The Ultimate Vegan Picnic!

Presented by the Chula Vista Health Ministries Committee

Dr. Dan Rogers, Chairperson
Rosa Allen and Karen Krooskos Bowers, Committee Members

Why Vegan? Simply because it is healthier for you and for our planet.

Why a Picnic? Well BECAUSE! Picnics are FUN, Picnics are FOOD and Picnics are FRIENDS AND FAMILY! You just don't need more reasons than that.

And now, the Presenters and their Recipes...

Rosa Allen has been preparing healthy Vegan meals for her family ever since she married her husband Mark and made a commitment to healthy living for herself, her husband and their two boys Jimmy and Marky. In many of her demonstrations she is assisted by her mother Maria. Her Hispanic background notwithstanding, with it's traditionally "heavy cheese" content, she has learned to adapt many recipes to the Vegan lifestyle and come up with delicious replacements, many that she shares here on these pages. Thank you, Rosa!

Rosa's Easy Vegan Burgers

What would a picnic be without a BURGER? Let's not try to imagine that! Instead, let's try out Rosa's fantastic Vegan Burgers, baked and not fried.

8 C rolled oats
8 C boiling water
1 large onion, chopped
1 C chopped walnuts
1 C raw sunflower seeds
1 C Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/3 C Nutritional Yeast
2 T Italian Seasoning
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried basil

Boil water and Bragg's Aminos. In a large mixing bowl, place all additional ingredients, stir, then add boiling liquid to dry ingredients and stir. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Shape into patties with a 1/3 C scoop or wide mouthed Mason jar lie and cap (cap insert makes forming and removing the pattie very easy).

Bake on prepared cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 25 minutes on one side; turn and bake on other side for 20 additional minutes or until firm. Allow to cool. They actually improve in flavor if made a day in advance!

(Karen's Note: When I made these, I added 2 cups of grated carrots and 1 cup of chopped celery. It gave more color, texture and nutrition. Also, I fried mine in coconut oil instead of baking them. Coconut oil is a high heat oil with wonderful nutritional benefits to it, and my family, who are not vegetarians, still liked these and enjoyed the extra "crunch".)

This makes approximately 40 burgers. They freeze well for later use!

Rosa's Easy Vegan Burgers with Tomato Roses by Connie

Nopales

There has been medical interest in the Prickly Pear plant. Some studies have shown that the pectin contained in the Prickly Pear pulp lowers levels of "bad" cholesterol while leaving "good" cholesterol levels unchanged. Another study found that the fibrous pectin in the fruit may lowers diabetics' need for insulin. Both fruits and pads of the prickly pear cactus are rich in slowly absorbed soluble fibers that help keep blood sugar stable. There are on going studies and at this point there are no proven results on humans. You can make your own study and see if works for you, which is the only test that really counts.

The prickly pear fruit normally ripens and is ready for harvest during the late summer and early fall months. When gathering the fruit, wear leather or rubber gloves to avoid contact with the cactus needles. They are a nuisance, especially the tiny soft-appearing barbs of glochids on the fruit itself. The glochids are very difficult to remove if you get them in your skin. A long-handled tong can also be used to pick the fruit from the cactus. Once you have harvested the fruit, you will need to remove the glochids by passing the fruit through an open flame or shaking the fruit in a bag of hot coals. The glochids can also be removed by cutting them away with a knife or peeling off the skin. Once the fruit is removed from the cactus, it will rapidly lose nutritional value and may ferment, so try to consume or process soon after harvesting.

Nopalitos Salad

Ingredients:

8 cactus leaves
3 lemons
1 T olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
Cilantro (1 or more bunches, to taste)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash Cactus leaves very well.
Fill a large bowl with water and juice of 2 lemons. Add about a teaspoonful of salt and then put the cactus into it.
Rinse the cactus in this lemon water very well.
Remove the leaves from the water and chop it into 1/2" pieces.
In a skillet, add 4cups water and simmer the leaves with onion, garlic and salt until cactus leaves are tender, about 30-45 minutes.
Remove from heat and drain. Add the rest of the ingredients, adding juice of last lemon, salt and olive oil for a dressing. Serve cold.

Nopalitos Salad with Tofu Cheese

Tofu Cheese

Ingredients:

12 ounces firm tofu
1 lemon
3 T olive oil
1 T Nutritional Yeast
Salt (to taste)

Equipment:

Cheese cloth or Nut Milk Bag

Preparation:

Wrap the cheese cloth completely around the tofu and squeeze it until all the water has been drained out. Squeeze hard!
Place the tofu in a glass container and mix it with other ingredients.
Press it together very well and chill it overnight covered in refrigerator.

This makes a very good topping for your favorite salad or along with any other food that may call for cheese. My son's personal favorite is to wrap it up in a tortilla with beans and eat it just like that!

A 1975 graduate of the Home Economics program from Pacific Union College, Karen took her Bachelor of Science degree into education, and has been educating young children, teenagers and adults in many areas of nutrition ever since. In 2006 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and even though everyone thought she was leading a "healthy vegetarian lifestyle" which should have prevented this disease, she decided that it must not be enough. She began to re-educate herself in the latest findings in nutrition and realized that the challenge to "go Vegan" and eliminate all dairy from her menus was the "missing element" and a call from God. She believes strongly in the health counsels of Ellen G. White who said that as diseases in the animal kingdom increase, our use of them for food products should cease, and in reading current scientific findings has decided that NOW is that time to give up even dairy and eggs. She has also found that a simple diet consisting of 70% or more raw foods gives another healh advantage by adding more digestive enzymes to the body, relieving the stress of digesting one's food from the body's limited store of digestive enzymes. Therefore, her roll on the Health Ministries Team is to bring awareness of how many foods can be prepared without cooking them, with delicious and nutritious results. The health condition of the body, Karen insists, has a direct impact on one's spiritual health, so she motivates those seeking an improvement in their spiritual walk with the Lord to seek to follow His Natural Laws in regards to food and exercise, as well as His Moral Laws. Karen teaches Raw Food Prep classes in the San Diego area apart from her work with the Health Ministries.

Tomatillos

The tomatillo is a small, spherical and green or green-purple fruit surrounded by a paper-like husk. As the fruit matures, it fills the husk and can split it open by harvest. The husk turns brown, and the fruit can be any of a number of colors when ripe, including yellow, red, green, or even purple.

Tomatillos are the key ingredient in fresh and cooked Latin American green sauces. The freshness and greenness of the husk is a quality criterion. Fruit should be firm and bright green as the green colour and tart flavour are the main culinary contributions of the fruit, and used often in raw food preparation in the place of vinegar.

Fresh ripe tomatillos will keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks. They will keep even longer if the husks are removed and the fruits are placed in sealed plastic bags stored in the refrigerator. They may also be frozen whole or sliced.

Healthy Condiments

In this fast age, the less exciting the food, the better. Condiments are injurious in their nature. Mustard, pepper, spices, pickles, and other things of a like character, irritate the stomach and make the blood feverish and impure. The inflamed condition of the drunkard's stomach is often pictured as illustrating the effect of alcoholic liquors. A similarly inflamed condition is produced by the use of irritating condiments. Soon ordinary food does not satisfy the appetite. The system feels a want, a craving, for something more stimulating. {TSDF 133.3}

Healthy Ketchup

Tomato Ketchup has been a staple of the American table since Henry J. Heinz began making and bottling it in 1876 and the company claims it has not changed its recipe since then. I say "tomato ketchup" because history reveals that the first American ketchup was actually made of anchovies, walnuts, mushrooms and kidney beans! Ketchup, whose ingredients are 1/3 sugar, is probably a derrivitive of the Chinese red sweet and sour sauce, and the contrast of sweet (sugar) and sour (vinegar) is part of its appeal to the pallete. Eliminating highly acidic vinegar from the diet is the reason for the substitute given here (read more of the health benefits of a more alkaline body).

1 C Tomato Paste
2 T Oil
2 t honey or agave nectar
1 t salt
2 T lemon juice or Tomatillo juice
Garlic or onion as desired (or powdered version of same)

Whiz in food processor until smooth. Store in refrigerator until served.

Healthy Mustard Substitute

½ C water
¼ C unbleached white flour
2 T turmeric
½ t salt

Mix all ingredients together and cook over medium heat until thick. Place in blender and add:

1 clove garlic
1/3 C olive oil

Whiz until smooth, then add:

½ C lemon juice

Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks, covered.

Healthy Dry Mustard Substitute

2 T turmeric
1/2 t Celtic salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t lemon powder

Mix and store in dry container and store with other spices

Healthy Non-irritating Curry

1 T turmeric
1 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
1 T garlic

Mix. Store in tightly covered jar. Use in any recipe calling for curry.

Healthy Mayonaise "Almonnaise"

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Almonds, blanched
1/4 cup Almond milk
1 teaspoon Nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Seasoned salt
1/4 cup Almond milk
1 1/4 cup Oil, grapeseed or macadamia nut
3 tablespoons Lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Tomatillo juice

Directions:

Process almonds to fine powder in blender or food processor. Add almond milk, yeast, garlic powder, and salt. Blend well, then add remaining almond milk to form smooth cream.

With blender running on low, remove insert in top and drizzle in oil in thin stream until mixture is thick. Keep blender running and add lemon juice and vinegar. Blend on low for 1 minute longer, to allow mixture to thicken to desired consistency.

Refrigerate tightly sealed; this will keep 10-14 days in refrigerator.

This recipe for Almonnaise serves/makes 1.5 cups

Tofu Eggless Salad #1 on celery

Tofu Eggless salad #2, ready for Crackers!

Cashew Eggless Salad on Spinach Leaves was a big hit and the favorite of all three recipes. We "piped" it on with a straight pipe, but next time will use a flower pipe so it doesn't look so much like caterpillars!

Tofu Eggless Salad #1

2 pounds soft tofu, squeezed dry in cheese cloth or a nut bag
1/2 cup soy-based mayonnaise
3 tablespoons "Healthy Mustard"
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup diced green onions
Salt and pepper

Place the squeezed dry tofu in a mixing bowl and mash with a wooden spoon. Mix in the remaining ingredients and combine well. Chill slightly, then serve on a bed of mixed greens or as a sandwich.

Tofu Eggless Salad #2

One 14 ounce pkg firm tofu, squeezed dry in cheese cloth or a nut bag
¼ cup raw onion, finely chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
¼ cup thawed frozen peas
1 small baked potato, chopped
1/3 cup soy mayonnaise or "Almonnaise"
1 T lemon juice
1 T tumeric powder
1 t paprika
½ t salt

Drain and mash tofu in a medium-sized bowl. Mix in chopped onions, celery, peas and potato. Add soy mayonnaise, lemon juice and seasonoings. Mix well. Serves four 1 cup servings.

Cashew Eggless Salad

½ cup pure water
juice from one small lemon, (I use some zest, too)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt, add 1/2 tsp at a time for taste
1½ cups raw cashews
½ t "Healthy Dry Mustard Substitute"
½ teaspoon turmeric, for color, add as needed
1 tablespoon tomatillo juice

Preparation

1. Place the water, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt and cashews in the high speed blender or food processor, and blend until very smooth.

2. With a spatula, take the mixture from the blender and place in a medium sized mixing bowl.

3. Slowly stir in the mustard, tomatillo juice, and turmeric until it reaches the color and flavor you desire.

4. Serve on top of flax seed crackers, celery sticks, Spinach leaves or add a bit of water to make a creamy salad dressing. With honey or dried jicama powder and double the spices, you will have a Creamy Honey Mustard Salad Dressing!

NOTE: Add in chopped up celery for more texture, or jicama, onions, whatever you like. Serve with fresh arugula for a wonderful flavor contrast.

Time to Make: Approximately 10 minutes Shelf Life: Keeps up to 5 days in the fridge if sealed in a tight container.

"God requires continual advancement from His people. They need to learn that indulged appetite is the greatest hindrance to mental improvement and soul sanctification. As a people, with all our profession of health reform, we eat too much. Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies largely at the foundation of feebleness and premature death. Intemperance begins at our tables, when we use an unwise combination of foods. Let the individual who is seeking to possess purity of spirit, bear in mind that in Christ there is power to control the appetite."

From "The Paulsen Collection," page 3, para. 5, letters of counsel from Ellen G. White

One of Karen's self-assigned names is
"The Gadget Queen!" She is a real sucker for kitchen gadgets that are TRULY time savers, and here is one of them:

The Apple Peeler Corer Slicer
with Suction Cup Bottom!

You can buy your's at:
http://www.applesource.com/peeler.html

There is a saying that goes, "Life is short--eat dessert first!"

This recipe for an all fruit raw dish would certainly be applicable here! Fruit digests more quickly than any other food and the rapid transit time would reccomend itself here to be eaten first before a meal, then wait 20 minutes, or as breakfast by itself. The nuts WILL slow down the transit time.

Taken in after a meal could result in "unwise food combining" which would slow down the digestive process and even cause fermentation in the stomach. Each of us has to make CHOICES in how we can best follow God's Natural Laws in the way that we feed ourselves. Each of us is just different enough that I always hesitate to try to promote hard and fast rules--and food combining is one that does not apply to everyone.

The best rule is to always ask yourself HOW DO I FEEL AFTER I HAVE EATEN...? (And we might even ask, HOW DO I LOOK AFTER YEARS OF EATING THIS WAY?) If you feel sleepy, bloated, lethargic, foggy minded and FAT, you need to investigate what made you feel that way (or look that way)? Too much food? Too much sweet food? Too many types of food? And you need to change your meals accordingly so that when you are done eating, you feel energized, nourished, alert and able to do moderate exercise like cleaning up the kitchen or going for a gentle walk.

If you can't, you are harming your body's physical, mental and spiritual health and impairing your spiritual walk with the Lord. In Christ there is power to control the appetite.

No Bake Apple Pie

Pie filling:

2-3 juicy Fuji Apples (cored and sliced thin in food processor)
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup sliced Almonds
1/4 cup raw Oatmeal
Pie spices -- Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, etc. (to taste, but try ½ tsp. each and add to taste, or premixed apple pie spice)
1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup (maple syrup is not raw, but a minimal healthy part of this recipe)

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup pitted Dates (soaked 1 hour or more)
1 cup Raisins (soaked 1 hour or more)
1/2 cup Pecans or Walnuts
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
2 cups dried unsweetened Coconut

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup Coconut
1/2 cup Walnuts or Pecans
1/8 cup Pure Maple Syrup

Instructions:

Core, cut up and run apples through slicer on food processor and place in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly. Set aside. Whiz topping ingredients in blender and set aside.

In a food processor, using "S" blade, grind nuts to a fine meal, add pitted dates and raisins. Process until a dough-like consistency is reached. By hand, work in 1-1/2 cups of the coconut. Sprinkle 1/2 cup coconut in pie pan; place date-raisin-nut mixture on top and spread to cover pie pan. Top with apples and sprinkle topping to cover. Drizzle lightly with maple syrup. Serve or cover and place in refrigerator.

(NOTE ON MAPLE SYRUP: Maple syrup comes in 3 grades: A, B, C. One would assume that the Grade A is "best" and for a maple syrup gourmet, this could be true. But to get the maximum benefit of eating maple syrup, the highest concentration of vitamins and minerals are actually in the Grade C which, like in the processing of Black Strap Mollasses, is the 3rd and final boil down of the syrup. All the minerals are highly concentrated in this dark, rich, highly flavorful rendering of sweetness.)

Connie was a real BONUS part of this particular food presentation! She came early and made these wonderful fruit and floral arrangements that were SO BEAUTIFUL, nobody dared to touch or eat them! Rosa and I took them home and all the vegetables from my arrangement have ended up in ziplock bags that I have been serving to garnish my salads ever since!

This is only the tip of the iceburg on this particular art form. I've searched the net and found a few links to Fruit and Vegetable garnishing. Perhaps you will want to try your hand at it and we could have Connie teach a fun class one of these days!

http://www.templeofthai.com/fruit_carving/

Basic Carrot Rose

Preparation:
Shave to make the carrot smooth and cut a cone shape being 1 cm deep. Divide into 5 sections.

Cut out the first petal with the knife tip, make deep cuts to remove the flesh under the petal. Cut out the second petal overlapping with the first one.

Cut out the remaining petals all around. Then make deep cuts to remove the flesh under the petals.

Cut out the flower with the knife tip.

Neaten the flesh under the petals.

Finished flower!

For Fun and Beauty

Simple White Lotus Cucumber Garnish

Material:
1 long cucumber and 1 carrot
Equipment:
sharp pointed knife and carving knife

Instructions:
1. Wash the cucumbers. Cut into 3 sections.
2. Divide the circumference of each into 8 equal parts and then make cuts about 3mm deep between each part down the length of the section.
3. Slice beneath each part down the length almost to the base to separate it from the flesh, thus forming the 8 outer petals.
4. Trim the flesh to remove ridges and then divide into 8 parts as before to make the inner ring of petals. These should be centered between those of the outer ring.
5. Remove the core of the cucumber, trim each petal so it tapers to a point, and then insert the center of the flower.
6. For the center, use 1/4" thick disk cut from a small carrot. Cut small grooves in a crisscross pattern on one face, and place up in the lotus flower.

These carving and garnish instructions taken from:
Step-by-Step Vegetable and Fruit Carving Book

http://www.templeofthai.com/news/2003/june.html