Thursday, August 12, 2010

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.

=)

13 comments:

  1. Wish I was at your house right now. Fun snacks. I need to get on the norito bandwagon. yum.

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  2. Your food looks too good; I want it all!!!! And the white and purple peppers- amazing. I love how nature has the ability to surprise me with what it is able to produce. x

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  3. wowsa chickie! it all looks so amazing!!!

    =)

    wish i could have shared your bounty with both you and your johnny!!!

    sending you all my love...and so many hugs!!!

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  4. Oh wow!!!! I need to make some Ranch Noritos!!! :) Those look awesome, as does everything else! Mmm!

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  5. Wow, looks delicious!! You make so many cool dishes now. we need to get together. How did the canned tomato sauce work out?

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  6. thanks girls! wish i could share my snacks with all of you!

    miss - the sauce was really good. are u getting lots of tomatoes? we should can soon! peach jam!!!

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  7. i want to move in with you!!! all the food looks really yummy kelli, thanks so much for sharing this - i've got onion bread in the dehydrator right now and I can't sleep because the whole house smells so good, it's making me hungry!! lol
    love and xox

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  8. WOW! the fruit roll ups look perfect! Maybe you should try to make some fruit winkies..hehe Love how pretty the dip and chips look..I wish I could have some right now! Have a good weekend! xoxoxooxox

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  9. Yum, everything looks delicious.

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  10. OHHH thank you for the ranch recipe. I have been looking for one for quite some time and I am going to whip this up tonight. And the norito's, brilliant. Something different from a flax cracker and I just bought a bulk pack of nori. I love it.

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  11. Kelli,
    Everything looks so wonderful.You were very busy. Wish I had the energy to whip up all of those goodies. I do really want to try the roll ups for the kids. We have wanted to make those for years, and now that I have a dehydrator we can!!
    Peace and Health,
    E

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  12. oh recently I made banana & flax raw crepes, i.e. rollups, and i smeared peaut butter in the middle and rolled them up. SO GOOD and yours look amazing as well.

    As does that ranch dip! I love raw dips, there is nothing better than a satisfying awesome raw dip! YUM!

    Have a super weekend honey and thx again for the Soap Nuts win!!!!

    xoxo

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  13. Wow! Love your little colorful flax chips and the ranch recipe!!!!! Does it really taste like ranch dressing? I've yet to find anything that does real ranch justice. But I know that you know what's up, so if you don't got it, nobody does. I can't wait to try it! Thanks!

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