Ani's Raw Food Essentials by Ani Phyo Page B

together with a spoon.
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    Will keep for a week or more at room temperature.

LAVENDER BUTTER
    MAKES ½ CUP
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    A sweet butter with aromatic lavender from fresh or dry lavender flowers or extract.
    Pick fresh, unsprayed lavender flowers, discarding the green parts. Wash well, then chop into the tiniest pieces possible. Alternatively, seek out culinary lavender in the spice section of gourmet stores (never consume lavender sold as a potpourri ingredient). Add to softened coconut butter and let sit overnight to allow for the flavor to absorb into the butter. Adjust to use as much or as little as you wish of the lavender buds for a stronger or lighter scent and flavor.

    Â½ cup coconut butter, softened but not liquid
1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender, pulverized in food grinder, or 1 table-
spoon fresh flowers, finely chopped, or ½ teaspoon culinary lavender
extract
1 teaspoon agave syrup
    Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a spoon.
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    Will keep for a week or more at room temperature.
    Make Your Own Extracts

    AN EASY WAY to make your own extract is by mixing culinary lavender buds or vanilla bean with vodka in a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Vodka is a distilled alcohol, so it’s not raw. I only tend to use at most a tablespoon at a time, so enjoy using my homemade extracts. But, if you’re sensitive to alcohol or vodka, you may want to just buy organic alcohol-free extract, and skip these homemade recipes.
    Your extracts will last for years, and you can keep topping off the vanilla extract with more vodka as you use it. Make sure to shake well to mix.
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    LAVENDER EXTRACT
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    To make lavender extract, place ¼ cup of crushed culinary lavender buds in a glass jar with 1 cup of vodka (ideally organic vodka). Close the lid and let the jar stand in a cool, dark place for at least 1 week, up to 6 weeks if you can. (The longer an extract sits, the stronger it will be.) Shake the jar daily to help infuse the lavender in the vodka.
    When ready, strain out the lavender. Now you have your own homemade lavender extract to use in cookies, sauces, and butter.
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    VANILLA EXTRACT
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    To make vanilla extract, you’ll need three vanilla beans. Slice each lengthwise with a sharp knife. Place the beans in a glass jar and cover completely with 1 cup of vodka (ideally organic vodka). Shake the jar every day or two, and store in a dark, cool place for at least 2 months.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER
    MAKES ½ CUP
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    Coconut butter is mixed with cacao powder and agave syrup to make a smooth, decadent chocolate butter. Use this to spread onto your pancakes, toasts, biscuits, and even cookies.
    Â½ cup coconut butter, softened but not liquid
2 teaspoons cacao powder
1 teaspoon agave syrup
    Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a spoon.
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    Will keep for a couple of weeks or more at room temperature.

5
    SNACKS AND ACCOMPANIMENTS
    IN THIS CHAPTER, I’ll show you how to make recipes that can be used to dress up any dish. Recipes include easy cheezes made by blending or processing nuts or seeds; chips and crackers made with vegetables and flax; then dehydrated until crispy; and even dehydrated crunchy vegetables such as Kale Chips, made by coating kale with a sweet red bell pepper sauce, and “Fried” Onion Rings made with a crispy buckwheat coating. Seasoned muts are easy to make by marinating and then dehydrating to intensify theflavors of the seasonings.
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    I will also show you how easy it is to make your own sauerkraut and cucumber pickles by soaking vegetables in a salt bath, then setting them aside to pickle. I’ll
introduce you to Korean-inspired, probiotic-rich pickled vegetables called kimchi, made with garlic, ginger, and chili pepper. All are simple to make, but require waiting time for the fermentation to take place.

CHEEZES
    A lot of people list dairy cheese as one of the more challenging items to replace in a vegan or raw lifestyle.