing in the fridge.


Use:

Use as a garnish or glaze on cooked vegetables or grains.
Drizzle over popped popcorn and season to taste with onion salt.
Use in homemade salad dressings, etc.
Use as you would "UDO'S OIL".

Note:

Experiment with different blends of your favorite oils.
Red rice oil is high in GAMMA ORYZANOL, and is tolerant of high heat, as in frying.
Red rice bran oil when mixed with coconut oil is also good for frying.

Source:

Rice Oil - California Rice Oil (866-742-3645), www.californiariceoil.com


Enjoy,

Leila

Kitchen Cheetahs is born!

HI! You have found the Kitchen Cheetahs blog.

Leila

This is a new blog for the new year.We are so excited to be starting this project. We are a family team of professional food, confectionery, and beverage formulators - and we want to share a lot of our secrets with YOU!

As a team, we have been researching and testing recipes and creating our own unique formulas since 1999 (sooner really, we just weren't being paid for it yet). We are a health conscious family that loves excellent food and our goal is to assist the home cook in achieving a quantum leap in cooking amazing AND healthy foods. Over the years there has been an increase in food allergies, weight gain and related health issues. We see people we love suffer and fight the battle between the comfort food they want to eat and the "healthy" food they "should" eat. Most of the gluten-free and paleo baked goods for example, are a far cry from the real thing. For example, cardboard pizza crust, beany-flavored homemade pasta, brick-like breads, starch and sugar-filled flat-tasting cakes...  blehhh.

Food should taste good! Eating should be pleasurable!

SO, if we don't think it tastes good, we won't post it.

Warning: This is what we are not -
Professional photographers, professional bloggers, professional actors, professional writers, or even very electronically talented for that matter. The point is, this blog is for fantastic recipes and tips, and it may get messy...really messy...as in, chocolate all over the place (giddy laugh).

Please enjoy this journey with us, because we are going to have a lot of fun!

Leila