RAW tacos. Sprouted sunflower seed "beans" and cashew sour cream served with pumpkin Mexican "rice".
Recipes:
Pumpkin Mexican "Rice"
2 cups chopped kabocha pumpkin (You can use butternut if kabocha is difficult to get)
1/2 cup finely diced sweet onion (the onions I get are like sugar so you may want to decrease this amount if what you are using is spicier. I like seeing the bits of onion in the rice which is why I prefer hand dicing and stirring them in)
A small handful of sun-dried tomatoes which have been rehydrated and sliced into 1/4" wide slivers
1/4 cup of roughly chopped celery
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
A small handful of fresh parsley
1 green onion chopped (going into processor so it doesn't need to be finely chopped)
Sea salt, paprika, oregano, and cumin powder to taste
First process in a food processor the pumpkin, garlic clove, celery, and green onion until half-way to rice consistency. Add parsley and process until rice-like consistency. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the olive oil, onions, sun-dried tomato, and seasoning. Taste best if allowed to marinate together 24 hours. The pumpkin and onions soften up and the flavors meld which rounds the dish out - similar to the way cooking marries flavors.
Cashew Sour Cream
1 cup soaked cashews, drained
2 teaspoons lemon juice (add more or less depending on how tart you like your sour cream.)
A little under 1/4 cup water
Sea salt to taste
Blend until smooth.
Tips:
Soak cashews in water 6-8 hours. The length of soak time is dependent on the size and hardness of cashews. You want the soaked cashew to have very little resistance when bitten into but not watered logged to the point the exterior has begun to disintegrate. Drain and rinse the cashews.
Depending on the quality of your blender you may need more liquid to get the cashews moving. I typically add 1/4 cup liquid to every 1 cup of soaked cashews.
I posted a sour cream recipe a while back that calls for fermenting the cashews. Either recipe will work.
Salsa
1 cup diced tomatoes (I used cherry and grape which I sliced into thirds)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 sliced green onion
1 small handful of cilantro chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1 tbsp lime juice (Add more of less depending on how sour you want it. Taste your lemons and limes prior to use! Tartness can vary quite a bit between individual fruits even of the same species.)
Sea salt to taste
Mix all ingredients. Best if left 24 hours but very good fresh as well. Can be kept for at least a week in the fridge.
Sprouted Sunflower Seed "Beans"
1 cup (pre-sprout volume) hulled sunflower seeds (
good instructions)
A small handful of sun-dried tomatoes rehydrated in water and drained, roughly chopped
A good handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
1 green onion, roughly chopped
Jalapeno to your liking (I like spicy food so I add 1 tbsp of finely diced jalapeno)
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 scant tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tsp of ancho chili powder (smoked, dried poblano powder - gives the "beans" a smoky depth of flavor)
Sea salt to taste
Powdered cumin to taste (really recommend trying to grind your own cumin from seeds as the difference in flavor is immense. I think a lot of flavor nuances get lost as a ground spice sits on the shelf. Electronic coffee grinder works well. Just know that once you've used it for spices it really isn't suitable for grinding coffee anymore (unless you like the taste of cumin coffee!))
Throw everything into food processor and grind until refried bean texture is reached.