Above: my meals for today while I’m at work. From left to right: Raw peach (yay, peaches!), raw strawberry granola, cold sesame zoodles, almond milk (for granola), and Super Goji-Cacau-Maca Bar.

The rawness continues. Disclaimer: I ate a pizza over the weekend. Yeah, I did.

I feel like my dehydrator has been on for the last week. I think that’s pretty much how it goes if you actually want to eat raw, like, on a regular basis.

Today I thought I’d share the recipe for raw peaches.

Hahaha just kidding!! I’m going on not so much sleep today, so forgive me. How about this raw strawberry granola recipe instead.

I got this recipe primarily from Everyday Raw, by Matthew Kenney. His recipe is called Raspberry Vanilla Almond Granola. It requires some patience, and a weekend is helpful. Mine is essentially exactly the same, but I had these gorgeous little organic perfectly ripe strawberries from my favorite, the Park Slope Food Coop, so I subbed out strawberries, and oh my god am I glad I did.  I used a quart. His recipe called for 4 cups of raspberries, so I think I was probably a little under…but I actually think the granola is PERFECT just the way it is. So!

Ingredients:

• 1 quart small strawberries, or large cut into pieces
• 2 cups of sunflower seeds, soaked 8 – 12 hours and drained
• 3 cups of pecans, soaked 8 – 12 hours and drained
• 6 cups almonds, soaked 8 – 12 hours and drained
• 1 1/2 cups maple syrup or agave
• 1/2 cup of date paste (I couldn’t find any so just made some from fresh dates)
• 2 pears, peeled, cored, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbls. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tbls. lime juice and zest

Preparation:

• Place strawberries and sunflower seeds in a large bowl and set aside.
• Process pecans and almonds in a food processor until chunky — DO NOT OVER PROCESS!! Add to bowl with strawberries and sunflower seeds.
• Process all remaining ingredients in food processor until chunky; again, do not over process. Add to bowl, and mix everything thoroughly.
• Crumble evenly in dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 105 – 110 degrees for 48 hours.

The final product. It yielded a LOT of granola. I vacuum sealed two huge bags and popped them in the freezer.

I don’t know why but this granola tastes PERFECT with almond milk. I’ve been making my own sweetened with a couple of dates. And, holy crap if it’s not a completely delicious breakfast. Also, I’m full! Yes, yes, and yes. Hope you enjoy.