Iranian Double Happiness

I was very happy to be sharing vegetarian, raw food, joy and fun with two groups of Iranian women this month. There was the raw food workshop at the Penrith Women’s Health Centre and at the Parramatta Arts Studio lunch workshop.

Spending this together was a joyful experience.  Many of these women are freshly arrived in their new home land and I am perfectly happy to share my passion for sustainability through food and home grown herbs and meat free eating each week at PWHC until the end of the year..

To kick off we prepared and enjoyed almond milk served with chia seeds and a raw food chocolate mousse served with fresh strawberries.

The women enjoyed the mousse and told me this is their 1st time to try a specially raw dish and the first time to try home made almond milk. And they found the workshop so interesting and inspiring that they will prepare these dishes at home for their family…

How rewarding it was for me to hear that this is their 1st raw food tryout and they are already sold on the new and raw ideas. I guess, for them its especially interesting because I too was from refugee background and have called this unique land HOME.

These rawlao workshops aim to promote plant based nutrition and easy to prepare fresh dishes with raw food health knowledge and sustainability as the back bone.

Here’s the Raw Chocolate Mousse and Almond Milk recipe

Ingredients

4 avocados
4 bananas
6 tablespoons coconut oil
6 tablespoons raw cacao powder
200g pitted fig or dates (honey, agave nectar or maple syrup can be used to replace dates)
1 cup of fresh home made Almond milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt ( optional)

Method:

1. Scooped out avocados and cut banana into small pieces and place all ingredients in food processor. Process until extremely smooth
2. Pour mousse into individual dishes and serve with fresh seasonal berries
3. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving
4. Sprinkle chia seeds before serving

Almond milk

Ingredients

1 cup almonds
4 cups water

Method:

1. Washed and soaked almonds for 4-6 hours, drain and pour into blender.
2. Add 4 cups of water. Blend for 2 minutes until smooth.
3. Strain through a cloth into a jug. Keep the pulp for later use (good for a flourless cake).

Tips:
The milk may be kept for up to 4 days in the fridge
Sweeten with raw honey, dates or figs
Soaked Chia seeds may be added