This month Matthew and 105degrees are featured in Whole Life Magazine.

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White Corn Filling

• 12 corn husks
• 5 cups white corn kernels
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced
• ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1¼ cups pine nuts, soaked 1-2 hours
• 1¼ cups cashews, soaked 1-2 hours
• 1teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tbs. minced red onion
• 2 tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2cup lime juice

Place 3 cups of the corn, the tomatoes and the red bell pepper in a bowl; set aside. In a food processor, blend the remaining ingredients until very smooth. Pour into bowl with other ingredients and mix well with hands.

Serrano Spiced Portobello

• 4 Portobello mushrooms, cut in half and into 8 slices per side.
• 1 Serrano Chili, Seeded and minced
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Toss mushrooms with olive oil, Serrano and salt then spread on Teflex sheets to dehydrate for 12 hours. Mix corn filling with Portobello.

Raw Cacao Mole

• 6 dried ancho/chipotle chilies, soaked 2-3 hours and drained
• ½ cup chopped red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbs. sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours and drained
• ½ cup almond butter
• ½ cup raisins, soaked 20-30 minutes
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbs. agave
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp.cayenne
• 1 cup cacao powder

Blend all ingredients in vita-mix until smooth.

To Prepare Corn Husks

Soak corn husks in warm water for 1 to 2 hours. Dry carefully. To assemble, lay the corn husks flat and place about 1/2 cup of the corn mixture onto the center of each. Fold the bottom up over the filling and then fold the sides over. Using the husk strips tie the tops of each tamale. Place the tamales in the dehydrator for 2 hours.

Guacamole

• 3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1 large handful cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 scallion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red chili finely minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and mash well with a fork.

Assembly

• Cacao Powder for garnish
• Cilantro Leaves

Spoon a generous amount of mole sauce on each plate, and set two tamales on sauce. Spoon Guacamole on top and garnish with cacao powder and cilantro leaves.

Recipe excerpted from Entertaining in the Raw, published by Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2009. Click here to purchase online.

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It has become common practice for many raw food chefs to include a very special ingredient when labeling their various products. Along with agave, cacao, maca, spirulina, goji, cashew, date and coconut butter, you’ll often find “love”. With Olive Mackey, there is no need for a label. Her passion for everything she does comes through so brightly, I find myself feeling happy just thinking about her and everything she does. In the most subtle manner possible, Olive offers knowledge, abundance and health to her community in a large way.

When I became involved in the development of Cafe 118, which is now open in Winter Park, Florida, I was told by the founder, Joe Diaz, that Central Florida had a large and growing number of raw food enthusiasts. One of the larger groups we were fortunate to interact with was the local ‘Meetup’, which now has over 400 members. Olive, or Chef Olive as many call her, is the organizer of that wonderful and very active group.

It is hard to define Olive, as she has a number of roles, all moving at the same time. As a culinary teacher, she has a dedicated following, especially for the classes she offers at Whole Foods in Winter Park. Her audience is extraordinarily diverse in age and background, but the one constant is that they are a positive group that shows up in high numbers. Although she will downplay the breadth of her influence, Olive’s classes are very diverse and far reaching. Some are hands on, others have a specific emphasis on holidays or defined areas of raw foods. She is constantly evolving and learning, studying and traveling to broaden her own knowledge.

While many chefs stay within their kitchens or restaurants when teaching, Olive organizes field trips, foraging adventures in seach of wild edibles or expeditions to other areas of the state to visit experts within the holistic world. To hear Olive speak is an experience, even in casual conversation. Her talks vary among numerous subjects, all based on her unique approach to living well and most important, her caring and understanding of her audience and their needs.

There are monthly potlucks, her regular ‘Raw Challenge’, and so many journeys, experiences and avenues to educate and inspire. Even the names of her venues are varied, fun and energetic, which represent her well. Some of the more memorable that I’ve read about are her “Fruit and Spice Park Trip” and “Table of Plenty” . When Olive wrote to me “Did you know there were over 200 varieties of mango? I plan to try them all!”, I knew she was 100% serious!

Wild Poinsetta

Table of Plenty

One of the more interesting facets of her teaching involves fermentation, a subject that is both fascinating and healthful. Her “Living Liquids” includes Kombucha making and Rejuvelac instruction, of which I was fortunate to sample and love a cranberry keifer. Her fermenting class is also extensive and wildly colorful.

Fermenting Class

Tastings

In keeping with the theme of Olive’s distinctive bouncy, elegant and positive direction, I was intensely interested in her 6th annual “Thanks-Living” dinner. It was a sold out, annual event featuring several of her incredibly satisfying holiday dishes. I wish I had been there!

Of course, if all this was not enough for a small army of inspirational leaders to manage, she still fills an extremely important position as Regulatory Supervisor for the Department of Agriculture. On a recent evening when we were in touch, she was readying for a speaking event directed toward a group of tropical fruit growers.

Educator, Chef, Therapist, Event Coordinator, Kombucha Creator Extraordinaire – there are many fitting titles, but the true nature of Olive’s work is best described as abundant, giving, warm, light and full of life. Her followers and the way they are nurtured are the best testament to that.

Olive Mackey

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