Elk with Plum Sauce and Rice

This was a very happy experiment that turned out amazing!  I had some pretty red plums fresh from my neighbor's tree, and I wanted to eat something exotic for lunch.  A star recipe was born!  The sauce was gorgeous!  My kids were raving about how this meal was perfectly sweet/tart/savory with lots of texture and bright color.

Elk Prep:
1 to 2 elk roasts (from my hubby's elk we home processed :))
1 Rapunzel brand bullion cube
garlic salt to taste
onion powder to taste
Himalayan salt to taste
Place elk roasts in a slow cooker.  Cover roasts with water until water reaches within 1/2 inch from the top of the roasts. Add bullion cube and spices listed above to taste. Slow cook for 10-15 hours.  At the end of elk cooking time prepare plum sauce.  Also, make your favorite rice according to package directions.  (I made Jasmine rice in my pressure cooker.)

Plum Sauce:
2 1/2 cups sliced plums (about 3/4 pound)
1/3 cup sugar (use sweetener of choice to substitute: agave, sucanate, honey, etc)
2 TBS water
Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Cover, bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Reduce heat to low, cook for 15 minutes our until plums are tender.  Cool slightly.  Place in a food processor (I love my Blend Tech Blender) and pulse until chunky.

Serve the plum sauce and slow cooked elk on a bed of cooked rice of your choice.
A feast for the eyes and the mouth!

Brown Rice Arame Noodles

Thanks to my awesome Korean friend, my kids are addicted to sea vegetables!  My kids would eat this for dinner every night if I would let them.

Arame Noodles 

1 Cup lightly packed Emerald Cove Arame (found at Asian stores, my local health food store, and on vitacost.com it is expensive, but soooo worth it!)

1 (8 oz) package Annie Chun's Maifun Brown Rice Noodles (think angel hair brown rice pasta)

2 TBS toasted sesame seed oil

1 Cup thinly sliced onion (I use green onions)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Cup carrots, sliced into matchsticks

1/2 cup filtered water

*You can add 3 TBS corn kernels, but I omit because my kids are allergic to corn

Rinse arame in cool water and drain.  Place in a bowl, cover with water, and soak while noodles cook.

Cook noodles according to directions (only takes about 2-4 minutes to cook)

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the green onions and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add the sliced carrots and saute for 1-2 more minutes.  Drain arame and add, cooking for another 1-2 minutes.

Turn up heat to medium high, add water (and corn if you want) and cook for 7-8 minutes until arame is soft and the water is absorbed.  Place arame-vegetable mixture over the noodles in a serving bowl, top with dressing and serve.

Dressing:

4 TBS soy sauce (I omit for my kids, since they are allergic to soy and just use Himalayan salt to taste at the table)

4 TBS toasted sesame oil

2 TBS brown rice vinegar (I usually just use rice vinegar, because I haven't found brown rice vinegar before)

Raw Melissa's Spring Rolls and Thai Nut Sauce

My kids love the 'magical rice paper skins".  They have a blast making these.

Raw Melissa's Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls
by Raw Melissa

16 rice paper skins (I bought these at good earth.)
1/2 lb. of mixed lettuce greens
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
1 bunch cliantro, washed
1 bunch basil, washed (I left this out.)
2 avocados, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced

Fill a shallow pan with warm water. Put three rice paper sheets in water, as they soften and become pilable, pull out one sheet and lay it on a cutting board. On bottom 1/3 of the rice paper, place 4-5 leaves of cilantro and 2-3 leaves basil. On top of this, lay a couple slices of avocado, two slices of red pepper, and 4-6 carrot lengths. Add a handful of lettuce mix to the top of the pile and roll up your spring roll. Start by lifting the bottom edge up over the pile of veggies with one hand, while holding the veggies tightly in place with the other hand. Fold the left side over, then the right side. Tightly roll the rest of your spring roll until everything is enclosed. Continue until all the rice papers are filled.

Thai Nut Sauce
by Raw Melissa

1 cup almonds
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup tamari sauce  (I used sea salt for Aspen, Michael &  Linden)
1/2 cup agave (could use 1/4 cup honey, coconut sugar or sweetener of choice)
4 cloves garlic

Put all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.