Carrot-Avocado Bisque and Simple Sushi Rolls

Hello, Zestycook readers!

For those of you who don’t know, I’m the voice behind Choosing Raw, a blog devoted to sharing tips and information about the raw foods lifestyle with readers of all dietary persuasions. I also work as a raw foods coach and an editor in New York City. Since the very start of my blogging adventures this spring, Cory has been not only a supportive reader of my blog, but also my guardian angels in all things computers related: I may be knowledgeable in matters of nutrition and all things raw, but I’m far from adept when it comes to technology! So it’s my pleasure and honor to be his guest.

Some raw foodists will dazzle you with stunning approximations of your favorite cooked dishes. Armed with food dehydrators, sprouters, and endless stores of creativity, they’ll whip out raw pizza, raw quiche, raw cookies and raw layer cake. I wish I were one of them: I love the imagination and effort that goes into beautiful raw cuisine. Unfortunately, I can’t always offer it myself. I work two jobs and bring a fair chunk of work home with me, which means that my time in the kitchen is limited and often spontaneous. For that reason, the two qualities which most define me as a chef are simplicity and versatility. My recipes are nearly always simple to prepare (I guarantee my beginner clients that they’ll spend no more time in the kitchen un-cooking than they did cooking, and I like to think I make good on that promise), and they’re always versatile: whether I make a raw soup, a nut pate, or a particular salad, I’m always reminding my readers to think of my recipes as templates for variation, rather than prescriptions.

Here’s a terrific example of a single dish which lends itself to numerous culinary applications. My carrot-avocado bisque is not only tasty and fast, but also a great multi-tasker. Alongside a big salad or sandwich, it makes for a tasty lunch; it can serve as a dipping sauce for vegetables, wraps, or sushi. Finally, it can double as a rich and creamy dressing for salads. If you truly want to showcase the dish in all of its variety, you can serve it as all three things at once.

The soup itself couldn’t be easier. I’ve seen a few variations on the theme in various raw cookbooks and resources, but here’s the combination that always suits me:

Gena’s Raw Carrot-Avocado Bisque

2 ½ cups fresh carrot juice (but bottled is OK if you can’t get your hands on fresh)
½ avocado
½ inch ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of ½ a lime

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until rich and creamy, like so:

And you end up with this:

As a soup, it will serve two (or one hungry person). Tonight, though, I had other intentions. I decided to use the sauce in a simple nori roll, too, and the result was terrific.

When I have time, I love to make nori rolls for guests or friends. I usually use a nut pate as the base, or I chop up some jicama or parsnip in place of rice and stuff the roll with vegetables. On a busy night, though, nut pates and faux rice feel like an awful lot of work: what I really want is to wrap something up quickly and go. What follows is my simplest sushi for when you’re in a pinch. Just lay out a sheet of nori, and top it with about a tablespoon of sauce or dressing (in this case, the bisque), like so:

Next, put a few torn romaine leaves on to make the sushi sturdy (raw nori, alas, has a tendency to rip):

Then, pile it with your veggies of choice (mine were carrots, pepper, and avocado; sprouts, zucchini, cucumber, and cabbage are also great):

And top it with some more sauce:

Roll it up, moisten the far edge with water, and seal it. Cut the roll into thirds, and you should end up with a tasty wrap that, served alongside some extra sauce, looks just like this:

To complete my sushi and soup dinner, I had a small salad of kale, spinach, and carrots, which I dressed in a bit of seasoned rice vinegar (which isn’t raw, in case you’re wondering: I consider myself “high-raw,” which is just a fancy way of saying that I eat nearly all raw food, but I also eat cooked vegan food on occasion, and I don’t sweat whether condiments are raw or not) and flax oil. My trick with raw kale is always to rub the oil and acid into the kale with a bit of sea salt a few minutes before serving: I call it “massaged kale salad,” and it’s one of the tastiest ways to enjoy raw kale without a bitter flavor.

I finished the salad with a bit of the bisque, drizzled on top:

Here’s the meal from above:

And up close:

So there we have it: not one, but three tasty dishes that emerge from a single recipe. And that recipe takes no more than 5 minutes to prepare, if you don’t count the time it takes to make or pick up carrot juice!

I hope this post shows you that it doesn’t take endless time or planning to eat more raw foods. All it takes is a pinch of creativity and flair with the dishes you do have time to make, and a sense of intuition about how to use a single recipe in a variety of ways. I wish you all much fun playing around with raw foods in your kitchens. Enjoy!

Gena (Choosing Raw)