Peanut Buttery Caramel Dip. Yum!!

Ingredients:

- 2 ripe bananas
- 10 medjool dates (or more of a smaller variety)

Directions:

- Blend dates and bananas in blender.  If you do not have a high speed blender, you may need to add a bit of water to get the blades turning.

Simple as that! Enjoy! :)

Salsa Fresca

This is a recipe from my recipe book that I am working on. It is in the preliminary stages now - figuring out all the exact amounts, picture taking, etc. so I'm not sure when I'll be finished, but I'll keep y'all posted! I was very surprised when I tasted this salsa the first time I made it. It is so simple and yet ssooo delicious!

Ingredients:

- 1 pint grape tomatoes (or equivalent of other kind)

- 1 stalk celery

-1 Tbsp green onions, optional

- 1/4 c cilantro

- juice of 1/2 lime or more if it's not very juicy.

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until all is well combined but still a little chunky. Or if you prefer, you can blend it more.

2. Serve with fresh raw veggies - I like cucumber, celery, and romaine lettuce.

You can also add 1/2 of an avocado to this if you would like to make it a little hardier.

Note: If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can just dice everything and make a pico de gallo type salsa.

Banana Carob Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

- 6 bananas

- 1/4 cup raw carob powder*

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

- Fruit of choice for dipping

Directions:

- Blend bananas, carob powder, and cinnamon in blender or food processor until smooth

- Pour into bowl and place in center of large plate.

- Chop fruit of choice and arrange around outside of plate.

*This is where I get my raw carob powder - http://www.amazon.com/Really-Raw-Carob-Powder-16-Ounce/dp/B001691P6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323231702&sr=8-1

Note: I think the dip would be even better if you added a few dates to it, but I happen to be out at the moment. :)

Cucumber Rolls with Green Sauce

Ingredients:

- 1 large cucumber
- 1 medium tomato, sliced
- couple handfuls of baby greens

- handful parsley (or other herb of choice - cilantro, basil, etc)
- 1 zucchini, peeled
- 1/2 small red bell pepper
- juice of 1 lemon

How to:

1. Cut cucumber into thin strips using a vegetable peeler.
2. Lay 3-4 cucumber slices on work surface being sure to overlap long edges (making a rectangular shape)
3. lay greens and tomatoes on edge of cucumber rectangle closest to you.
4. Roll the greens and tomatoes up in cucumber wrap.

5. For the sauce, blend parsley, pepper, zucchini, and lemon juice in blender.

6. Arrange rolls on plate and top with sauce.


I liked the parsley sauce, but think this would be even better with cilantro. I planned to use cilantro, but realized we didn't have any once I started making it.