Raw Carrot Ginger Soup (with Kasu)

I changed my diet to raw food just over a year ago.  In that time I have learned to sprout and make great salads.  When I acquired a Vitamix blender I also began to experiment with soups.  Over time I've learned how to make good raw food.  I find that because things won't be cooked or served hot, I have to be much more conscious of how things naturally taste so I can blend flavours properly.  Texture is also more important.  I don't always succeed but my rate of success is increasing.

Yesterday I had lots of carrots in the fridge and I wondered what to do with them.  I was tired of the recipe I had been using for carrot soup and wanted something more subtle and smooth tasting.  The recipe I had been using had raw tahini in it which made it somewhat bitter.  Also there was lots of leek which also gave it some harshness.  So I decided to just go by feel and blend tastes that I know go well with carrots.  Here is the result followed by the recipe:

I don't know the exact measurements of anything but I'll attempt to describe what I mixed together.

1 avocado
kasu about 3 tablespoons (eosoteric ingredient I know but it's delicious if you can get it.  It's the lees from making Sake.  Really great fermented rice that tastes like sake.)
juice of a half of lemon (about 3-4 tablespoons I think)
ceylon cinnamon (maybe 3/4 teaspoon…if you're using a stronger cinnamon, reduce this amount)
fennel (maybe half a cup, I included some of the stem/leaves)
leek (maybe 2 inch piece from the non-green part…though that's an accident of what I had.  I wouldn't be adverse to using the green part)
ginger (1 inch piece, not peeled)
coriander (a handful of leaves)
carrots (about 6-7 carrots…I think it was roughly 3 cups)
pepper
water to the degree that you want the consistency.  I think I added about 3 cups but it's hard to say.  I just kept pouring into the blender until it was soupy.

Add the ingredients roughly in the same order as above to a Vitamix or similarly powerful blender.  Blend, blend, blend.  Fun.  Delicious.  

Salt as needed.  It doesn't turn out so salty even with the kasu. 

Garnish: rapini broccoli sprouts
I also added some sprouted beans for protein and crunch.

Owl to Lark in 30 days

(It's been a long time.  Several reasons are compelling me to start writing again.  Mostly it's because there are many new things in my life and I have enough mental space to feel like sharing.  I'm happy.  I'm inspired by life and by others.  It's also because my friend Leanne mentioned it.  And I like her gentle prodding and curiosity about why I stopped writing.)

For reasons I will not share here, I've decided to refashion myself into a morning person.  I have not been a morning person since my undergrad days when I had 8:30 classes.  At that time I'd wake up at 5:30 and head to the gym, come back, groom, go to the cafeteria, and then head to class.  I guess in some ways things haven't changed.  I still need 3 hours to get ready in the morning.  But now I squeeze in meditation too.  I like a slow introverted start.

So I entered into a 30-day challenge that I call Owl to Lark.  Today was day 7.  I was worried about today because it's Sunday and unlike yesterday I didn't have an 8am meeting.  There was nothing to compel me to get up at 6.  But I did.  Actually the getting up part hasn't been too hard.  It's the falling asleep that's not happening as smoothly as I'd like.  I have lights out at 10:30 but end up tossing and turning until 11:30 or later.  It's ok on the weekend when I can take a 20-30 minute nap to catch up but during the week, I end up quite tired by the end of the day...but still can't fall asleep!  Some have suggested reading Derrida ("...and if you don't fall asleep, you learn something!")  Maybe. I'll try 10 minute meditation and see if that changes anything.

A song for this post.