Mixed Nut Paté

This type of raw “paté” can fool even seasoned foodies into thinking the dish is not one of these new-fangled raw concoctions. Having training in “classic French” cooking (with a little mandatory residue of any French chef’s mental state that it is the only real culinary art–a tendency towards fundamentalism is, after all, part of human nature) it actually took me a while to experiment with raw foods myself. More on that in a future post, but for now, check out this recipe for an interesting alternative to hummus or a paté.

yield: 5 cups  |  prep time: 30 minutes  |  cooking time: raw

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ingredients

• 1 cup almonds

• ¾ cup macadamia nuts

• 1 cup sunflower seeds

• ⅓ cup sesame seeds

• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 stalk celery, chopped

• 1 carrot, chopped

• ½ cup minced scallions, minced

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• ⅓ cup minced parsley

• 1 ½ teaspoons minced rosemary

• 1 teaspoon minced thyme

• ½ teaspoon minced oregano

• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 3 tablespoons brewer’s yeast

directions

1. Soak the nuts and seeds overnight in enough filtered water to cover. Drain and then place the nut and seed mixture in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade or into a blender. Add enough fresh filtered water to come about 1/8 of the way up the height of the nut mixture. Blend until the nuts are very evenly ground, scraping down the sides of the bowl adding more water as necessary in order to obtain an even consistency. Depending on the size of your processor or shape of your blender bowl, you may need to puree the mixture in more than one batch. Transfer this paté mixture to a large mixing bowl.

2. Place the bell pepper, celery and carrot in the processor and, using a pulse action and scraping down the bowl as necessary, chop very finely. Stir this into the paté mixture along with the scallions, soy sauce, parsley, thyme, oregano, garlic, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

3. The paté may be served immediately or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You may serve it as a dip or shape it into a loaf (see directions below) and then serve sliced in a more formal fashion.

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notes

To make the paté into a loaf shape, line a 5-cup bread pan with wax paper. To do this, brush the inside of the pan with oil. Cut a piece of wax paper long enough so that it wraps from long side to long side around the outside dimension of the pan. (Using standard wax paper, it should also be exactly the right width to cover the pan end to end as well).

Place the pan in the center of the paper as a measuring tool and cut an angle from each of the four corners of the paper to the bottom corners of the pan. Place the paper in the pan, covering the bottom and sides then wrapping the trimmed ends so the fit neatly into the ends of the pan and the entire pan is covered with wax paper. Trim and discard excess paper.

Transfer the paté mixture into the pan. Smooth out the top of the paté and drop the pan gently onto the countertop to remove air bubbles. Cover with an additional piece of wax paper and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 5 days.

To serve, peel off the top layer of wax paper. Place a plate over the paté and invert. Holding both plate and edges of the bread pan, give the paté several firm downward shakes and the paté should fall right out of the pan. Serve whole or in slices, garnished with fresh herbs.