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Summary: Despite their unpleasant sting, the humble wild nettles are actually tasty and very nutritious: they are high in Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Zinc, Chromium, B vitamins and trace minerals including Selenium and Manganese ! Plus, they are free and widely available, so the little care required in handling them is totally worth it. In fact, the occasional nettle sting, unpleasant as it can be, is actually a good tonic for the nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems. Nettles are used intentionally for this purpose in a treatment called uritication.
Popular ways to eat nettles include nettle soup, nettle tea and steamed nettles ; in fact you could swap the spinach in any recipe with wild foraged nettles. But long cooking times destroy some of nettles beneficial phytonutrients, so eating raw nettles like in this raw vegan nettle pesto is a bonus. Just handle the leaves carefully while washing and drying them. Thoroughly chopping the nettles in the food processor stops them from stinging.
This pesto is delicious served on cucumber or tomato slices for canapés, on toast topped with roasted vegetables, or stirred through grain pasta or courgetti (spaghetti substitute made by processing raw courgettes using a spiraliser or a julienne peeler).
These quantities make up quite a big batch, please feel free to halve the recipe if needed.
PS: The quality and freshness of your nettles really shine through in this recipe. Use the freshest, greenest, youngest nettle leaves you can find.
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Summary: Do you love lasagna, but you avoid the traditional recipe because you are vegan, gluten-free, raw, or just wanting to improve your diet and make healthier food choices ? If yes, you will love this recipe : the wheat lasagna sheets are replaced with thin slices of ultra low calorie courgette ; the raw marinara tomato sauce is quick to make, and can be made oil free. The fermented vegan cashew cheeze sauce provides beneficial probiotics, if you have the time to allow the cheese to age. Last but not least, this raw vegan lasagna passes the taste test : in fact, it is so delicious that you will not be left missing the original !
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Summary: Perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes are so delicious that the best way to do them justice is to eat them as a salad, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. This salad is a twist to that, with added spirulina and avocado.
Spirulina crunchies only contain spirulina, they have no added ingredient, but somehow the way they are produced makes them taste different from powdered spirulina, and add a crunchy element to this salad. But of course, you can use spirulina powder if you can't get the crunchies.
If you can, leave the sea salt out ; the salad is naturally and delicately salted by the addition of seaweed. You may use any sea vegetable you have on hand, I like to use dulse because it is thought to contain Sodium, Potassium and its other minerals in a ratio that is suited for human health.
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