Chocolate Maca Almond Haystacks

This was my first experiment at making a raw vegan chocolate recipe, but I knew I was going to make haystacks, chocolate and coconut are the most incredibly delicious combination!  

Chocolate comes from a tropical fruit that grows on trees called cacao, and inside the tough colorful shell of the cacao pods is a gooey white membrane of a deliciously unique sweet-tart flavor surrounding big brown cacao beans, the source of what most people know as chocolate. The cacao beans are sun dried and then separated into their two components, the bitter brown cacao powder and the lighter fat that is the cacao butter.  The whitish cacao butter is the source of white chocolate, and when the powder is added back in, the more cacao powder added the darker the chocolate becomes.  

South Pacific Cacao Pod

I have a few friends that have their chocolate recipes down to an art, so I asked a few critical questions to acquire the information gained from lifelong searches of knowledge, and for sharing that wisdom I am extremely grateful to Jacob Gilbert for his insight and experience. Chocolate production is truly an art form, as the trick to creating a great chocolate comes through an understanding of the tempering process, where the warm liquid mix cools into a solid at a specific rate of crystallization that creates a desired texture for the final chocolate treat. The key to raw food production is to maintain the temperature below 108 F in order to preserve vital living enzymes, so I keep my temps below 105 F.  The goal is to warm the cacao butter just enough to melt so that the cacao powder can be added back in for a smooth and creamy mixture, easily dissolving the powder into the butter.  Recipes can vary according to taste, with a larger ratio of cacao powder to cacao butter creating a darker chocolate.  

My personal recipe used all raw organic ingredients of the highest quality, ideal for creating the best quality treat, both for health (personal and planet) and flavor.  I use Sunfood Nutrition's raw organic cacao powder and cacao butter along with their agave nectar for a sweetener, along with their raw organic Italian almonds.  An incredible synergy complimenting the cacao is to include the superfood maca along side it for amazing energy and stamina, and I use only the highest quality grade and strain of maca, Lepidium Peruvianum Chacon, from Sol Raiz Organics.  Maca is a superfood grown in the highest elevation of the Peruvian Andes mountains, with this particular plantation located above 14,000 feet, and it is an incredible part of a vital and healthy life when consumed regularly, I personally swear by the stuff daily for increased energy and health.  In this recipe I added one of my favorite foods, Artisana's raw coconut butter, which I will eat by the spoonful because it is so amazing.  Also in this recipe was some lucuma powder, a fruit from Peru traditionally used in their ice cream providing a creamy maple caramel flavor, a bunch of shredded coconut, and a pinch of sea salt.  

Ingredients for CacaoStacks Recipe

The specific ratios pretty much come down to experimentation and personal preference, mixing the ingredients to create the desired taste and texture, but the amounts for cacao butter and powder are somewhat similar depending on how dark you want your chocolate, with agave nectar maybe half that, and small amounts comparatively of the coconut butter, maca, and lucuma, and the pinch of sea salt.  Once the mixture has reached the desired taste for a final product, add in a bunch of raw organic shredded coconut, the largest quantity of any one single ingredient, and a bunch of soaked and sprouted raw organic almonds. The almonds should be soaked and rinsed repeatedly a couple days ahead of time in order to remove the phytates or enzyme inhibitors which will create a more easily digestible and lighter tasting nut.  Once the final mix is ready you scoop it into whatever size treats you want by selecting that size cups or tray and then placing them in the fridge to cool.  In about an hour or so they should be ready.  Absolute heaven, enjoy :)

SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD :)

Guacamole Tacos

I went to my friend's family's farm and got to search around the property for some ripe organic fruit to bring home with me, and was so psyched to see the avocado varieties all going off!  The avocado graveyard had shells of so many avos that had fed the chickens and the earth, and a couple freshly fallen ones ready to feed me!  

One of my favorite recipes, and one that is super simple when I'm on trips where fresh produce is available, is a raw guacamole taco meal.  I usually mix up the fresh ripe avocados with diced garlic, tomatoes, and a little onion, sprinkle on some cayenne pepper, sea salt, and black pepper, and hero guac is ready in minutes.  There are a variety of raw options for shells, like collard greens, kale, and romaine, but I really enjoy the crunch of a green cabbage leaf.  Simply cut the leaf at the base, peel it off nice and easy, and scoop in a solid serving of guacamole for your instant guac tacos.  Enjoy!

Avocado harvest

Guacamole tacos in green cabbage shells :)

Veggie Nori Wraps

One of my favorite raw vegan recipes is a twist on sushi, using a raw nori seaweed sheet and filling it up with a selection of sliced veggies.  You can mix up the ingredients to create a variety of different recipes, all being rolled up into a live wrap with delicious selections of flavors.  I make one version using thick slices of avocado, with nut butters swiped on both sides, this one here with almond butter and pine nut butter.  Then I chop up some black botija olives and sun dried tomatoes to sprinkle on the nut butters, and season with some cayenne pepper and sea salt.  Then I cover the whole spread with shelled hemp seeds, and add sunflower greens and mixed salad greens before then wrapping it all up into the nori sheet.  Another option I love is to replace the nut butters with my living pesto sauce, great variety of flavor for these incredible entrees.  The olives and nut butters are all available at Sunfood Nutrition, and Manitoba Harvest has the best shelled hemp seeds ever.  The other ingredients can be found at most organic grocery stores, such as the raw nori sheets, sun dried tomatoes, cayenne pepper, and sea salt, and the produce, including avocados, sunflower greens, and spring mix, can be found there as well or at your local farm or farmer's market.  Enjoy!

Avocado, almond and pine nut butters, with diced black olives and sun dried tomatoes

Cover with shelled hemp seeds and fresh sunflower greens

Add organic spring mix, wrap it up, and enjoy!

Living Raw Vegan Pesto

Pesto is one of my favorite recipes.  But not the traditional recipe with cheese, I prefer a raw and living vegan mix I make which is a blend of various nuts and seeds along with fresh basil and garlic.  I use a mix of pine nuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds, but the special ingredient is to include Manitoba Harvest Shelled Hemp Seed.  Hemp seed is one of the best sources of complete protein (containing all of the essential amino acids), is easily assimilable, raw, vegan, and best of all delicious, and has Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) omega-6 and omega-3 in an ideal ratio for human consumption (3.75:1).  For more info on nature's superfood read hemp nutrition.  

First thing to do is to soak all of the nuts and seeds overnight (except hemp seeds and pine nuts) in order to remove the enzyme inhibitors and make them easier to digest.  I like to keep my pesto sauce a little chunky and thick, but my usual ratio is 1 cup of each of the nuts/seeds (pine, macadamia, pistachio, walnut, pumpkin, hemp) equal to that many cups of fresh organic basil, so for this recipe 5 to 6 cups basil, approx 1 to 1 1/2 cups organic extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, half a clove of organic garlic, and 2 tsp of sea salt.  Any of the above ratios are able to change based on your preferred taste, such as more garlic, less sea salt, or different nuts (almond, brazil, hazel) for a different flavor.  Rinse and pick all of the fresh basil leaves off of the stems, chop the fresh garlic, and add olive oil and sea salt to the nut and seed medley in a food processor and blend.  

Creating a raw vegan live food entree is simple.  The living pesto sauce can be placed on top of thinly sliced zucchini creating veggie noodles for pesto pasta, or used in veggie nori wraps (recipe to come soon), for a variety of delicious meals resonating with life!  Enjoy!

Ready to mix it up!