By Robin Silberman

Mock "Gefilte Fish"

Traditional gefilte [pronounced guh-FIL-tuh] fish is a standard part of any Ashkenazi Passover seder. Children of generations past would always watch as their grandmothers would spend the day preparing the four kinds of minced fish and boiling them for hours until all the flavors would blend together. As living fooders, we do not need to sit on the sidelines watching others eat. Here is one contribution that will be welcomed by all vegetarians at the seder table.

½ cup cashews, soaked overnight
½ cup almonds, soaked overnight
½ cup pine nuts, soaked overnight
½ cup green onion, finely minced
½ bunch parsley or fresh dill
¼ cup lemon juice (more or less)
1 clove or more of fresh garlic
1 tablespoon kelp granules or more (this gives the "fishy" and salty flavor)

Run the soaked cashews, almonds, and pine nuts through a Champion juicer using the "solid" (blank attachment. The mixture will come out very thick. [If you don't have a Champion, you can blend these in a food processor.] Put into a bowl and add the lemon juice, the salty liquid, and a small amount of water until it is a wet paté consistency. Mix. Add the minced onions, parsley, and other seasonings. Taste for flavor and "fishiness." Form into balls or patties, and let stand to flavor the paté. Serve on a bed of lettuce with a small amount of freshly grated horseradish on the side. Serves 4 or more, depending on the size of the patties.

Mock "Chopped Liver"

Mock "Chopped Liver" has been a vegetarian staple since the 1970s. And at every vegetarian seder I went to, I encountered some very original food-combining! As you probably know, food-combining is one of those nutritional beliefs that shuns originality.

I think the tastiest "edible" (properly food-combined) recipes for mock chopped liver are those made with either walnuts or almonds as a base, with added mushrooms, plus lentils or peas. The problem with using green beans (probably the most likely choice for Living Fooders), is that a blender or Champion juicer turns them into "liquid" greens, a texture that doesn't add to this recipe.

To make this mock chopped liver, you will need:

1 cup lentils or peas soaked, and/or sprouted
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion
¾ to 1 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon (or more) freshly squeezed lemon juice
kelp powder or granules to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper
optional: minced celery, red bell pepper, grated carrots, or other chopped vegetables.

Process the lentil sprouts, walnuts, and onion in a Champion juicer. Turn into a bowl, and add the oil and seasonings to taste. When adding the fresh lemon juice, start with 1 teaspoon and increase (up to 1 tablespoon) if you prefer more. Let this mixture set for a few hours and mix again before serving. For a chunkier mixture add finely minced celery, red bell pepper, grated carrots or other chopped vegetables. Serve with Living Foods Matzoh or finger vegetables.

Living Foods Tsimmes (Ashkenazi Style)

It isn't usual to eat potatoes raw, or in combination with other starches and fruit. Though the food-combining in this recipe seems precarious at best, the overall taste is quite nice. Since raw starchy vegetables need to be chewed thoroughly, it is best to grate all of these vegetables finely. The sugars in the added fruit juice help to break down the foods even further. The sauce is the key to this recipe.

1 large sweet potato
1 small white potato (Note: If you prefer not to use white potato, any root vegetable works here: parsnip, rutabaga, turnip, carrots, or extra squash.)
½ pound carrots (Note: You can substitute additional winter squash for carrots)
½ to 1 small orange squash (butternut or kabocha)
½ to 1 small turnip
1 small sweet apple (fuji, red delicious) optional
½ pound mixture of soaked pitted prunes and raisins and/or soaked dried apricots (soak these overnight in freshly squeezed orange juice, not water)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
optional: 5 or more chopped pitted dates
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
½ teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste

Finely grate the sweet potatoes, white potato, carrots, squash, and turnip in a Champion juicer or food processor. Squeeze out as much liquid from the white potato as possible and discard. Mix the vegetables, and set aside. Peel, core and chop the apple. Chop the dates. Combine part of the soaked prunes, raisins, or apricots with some of the orange juice in a blender until it is a consistency of thick sauce. Add a small part of the chopped dates. Add cinnamon and ginger to the sauce. Combine as much of the sauce to the grated vegetables as needed. Add the chopped apples. Add the chopped soaked fruit. Mix thoroughly. Taste again for correct seasonings. This recipe should be sweet. Because of the heaviness of this dish, serve it with something light.

Coconut-Almond Macaroons

The hardest thing to do when adapting traditional Jewish recipes to raw vegan ones is finding substitutes for traditional "binding" foods. Eggs have always been used as binders, especially for desserts, as have fats like butter and margarine. And for sweetness in traditional cooked omnivore recipes, sugar is the number one choice. Since Living Fooders do not eat eggs, typical fats or sugars, the textures of desserts tend to take on a different--heavier--consistency. To replace the umpteen eggs or egg whites that make traditional macaroons light and fluffy, I use bananas. I find they have the binding, sweetness, and creamy qualities found in the traditional recipes, without having the elements that we choose not to eat.

Here is my macaroon recipe:

3 cups almonds, unsoaked
3 cups dried unsweetened coconut
2 bananas
fresh pineapple juice (or orange juice) for liquid and sweetness
2 tablespoons non-alcoholic almond extract (for added almond flavor)
optional: dried orange rind and freshly squeezed orange juice

Grind the almonds finely. Grind the coconut finely. Mix the bananas and the juice in a blender to a mushy texture. Add this to the almond-coconut mixture. The mixture should be heavy and pliable, not loose. Add more coconut to get the right consistency. Add the extract for taste. Form tiny balls of the mixture and place on dehydrator trays (on teflex sheets) and dehydrate until dry, but chewy. For a more "orangy" flavor, use dried orange rind with the orange juice. Makes about 75 tiny macaroons.

Living Foods Matzoh

Matzoh is the mainstay of the Passover holiday. Without it, Passover just would not be the same. But we Living Foods enthusiasts need our own matzoh recipe. Dorleen Tong, one of the creators of SF LiFE (San Francisco Living Foods Enthusiasts) created the following recipe years before it became matzoh!

This recipe makes so much, you'd do well to have a 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator. If you want to make less, just half or third all of the ingredients.

15 pounds organic carrots (equals 22 cups of carrot pulp) (Note: You can substitute winter squash for the carrots. I like Kabocha because it tastes just like pumpkin.)
1 to 1 ½ pounds flax seed, unsoaked
Note: Each 8-cups of carrot pulp requires 8 ounces of flax seed. If you are making the entire recipe, 1 to 1½ pounds of flaxseed is sufficient.

This recipe is made from the pulp of juiced carrots. Juice 15 pounds of carrots and retain the juice for another time. Squeeze as much juice out of the pulp as possible and retain. In a grinder or blender, grind the flaxseed. Mix the two ingredients, and add as much carrot juice as is needed. If you have a 9-tray dehydrator, divide the mixture into nine portions, and flatten each portion on a dehydrator tray (on a teflex sheet). Score the pulp into 4 large squares, or 9 smaller squares, or leave without scoring the trays.

Dehydrate the matzoh at 105 degrees for at least 15 hours, or longer. Break the matzoh in pieces after it is dry and very crispy. Enjoy throughout the Passover holiday.

Bonus! Another recipe for raw matzoh, this one by Mark Braunstein

Note: Robin Silberman studied with Ann Wigmore in 1983, and became her San Francisco contact for the Whole Life Expos, preparing food for her workshops. She was also on staff with Ann in Puerto Rico at the Ann Wigmore Institute in 1991. After Ann's passing, Robin continued to do archival work on her correspondence and writings. In 1983, Robin helped found the oldest living foods support group in the country, then known as San Francisco Living Foods Support Group, and now called SF LiFE (San Francisco Living Foods Enthusiasts). She continues to be an active member, teaching living foods classes from an Ann Wigmore perspective, and recently demonstrating Living Foods for Passover, and completing the first Living Foods Passover Haggadah. To order Robin's Haggadah sent via Priority mail, ($14.50 covers book and postage if you mention Raw Foods News), send check to Robin Silberman, 1032 Irving Street #718, San Francisco, CA 94122-2218. For faster service and an e-mail download ($7.50 if you mention Raw Foods News), e-mail Robin. Robin has been a professional technical writer for 20 years, and is currently researching systems analysis and design.