When chef Megan May was diagnosed with a host of medical problems, she sought a healthier culinary path that was also tantalising for the taste-buds. Now the talent behind the popular Little Bird Unbakery shares a few of her favourite recipes from her cookbook, the unbakery; raw organic goodness
Cashew yoghurt tzatziki sauce
Tzatziki is a wonderful accompaniment to many dishes and can be enjoyed as a dip
1 cup cashews (soaked 2 – 4 hours)
¼ cup filtered water (as more as needed)
1/3 cup lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt
1 crushed garlic clove
2 tbsp chopped dill
½ cup finely diced cucumber
Drain the soaked cashews and rinse thoroughly. Place all the ingredients except the dill and the cucumber in a blender – blend until creamy and smooth. Now fold through the dill and cucumber.
Leave to rest for ½ hour before serving for the flavour of the cucumber and dill to develop in the sauce. Add more salt to taste.
Keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Macadamia feta
This has a lighter, fresher taste than our parmesan. We like to sprinkle it over salads and use it as a crumble on many of our dishes.
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (soaked 2-4 hours)
2/3 cups filtered water
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp sea salt
Drained the soaked macadamia nuts and rinse thoroughly. Put all ingredients in a high-speed blender (for a small amount like this you could also use a stick blender or the spice mill attachment on a food processor).
Blend on high until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary (a little texture is fine so don’t worry if you can’t get it super-smooth).
Add more sea salt or lemon juice to taste; you want it to have the taste of a fresh cheese with a hint of citrus and saltiness to it – remember the flavour will intensify as it dries.
Spread the mixture approximately 4mm thick on a dehydrator sheet and place in the dehydrator overnight at 41 degrees Celsius for around 12-16 hours. There should be no wet patches in it.
Peel cheese from sheet and break into pieces. Store in a sealed contained in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Make time: 10 minutes | Soak time: 2-4 hours | Dehydrating time: 12-16 hours | Equipment required: blender, dehydrator
Vegetables are number one in the raw kitchen – everything else is there to enhance them
Thyme crisp
2 cups hazelnuts (soaked 4-6 hours)
1/3 cup golden flax seeds
3 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
1 ½ tsps nutritional yeast
½ tsp sea salt (add to taste)
1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped thyme
½ cup filtered water
Make the flax seeds into a flour in your blender or grinder.
Drain the soaked hazelnuts and rinse thoroughly. In a food processor, blend into the consistency of chunky couscous. Make sure it’s not too fine or the crisps will not have s nice consistency. Place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix by hand until well combined. If the mixture is not coming together, add a few more tablespoons of water as needed.
Spread the mixture out evenly onto dehydrator sheets. Place a clean dehydrator sheet or piece of baking paper on top and roll with a rolling pin. The resulting spread should measure 4mm high. Score the mixture into 3cm wide and 18 cm long crisps and dehydrate at 46c for 24 hours, then flip over and dehydrated on mesh sheets at 41c for a further 24 hours.
Almond Hummus
2 medium peeled and roughly chopped courgettes
¾ cup almonds (soaked 12 hours)
½ cup tahini
3tbsp cold pressed olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin
1 large crushed and finely chopped garlic clove
¼ tsp chilli powder
Drain the soaked almonds and rinse thoroughly. Put all ingredients in a food processor and run until smooth, wiping the sides down as you go.
Almond milk
2/3 cup almonds (soaked 12 hours)
2 cups filtered water
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
Drain the soaked almonds and rinse thoroughly, then blend all ingredients on high in a blender for 1-2 minutes until well combined.
Strain through a fine cheesecloth/muslin to produce a smooth milk that doesn’t contain any pieces. Keeps in a sealed jar or bottle for 2-3 days.
Keep the leftover nut pulp to use in dessert and cake recipes, or place in your dehydrator at 41 degrees Celsius to make nut flour.
Extracted with permission from The Unbakery; raw organic goodness by Megan May