Raw Tapas for Dinner...Guess What I Turned Into "Bacon"!?

Tapas are on the menu for dinner! Small portions of several tasty treats make my ideal meal, because I like really tasty things (which can be too much for a whole meal) and because I love experimenting and making up raw recipes.

A few of my favorite tapas from my pre-raw days included patatas bravas – spicy, fried potato chunks – and these super tasty dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese and an almond sliver, from Boqueria in New York. I made my own version of those as well as kale chips last night for din din along with a big salad.

So first, I had to accomplish my most amazing raw feat yet, to turn a date into bacon...well, turn a date bacon-y. I've had "bacon" made out of eggplant, but had the brainstorm that a smooshed date could be made to resemble the porky treat a little bit more. I pitted a medjool date, and sliced it into ¼ inch pieces, stuck them together and pounded them out between plastic wrap, then drizzled a teensy bit of oil and a little salt on ‘em, and warmed in the dehydrator. I felt like a pretty big genius having figured this out, so I took a few pictures. Then I wrapped pieces of the “bacon” around an almond…so it wasn’t EXACTLY like the cooked version, but the salty/sweet, crunchy/gooey combo was spot-on.

The patatas bravas idea was born out of my attempt to turn avocados into something like french fries…I’ve tried a few times, and the results have been so-so…but the patatas bravas for some reason worked really well. Here’s how to do it:

Cube an avocado

In a small tupperware bowl that you have a lid for, mix up 1 tsp of paprika, ¼ tsp cayenne (more if you like a lot of spice), ½ teaspoon of granulated onion, and ¼ tsp of salt.

Toss the avocado to totally coat (no green peeking through!) and dehydrate on mesh screens for 2ish hours, until they are a little crispy on the outside. I fooled my guy – he thought there were real potatoes inside the crispy coating!

I'll save the kale chips recipe for another time...

Raw appétit!