Category: Recipes

Sonoran Desert Granola

March 24th, 2022

With coconut yogurt, western redbud and manzanita flowers

After harvesting the various desert fruits and seeds throughout the year, it has become time to clear out the pantry in preparation for the next season of harvest. The base of this granola is made with raw sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat groats which are light and airy but give a satisfying crunch. These were a key gluten free staple back in my raw vegan days and still keep their place on the shelf.

Desert Fruits: Featured here are the iconic prickly pear and saguaro cactus fruits (dehydrated and ground pulp), wolfberries, and elderberries. Other berries such as hack berry would also be a great addition, but last year I ate them all fresh and didn’t save any. Saguaro had an excellent year so I have tons of dried fruit and the seeds are abundant, so I used quite a bit here.

Desert Seeds: From barrel cactus seeds to saguaro seeds and of course one of my favorites, ironwood beans, all ended up in this granola. The ironwood beans have better flavor when toasted, so I roasted them briefly in an iron skillet… ironic, for ironwood, right? Plus, a little bit of mesquite bean flour for that nutty sweetness.

Making granola is usually very intuitive for me so it all depends on what you have on hand and ingredients can be substituted easily. Don’t have wolfberries? Easy, they are a close relative to the commercially available goji berries. Used all your elderberries for syrup over the winter? No worries, dried blueberries can be a stand-in. The seeds can also be swapped for any of your typically available or locally foraged seeds if you enjoy their flavor. Here’s my generic recipe to get you started:

SONORAN GRANOLA

Ingredients
3 parts buckwheat groats
1/2 part elderberries
1/2 part wolfberries
1/4 part barrel cactus seeds
1/4 part saguaro seeds & fruit powder
1/4 part ironwood beans, toasted
1/8 part mesquite powder
1/8 part prickly pear powder
1/8 part agave or maple syrup
Sea salt to taste

Sprout the buckwheat groats by soaking in three times the amount of filtered or spring water to cover. Allow to absorb the water, adding more if necessary to keep covered. Soak for 4-6 hours. Rinse very thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate just until dry. An oven on its lowest setting also works well.

Enjoy on top of yogurt, ice cream, acai, and more!
Acorn + Persimmon Tart

November 16th, 2020
The many tastes of the season here in Southern California come together in this simple yet satisfyingly complex dessert, the Acorn + Persimmon Tart. The most time consuming part is to process the acorns which are abundant this time of year. My preferred method is to cold-leach them, which retains flavor and nutrients, however it can take several days to do this. Processing acorns is an entire post in itself, but can be found repetitiously online from other sources.

For this recipe, I started out with cold-leached acorns from the local mountains that were ground to a fine flour using a high speed blender. Persimmons were once a common tree planted in yards of older neighborhoods that tend to produce copious amounts of fruits. Not everyone is a fan of persimmons so it only takes a little bit of asking around to glean some fruits. Heck, you might even make some new friends in the area.

For quite some time during my many years of fascination with health food, I obsessed over raw dairy-free desserts. The concept that an indulgence can actually be good for you was mind-blowing. Every week I would create pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc from whole, nutritious ingredients for myself and my kids, and whoever I could cajole into trying them. They were always surprised that for one, they were dairy-free, and two, they were actually good for you despite tasting so sinfully delicious.

Persimmons in my house don’t usually get past my snacking habits, but inspired by my new stash of acorn flour, a bag full of persimmons, some pomegranates from the yard, and a pint of honey just harvested a few days before, I was set on actually making a presentable dessert. This recipe is incredibly simple with few ingredients, most which can be sourced locally or foraged. Except cashews. I still have yet to find a suitable replacement for these, and my pine nut stash is nearly gone.

Acorn + Persimmon Tart

Crust Ingredients:
1 cup cold-leached acorn flour
1/2 cup dates, pitted
Pinch of sea salt

Filling Ingredients:
1 cup cashews, soaked in water for 1-2 hours, drained (or sub pine nuts for all locally sourced ingredients)
2T honey
1 persimmon cubed

Garnish
Sliced persimmon
Pomegranate arils
Honey
- Combine the crust ingredients into a food processor and process until it begins to stick together creating a dough. Add a few teaspoons of water if necessary.
- Place into a tart pan and press to form a solid crust.
- Combine the filling ingredients and blend completely until smooth in a high speed blender.
- Pour the filling into the tart crust and place into the refrigerator for a few hours to set.
- Slice a persimmon thinly and evenly using a mandolin and arrange on the tart, using the filling to secure the slices.
- Garnish with pomegranate arils and drizzle with honey.
Tom Kha soup with Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

January 7th, 2020
One of my most favorite soups but with chicken mushrooms in place of real chicken.

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
a few Thai chiles, halved
3 quarter-inch slices slices galangal root, or ginger
1 lemongrass stalk pounded with the side of a knife and cut into 2-inch long pieces
2 teaspoons red Thai curry paste
4 cups vegetable broth*
4 cups canned coconut milk
10 oz. chicken of the woods mushrooms (or substitute commercial Maitake mushrooms)
1-2 Tbsp. coconut sugar
1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2-3 green onions sliced thin
fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish

Note: Make your own wild mushroom broth by simmering turkey tail mushrooms (or any other edible wild mushrooms) for an immune system boost, or store bought mushroom broths are available.
- Wash mushrooms gently and slice into bite sized pieces. Steam pieces for 40 minutes and set aside.
- In a medium pot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chili, galangal, lemongrass, and red curry paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until onions are softened.
- Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain out all aromatics and return broth to the pot.
- Add in coconut milk and mushrooms. Simmer gently to allow mushrooms to absorb the flavors, about 10 min, then add soy sauce, coconut sugar, and lime juice, plus more of each to taste.
- Cook 2 more minutes, then ladle into serving bowls and top with sliced green onions and fresh cilantro.
Wild Greens and Pinyon Pine Cream Sauce

September 15th, 2019
I think the first “wild food” recipe that I ever made was a nettle pesto. I would speculate, though, that is probably most folks initiation into wild foods. It is abundant, found nearly everywhere, and quite simple to make without messing it up too bad. Success is fairly inevitable. Now, after many years of diving deeper and deeper into the complexities of flavors in wild plants and mushrooms, I try not to roll my eyes as my social media feeds are flooded with pesto recipes. However, nettle remains one of my favorite greens to use in the kitchen and not to mention medicinal herb.

I won’t go on about its incredible attributes—those can be easily found elsewhere and probably somewhere on an old recipe here for soup. So let’s get on with something slightly different you can do with it (or any other wild or cultivated greens you have on hand).

The first time I created this, I used a wild spinach (also called New Zealand spinach) that grows near coastal regions here in California. I created this sauce to pair with some chia/acorn pasta ravioli with morels for a wild food dinner. I heard from few folks that they were literally licking the plate so as not to miss a single taste of that vibrant green flavor.

Of course, the flavor will have a different profile depending on what greens you use, but this is just a starting point. To be honest, I’m horrible at writing down recipes, much less following them. If I feel inspired, or think of some crazy idea, I’ll find a recipe that sounds similar and then I start substituting and switching things up, tasting along the way. I really have to get better at notes for my book.

Recipe: Wild Greens and Pinyon Pine Cream Sauce

1 lb wild greens, nettle or wild spinach recommended
1/2 c pinyon pine nuts, shelled (or sub commercial pine nuts)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
2-4 cloves of garlic, diced
1/4-1/2 c mushroom broth (or other broth), plus more to thin
2 tbsp avocado oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste
1. Blanch your greens: Put a pot of water on to boil while you wash and de-stem your greens. Set aside a large bowl of ice water. If you’re working with nettle, you can use gloves at this point. (As soon as they are cooked, their stinging hairs are no longer active.) Submerge the greens in the boiling water for 1 minute, until they turn bright green. Remove quickly and place in the ice bath to cool.
2. Heat the avocado oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the onion and shallot and saute until just translucent, about 3-5 min. Add the diced garlic and saute for about 1-2 min more, do not allow the garlic to burn. No one likes burnt garlic.
3. Strain the water from the greens and place them in between a few paper towels and press, removing as much water as possible.
4. Combine the greens, pine nuts, onions, shallot and garlic into a high speed blender with the broth and lemon juice and blend, adding more broth (or water from cooking the greens), to thin to desired consistency. Add salt to taste, about 1/2-1 tsp.
This could even make a great soup as well, just add more broth or water. I used it recently as a sauce to complement fermented mushrooms in a dish for a wild food tasting:

“Sea of the Land” Fermented lobster mushroom with pickled black mustard seeds and nettle and pinyon cream sauce.
Cactus & Corn Tortillas

August 5th, 2019
Last weekend I hosted the incredibly knowledgeable Enrique Villasenor, local healer in training, who taught all about how to use Opuntia species of cactus (aka prickly pear) for healing a vast array of health conditions. It all goes back to “balance” he says, and this plant helps us do that. Even if we aren’t suffering from a chronic disease (such as Type II diabetes which it helps to reverse), it helps the body stay balanced and maintain health. For the event I offered a tasting of what you can do with the leaf pads also known as nopales.

One of my favorite things to eat is tacos and I have been experimenting lately with making them out of different flours and unusual ingredients. For this event I opted to try adding them to a basic corn tortilla recipe. Because I like things to be colorful, I added a generous handful of spinach for added green color. Way better than any sort of artificial food coloring.

Tortillas de Nopales
- 4¼ cups masa harina
- 4-5 cactus pads (nopales)
- 2 cups water
- 2 sprigs cilantro
- 1/2 bunch spinach
- 1 tablespoon chia
- salt to taste
Combine together the cactus, cilantro and spinach together in a high speed blender which will create a thick liquid.

In a bowl, add the masa harina and slowly add the cactus mix and the warm water, until the dough is soft and is not sticky.

Once the dough is at its desired consistency, add the chia seeds, and lastly, the salt.

Separate the dough in even, small balls. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to an hour.

Flatten each ball between two sheets of plastic wrap with a tortilla press, or with a wine bottle or roller. Cook each side for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they puff, on medium-high heat, with a lightly greased skillet or comal. Keep in mind, nopal burns a little easier so keep your eyes on the tortillas so they don’t burn!

These go great with grilled or sauteed nopales, salsa, avocado and cashew cream with a bit of lime. Enjoy!
Brassicas: Wild and Tame

May 16th, 2019

I’ve been walking through my neighborhood lately to the library instead of driving. Its a nice four mile round trip loop that starts out in a pretty nice area with big properties and then through some open spaces where I’ve been keeping tabs on the overgrown wild plants. Lots of nettles, mushrooms, pepper tree, nasturtium, redbud, pine, redwood, wild radish and lots, and lots, of black mustard. Trying to keep my meals healthy, efficient, simple—yet inspiring—has been top priority for me these days as my foraging times are getting more and more limited. The night before I had some plain broccoli with lemon, salt and garlic. But then I realized, what if I did a version of wild and tame brassicas? Wild brassicas are pretty intense in flavor, some can be downright painful, so I decided to experiment with a blend of the two, something that could be easier for someone who hasn’t tried wild foods before. Here’s a super simple dish that really highlights the wild flavors without being overwhelming:

Brassicas: Wild & Tame

Ingredients:

One bunch Baby Broccoli
Juice of One Lemon
1 tablespoon avocado oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Wild Mustard Sauce:
Handful of young mustard leaves
Couple handfuls of conventional greens (I liked the idea of keeping it all in the same family, so I used kale)
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup avocado oil
Salt to taste
Water to thin (and help the blender process it)

Prepare the broccoli by sauteeing it in a cast iron pan with the avocado oil. Cover. Allow it to cook thoroughly, but still keeping its vibrant color. While it is cooking, prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients in a high speed blender and puree until smooth.

Pour sauce into a bowl or a shallow plate and top with broccoli. Here I garnished with a dollop of fresh cashew cream and fermented yucca flowers.
Wild Black Sage + Turkey Tail Mushroom Tonic

May 2nd, 2019

One of my favorite pairings of local wild flavors is the complex minty aroma of black sage (Salvia mellifera) with the rich heaviness of cacao. Its been a crowd-pleaser in my black sage truffles from last year, but I wasn’t in the mood for a heavy chocolate dessert. Instead, I opted to infuse some freshly dried black sage into my daily mushroom tonic routine.

This could absolutely be modified depending on what species of sage you have available… even mint would be a refreshing and uplifting substitute. See below recipe for health benefits of black sage and turkey tail mushrooms.

Wild Black Sage + Mushroom Tonic Recipe

Ingredients:
Handful of dried black sage leaves
1 cup of milk (I used macadamia nut milk)
1 tablespoon of cacao powder (I really like to use my Mushroom Tonic here for added benefits)
1 teaspoon of concentrated Turkey Tail mushroom powdered extract
Sweetener of choice (my choice is a few drops of stevia extract)

Process:
Combine the sage leaves and milk into a pot and simmer on medium low for 5-10 minutes, not allowing it to come to a boil.
Strain the leaves from the milk and compost.
Combine warm infused milk with remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Black Sage health benefits
Much like other mint family plants, black sage is rich in rosmarinic acid and flavonoids that are known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This plant is helpful for the respiratory tract during colds and flu, and can be a “savior” as its genus name Salvia implies, for sore throats when used as a gargle. Its close relative, garden sage, has been researched and found to enhance cognitive activity and protect against neurodegenerative disease.

Turkey Tail mushroom health benefits
This common forest mushroom that grows on dead and decaying trees has been studied the most studied fungi for its anti-cancer, anti-fungal and anti-viral (herpes, HIV, chronic fatigue syndrome) properties. Pharmacetuical extracts of the fungus known as PSP and PSK are used in cancer treatment and has shown efficacy against stomach, colorectal, lung, esophageal, nasopharyngeal, breast and cervical/uterine cancers. It is also used to help reduce the harmful effects of chemotherapy and boost the immune system with regular consumption.
Wild Nettle Soup (vegan)

April 5th, 2018

Welcoming springtime also means the onset of weed season. While many reach for their choice of mass plant destruction (with herbicides being of greatest concern), there are gentler and more sustainable ways to manage the green overgrowth in our yards and public spaces.

Many of our wild plants that find their way into our gardens and every crack and crevice in the concrete are full of nutritional and even medicinal benefits. For example, the ever resilient dandelion is an excellent blood cleanser and liver detoxifier while also being a fantastic source of vitamin K, A, potassium, calcium, iron and rich with antioxidants.

One never forgets stinging nettle once they encounter it as it brushes against bare skin. This prickly annual green has 2-3 times more nutritional value than either spinach or kale, which are considered some of our top green superfoods. It can be made into many foods most especially soups and pestos.

My yard has a small patch of it, everywhere else there is mallow and sow thistle… maybe a few dandelions. As I wander our country neighborhood, I notice that other folks had a bit more luck as I would call it. My introverted self hesitates to knock on someone’s door to ask if I can harvest their weeds… sure to be met with an awkward silence and then the stuttering of explaining myself. So alternately, I posted on our local social media (NextDoor… have you heard of it? Pretty handy for us shy introverts who want the inside scoop for neighborhood going-on’s.) My intriguing post started off with “Got weeds..?” and then inquired more about nettle and how to identify it. Quickly I received responses such as “why in the world I would want such a nasty plant” and “please!!! take as much as you want!!” Therefore, an opening to introduce myself and my work appeared to a whole new audience… Hint to herbalists and foragers: don’t be afraid to hit up your neighbors for unsuspecting herbs and wild edibles! Because chances are, you’ll definitely make some new friends. You get local free food/medicine, they get their yards weeded. Its a win-win.

Medicinal Uses of Nettle:

Nettle leaf is a potent revitalizing and nourishing diuretic herb, helpful in situations affecting the urinary tract and adrenals. It assists in reducing excess mucus such as with hay fever or seasonal allergies. When treating allergies with nettle, it is best to start treating with fresh nettle tincture or freeze-dried capsules a month or so before the onset of allergy season. Topically, the fresh plant can be used intentionally to sting the skin surrounding an arthritic or painful joint or area in need of healing.

I tried many different nettle soup recipes this season and came up with my own version that I was rather happy with. If you try it, I’d love to hear your feedback!

Wild Nettle Soup Recipe (vegan)

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons oil (I prefer avocado or coconut oil for their health benefits)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic (or more if you’re a garlic aficionado like myself!)
1 quart vegetable stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Cayenne to taste
Salt to taste
1 large red potato, diced
1 pound nettles, blanched
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 1-2 hours, but not necessary

Instructions:
1. Cook onions in oil until soft and translucent in a large soup pot. Add garlic, thyme and cayenne, cook briefly another minute or so.
2. Add the stock, salt, potatoes and nettles. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes until nettles and potatoes are tender.
3. Adjust spices and salt to taste.
4. Add cashews.
5. Transfer to a high speed blender and blend, in batches if necessary until smooth. If you want a super silky soup, you can strain through a fine mesh strainer.
6. Transfer back to soup pot and warm until ready to serve.
Fermented Raw Nut Cheese & Wild Spices

September 16th, 2017

Shelling Pinyon Pine Nuts

My fermented raw nut cheeses have been quite a crowd pleaser (for vegans and non-vegans alike, which is a total win!) and with so many requests for the recipe and process, here it is! My first go at this I used some wild harvested pinyon pine nuts which, let me tell you, was the most laborious adventure I’ve encountered yet. Those things are challenging to shell by hand… especially when you need TWO cups full. Ok, if I didn’t live in the modern world, that would just be life and that’s how you eat.

Here’s the process… and you can replace the cashews/pine nuts with your nut or seed of choice, such as almond, pumpkin or sunflower seed, macadamia, walnut, etc. One of my favorite things about gourmet raw food recipes is that they are so flexible so that modify to your taste or the seasons! If you’re a forager, by all means, try it with pinyon pine nuts… the flavor is incomparable!

Fermented Cashew & Pine Nut Garlic Cheese with Wild Sage Spices

1 cup pine nuts
1 cup cashews
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup spring water
2 tablespoons avocado oil (or substitute your favorite oil)
Probiotic powder or water kefir
Salt to taste

Wild Sage Spices

1 tsp dried white sage
1 tsp dried black sage
2 tsp dried garlic
Salt to taste

Soak the nuts in filtered or spring water for 2-3 hours. Drain and rinse.

Combine all the ingredients for the cheese in a food processor, but ideally a high speed blender will achieve a beautiful, silky smooth texture. Adjust salt if needed.

Next, drain the cheese. Use a cheesecloth to line a colander that fits inside of a bowl to catch the liquid and pour the cheese into the cheesecloth and cover. The excess liquid will seep through the cloth in order to create a thicker, more solid cheese.

Allow this to sit in a warm area for about 2 days in order to ferment. Transfer to the fridge on day 3. On day 4, transfer to a plate and dehydrate (or put into a low temp oven) for a few hours in order to form a nice crust.

Mix ingredients of spice blend with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Sprinkle on top of cheese and enjoy with crisp raw veggies or crackers. Yum!