I have to confess that a good, flavoursome, creamy mushroom stroganoff has always been one of my favourite “cooked food” recipes, so I decided to experiment today with a raw version. How did it go? Suffice to say I just licked the plate clean. Yes, really!
Here’s the recipe we created this evening for Raw Food Mushroom Stroganoff:
Time:
2 hours’ soaking (cashews), which can happen during the dehydration time ~ 15 minutes for chopping & preparation ~ 2-3 hours in dehydrator, to warm through
Ingredients:
Sauce
1/2 cup cashews – soaked for 2 hours & rinsed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon tamari
generous teaspoon dark miso paste
1/2 cup water
1 level teaspoon dried zatar seasoning or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves & a sprinkle of sesame seeds
1 level teaspoon paprika powder
Small pinch of sea salt
The rest!
1 large Portobello-style mushroom
5 or 6 chestnut mushrooms
2 spring onions (scallions)
1 small clove garlic
Served with:
4-5 cabbage leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
sprinkling of your favourite sprouted seeds
Optional: a handful of coriander leaves
How To Make It
- Chop the Portobello mushroom into bite-sized pieces. Slice the chestnut mushrooms finely.
- To make the mushroom marinade: mix the water, zatar (or equivalent), miso, tamari, paprika, salt and crushed garlic.
- Put the mushrooms in a dish and mix well with the marinade sauce. Leave for a couple of hours – this will allow the mushrooms to absorb the flavours and also soften them, so they taste “cooked”! If you prefer your food “warm” (like me!) then let it marinade for those 2 or so hours in the dehydrator – set to 105 F or about 41C.
- Whilst the mushrooms are marinading, you can soak your cashews for an hour or 2. Drain & rinse well.
- While your cashews / mushrooms are doing their thing, shred the cabbage leaves finely and mix well with the olive oil. Sprinkle with your favourite sprouted seeds and leave to soften for a couple of hours – they’ll do it on their own. You don’t need to do anything. This really is laissez-faire “cookery”!
- Put the cashews into a high speed blender with the lemon juice. You’ll probably need to add 3 or 4 tablespoons of water. Blitz to a smooth puree.
- When you’re ready to eat, mix the cashew / lemon paste into the mushrooms. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, if you happen to have any around. Add some ground black pepper, if you like.
- Serve with the shredded cabbage leaves.
I have just eaten this recipe this evening and both of us really, really, really licked the plates clean. We ate a fraction of the food we would have eaten, had it been cooked stroganoff with a mound of rice, yet we feel full, nourished and light – vibrant!
Variation: You could add strips of red pepper to the mushroom mix, prior to their 2 hours of marinading, to intensify the flavours even further.
If you get the chance to give this recipe a go, please let us know how you get on, via the comments box below.
With love, Namaste,
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