Raw Lemon Lime Coconut Cheesecake - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Raw Vegan Lemon Lime Coconut Cheesecake

I won't get long winded on this post... don't hold me to that though.

First off, the photos truly do not give a great representation of how good this was, but since I won't be making another one for a while I figured I might as well post them.  The Arizona sun is just really harsh right now unless you get out there at a certain time without it melting everything.  And indoors, well I just can't seem to get a decent pic.  Anyway, lets move on.

Mark loves lemons and limes, but not cheesecake... at least not traditional cheesecake.  He surely doesn't seem to have a problem eating every last crumb of any of my raw vegan cheesecakes ;)  So I decided to make a double layer of his favorites - one of lemon and the other, you guessed it, lime.  Even though we rarely eat these types of desserts at home, I still like to create them for a splurge and then we share the rest with others.

Speaking of... I sent some with Mark to his work and it was a bigger hit than I expected.  That really made my day!  I sliced up the rest of it and he took it to work this morning. 

Raw Vegan Cheesecake - Lemon Lime Coconut

I really hesitated on posting the above pic, but just imagine taking a bite... taste the freshness of the lemon lime creamy filling and then the coconut nut-free crust... mmmmm.  So good! 


Raw Lemon Lime Coconut Cheesecake
Vegan and Gluten-Free

Crust:
1 1/2 cups dried unsweetened coconut (I used shreds)
1/2 cup flax meal
1 cup medjool dates
pinch of sea salt

In food processor, process a few minutes until well combined.  Mixture will be semi-crumbly.  Put into an 8" springform pan and press down firmly.  Place uncovered in fridge while making the fillings.

Lime Filling:
2 1/4 cups ripe avocados (I used 2 huge jumbo avocados)
Coconut meat from 1 Young Thai Coconut (approximately 1 cup)
Juice from 3 limes
Zest from 2 limes
1/3 cup agave
2 Tbs coconut oil (liquid)
Coconut water as needed

Put all ingredients *except the coconut water* into high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  You'll probably need to use a tamper and work it down or stop the blender and scrape the sides, etc.  The mixture will be thick, but if it seems too thick to blend, add in a small amount of coconut water a little at time. You don't want to thin out the mixture, just enough water to help it blend.

Pour the mixture into the springform pan and place uncovered in the freezer for at least 60-90 minutes.

Lemon Filling:
1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked 6 or more hours, rinse & drain)
Juice and zest from 1 1/2 lemons
3 1/2 Tbs coconut oil (liquid)
*1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1/3 cup agave
pinch of sea salt

Add in all ingredients, but start with *1/4 cup of the milk.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  As with the lime mixture, you'll need to tamper down the ingredients.  If needed, add the remaining almond milk.  Mixture will be thick but creamy.

Slowly spoon the mixture on top of the semi-frozen lime mixture and carefully spread it around.  I saved a little of the lime mixture and sort of mixed it in with a little of the lemon mixture on top, but is not necessary. 

Place uncovered in the freezer at least several hours or overnight.  To serve, remove from freezer at least 60 minutes to slice, then let it sit at room temp or in fridge until defrosted.  Time frame varies due to multiple factors.

Enjoy!

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Brownie Bars

Raw Vegan Brownie Bars

Here is another version of my raw vegan brownies.  You can never have too many brownie recipes.

This one I actually threw together because I was in need of a quick chocolate brownie fix.  We don't actually eat too many sweets.  Most of the desserts I make either go to Mark's work, family, or in the freezer for when we do want a treat.

Anyway, this recipe turned out very good.  Wish I would have taken more photos, but this is the only one as it was just going to be an Instagram post... didn't think I would blog about it, but it's too yummy and simple to not share.

Raw Vegan Brownie Bars

1 cup heaping pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1/3 cup hemp heart seeds
1/3 cup cacao powder
1 Tbs coconut oil (liquid)
1 cup packed medjool dates
pinch of sea salt

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until mixture is well combined - do not over process.  Test to make sure you can form a ball with it in your hands and then pop it into your mouth.  You need to make sure it tastes good, right?  

Press mixture firmly in a lined 7x5 glass dish.  I over wrap my dish then fold it back over while pressing down on it with a large spatula.  Place dish uncovered in freezer for at least 60 minutes.  Remove from dish and cut into desired size bars or bites and enjoy!

Store in fridge or freezer - if there's any left that is.

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Dessert: Chia Coconut Cinnamon Chocolate Strawberry Parfait

Raw Vegan Dessert

This is one of my gourmet style desserts that is very easy to make.  I love when I have time to be creative. 

There are 6 layers in this delicious, healthy and guilt-free raw vegan dessert.  From bottom up they are: cinnamon chocolate mousse (can't see in the photo), coconut chia pudding, cacao nibs, strawberries, cinnamon chocolate mousse and coconut chia pudding - topped with more cinnamon chocolate, cacao nibs and a ring of coconut shreds.

 Yes.  This is guilt-free and loaded with nutritious yumminess!

Coconut Cinnamon Chocolate Strawberry Parfait

This may look more difficult than it actually is, but it's really quite simple.  The only time consuming part is letting the chia chill (that's fun to say!).  I typically make my chia pudding in the evening and let it chill overnight.  Or you could make it in the morning and let it chill several hours until pudding consistency.  
 
I'll skip the chatter and get right to my recipe.  Well, unless you want me to tell you how my day went and... um, okay.  I get the hint ;)  On with the recipe.
 
Chia Coconut Cinnamon Chocolate Strawberry Parfait
serves 2

Cinnamon Chocolate Mousse
1 large avocado
1 Tbs hemp seeds
2 Tbs cacao powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs coconut oil
2 1/2 Tbs agave
1/4 cup coconut milk

Blend until smooth and creamy.  Best when chilled for at least 60 minutes or longer.

Coconut Chia Pudding

3 Tbs chia seeds
1 1/2 cups coconut milk - not cream (or almond milk is fine)
Stir several times so that there are no clumps and chill for at least 6 hours for a pudding consistency (I make it the night before and let it chill over night).  I periodically stir the first couple hours.

Use desired amounts of the following:
Chopped strawberries
Dried shredded coconut (I use unsweetened)
Cacao nibs (or chocolate chips of choice)

Layer in serving dishes as I have or be creative and layer as you wish.  Enjoy!

Peace ☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Onion Rings

Raw Vegan Onion Rings

Ahhhhh... the smell of onion rings.  Due to food allergies, I haven't had onion rings or the likes in over 14 years.  I can honestly say that one of the traditional snack foods I miss is onion rings.  Now hear me out.  I don't mean the greasy, high calorie junk food onion rings themselves.  Well that's what they were, but I miss the taste.  Yes I know that doesn't make sense... welcome to my world ;)

I am beyond happy with my raw vegan lifestyle and would never change it - I thrive for raw food, but I'm human and sometimes have cravings.  When that happens, I turn traditional food raw and healthy. 

Back to front: coconut flour, coconut milk and flax meal & coconut shreds blend

I wanted to keep this batch nut-free.  I'm not allergic to nuts and do use them as they provide nutritional value, but I don't use them daily as I like to keep our meals low fat.  I also wanted a different flavor than traditional onion rings.  Coconuts were my inspiration - along with lack of sleep.  For some reason my mind likes to create at the most odd times.  I didn't object this time :)

My house smells like I can eat it!

I had no idea how long it would take for them to dehydrate.  I live in the southwest and yes it's dry with very little humidity here, but we do experience changes in weather from frost to our fair share of humidity, along with heat.  Yesterday was 98 degrees and we were heading for a record spring day high, so it probably wasn't the best day to test these out.  Well, to sum this part up it only took 7 hours, but there are many variables to this which will be in the recipe below.

Guilt-free onion rings

I was pleasantly surprised how this batch came out!  They had the crunch factor I wanted and the tropical like coconut flavor was perfect.  I'm going to make a couple of adjustments, like make them thicker (I love thick chunky onion rings!) and am already working up another onion ring recipe with a different overall flavor.

Oh and don't expect traditional fried onion rings, this is a healthy raw version which scored me two thumbs up from my official taste tester.  Mark mumbled: "MMMMMMM" along with something else but I couldn't quite make it out while he was taking bite after bite after...

One final note then onto the recipes.  I wanted a dipping sauce that would compliment the coconut onion rings.  So I basically threw something together and will include that below.

Raw Vegan Onion Rings

2 large sweet onions (or onions of choice) sliced and rings separated
I used the 3/8" on my mandolin, but would have preferred a thicker ring.  Just note that the thicker the slices the longer in the dehydrator

Bowl #1
1 cup coconut flour

Bowl #2
1 cup coconut milk (if you use canned, thin it out to milk consistency or use almond milk)

Bowl #3 (dry)
1 cup flax meal
1 cup dried coconut shreds (I used unsweetened)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

This is the messy part and will take a little while, but it's super easy so put on some good music and have fun. 

In bowl # order dredge/coat each onion ring into the mixture and put onto dehydrator sheet.  I used the back of a large spoon handle, with made it easier and less messy.  Here's the breakdown:

- Coconut flour (#1) this is a dusting only to prepare the ring for the next bowl, so do not worry if it looks like nothing is sticking - it will simply look like dust
- Coconut milk (#2) dip the dusted ring into the milk to coat
- Dry mix (#3) place the ring into the dry mixture and coat well.  Before placing on dehydrator sheet, give the ring a little shake into the dry bowl to let any loose ingredients fall off.

Note: due to veggie size varies, you may need to add more to the bowls if you run low.

Dehydrate at 115° F approximately 7-12 hours or until desired doneness.  Please note that time varies due to numerous factors, such as type of dehydrator, humidity, weather, thickness of onion rings, etc., so please take this into account.  As mentioned earlier, I live in the desert and it was a hot day yesterday so this batch took around 7 hours (I have a 5 tray Excalliber). 

Storage: we ate most of these with our salad last night and there was about a couple handfuls left so I stored them in a zip bag in the fridge.  This morning I tested them (I had to, it's my job) and they were still crunchy with a moister onion - total yum factor!


Sweet n Spicy Dip/Sauce/Dressing

1 yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup hemp heart seeds
1 small Serrano pepper (seeded)
1 Tbs agave
1 Tbs raw gluten-free apple cider vinegar

Blend until smooth and creamy.  This was super yummy with the onion rings, as well as on our salads.

Hope you enjoy these recipes.  Once I create the other onion ring batch I'll post it.

Peace☮
Rocki