Mother's Day is right around the corner. What better way to show your grandmother, mother or significant other how much you appreciate her than with a lovely, home cooked meal? With our healthful, wholesome, plant-based recipes, you can make sure that special someone enjoys a lovely dinner without squashing her primarily raw, healthy diet.
This Mother's Day, whip up one - or all - of these delicious recipes to show that lovely lady in your life how grateful you are for her existence:
1. For an Appetizer: Raw Sweet Potato Soup
Start mom's meal off with our delicious raw sweet potato soup recipe.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups distilled water
- 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes - peeled, shredded and soaked overnight
- 1 large red onion - peeled and quartered
- 1 red pepper - seeded and quartered
- 1 garlic clove - peeled
- 3 apples - peeled, quartered and seeded
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor, blending until the mixture reaches the perfect consistency. For greatest nutritional benefit, consume soup raw. You can serve it warm, but don't bring it to a boil - this will kill the beneficial enzymes!
2. For a Starter: Mango Salad
This seasonal green mango salad recipe is equally fresh and flavorful.
Ingredients:
- 2 green/slightly unripe mangos - julienned
- 1/2 of an English cucumber - julienned
- 1/2 of a red bell pepper - julienned
- 1/4 cup red onion - thinly sliced
- 1 and 1/2 jalapeno pepper - seeds removed and julienned
- 1/4 cup fresh mint - finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil - finely chopped
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 1/2 teaspoon organic sea salt
Directions:
First, whisk together the honey, lime juice and sea salt. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the liquid mixture. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so that the flavors can fully infuse. Serve and enjoy!
3. Main Dish: Tempeh Lettuce Wraps
For the main dish, make mom this tempeh lettuce wrap recipe.
Ingredients:
For the wraps:
- 1-8 ounce package organic tempeh, diced into 1/2" cubes
- 1 large or 2 small carrots - finely diced
- 1 medium onion - finely diced
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves - minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 shallot - minced
- 1-5 ounce can diced water chestnuts
- 1/2 cup organic vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup tamari
- 1 to 2 tablespoons agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons fermented black beans
- 1 teaspoon Asian red chili sauce
- Coconut oil for sautéing
- 1 head Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves
- 3 scallions - finely chopped
For the special sauce:
- 1/3 cup vegan "mayonnaise"
- Juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha Asian chili sauce
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- 1 teaspoon agave or coconut nectar
- 1 pinch of salt
Directions:
First, heat your oven to 425 degrees and prepare a baking tray with coconut oil. Place the tempeh cubes on the prepared sheet and place in the oven. Cook tempeh on each side for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
Using a saute pan, heat a small amount of coconut oil over medium heat, adding the onions and carrots to cook for about 5 minutes. Remove veggies from pan and set aside. Using the same pan, heat the shallots, garlic and ginger, sauteing for 4 minutes, and then add the tamari, vegetable broth, fermented black beans, agave and chili sauce. Bring mixture to a simmer for about 10 minutes, and then add the carrots, onion, tempeh and water chestnuts. Remove from heat and set aside.
To make your special sauce, stir all of the ingredients together.
Use large lettuce leaves as wraps for the tempeh. Distribute tempeh and vegetables mixture evenly among Bibb lettuce leaves, topped with sesame pickled cucumber and drizzled with special sauce. Enjoy!
4. For a Side: Raw Cauliflower Tabouli
Pair the tempeh wraps with this cauliflower tabouleh recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 head of cauliflower - roughly chopped
- 1/2 cucumber - diced small
- 1 tomato - diced small
- 1/2 can black olives - halved or quartered
- 1/4 cup red onion - minced
- 1 clove garlic - minced or pressed
- 1 cup parsley - finely chopped
- 1/3 cup mint - finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 to 2 teaspoons agave nectar
- Pinch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Place cauliflower in a food processor, pulsing until it reaches a grainy consistency. Pour onto a clean hand towel, lift the corners to enclose the cauliflower and squeeze until all excess moisture is removed. Pour cauliflower into a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients, tossing until fully incorporated. Enjoy!
5. For Dessert: Lemon Coconut Truffles
Finish the meal with a sweet, healthy dessert like our lemon coconut truffle recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, and a little extra for coating the truffles
- 1 cup raw cashews - pre-soaked and dried
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- Zest of one lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water - for blending
Directions:
First, place the cashews in a food processor, blending until fine. Add the coconut and pulse until well blended, followed by the dates, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest and sea salt. Blend mixture well, stopping continuously to scrape down the sides of the food processor. Drizzle in water as necessary to help create the perfect consistency.
Use your hands to roll the dough into 1-inch balls, and then toss in shredded coconut. Set truffles on a serving tray and place in the refrigerator to set until serving. Enjoy!
Looking for more delicious meals and sweets to try this spring and summer? Browse and shop through our recipe books today!
