Raw Pizza Crust - Vegan, Gluten-Free and Nut-Free

Raw Vegan Pizza

Every time I make my pizza I like to change the toppings, and sometimes tweak the crust.  I have a couple of my raw vegan nut-free crust recipes posted here on my blog, but even though I only tweaked this one a bit, it was actually enough to make a much larger pizza or a couple medium ones. 

The toppings on the pizza above are: peeled carrots, sliced white onion, shredded red cabbage, sliced sweet yellow peppers, my own sundried cherry tomatoes and sliced avocados.  My Spinach Basil Pesto recipe can be found here.

Mark's Birthday Pizza and Bliss Ball "Cake"

Mark's birthday was July 1st.  I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner and he said "PIZZA!"  You got it hon!  So I made him his special birthday pizza topped with marinated mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and avocado.  He ate every last crumb. 

Yes.  I sang the birthday song.  Twice. 

So here's my raw vegan, nut-free crust that I tweaked.  This will make 2 medium size pizza's or 1 large plus 1 personal pizza... or...

Raw Rocki's Pizza Crust
vegan and nut-free

1/2 cup plus 3 TBS flax meal
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup heaping hemp seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (ground into flour)
1/4 heaping cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 TBS psyllium husk
1 TBS Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp sea salt

Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

1/3 heaping cup sundried tomatoes - soaked in 2 cups warm water for about 30 minutes (drain and reserve liquid as you'll need it in the next step)
2 medium tomatoes
3/4 large red bell pepper
1/4 cup heaping roughly chopped onion
1 tsp garlic powder or clove
1 tsp fennel seeds
pinch sea salt

Put ingredients into a food processor and process well.  The mixture will be somewhat thick and not watery.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the soak water to the dry mixture bowl and combine well.  Now add the above tomato mixture to the bowl and stir until combined.  If mixture seems too thick, add more water a little at a time.  It won't be like typical pizza dough, but will be quite thick.

Line two dehydrator trays with a teflex sheet (or similar) and spoon the mixture onto them.  Your choice of the sizes you want to make, but just make sure to not make them thin as it shrinks up while dehydrating.  Shape into pizza size and shape of choice.

Put into the dehydrator at 145° F for 1 hour only then turn down to 115° F.  When the top is dry to touch (about another hour), transfer them to mesh trays - remove them from the teflex sheet by slowly peeling it off.  Put them back into the dehydrator, wet side up, until done. 

Total time can vary between 5-7 hours or longer due to a variety of factors (thickness and size of crust, weather, location, humidity, dehydrator, etc.).  Mine took about 6 hours this time, but I live in the desert, so that is a factor.
Enjoy!

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Whipped Tators - Mashed Cauliflower

Raw Vegan Mashed "Tators" - cauliflower that is

Just because we eat a raw vegan "it's a lifestyle not a diet", doesn't mean we can't have mashed "tators".

When I first heard about cauliflower mashed tators I was intrigued.  Then I started playing around with recipe ideas - until I created this one.  Whenever we're in the mood for some good ol' whipped/mashed "tators", this is my go-to recipe.  It's smooth, fluffy and oh so yummy!

You can use fresh or frozen (defrosted of course), but I prefer the frozen cauliflower for this recipe.  I know... I hear the gasps, but for some reason frozen cauliflower is easier on my tummy than fresh.  Anyway... if you use fresh, you'll need to adjust the liquid.  This recipe is for frozen.


Raw Vegan Whipped "Tators" - Mashed Cauliflower

1 16oz bag frozen cauliflower - defrosted
1/8 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1/2 cup cashews - soaked for at least 4 hours then rinse & drain
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp sea salt - or to taste
1/8 tsp white pepper - or to taste
1 Tbs of EVO (extra virgin olive oil)

Put all ingredients into high speed blender and blend until smooth & creamy.  If it is too thick, thin it out by adding more almond milk a little at a time until desired consistency.  Top with black pepper, take a bite, smile and enjoy!

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Pizza with Spinach Basil Pesto

Raw Vegan Pizza with Spinach Basil Pesto

Oh.  My.  Gosh!  This was one of my best pizza's yet!  Honestly, Mark and I could hardly wait to dig in.  And let me tell you... crumbs did not fall.

Yummy Healthy Guilt-Free Pizza!

For this huge pizza I wanted a bright green sauce, so I created a raw vegan Spinach Basil Pesto.  For toppings, lots of colorful veggies: red cabbage, sweet onion, yellow squash, orange & yellow sweet peppers, avocado and my own sundried grape tomatoes.  I believe I made a rainbow! 

It was just too pretty to eat.  Riiiiight.

Raw Vegan Pizza Crust - ready to go into the dehydrator

I used my basic nut-free raw vegan pizza crust recipe that you can find here, but made it a bit bigger this time.  Oh and I also added a bit of white onion to the tomato mixture.  While the crust is in the dehydrator, I drool for hours as the house smells like a giant pizza! 

Rainbow Veggie Pizza

Just in case you wanted one last look at this colorful, delicious and healthy pizza before I get to the recipe.  I know, I'm such a tease (snicker snicker).

Raw Vegan Spinach Basil Pesto

1 cup packed torn basil
3 good handfuls baby spinach
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 Tbs hemp heart seeds
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbs lemon juice
4-5 turns black pepper
pinch or two of sea salt
*optional EVO

Put all ingredients into a blender except optional EVO (extra virgin olive oil) and blend until smooth and creamy.  You'll probably need to stop the blender off and on to work the mixture down.  It will be thick which is perfect for the pizza crust.  However, if it's too thick or you want a thinner consistency, add a little water or drizzle of EVO until desired liking.

My Raw Vegan Pizza Crust recipe is here.  Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Veggie Burgers

Raw Vegan Veggie Burgers - Portobellos

Move over fork and knife!  Raw vegan veggie burgers - it's what's for dinner.

These huge, juicy, delicious, messy, triple napkin, "don't bother me I'm eating" veggie burgers definitely hit the spot.  The get in my belly spot!  They are super easy to make and you can fill them with as many of your favorite veggies as you like.  I used the following, from bottom up:

mashed avocado
onion slices
peeled carrots
sliced tomatoes
leaf lettuce
mashed avocado (can't have too much avocado :)

In fact, I'm just going to get right to the easy peasy recipe as I'm drooling all over my laptop.

Portobello Veggie Burgers

Raw Vegan Veggie Burgers

4 large portobello mushrooms - stemmed and gills removed
Place in Ziploc bag or other container

Marinade
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar (I use raw and gluten-free)
1 Tbs Braggs or Tamari
1 Tbs EVO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 Tbs Agave
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin

Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl then pour over the portobellos and make sure to coat each one as well as you can.  It may seem as if there is not enough marinade, but the shrooms will develop juice while marinating.  Marinate in fridge for at least 6-8 hours - the longer the better. 

After marinating, lightly pat dry each shroom, place on mesh tray and dehydrate at 115° F for approximately 2 hours or until desired tenderness.  Fill with veggies of choice and enjoy!

Peace☮
Rocki

Raw Vegan Pizza Rounds and Poppers

Raw Vegan Pizza Rounds and Poppers

Pizza anyone?  Here's a fun tasty variation of my full size Raw Vegan Pizza that makes a perfect little bite size snack, appetizer or even a meal.  Plus, you don't need to dehydrate them if you don't want to.

Dehydrated or not these are tasty little bites of pizza

This batch I dehydrated (well, except for a few that accidentally ended up in our mouths), but I've also made them without dehydrating.  Seriously, these are SO very yummy right out of the food processor!  The texture is a little different without dehydrating, soft and chewy, but you'll definitely taste the delicious pizza flavor either way.

These were perfect for our lunch with a nice green salad and watermelon

You can either make them round little balls like pizza poppers or flatten them out like mini pizza's - or both.  They make fun and tasty appetizers with or without toppings.  I've made them with a topping of raw vegan cheese with a variety of different veggies on each one.  Put a little olive in the middle of the rounds and you'll have an awesome popper!  A fun and nutritious appetizer to take to parties and family dinners. 

Raw Vegan Pizza Rounds and Poppers
Makes approximately 18 small bites

1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 Tbs flax meal
1/4 cup hemp heart seeds
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup heaping sundried tomatoes (soaked and drained)
1/3 cup onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
*water if needed

In a food processor, add sunflower seeds and process until small bits like flour.  Add in all remaining ingredients *except* water - process until mixture holds together when forming a ball.  If it seems too dry, add 1/2 tsp water at a time until achieved.

With your hands roll into small bite size balls. Take a little taste test - you know you want to.  You can leave them all round little balls or flatten with your hands into little pizza rounds - like cookies. You'll probably want to do another taste test at this time.  If there are any left and you don't want to dehydrate them, serve immediately or put them in the fridge to chill.

Or - put them on a lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 110° F for approximately 1-2 hours.  This will not turn them into crust or crackers, it will simply firm them up a bit more which makes them perfect if you want to turn them into an appetizer with toppings.  You will definitely want to do another taste test right out of the dehydrator - mmmmm!  In fact, at this point you may want to make a double batch.

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