Raw Vegan Noodles Smothered in Rich Mushroom Sauce

If you’re a pasta lover, you never have to worry about giving up noodle dishes on a raw food diet. I love raw food recipes that use vegetable-based noodles because they can be adjusted to meet any culinary taste. Once you pick up a spiralizer (one of my favorite & inexpensive kitchen tools), you can begin to make noodles out of all sorts of fun and colorful, nutritious raw veggies. This recipe produced beautiful yellow noodles because I used yellow squash instead of zucchini.

The secret to delicious raw vegetable noodles is all in the sauces and seasonings applied. It’s really not that different than traditional cooked pasta. Think about it – Does plain cooked spaghetti have much flavor? Not really. It’s all about the sauces on top! Only, with raw veggie noodles you are getting a meal loaded with fiber, water, and phytonutrients. Combined, those elements satisfy your hunger and nutritional needs in a way that triggers your appetite’s “off switch.”

This is a radical shift from eating gummy, refined flour-based noodles that can clog your system and leave you bloated or feeling like the bottomless pit. If you are anything like I was before going raw, cooked flour-based noodles can be a binge trigger for you resulting in overeating and guilt. No thank you! I’ll take my vegetable noodles over that any day. And I don’t miss a thing about cooked pasta. Raw food noodles are easy to make and so delicious!

This dish uses plenty of yummy mushrooms to give it a rich, satisfying flavor. Mushrooms can add a divine umami taste to your meals. What’s umami? Think of it as a deep savory flavor that packs a punch. Some foods have naturally occurring umami, like mushrooms and tomatoes. This umami taste is also why some people think that mushrooms give vegan dishes an almost meaty flavor.

You’ll find that some raw foodists are not fans of consuming mushrooms and loudly advocate against consuming fungi. You will have to make that choice on your own. I occasionally enjoy mushrooms but they are not a staple, and I don’t think they are nutritionally necessary in order to thrive on a raw vegan diet. I think of them as flavor enhancers that are fun to use in recipes, but totally optional.

Remember, as you progress in your plant-based lifestyle you are going to learn what works for you and what doesn’t. Everyone is different, so be open to a little experimentation. I suggest staying away from nutritional dogma and instead remaining a little bit flexible in terms of how you approach raw foods.

Enjoy!

Yours in delicious heath,

Raw Vegan Noodles Smothered in Rich Mushroom Sauce

Yield: 1-2 people

Ingredients:

2-3 yellow squash, peeled and spiralized using your spiral slicer tool

2 tablespoons of raw tahini
5-6 large crimini mushrooms or 1 large portobello mushroom
1/2 cup raw tomato
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of pink salt
2 tablespoons of dried basil leaves
Fresh cracked black pepper
Dash of garlic powder or to taste
Dash of onion powder or to taste

Directions:

Slice mushrooms then marinade in lemon juice and a pinch of your salt. Set aside to let them absorb the flavors and soften.

Spiralize peeled squash using spiral slicer. Place noodles into a colander, massage briefly with a pinch of pink salt, and then set the colander over a bowl as the noodles will release some liquid. Set aside while you prepare the sauce. This allows noodles to be room temperature and soften, resulting in a texture that is much like traditional noodles. Plus, if you add a warm (raw) sauce on top, you wind up with an overall warm meal. Not all raw food is cold!

In high-speed blender, blend around 3/4 of your mushrooms with all other ingredients (except for the noodles), tasting your sauce as you go and adjusting seasonings to your taste. If your blender allows for it, try blending your sauce until the outside of the blender container feels warm to the touch. Check with the manufacturer if you have any questions about what your blender can and can't do. I love my Vitamix because it is truly a chef's tool and I can always heat both raw sauces and soups in it.

Plate your noodles and top with sauce & remaining mushrooms, cracked black pepper and a little drizzled olive oil if you wish.

Note: I am not a fan of consuming a lot of olive oil, but that is a topic for another blog entry! Suffice to say, I recommend using olive oil as an occasional and optional addition to your raw vegan recipes. I found it very helpful as I was transitioning to raw and learning a totally new way of eating. I still craved a certain kind of mouth-feel and fatty flavor in my meals, so I think it's important to provide viable options to every stage of raw foodism.