raw ranch dip and fruit roll-ups

i'm grateful to live in the "garden state" and have access to amazing local produce. white and purple bell peppers are grown at my organic csa. i've never seen such peppers before - the white one looks glow-in-the-dark! incorporating these peppers into our repertoire was a must as they were too pretty to pass up.

... then john requested i make meredith of the raw seed's noritos again, but this time asked me to recreate his favorite dorito flavor - cool ranch.

meredith's original raw noritos recipe calls for a red bell pepper to get that orange color. *light bulb moment* to keep our noritos ranch-y, i thought to use the white bell pepper and modify the recipe with help from carmi's ranch dressing recipe. the result - a delicious raw cheezy ranch sauce perfect for ranch noritos, crackers, dipping, and topping raw tacos.

raw ranch dip

inspired by meredith of the raw seed and carmella of the sunny raw kitchen

1 1/2 cup cashews, soaked

1 white bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder or 1 tablespoon fresh onion

1 teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste

1 teaspoon dried or fresh parsley

juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 cloves garlic

blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy (high speed blenders work best). you may need to add a bit of water. garnish with chili powder (optional of course).

...

the ranch dip was so tasty, i decided to mix some with flax to make crackers. i love using flax seeds because a) they are nutritious b) they are inexpensive and c) they make a nice crunchy cracker.

 raw ranch flax crackers

using the corn and jalapeno from the csa, i dehydrated these crunchy chips...

raw tortilla chips

and we had a mexican feast with ani phyo's nut meat on collard wraps smothered in salsa, guacamole and raw ranch dip.

there goes the purple pepper!

...

for dessert and breakfast, on the same day, we enjoyed raw crepes with coconut cream and local jersey peaches and nectarines. mmm!!!

raw banana crepes are basically fruit roll-ups. there was an abundance of ripe fruit in our kitchen, so i made lots of them with peaches, bananas, pears, and strawberries.

fruit roll-ups are really simple to make - just blend ripe fruit with a little lemon juice (to keep them from browning). spread the mixture in rounds on teflex sheets and dehydrate at 115° until dry but still pliable (about 8 hours).

homemade fruit roll-ups are perfect for kids and adults with a sweet tooth, and are a much healthier alternative to sweets with artificial ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and dyes.

=)