Miso-Glaze Dip & Raw Asian-Inspired Veggie Patties

What a title, right? Yessss, and prepping this recipe can take some time, but it's SO worth it.

I'm on a raw kick lately. Why? After doing a lot of research, a balanced raw vegan diet is the healthiest diet I've ever found, and it's SO delicious. When I eat cooked food, most of the time I crave raw food soon afterword. (Lately it's been orange juice... mmm, freshly juiced oranges...) Most of the time on raw it's best to be as simple as possible (salad, slaw, fruit smoothies), but once in a while you just have to go all out and make something extreme.

This is my raw extreme (lol). Well, to be sure it's not 100% raw, but it's pretty dang close. It could easily be made completely raw, given you have raw versions of some of these ingredients. I was lucky enough to find myself some raw/unpasteurized miso at the local Japanese grocery the other day. It's SO yummy.

Am I the only person in the whole world who thinks miso on its own is tasty? Hmm... maybe?

Well, if you like asian fusion cuisine, you'll really enjoy this meal. However, if you're scared of sodium, then stay away. This recipe has so much sodium it'll knock your socks off.

MISO-GLAZE DIP

1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp shoyu / tamari /or nama shoyu
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Directions: Put ingredients into a small container. Take a whisk & blend by hand until smooth.
 

ASIAN-INSPIRED VEGGIE PATTIES

**This requires a dehydrator, but you can use this recipe as a Pâté if you don't have a dehydrator... I have done so before A LOT and it's delicious!**

1/2 cup walnuts

3-4 carrots, diced

3-4 sticks celery, diced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1/3 cup raisins, soaked & drained (to make them soft)

1/4 cup cut wakame (a type of seaweed)

sea salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar / lemon / or rice vinegar

Directions: Throw ingredients into a food processor. Blend well, until it becomes like a Pâté. If you have a dehydrator, heat it to about 110 degrees F or so. Form Pâté into patties & allow to dry over 8 hours or so. Yes, it takes FOREVER. :) If NOT using a dehydrator, then don't even worry about it. Just go to the next step...

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Sushi Nori (seaweed wrappers for sushi)

Butter Lettuce (or other leafy greens)

Dice the sushi nori in half or in thirds, depending on how much you like the taste of seaweed. Add 2 leaves of butter lettuce onto the seaweed. Place about 2 tbsp of veggie Pâté / 1 pattie on one end of the nori. Fold in half. Dip in the sauce. Consume & enjoy.

Notes: If you want to cut back on the seaweed flavor, remove the wakame from the Pâté/Pattie recipe. After removing the wakame, you can alter the recipe to make different flavors. For example, add some fennel to make it taste a little like a "sausage" pattie. Add some Provencal herbs to make it taste more, I dunno, French, and add some sun-dried tomatoes for an Italian flair. Add curry powder or garam masala & make an Indian pattie. Add chile powder for a taste of the southwest. It's an extremely versatile recipe! I don't remember where I first discovered it, but it's one of my favorite recipes to mess with. You can even use it as a chip-dip!!