A Raw Thanksgiving

Well I know its a few days late but hey it was Thanksgiving! I saw friends and family and had a whole lot to be Thankful for! I've spent the last few days still enjoying raw leftovers, and running around after my newly crawling infant.

For the first time I was actually able to make a full raw spread for Thanksgiving. Last year I made a couple of raw deserts: A raw apple pie, and a raw key lime pie. The raw Key Lime Pie wasn't quite a hit, but the Apple Pie went over very well and was made again this year with a little modification to the crust.

The rest of the spread was made courtesy of recipes from Jackie and Gideon Graff of Sprout Raw Food. I had the honor and privilege of attending their class on Thanksgiving and I must say that I very much enjoyed it. Since most of the recipes were created by Jackie and Gideon, I wouldn't feel right about posting them up online without their permission. After all, the recipes are their intellectual property.

The Apple Pie though I have absolutely no problem sharing :)

Raw Apple Pie
4 Large Fuji Apples cored and cut into fourths.
1 and 1/2 cups Medjool Dates soaked for an hour in filtered water
1/4 cup of raw honey or agave (make sure this is raw. Many of them say they are raw, but it might not be true. I recommend Ohgave! Matthew Kenney RAW Blue Agave Nectar, 46-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 2).
3 cups of Almonds (preferably soaked for 12 hours then dehydrated (I use a Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator - Black))
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1. In a Food Processor using the "S" blade (I like Cuisinart DLC-2009CHB Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless but whatever you have will work)  process the three cups of almonds. When the almonds are broken down into small pieces add 1/2 cup of dates, salt, and honey or agave. This will process into a sticky "dough". 
2. Remove the "dough" and press into an 8 inch pie pan to form a crust.
3. In a blender (I can't say enough good things about my Vitamix Turbo Blend 4500 64 oz capacity), put 1 cup of dates and puree.
4. Clean the Food Processor and put in the shredder attachment. Drop the apples in one at a time. Remove and place into a mixing bowl. Add the pureed dates from the step above, and the cinnamon. Mix well.
5. Pour the Apple, Date, Cinnamon mixture into the pie crust.
6. Enjoy!

I would have a picture, unfortunately it was gobbled up before I got a chance!

The rest of the menu included:
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Noasted Nurkey
Squash Casserole
Spinach Casserole
Wild Rice Undressing
Apple Orange Cranberry Sauce.

Nutritious, Delicious and gone now :) Guess I better start getting ready for Christmas!