Black Rice also known as Forbidden Rice is a nutrient-dense rice that has many antioxidant properties and has recently become highly revered in mainstream health-related media, referenced and acknowledged in daytime shows like Dr. Oz and the Doctors. It's an amazing rice with an interesting history.


INGREDIENTS
Forbidden Rice, prepared according to instructions.

SAUCE
1-3 Tbsp turbinado or organic vegan sugar, can use agave or coconut sugar as well
I used starfruit, plum, and apple for my 'sauces'. Use any fresh fruit of choice.

Simmer the fruit in a saucepan with water and turbinado sugar for a few minutes until it becomes syrupy.
Easy. This sauce can be used on the last rice pudding post as well.

Simmering plums- sugar water turns colors

If you like rice pudding, want a slightly healthier and much sweeter alternative, I suggest to try this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Dry
1 cup Organic flour
3/4-1 cup Turbinado/Organic Sugar
1/2 tsp. Sodium-free baking powder

Wet
3/4 cup - Blended banana
1/2 cup - Vanilla almond milk

Add-ins
1/2 cup - Shredded coconut
1/2 or 3/4 cup - Vegan chocolate chips

I also like to add a dash of shredded coconut and chocolate chips to the top as well.





Blend dry ingredients, mix the dry into the wet, and pour into a baking dish.
Bake on 350 for 25-35 minutes until slightly browned (photographed below). Times may vary.

INGREDIENTS

Dry
1 cup - Flour
1 cup - Raw sugar or brown sugar
1/2 teas - Baking powder ( can use sodium-free)
1/8 teas - Sea salt (I make this without salt)

Wet
1/2 teas - Vanilla
3/4 cup - Blended banana
1/2 cup - Almond milk or other non-dairy milk

Add-ins
1/2 cup - Shredded coconut
1/2 or 3/4 cup - Vegan chocolate chips

Blueberries could also be added to this, along with a crumb-cake topping.


METHOD

Just mix together the wet and dry ingredients then pour into a baking dish.
Bake on 350 for 25-30 minutes. Times may vary.

After mixing all ingredients, it looks like this..

This recipe was adapted from one I found from this coconut bliss bar recipe. I omitted oil/earth balance, used banana as an egg substitute, and added almond milk, which is why the texture and look of the two recipes are completely different.

Lately, there have been a lot of raw vegan pies appearing on several of the vegan-raw vegan blogs I follow. So once I had finally obtained some good dates (could only get a few since quality dates are expensive) AND persimmons, I decided to make- something sweet especially since I had a really, really ripe hachiya persimmon that needed to be eaten. This single-serving pie is small, but it is super sweet.

Frozen version

INGREDIENTS

FILLING
1 or 2 Medjool Dates
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 Hachiya Persimmon, if you have the Fuyu persimmon use two

CRUST
3-4 Dates*
1 Slice Apple**
A pinch cinnamon
Coconut sugar, enough to roll the "crust-dough"

*I only had four dates left when I made this recipe, which is why the crust looks so faint. I recommend using anywhere from 3-6 dates and using a food processor or really good blender for the dates.
**I used only a little bit of apple since I was eating apple when I made it and thought it would be a good addition to the crust.  I suppose you could also use pecans, cashews, or some other nuts to make it more of a crust, the pie just won't be fat-free.






CRUST
- Blend or process dates, pieces of apple, and pinch of cinnamon until at crust-like, blended consistency.
- Then roll crust into ball and roll that ball in a bowl of coconut sugar to coat the outside. When coated, flatten the "dough" as shown in the two photos below:


 FREEZER
About 30+ minutes after letting in set in the freezer it should look like this

Great dessert, leftover lunch/snack, or possible breakfast option. It's a veganized rice pudding that is super easy to make and tastes like french toast.




INGREDIENTS
1 cup water
1 cup medium-grain or short-grain rice
1-2 cups almond-coconut milk or vanilla rice dream*
* vanilla - optional
TOPPINGS
Cinnamon/Cinnamon-sugar
Turbinado or Coconut Sugar
Raisins

METHOD
Cook rice per usual- measure, rinse, boil water, add rice, and cook. Add milk either while rice is cooking or after it has fully cooked and simmer until it becomes blended and creamy with a mushy texture [like pictured below]. While the non-dairy milk is cooking into the rice, fold in/add sugar, spices (cinnamon), and vanilla if non dairy milk is not already flavored with vanilla. Easy. The cooking time  mostly  depends on how exactly you want your rice-pudding.

Dates are like nature's caramel candy except with nutritional value!





INGREDIENTS
Dates and Coconut Sugar.
You could also add any other fruits or seeds (hemp, chia, flaxseeds)
to this recipe if you don't want to use sugar.


METHOD
Pulse dates in blender or food processor until it becomes a paste. You can also cut the dates with a knife or fork if you don't have or don't want to use a blender/processor. I find that using my knife to blend the dates is less time consuming and makes less of a mess.

After dates are turned into a paste, roll it into a ball. Then add an ample amount of coconut sugar to a container and roll the date-ball-paste around in the coconut sugar. Set into another freezable container and put date-spheres into the freezer for anywhere to 20 minutes to an hour.
Quick and easy!