A Vegan Raw Food Delight: Salmon[less] Spread Recipe, as an appetizer or main course.

It’s a requirement for those born in the Pacific Northwest to grow up eating fresh salmon. Salmon in eggs, salmon in pasta, salmon steaks, salmon salad, you name it. Salmon is as common for a Seattleite as, I imagine, frozen fish sticks are to someone in Oklahoma. I was lucky in that respect. But it also means that—now, on a raw food diet—I crave salmon more often than other raw foodists might. The solution: A raw, vegan salmon-less spread that parallels the real deal in both taste and consistency.

Fish are Friends Salmon[less] Spread

¼ cup barley, presoaked

½ cup carrot pulp

¼ cup onion, minced

¼ cup celery, minced

¼ cup sunflower seeds

â…› cup water

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp dill

½ tsp kelp granules

¼ tsp salt

This recipe requires a little prep. Presoak unhulled barley for 14 hours to allow sufficient time for softening. You may wait until they begin to sprout to use them in this recipe. You’ll also need the pulp from 2-3 juiced carrots.

Place ¼ heaping cup of presoaked barley in a grinder, blender, or food processor and pulse to splinter the grains. Stop before it turns into a flour-like consistency.

Stir barley and the next three ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a blender, grind the sunflower seeds into a powder. Add lemon juice and seasonings and blend—adding just enough water to get a soft cream-cheese-like consistency.

Add sunflower mixture to the ingredients previously set aside. Mix thoroughly by hand. The mixture should be flaky but should also hold together when pressed.

Serve Fish are Friends Salmon[less] Spread as an appetizer on cucumber slices, celery sticks, endive leaves, or on raw crackers. Serve on a bed of lettuce for a satisfying main course. Salmon[less] Spread will keep for three days in the fridge. Yields nearly 2 cups.