A few years ago I picked up the book Raw in Ten Minutes by Bryan Au and became an immediate fan. I LOVE raw foods but sometimes the prep can be so daunting… aka sprouting, juicing, dehydrating, etc. This is why the idea of raw meals in ten minutes sounded awesome to me and the food was good. The raw nachos and chili cheese fries stand out to me in particular. I have been anxiously awaiting his next book which I asked him some questions about several months ago. It just recently came out for sale so I thought I would publish the interview now. Anyway the book is Raw STAR Recipes: Organic Meals, Snacks & Desserts Under 10 Minutes. Enjoy!

Tiffany: Why should non vegans look into adding more raw foods to their diet?

Chef Bryan Au: Vegans and everyone should eat more organic fresh fruit and vegetables because it is very healthy and doctors always recommend it too. With my recipes it is so much fun, fast and easy while being incredibly delicious too! And all my recipes are made out of fresh organic fruit, vegetables with some nuts or seeds so you don’t have to worry about getting “enough” because you will! It is also very new with amazing flavors and assortment of new desserts and recipes to enjoy. It really is for everyone. And everyone absolutely loves it!

Tiffany: Do you think your recipes are easy enough and tasty enough to fool those strapped for time or dead set against “health food”?

Chef Bryan Au: Yes definitely! I actually designed ALL of my recipes to look and taste even BETTER than everyone’s favorite junk foods, comfort foods and international menu. I did this on purpose because we all enjoy these foods the most. But I was able to combine all my years of being a chef, culinary expert and was finally able to combine perfectly the two worlds of junk foods and have it be actually the most healthy food on the planet! It is very incredible and you have to experience it yourself. My recipes are actually the most creamy, decadent and gourmet yet so simple and tasty!

Tiffany: What are some of your favorite recipe recommendations for those just getting started with raw foods?

Chef Bryan Au: Many people really love my Pasta Alfredo because it is so simple to make yet so refreshing and flavorful it is a great introduction into how amazing Raw Organic Cuisine can be and then of course ANY of the desserts will instantly make anyone and everyone a huge fan of Raw Organic Cuisine and they will totally understand and want more as a result! I have seen this happen many times. But I do have more than 100+ recipes to choose from and anything or everything that you already enjoy I have a raw organic cuisine recipe or version of it that is fresher, faster, healthier and even more amazing! My goal is to make Raw Organic Cuisine the Main Food Trend in 2011 and Media Diet because it is so delicious, fun, and new with tons of health benefits. No other new “diet” or cuisine even exists or can come close so please give my new recipe book ECO CHEF BRYAN AU Raw Star Recipes: Organic Meals, Snacks & Desserts In 10 Minutes a try I promise you will love it and it already has become a major Food Trend in 2011 all the schools will be using it and you will see it everywhere.

Tiffany: Do you need any special equipment to whip up these recipes?

Chef Bryan Au: In general you can make most of my recipes with a very sharp knife, a cutting board and a good blender. But for a few recipes you do need a Good4U Dehydrator but even if you do not have one you can sometimes use the sun or a oven to dehydrate the recipes. But I would say 95% of all my recipes can be made with the sharp knife, cutting board and a good blender and most people have those already in the kitchen.

This is actually my fave soup evah! Or maybe it is tied with my Mushroom and Sherry soup, tough call. Either way this soup is nourishing and delicious and it utilizes one of my fave veggies… the leek. In order to make the soup green you need to use all of this delicious vegetable from the white part to the dark green. Often times recipes only call for the light part of the leek but I use the whole shebang. Part of why that works so well is because I blend the majority of the soup to make it smooth and creamy, not so chunky. It is hard for me to pin down a concrete recipe for you since I am more of a kitchen witch…. just tossing stuff in the cauldron and seeing what magic emerges. But I think I have made this soup enough times to give out a recipe.

Ingredients:

2-3 Leeks chopped, whites and dark greens
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp grass fed butter
1.5 Pounds potatoes, chopped (I used red and fingerlings in combination)
3 Cups vegetable broth
1 Cup milk or cream
4 Tbsp Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
1 Tbsp dried dill
Sea Salt
Pepper

Optional: white cheddar cheese and/or crumbled, pastured bacon for toppings

I have included different options like milk/cream or Neufchatel/cream cheese simply so that you can make it as nourishing and/or savory as you want. This soup can be quite rich and very generous in the calories department if you want to watch that sort of thing. And of course meat eaters will love bacon in this soup.

Directions:

Clean leeks thoroughly by rinsing and/or soaking. These babies are grown in sandy soil and if you don’t wash properly you will end up with gritty soup. I chop off the end and then split them down the middle lengthwise. I wash them really well by letting water run through each layer and then I chop them up. Add these to your pan or dutch oven along with the garlic and saute in butter (or bacon grease if you are using bacon). Saute them until they are starting to get soft.

Add the potatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the pototes are soft.

At this point you are going to want to blend 3/4 of your soup to make it nice and creamy. If you don’t want to blend it up for whatever reason you will likely have to add flour to thicken it up. Most times I use my Vita-Mix so that I can add the milk and cheese along with the soup and mix that all together well before returning it to the pot. Sometimes I use a handy dandy immersion blender. It depends on which one is clean, LOL.

So add the neufchatel, milk and dill and blend well. This is what you end up with. A creamy, dreamy, green tinted soup that kids love.

This week I decided to try my hand making coconut yogurt AND coconut water kefir with young coconuts. If you are unfamiliar with young coconuts they are the white coconuts you often see in health food stores, not the mature brown ones that usually taste nasty (IMO at least). This yogurt is a raw food dish and it is nice for an occasional treat.

I started by cracking three of them open. Actually my husband did that part. He drained the coconut water as he opened them and reserved it in a bowl. I then scooped out the meat of the coconuts and tried to keep the brownish skin on the other side of it from coming with it too much. I ended up with a fair amount of meat from just 3 coconuts.

I added the meat, a cup or so of the coconut water, and a Tablespoon of commercial coconut yogurt from Whole Foods, to my Vita-Mix and blended well to make milk. I didn’t heat this mixture at all, just let it warm a bit by letting the blender run. Afterwards I poured it into the pint jars of my yogurt maker. This machine just keeps the jars warm so that the beneficial bacteria can work and create yogurt. I had enough for 3 of the jars.

After 15ish hours I removed them and put them in the frig. The yogurt is quite tasty although my husband prefers the sweet taste of the milk without the added fermentation. I admit that it is quite delish both ways. In fact I think this would be an excellent pie filling. Just make a pie crust from raw nuts and dried dates and then fill with coconut milk or coconut yogurt, top with some sliced fruit like Kiwi or strawberries, and you have a raw pie for dessert. I also imagine that we will eat coconut milk ice cream, frozen coconut yogurt, and coconut Popsicles this summer.

I have been eating a ramekin full most mornings with a little dollop of lemon curd made with pastured eggs, honey, and coconut oil.

The water from the coconuts went straight into a quart size ball jar with some water kefir grains. The coconut water has natural sugars that the kefir will chow down on. After 15 hours it was tangy and slightly fizzy and it went straight into a glass pitcher destined for the frig. LOVE these pitchers for kefir and juice!

And my fave way to use up the coconut water kefir? Green Smoothies of course!

Oh and we used the top of the coconuts for soap dishes and the remaining shells will be used for planters!

Ready to try coconut yogurt?

Top Photo by FotoosVanRobin

Just a little more Vita-Mix love…

We are not terribly big on Peanut Butter in this house… pretty much the only ones who eat it are one of  my sons and my husband. My hubby buys Smuckers brand because it is one of the few that does not have added sugar in it… just peanuts. Well, my son decided to see if he could make his own.. he is a on a real cooking kick lately. He went from peanuts to creamy butter in about 3 minutes. I have to admit it was pretty delish!

Next up I think we will try almond butter.

Usually twice a week I forgo the morning green smoothie and drink a Kefir one instead. I am one of those people who will forget to eat breakfast but I have no problem remembering to drink it. My Kefir making process is pretty simple. I ferment dairy for Kefir 1 day a week and keep it in a half gallon Ball jar when done. The rest of the week, the grains rest in the frig.

This smoothie is ready in 2 minutes… just 2 cups of homemade Kefir, a cup of frozen fruit, a banana, and for me at least… a Tbsp of Colonix powder. You could forgo adding anything or go with hemp powder or flax seeds for an extra boost. I prefer the Colonix for its intestinal cleaning properties. It works great and tastes great. Plus as a colon cancer survivor I am always cognizant of my digestive track, adding this to Kefir makes my insides doubly happy.

But I am always looking for more amazing ways to drink Kefir. What is your favorite kefir recipe/drink?