Celestial Pecan Pie

• 5 bananas
• 1 papaya (or mango, or a pint of strawberries, sliced)
• 1 cup pecans (soaked in water for 1 hour)
• 1 1/2 cups pecans (don’t soak)
• 6 oz. filtered water
• 5-10 dates, soaked
• 1/2 vanilla bean, cut into tiny pieces
• 1 heaping tbsp. raw honey (or to taste)
• dash of Nama Shoyu

1. Soak one cup of pecans in filtered water. Set aside.
2. FRUIT CRUST:
   In a 9-inch glass pie pan, arrange one layer of sliced bananas (2 1/2 bananas should do it). Lay the banana slices in a spiral pattern with one slice slightly overlapping the other until you have covered the entire pie pan. Also put a layer going up the sides of the pie pan. Next, cut the papaya into 1/4 inch thin slices and layer the papaya over the banana. Over the papaya, put another layer of slightly overlapping banana slices. Now with your hands, compress the fruit down evenly. Set aside.
3. FILLING:
   In a blender, put 1 cup of soaked (drained) pecans, dates, 6 oz. filtered water and tiny pieces of vanilla bean and blend to a fine cream. Taste the cream, and if it is not sweet enough for your taste, add more dates.
4. Pour the cream over the fruit in the pie pan. Put the pie pan into the dehydrator and dehydrate at 95° F for 3 hours.
5. In a small bowl, blend the raw honey with just a little water and a dash of Nama Shoyu. Prepare the unsoaked pecans for the topping by tossing gently with the honeyed water to coat the pecans.
6. After 3 hours, take the pie out of the dehydrator and place one layer of the prepared pecans on top of the pie. Place them artistically radiating towards the center of the pie.
7. Chill the pie at least one hour before serving.

Almond Roca

• 2 cups sprouted almonds
• 1/2 cup dried, shredded coconut (always dry coconut yourself in a dehydrator as the dried coconut that you can purchase, even in health food stores, has been bleached and pasteurized)
• 1/4 cup raw wildflower honey
• 1/2 vanilla bean, ground

1. Put all the ingredients, except coconut, into a food processor and process until mixture holds together.
2. Transfer to a bowl, add in the shredded coconut, and blend well by hand.
3. Form into small ball shapes, and refrigerate. These are very delicious, but don’t overdo!

Makes 1 dozen. Keeps up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

VARIATION: Instead of honey, use soaked raisins to taste. (Soak raisins for 24 hours in filtered water.)

Raspberry Frappé

• 2 cups frozen raspberries
• 3 frozen bananas
• 2 tbsp. raw honey blended with a little water

1. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and using the “S” blade, process to a creamy consistency.

Chocolate Sham Ice Cream

• 10 oz. Almond Milk (see Juices & Beverages section)
• 7 large prunes, soaked until soft
• 4 large dates, soaked until soft
• 2 oz. date water (water in which the dates were soaked)
• 2-3 heaping tbsp. raw carob powder
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Powder – optional, but good (to make Vanilla Powder, cut up 2 or more vanilla beans, put into a nut grinder and grind as fine as possible. Store in glass jar in the refrigerator)

1. Put the Almond Milk and all the other ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight.
2. When ready to serve, put the cubes through the Champion or Green Power juicer with the blank (homogenizer) in place. Out comes a great ice cream. While it won’t fool hard-core chocolate aficionados – for the rest of us, it hits the spot. Best of all, it has no caffeine or theobromine to addict us.

NOTE: This can also be made without the carob powder for a mellower flavor.

Coconut Cream

• 1 fresh coconut (look for a coconut with a light brown shell, as opposed to dark brown – it will be younger and fresher, or you could use the meat from Thai coconuts or Green Water Coconuts)

1. With a flathead screwdriver poke a hole into one of the “eyes” of the coconut and pour out the coconut water.* The coconut water is not used in this recipe, however, it is an excellent water to drink.
2. With a hammer, break the coconut open and separate the meat of the coconut from the shell. Rinse the coconut, then cut into pieces and put through the Champion juicer,** using the juice screen. You are making coconut juice, which comes out as a cream. If you are juicing more than two coconuts, keep checking the juicer because it has a tendency to overheat, and then you will be cooking your cream. If the juicer feels hot, turn it off and let it cool before proceeding.

1. Thai Coconuts come with the husk already partially cut down. They have a flat bottom and the top looks like a pyramid. The outside is an off white color. I open them like this: first, with a sharp knife shave off as much of the top pyramid part as will come off. Then with a big, heavy knife, hit the top on four sides (in a square shape). You may have to hit each side more than once. By the time you get to the third side, the coconut should already be open – I mean the small square on the top will be open. Peel back the shell and pour out the water. (Drink the water or save for another use.) Using the edge of a large spoon you can separate the meat from the husk and pull it out through the square hole you created.
2. Green Water Coconuts unfortunately are not available everywhere. The water from these coconuts is excellent for drinking or fasting purposes. I have seen these coconuts in all the Caribbean Islands and Florida and they are made available in New York City. If you purchase these coconuts in Florida or the Islands, they are usually chopped off at either end and a straw is put in so that you can enjoy the water. At home, I’ve found an easier way to open them. Slice a section of husk off the side with a sharp knife. Then with the end of a sharp knife, cut a hole into the side and pour off the water. When the coconuts are young and fresh, it is easy to do this. When they are older, the husk seems to petrify. It gets hard as a rock and then this method of opening them will not work. Also the water inside of these harder coconuts may or may not be good to drink. Some Green Water Coconuts are all water and do not develop meat, but others do have a thick layer of very delicious meat.

One average coconut yields approx. 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Coconut Cream. To keep overnight, put into the refrigerator. If you want to keep it longer, freeze in ice cube trays.

NOTE: Coconut Cream can be used to make various ice creams and parfaits,and also some Caribbean style main course dishes, such as the Caribbean Wild Rice (see Recipe Index). It is also good by itself or as a topping for fruit salads.