This weekend I ate something fried. Don’t judge me! I’ve told you veggie lovers time and time again I am not living la vida raw one hundred percent of the time, and I encourage you to find your bliss and make the healthiest choices for you. That said, after the wonderful food demonstration at VegFest DC I decided to try out Executive Chef Ayinde Howell’s fried eggplant recipe. I did however make some modifications. I’m not a fan of fried food, but I knew my body could handle it without aggravation if I used coconut oil (because the oil is not rancid and has a higher burning/smoke point). There’s no way I could eat it without having a reaction if it was prepared with any other oil but coconut. In the demo Ayinde used earth balance, but I prefer to not add in additional heated oils of any kind that can encourage free radicals in my body. If you are a health enthusiast or concerned about keeping your skin optimal and you ever want to fry anything, I highly recommend you never use “dead” oils and stick to coconut. Anyhow it was delicious, and the eggplant has a natural buttery flavor when cooked this way.
On my first couple of days post-detox I also made a really yummy spicy gazpacho which lasted for a few days. It’s been summer hot in DC the past couple of days so cold soup is where it’s at. If you try the gazpacho know that its much better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours because it gets thicker and less runny. By day two, it was a much better consistency and paired well with the eggplant. If you would like to try this entire meal raw, you can marinade your eggplant and dehydrate it. There are some really great recipes out there for eggplant “bacon” which are just dehydrated marinated strips of eggplant. I will plan to revisit this soon and do a raw version of the eggplant. -XoXo Raw Girl
Raw Spicy Gazpacho
Prep time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
1 Cucumber
1 lb cherry tomatoes ( Used two small containers full)
1/2 sweet red pepper
1/2 red onion
small handful cilantro
1/4 cup lime
pinch of cayenne
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp sea salt
Put all ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately, or for better consistency, let chill in the fridge and then serve. Enjoy!
Vegan Eggplant w/ Thyme
Prep Time: 10 minutes or less
1 eggplant
thyme
sea salt (to taste)
wedge of lime
coconut oil
Slice your eggplant into thin circles, cutting across the width of it. Heat a skillet and add in your coconut oil. As eggplant cooks season with sea salt, and thyme as needed and flip sides. Remove eggplant and away excess oil when slightly brown. garnish with avocado and squeeze a small wedge of lime over the dish. Enjoy!