Father's Day Food (albeit a week late)

We had our Father's Day celebration a week later than everyone else due to the fact that my husband had a gallbladder attack that weekend. No matter, we saved the foods we'd purchased and prepared them a week later.

On the menu:
California Grilled Veggie Sandwiches
Cucumber Salad with Fresh Raspberries
Raw Corn Tortilla Chips with Guacamole
"Nice" Cream (our own version of vegan ice cream)

Here are the recipes. I wish we'd taken photos, but we didn't think of it and we ate outside in the wind.

 (Not ours, but close enough, right?)

California Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

A co-worker of mine told me about these, and we'll most certainly be having them again SOON! They were incredibly delicious.

Prepare the following by cutting into strips:

Bell peppers
Onions (we used purple)
Yellow summer squash
Zucchini

Sauce:
1/2 C. Vegenaise
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. lemon juice

Olive oil with garlic (I just put some crushed garlic cloves in a jar of olive oil and let it sit awhile, or you could purchase it)

Foccacia bread, Raw Onion Bread, or other whole grain rolls
Feta cheese (for non-vegan version)

Mesquite charcoal

Heat charcoal or grill
Cut up all of your veggies (we underestimated and wished we'd had more!)
Mix Vegenaise, garlic and lemon juice together
Split focaccia or other bread and have ready to place on grill
Brush veggies with garlic oil and place in grilling basket (not absolutely necessary, but so much easier!)

Grill vegetables approximately 3 minutes on each side. Remove from grill.
There are several ways you can prepare the bread*:
#1 - Spread sauce (and a little feta for the non-vegans) on one side of bread, then place bread on grill with sauce side up. Cover and let grill for about 2 minutes, making certain it does not burn.
#2 - Spread garlic olive oil on bread and place on grill for several minutes. Remove and spread mayo sauce on.
Place grilled veggies between two slices on the bread and consume immediately! You won't be able to stop at just one.

*If using raw bread, just spread the mayo mixture on and skip the grill part

Cucumber Salad with Raspberries

3/4 cups cashews
1/2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 t white miso
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup lime juice (about 1 large lime)
1/2 clove crushed garlic
1/8 cup fresh mint, chopped
2 med. cucumbers, thinly sliced
Fresh raspberries

In blender, mix first six ingredients until smooth. Stir mint into sauce, then pour sauce over cucumbers. Gently stir all together. Add fresh raspberries onto individual servings.

Raw Corn Tortilla Chips

I have to confess, this was not the recipe we used, but I wish that it was! The one we tried was rather lackluster, and this one looks so much more interesting. We will be using it from now on.

3 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from 2-3 ears, or thawed frozen corn
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow or red bell pepper
3/4 cup golden flaxseed, finely ground
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon ground chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin

In a food processor, chop the corn and bell pepper. Add the remaining ingredients and process until almost smooth.
Divide the dough onto two Teflex-lined dehydrator trays and spread to the edges using an offset spatula.
Dehydrate at 115 F for 3 to 4 hours. Flip the Teflex sheets over onto the tray and carefully peel away the Teflex. Place back in the dehydrator for about 2 hours.
When the tortilla is completely dry on both sides but still pliable, slice or cut into chips.

Use your favorite guacamole recipe. We're not picky. We just throw together some lovely ripe avocados, lime juice, chopped cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and sometimes a little fresh hot pepper. It's always good, no matter what we do or don't add.

"Nice" Cream (I have my son-in-law, Caleb, to thank for the name. Thanks, Caleb!)


I have tried several varieties of locally made raw ice cream. They're all good, and I'm still experimenting with different things myself. One thing I haven't yet tried, but hope to soon, is running frozen bananas (or other soft fruits) through the juicer with the blank plate on. I hear it's divine. I'll let you know as soon as I get around to it.

Most of the raw ice cream flavors that I have tried were made with young coconut flesh, which I love but those darn coconuts are so expensive these days. So I've tried other things that work well enough. Should I find coconuts inexpensively, I'd sure go with those every time.

Here's what we've done (all is approximate. We've just experimented every time):

Soak some raw cashew pieces (a cup of so) for 1 to 2 hours. Drain and place in blender.
Add the meat from one Thai coconut (reserving the coconut water to thin with) or use silken tofu. You could also add some canned coconut milk.

Add:
1/4 C. carob or cocoa powder
2 T. coconut oil
A teaspoon or so of vanilla extract
A dash of salt
Sweetener of choice (we've used agave, stevia, a combination of the two, etc.)
Coconut water for thinning

Whirl away until very smooth and creamy. Taste to see if you need a little more sweetener or vanialal
We have a Cuisinart ice cream freezer that has two pre-frozen bowls (handy when you want two varieties at the same time.) I pour the mixture into it and start it up. As it gets near the end, I sometimes add cherry pieces (tart is best, but hard to find) or other mix-ins. On Father's Day, we put sliced strawberries on top and attempted to make "whipped cream" out of coconut milk, but I had the wrong appliance in mind. You need to use a mixer, not a blender -  (better luck next time, Caleb. Sorry I misled you!)

Enjoy your Nice Cream and let me know what kinds of combos you come up with.