Gluten-Free Vegan Stuffed Kale Leaves With Mint Cashew Aioli
This Raw Stuffed Kale Leaves with Mint Cashew Aioli dish is a unique and delicious raw food recipe from Russell James, "The Raw Chef".
I was a little scared to make any changes to this recipe though.
Did I dare to challenge perfection?
Not intentionally.
But after reading over the recipe ingredients, I realized I didn't know what "vine leaves" were or where to buy them.
So I opted for the next best thing...dark green kale leaves.
The version of kale I bought was called "Lacinato Kale" or "Noir Chou Frise".
It is different from the regular kale I normally buy.
For example, it has longer, thinner stalks with a darker green color.
And, they were fairly thin and easy to roll so they were perfect to replace the vine leaves.
Even though the ingredient list looks a little long, it's probably things you already have on hand and is just a matter of putting them into a food processor and Vitamix and then a short time to assemble them.
This recipe can branch out into so many different directions.
You can serve it as the wraps and dip. You can make the dip separately to serve with raw veggies. Or, you can use raw nori sheets instead of the veggie leaves to make a sushi-type roll, which is what I will do next time.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Dinner Recipes?
Check out these:
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Basil Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Zucchini Boats with Creamy Garlic Sauce
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with 75+ plant-based recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Gluten-Free Vegan Stuffed Kale Leaves with Mint Cashew Aioli
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups organic cauliflower rice
- 4 pieces organic lacinato kale
For the stuffing sauce:
- 2 tablespoons 100% pure avocado oil
- 3 cloves organic garlic
- ½ cup organic sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup organic sun-dried tomatoes (diced)
- 4 organic Medjool dates (pitted, diced)
- 1 habanero pepper (handle carefully)
- 2 tablespoons organic lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
For the aioli:
- 1 cup organic raw cashews
- ½ cup water, filtered/purified
- 5 cloves organic garlic
- 1 ¼ tablespoon organic lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
- ½ teaspoon organic maple syrup
For the aioli add-in:
- ⅓ cup organic mint leaves
Instructions
Prepare the cauliflower rice:
- Cut the cauliflower into bite-size floret pieces, then add to a food processor and process until it has a rice-like consistency and taking care to not overprocess.
- Squeeze out any excess water from the cauliflower rice then transfer to a medium-size mixing bowl and set aside.
Prepare the stuffing sauce:
- Add all the ingredients for the stuffing sauce to a Vitamix and blend until the sunflower seeds are broken down into small pieces. You may need to stop and scrape the sides a couple of times to make sure everything is blended well.
- Add the stuffing sauce to the medium mixing bowl with the cauliflower rice and stir together until everything is well combined.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference, then set aside.
Prepare the aioli:
- Add all ingredients for the aioli to a Vitamix and blend until creamy and smooth.
- Add the mint leaves to the Vitamix and pulse just a few times to chop them into small pieces, but not completely blending them in. You should be able to see tiny pieces of mint in the mixture.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Transfer the aioli to your serving dish(es).
Prepare the kale leaves + assembly:
- Take each piece of kale and cut off the bottom stem part (you can save these to juice!) so that you have a piece that resembles a wrap.
- With a spatula, spread 1-2 tablespoons of the stuffing mix onto the leaf and roll them up.
- Serve with the aioli as a dip.
- Store any leftovers in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The instructions, notes, and photographs for this recipe by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home™ website are copyrighted material. This copyrighted work is protected and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and cannot be legally used without my written permission.
fitjesusfreak says
Hey, This looks amazing & I'm sure tastes amazing as ALL your other recipes are sooooo yummy. I've been looking for something GF to wrap with my nori sheets. Could you substitute something else for the mint?? Or omit all together? (I don't think my younger one will go for the mint taste.) Thanks for your time & help.
Blessings, Keri
Karielyn says
Hi Keri! I think you could omit the mint completely and it would still be fine. The reason I say this is because one time I made it and did not have any fresh mint leaves on hand and I enjoyed it just the same.
I would definitely not pass up trying the recipe because of the mint...it's really good!
Sorry for taking a little long to answer your question, I normally am able to answer more promptly. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you decide to make it 😉
Mary says
This does look good, and it's the perfect time of year for it since kale is still in season and mint is just starting. I've heard a couple of other folks mention Russell James' recipes, looks worth investigating! I can't have cashews, unfortunately, and they are used so much in raw cuisine. Sometimes I can use another nut like macadamia or pine nut or else soft silken tofu for a similar 'cheesy' effect.
Karielyn says
Hi Mary! Yes, Russell James has so many good recipes to choose from...definitely check him out.
I would be completely lost if I couldn't use cashews because you're right, so many raw food recipes use them.
I bet you could use macadamia nuts and that would taste pretty close. I've never tried pine nuts though.
Let me know if the nut substitution works out because I'd love to know...thanks for stopping by 🙂