A duo of raw sauces

I’ve got another two-part post for you, this time from Brendan Brazier’s Thrive Diet. He’s a vegan Ironman triathlete, and his book contains information, recipes, and meal plans for an all-vegan, high-raw, whole foods diet. I made his curry lentil crackers a few weeks ago, and really liked them. When the book came, I devoured the whole thing in just a couple of days, and excitedly high-tailed it to Wild Oats to gather some of the more uncommon ingredients he uses, including hemp oil and hemp seeds, which are called for in these recipes here. This post contains the two raw sauces that will be utilized in tomorrow’s recipe. Feel free to substitute olive oil or sesame seeds if you don’t have the hemp products.

Sun-dried tomato marinara:
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup water
1 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 cup grated cucumber
3T hemp oil
1T balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
Sea salt to taste



Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in the water for 20 minutes (retain this water). In a food processor, process all ingredients together, including sun-dried tomato water. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. This sauce is chunky, richly tomatoey, and very sweet. Feel free to increase the crushed red pepper to balance this, and/or be liberal with the salt.



Sweet pepper hemp pesto:
2 red bell peppers
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 heaping T nutritional yeast flakes
1 heaping T sesame seeds
2T hemp seeds
2T hemp oil
2 cloves garlic
Sea salt to taste



In a food processor, process all ingredients together. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. This one was my favorite—I thought it was actually less sweet than the marinara, and I really liked the thick-but-smooth texture.



You can eat these sauces in any way your heart desires—on pasta or vegetables, as a veggie burger or sandwich spread, as a cracker or crudité dip, etc. You’ll want to come back tomorrow, though, to see how I put them to delicious use.



Marinara—Yield: about 3 1/2 cups. Per 1/2 cup: 109 calories, 6.1g fat (1g sat), 11.3g carbs, 3g fiber, 2.2g protein.
Pesto—Yield: about 2 cups. Per 1/4 cup: 71 calories, 5.6g fat (1g sat), 3.6g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.3g protein.