This is the type of recipe that is so easily modifiable and so delicious, it could become all the rage in the mainstream if someone would start passing the word about it and making it for friends and family. It’s just delicately, fragrantly wonderful!

You can add berries of any kind to create variety… you can use Rose Water instead of Orange Blossom Water… you can use banana or pear or fresh orange juice to sweeten the smoothie instead of grapes… and certainly you can add some fresh spinach or parsley to green it up. So many wonderful options!

It would even make a fabulous raw cocktail if you add a shot of your favorite alchoolic libation to your glass.

And in the end… all just wonderful for your skin, tremendously refreshing, extremely mild… and slightly (oh, just slightly) exotic.

My cuppa smoothie, for sure.

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Make this tasty raw smoothie either without fresh greens:

Or throw some fresh greens in to make it a refreshing Carrot Cake “Live Green Smoothie”:

If you enjoy Carrot Cake, you’ll like this raw smoothie!

Refreshing, mildly sweet, a little bit tart, quite creamy from blended raw macadamia nuts… made with carrots, apple, raisins, good vanilla, and a bit of parsley or spinach if you’d like to green it up. And add extra ice to make a creamy carrot-cake-flavored shake!

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Recipe for: ”Carrot Cake” Live Green Smoothie Recipe

(With or Without Fresh Greens)

• 1 cup of fresh carrots (chopped for measurement)
• 1 apple (cored if you don’t have a high-powered blender, peeled if it’s not organic)
• 1/3 heaping cup raw macadamia nuts
• 1/3 heaping cup seedless raisins
• 1 cup fresh parsley or spinach (optional)
• 1 teaspoon quality vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon quality natural salt, such as Himalayan Crystal salt
• spring water to 32 oz.
• 1-3 cups ice

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. I went several rounds with my Blendtec in order to get the macadamias nice and smooth, so if you have a low-powered blender be patient and use high-speed.

Vary the amount of ice based on what you want… use just one cup if you want a cool drink. Add up to 3 cups if you want a beverage that’s more like a shake.

Enjoy!

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One glass of this and I felt warm and ready for… well, for somethin’! A night of dancing, I’d say, if it weren’t already 11pm on a Thursday night.

This is a delicious, non-fat, low-cal, energizing drink you can make a few different ways. Made with fresh lime juice and raw cane sugar as I have shown here, it has a kind of mellow “gingerbreadiness” that is just wonderfully wintery and comforting. Make it instead with fresh lemon juice and raw honey, however, and you’ll have a more completely different flavor. Both perky and mellow, but less “dark” in taste.

I also added quite a bit of ice to mine, to give a slushed effect. But you can add just enough to get a chill and enjoy it as a smoothie.

However you do it, this is so light and refreshing… a very nice light beverage to serve to guests. A nice way to introduce your friends (or your self!) to the pleasure of fresh aloe vera gel! Which is definitely one of nature’s most effective natural energy foods. Great for athletes…both for energy as well as to aid in recovery.

Take this one to the gym or dance studio, for sure!

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This recipe is definitely a Christmas gift to me from my generous culinary muses, who know very well that I’m an unrepentant vanilla whore ever in pursuit of raw vegan recipes that can showcase vanilla the delicious way that milk can. If I were in biblical times, I’d go sacrifice a goat or something in gratitude. Things being as they are, however… I’ll just drink another glassful with thanks. The smile on my face says it all.

Am so glad I found the last bit of Tahitian vanilla I’d given my mother on a previous visit, lurking patiently in the back of her spice cabinet for this very day.

Creamy, light, refreshing, with a neutral-tasting backdrop that allows the vanilla to shine without competition, this shake/raw smoothie recipe is one to memorize and show off to your non-raw friends. Frequently.

*slurp*… I am in awe.

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Wow… love this recipe. It honestly doesn’t get any easier than this, and it’s recipes like this that, as you slurp them up with relish, you’re bound to wonder… “Why in the world did I never make this stuff before???”

I’ve had this bin of raisins in my fridge for awhile…raisins homemade and sun-dried by my great-aunt in Greece, made from grapes grown locally on her island of Samos. They were lovingly packed with bay leaves, and each delicately seeded grape still has a bit of its twig attached, presumably a mark of hand-crafting because the only way to achieve that is to actually cut each grape off its bunch.

Anyway, these exotic raisins are just delicious. But to be honest, I’m not a lover of dried fruit, not to snack on by itself. So these beautiful, rarified raisins have been languishing by their lonesome, beloved but neglected, while every time I see them I’ve reminded myself I need to conjure up a purpose for them.

Well… purpose found!

Raisins are the unexpectedly perfect sweetener for this sorbet. Their dense sweetness effortlessly balances the tartness of the pomegranates and cranberries, and the raisiny undertone adds a depth that might be overwhelming with fruits of less… personality.

You may not have my great-aunt’s special raisins to give a slight exoticism to your sorbet… but some quality organic raisins will no doubt pleasure your taste buds most gratifyingly.

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Both creamy and tangy, this is mom’s-apple-pie-in-a-glass! And takes just a few minutes to whip up, including the fresh almond milk! Makes for a welcoming breakfast,  refreshing midday snack, or a special treat whilst watching your fave film in the evening.

It’s got all the an-apple-a-day-keeps-the-doctor-away goodness of whole apples, with the rich calcium support of the almond milk. And that almond milk really makes for just lovely skin…

<Hang on… must go refill my glass… ah there, much better! This stuff goes down so enjoyably!>

Honestly, why I haven’t been making this every day, I’m not quite sure. It’s so home-y and comforting without being cloying or heavy. Light and delish. You simply must try…

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I’m still laughing with glee over this one… it’s mad-crazy delicious, exploding with lemony zing, and as creamy as can be. And took just a few minutes to make from fresh ingredients and a bit of raw cane sugar. And of course, this is entirely without dairy… a true raw vegan recipe for anyone that loves lemon. And for lactose-intolerant non-raw types who are ever in search of great non-dairy desserts and sorbets.

Make it and eat it straight-away, or pop it in the freezer for later… or make a nut crust and fill it with the ice cream to make a frozen lemon cream pie.

This recipe immediately moves into my “top 10 faves”. I may never be without avocados and organic lemons ever again!

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Yah, I know… this vanilla creme tart is green. Well.. let’s talk about that.

I am a serious vanilla-lover. And one of my dreams is to create a raw vegan dessert that can rival vanilla pudding or custard creme — or any of the other fabulously creamy vanilla fillings made in the cooked-food realm. The thing is, without milk as the creamy agent, or eggs or flour as the binder and thickener, the possibilities for creamy vanilla dishes radically narrows.

This is my first vanilla pudding-type recipe, and it uses avocado for its creamy texture and mouth-feel… which is excellent. There is no other fat, other than what’s in some of the hemp seeds used to thicken the creme, and the nuts in the crust.

My marginally-raw kids each independently gave enthusiastic thumbs-up to this dessert, which… believe me… goes a long way. I’m always appreciative of non-raw eaters enjoying my recipes, because as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my mission is to bring an appreciation of raw and living foods into the mainstream. So I like to hear that mainstream taste buds like what I’m creating.

You can make this dessert and eat it straightaway, on-the-spot, which is an objective I have for almost all of my recipes. But I think it tastes even better (less avocado-y) after it’s had a chance for the flavors to meld in the freezer and even later, after defrosting in the fridge. 

It’s a good dessert to take to a raw pot luck, or to make and keep on hand for when cravings hit or company arrives. And you never have to feel guilty when eating it, because it is too rich to overeat, and so nutritionally rich with minerals, healthy fats, essential amino acids, and healthifying, enlivening enzymes. You could, in fact, eat it for supper…

Just make sure you use the best vanilla extract you can get your hands on. I used a high-quality organic product. But vanilla is the center of the show here, so let it shine bright!

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Oh. Dear. Me. So good. So simple. So utterly GORGEOUS. And it whips up so quickly you could probably fit it in during a television commercial break (if you watch TV, that is…).

If people knew they could be drinking this amazing stuff, would they flock to Starbucks for fancy milky-sweet coffee drinks? I suspect not. Raw slushies are just too amazing for words… and you feel amazing after drinking them, because they’re made with pure, freshly juiced juice!

What a great “virgin” raw cocktail before going out dancing on a Saturday night (my current state of mind). Buy the ingredients in this one and MAKE IT. Dang… <<slipping back into 7th-Heaven Bliss…>>

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My son Auden just loves this drink.

And I have to agree… this Live Green Slushie really is yummy. And it’s so no-brainer easy, you can whip it up all the time. Zero fat. Zero sugar. Pure living, freshly-juiced yumminess, to make you feel as vibrant as it looks!

Make one of these instead of a cocktail… instead of a dessert… after a hot and sweaty workout… at a party… the next time you’re settling in to watch a good movie… A delicious, gorgeously green treat you can feel virtuous about rather than guilty.

The texture of this frozen Live Green Smoothie resembles the velvety Icees I used to get at Target when I was growing up. I know they’re still around, but of course there’s no way I’d buy one of those things these days, not when I can make some of my own with live ingredients that’ll zing my health as well as my taste buds. Just… watch out for brain freeze!

(If you don’t have a high-powered Blendtec or Vitamix blender, your Slushie may end up being more of a Chewie. But that’s just good motivation to get a good machine sometime soon, isn’t it. )

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