High Tea Recipes

We served a raw vegan High Tea this weekend while the football game was on. It went over so well, so we thought we’d share the weekend’s favourites with you.

We’ve designed them to be easy, quick, and require minimal kitchen equipment.

Handmade Tea

It’s very easy and inexpensive to make your own tea. Here’s what we came up with.

The House of Verona Costa Rican Blend – the crowd favourite

• Green tea leaves
• Cacao nibs
• Whole vanilla bean, chopped into little pieces
• Dried mangoes
• Whole cinnamon sticks, chopped small pieces

The House of Verona Ontaio Cottage Blend

• Green tea leaves
• Fresh mint
• Chamomile flowers
• Lavender petals
• Dried cherries

Mix ingredients together and steep as you would any other loose-leaf tea.

Canapés

• Cucumber gazpacho cup
• Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust
• Fresh organic watermelon slices
• Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

Cucumber gazpacho cups

• Slice an English cucumber into 1-inch pieces. Scoop out the centre with a spoon.
• In a blender, blend the cucumber centres with half an English cucumber, half a tomato, half a red pepper, a bunch of mint, sea salt, ground pepper, flax oil, and a spoonful raw honey.
• Spoon the gazpacho into the cups and chill until you’re ready to serve.

Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust

• Create your favourite salad
• In a food processor, add in 1 cup of sesame seeds until they are slightly ground. Add in 10-15 soft medjool dates one at a time until the mixture becomes a mould-able crust.
• Press the crust into small bowls and fill with the salad you created. Serve with forks.

Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

• In a mixing bowl, add in 4 heaping tablespoons of cacao powder
• Add in 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of liquid coconut oil
• Mix until it forms a chocolate sauce.
• Add in chopped brazil nuts, and any other nut or seed you like. Coat with the chocolate sauce and serve in small paper cupcake cups.

Have fun!

An Inspiring Guest Who Eliminated Cravings

One of our retreat guests inspired our team so much that I want to share her story with you all.

In 1982, she was 5’5” and weighed 230 lbs. Being overweight was causing her some depression and low self-esteem.

One day, in 1982, she was sitting on the subway, eating a chocolate bar, and thinking about how she desperately needed to lose weight.

Suddenly, in a moment of clarity, she looked at the chocolate and realized that junk food certainly wasn’t helping her lose weight. In that moment, she resolved to stop eating all types of dessert altogether, and see what happened. She didn’t change anything else – just eliminated sugar.

Amazingly, she stuck to it: she hasn’t had a drop of sugar since that day in 1982. For 28 years, she has been ‘sugar sober’.

What is wonderful is that she didn’t set out to cut out sugar for life – she just took it one day at a time.

When we hosted her, she was as slim as can be – not too skinny, but absolutely within her normal BMI range.

The other guests were curious when she declined all raw desserts that were offered – she simply explained that she treats herself as a recovering alcoholic would treat alcohol – not one drop.

“Don’t you miss desserts?” they’d ask. “Not at all – I don’t even notice it. I much prefer being healthy and happy.”

The thought of cutting out sugar completely can be scary when we’re starting a new cleanse. However, every single person I know who has cut out sugar or junk food reports:

• After 1-2 weeks, cravings vanish
• They have a higher level of happiness
• They can enjoy the smell of tempting foods without needing to eat them
• They are infinitely happier this way than experiencing mood swings which sugar contributes to

To learn more about how to kill cravings, have a look at our 3-part series here:

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-1/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-2/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-iii/

French Countryside Raw Recipes

I made dinner for my housemates last night – who aren’t raw vegans – and they adored the recipes, inspired from the French countryside. I looked through Julia Child’s classic French cookbook and modified recipes – for example, by using healthy raw fats instead of butter (i.e. macadamia nuts), and eliminating the heating process. Et voila.

The menu (all raw vegan):

• Creamy leek soup
• Loaf of sprouted bread with a strong ‘cheese’
• Friseé salad with almonds, raspberries & ice-wine vinaigrette
• Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce
• Red ice wine gelato

I’d love to share these recipes with you. All are for 4 people. If all you have is a blender, you’re good to go.

Creamy leek soup

Blend together:

• 1 large leek
• Handful Brazil nuts
• Salt & pepper
• Spoonful honey
• 1 shallot
• 1 bunch basil
• Spoonful olive oil
• Cup of water

Garnish with chopped Brazil nuts and sliced basil leaves.

Strong ‘cheese’

Throw these in the food processor:

• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 tbsp macadamia nuts
• A whole lime, with the peel chopped off
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch basil
• A little water to get it all going
• 1 clove garlic

I purchased the sprouted loaf of bread from The Big Carrot, who sources them from Patricia – here’s her website: http://www.naturallyalive.ca/Products.aspx

Friseé salad

Blend these together for the dressing:

• 1 whole lemon, peel removed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp white ice wine (or regular wine if unavailable in your region)
• 2 tsp salt
• Ground pepper
• 1 tbsp honey
• 10 macadamia nuts

Salad ingredients:

• Friseé, washed and chopped into very small pieces
• 1 large bunch of fresh mint
• 1 carton of raspberries
• 1 handful of chopped almonds

Pour the dressing over the body of the salad and serve. Mmm.

Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce

This was everyone’s favourite, by far.

The vegetables I used:

• Asparagus (each spear sliced into 4 long strips)
• Snow peas (each sliced into 4 strips)
• Heirloom carrots (sliced into strips)
• Radishes (cubed)
• Shallots (sliced into thin coins)
• Endive (sliced into thin strips)

Marinate the vegetables in olive oil, lemon juice, and honey while you prepare the sauce.

The sauce: throw the following into a blender:

• 2 cups water
• Handful macadamia nuts
• Whole lemon (peel removed)
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch basil
• Clove garlic
• 1 small spoonful nutritional yeast

Pour the cream sauce over the vegetables and serve. If you have time, let marinate for 30 minutes.

Red ice wine gelato

Blend the following together:

• 1 branch of red grapes
• Vanilla
• Half cup almonds
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp red ice wine

Pour into a container and freeze, stirring every hour if you have the time. If you don’t have the time, after it’s frozen, place it in the fridge to thaw for a few hours, or outside for 1-2 hours. Serve into bowls and before giving to guests, add on 1 tbsp red ice wine and a few grapes.

Bon appetite!