Raw Rag™

Nut-milk & fruitola sundae for breakfast: A recipe from serendipity

Breakfast today was delicious. It came together a bit by accident, and, step by step, I will tell you how.

Last week, I made some granola approximating the Apple-Cinnamon Maple Pecan recipe from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw. I could not find any raw buckwheat groats at either Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage so substituted raw barley from the Whole Foods bulk-bins department. So the recipe was 

• I-1/2 cups raisins soaked for at least 1 hour (up to overnight)
• 2 cups raw barley, soaked for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator (I soaked mine for 24 hours)
• 1 cup water (the recipe says filtered but I am not that fussy; may be in the future but not now)
• I medium apple chopped in the food processor with the "S" blade
• 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of pecans soaked for at least an hour and chopped into small pieces (I just broke them up with my hands)

Put apple pieces, water, raisins, syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla in food processor with "S" blade or blender and blend on low until the stuff forms "a chunky paste." (Note: the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg here, too, but I left that out.)

To combine these ingredients, I used the food processor, and made a horrible mess; some of the liquid ran out of the machine and on to to the counter and floor. For my Regal model,

Summer is burger season and I am going to have one! (A "burger," that is)

Today is the last day of my fifth week of raw, and only a couple of off-limits foods am I craving. "Craving" may be too strong a word, but a hamburger and a barbecued rib do sound good. If I am quiet, I can actually hear them calling my name.

This week I ran into a new book on Amazon full of vegetarian burger recipes. Take a look here at the cover of Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful and Healthy Vegan and Vegetarian Burgers-Plus Toppings, Sides, Buns and More and see if those photos don't look tasty and inviting. More photos here.

I e-mailed the book's author Lukas Volger to see if any of the recipes are raw, and he responded that none are. I suppose some could be modified? Three of his recipes are linked to here. Any ideas about how to raw-ify them?

In the meanwhile, I hungrily scoured the Internet for alternative raw food burger

How I spent my Saturday afternoon - Fun and yum: Raw Foods 101 (And I took videos)

Yesterday the Denver temperature was high, the air sweltering, but I was cool. I was in the kitchen at Colorado Free University, attending a class on preparing raw foods. The instructors Yvonne Greenbaum and Terry Roth were engaging, and well-prepared to demonstrate several recipes. The class culminated in our sitting down to relish what Yvonne and Terry dished up.

In addition to the flavorful and delectable food, the conversation was enjoyable. Because those of us who are following the raw foods lifestyle are in the minority (for now), comparing notes with, and learning from, kindred spirits is an all-too-rare treat.

Attend class with me by watching my video clips of the two capable instructors preparing:

• Cheezecake (Terry and Yvonne modified this recipe as you will see in the video clip)
• Sticky Hazelnut Clusters (recipe halfway down the page)
• Italian Pizza Cheese (go to almost the end of the page), which they put on this Pizza Crust (Crust was prepared and dehydrated prior to class)
• Raw Chili

Click to watch the videos.

If those in the Denver area take the class, they will learn the same recipes as above (plus one for Green Smoothies) in the July class. In August through November, Terry and Yvonne change up the recipes; new ones will include:

• Kung Pao Almonds with Mung Beans
• Not Tuna Pate
• Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake
• Donut Holes

You leave the class with leftovers (maybe to impress some skeptical family members at home), and a booklet with raw-related information, recipes, and resources. Thanks, Terry and Yvonne.

Note: To learn about my Colorado Free University class Brains on Purpose™, go here for the session on September 25, and here for the one on November 13.

 

Using a green palette to design a sauce for my squash-ta

If you have a zucchini, why not make sauce, turn the squash into "pasta" with the saladacco, and pour some sauce on that squash-ta? That's what I made for dinner tonight.

For the sauce, I threw this and that (with an eye to green) into the Vitamix, blended it all, and came out with a pretty good sauce. As near as I can recreate, these are the ingredients:

• 2 cups packed spinach leaves and stems
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/4 cup water
• i Roma tomato
• 1/8 sweet onion
• i clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 3/4 teaspoon white miso
• sprinkle of dried kelp
• 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sesame oil

This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 servings. 1/2 zucchini makes one serving of saladacco-ized (spiral-sliced) squash-ta.

This sauce was okay, but it needs something. Maybe nama shoyu? I have enough green sauce for a couple of more servings so will add the shoyu next time. For me, experimenting as an artist is part of the allure of this lifestyle.

Next addition to my repertoire? Soup!

Because I'm getting a bit tired of smoothies and salads, I have decided to add some variety to my diet. Soup sounded good after I watched this video in which raw food guru Jennifer Cornbleet demonstrates Garden Vegetable Soup. She explains that the soup contains 6 kinds of ingredients:

1. Watery vegetable or greens
2. Water
3. Citrus juice
4. Salty seasoning
5. Pungent seasoning
6. Fat source

Watch the video for more details about each type of ingredient, as well as how to blend them all together. This way of eating is so easy, isn't it?

Today I am on day 12 with no regrets about beginning this journey. Real-deal raw continues to be fun.

Image credit: NutritionData.

Lots of smoothie recipes and raw food resources from e-friend Amy Martell

Knowing that I have a goal of continuing the raw food lifestyle after the first 10 days (today is day 9!), fellow mediator and lawyer Amy Martell (follow Amy on Twitter) sent me an e-mail bursting with helpful information about going raw.

I post her very helpful message here with permission. Thanks, Amy.

Amy writes:

As a basic rule, I use about 40% greens, 60% fruit, or more greens to taste.   Then fill the blender with liquid - either a juice, coconut water, or regular water (and ice, if using fresh instead of frozen fruit) - so that it covers almost (but not quite) all of the solid contents (about 7/8).  Use whatever fruit and whatever greens you like - baby spinach is the easiest green to tolerate at first, I've found.  Frozen bananas will add creaminess.  To the mix you can add other flavors - such as a chunk of fresh ginger, handfuls of fresh mint, vanilla powder, honey, or cacao powder.  Always add fruit first, then greens - blends better that way.  Be prepared to blend for about 2 minutes.  In my Vitamix-- an industrial blender--I have to blend for about 40 seconds.  You want it to be as smooth as possible. 

my basic "gateway" smoothie recipe:

2 bananas
3/4- 1 cup frozen or fresh pineapple
1/4 lime, peeled
1/2 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled
1 half-handful of fresh mint
2 large handfuls baby spinach

adjust proportions to taste or to fit in your blender

My recent fave: 1 grapefruit, peeled, 1 small chunk ginger, 1Tbsp raw honey, spinach, and a generous pinch of cayenne was amazing.

A lazy one:  2 small grapefruits, one with the skin on, with 1tsb of orange juice concentrate and baby spinach.

Local and (almost) in-season:  1 frozen banana, 3/4 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen peaches, handful fresh mint leaves, juice from 1/3 of a lime, 3 large leaves rainbow chard, handful of baby spinach, about 1 tsp fresh parsley.

Melon and mint are divine just by themselves, with a bit of spinach.

You can also do savory smoothies if your blender will tolerate.  kind of like a raw soup... carrots, celery, an apple, some tabasco, avocado ... etc.

-----------------------------------------
here are some links with recipes and info about smoothie making:

http://www.greenforlife.com/  (one of the best resources around on

Typical breakfast: Cow Popsicles

Even though they taste faintly like hay, I look forward to green drinks for morning meals. In truth, I have never tasted hay but can imagine the taste a cow experiences when chomping. Because of the greens, that taste is a part of my green smoothies. Don't misunderstand me -- they are pleasant and appetizing.

Because the drinks are also cold, nearly frozen, and sweet, I call them Cow Popsicles. They are bovinely divine.(Sorry, but it just seemed like the right thing to say.)

The general recipe I am now using for my morning drink:

• 3 large leaves of greens (today: one each of kale, bok choy, and collard)
• 3 ice cubes
• 1 heaping tablespoon of raw cocoa (I use Navitas brand)
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• At least 1/2 cup of frozen fruit (today: 1/2 frozen banana and about 1/3 cup of Rader Farms Nature's Three Berries)
• 1 or 2 heaping tablespoons of seeds (today: 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds)
• 1 to 4 heaping tablespoons of nuts (today: just 1 tablespoon of almonds; I usually use more and mix with other nuts such as cashews, macadamias, pecans, or walnuts)
• At least 1/2 cup of fresh fruit (today: none)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds (today: 2 tablespoons)
• 1or 2 pitted dates (today: 1 date)
• You may need to add up to 1 cup of water to get it to blend smoothly (today: about 3/4 cup of water)

Of course, all ingredients are raw. Throw them all in the VitaMix and blend your Cow Popsicle.

This lifestyle, the way I am approaching it, is experimental and flexible. I use the some-of-this-some-of-that method. Play! Think of yourself as an artist or a kid. Use your imagination and draw masterpieces.

Rolling, rolling, rolling rawRIDE!

If tonight's dinner is any indication, I have begun a raw food roll. The meal was simple to make, yet delectable. I prepared the Zucchini Pasta with Marinara Sauce that was demonstrated in this video to which I linked in an earlier post. Tonight was the first time I used my Saladacco (spiral slicer). It performed magic making zucchini into pasta.

Tonight's recipe is also in a book written by Jennifer Cornbleet, the woman in the video.

This entree was so good that I almost want to have it again for breakfast. With Bok Choy awaiting (I have never tasted it raw), I will instead have a green smoothie when morning comes. What else will I discover tomorrow? This lifestyle certainly was fun today.

One big advantage: The amount of time raw food prep consumes is small. For me that is a big, big, big boon.

Image credit: Raw Bart.

Even though ramen starts with ra, I have to find noodle subs for this lifestyle

Pasta is a food for all feelings: depressed, happy, sorry, infatuated, tired, exhilarated, funked. The starchy dish can be used for any occasion from celebration to mourning. Even at their worst, those stringy, doughy, slippery morsels can hold fond memories. In law school, I lived on Top Ramen and I can still eat a serving of cheap ramen noodles with much gusto.

Alas, pasta is not raw, so on this new lifestyle, I find myself in withdrawal. (Is it a good omen that the word "withdraw" ends in "raw"?) However, my diligent (and frantic) research has found a few pasta substitutes. I have not tried any yet but, as I do, I will post reports right here.

First, consider kelp noodles, a sea vegetable. All you need do is wash them and then try to consider them a new kind of pasta.Here's what they look like:

Image credit: Bonzai Aphrodite (recipes there, too). Click for another recipe.

The next raw food substitute for pasta is another type of sea vegetable called sea spaghetti. From An Introduction to Sea Spaghetti: Another Healthy Raw Food Snack (The Raw Divas Blog):

Sea spaghetti (Himanthalia elongata) is another seaweed wonder. It grows in the natural seaweed fields of Brittany, and unlike kelp noodles, it actually looks like pasta right out of the water!

Click to read the rest, and for recipes and photos.

Finally, as I mentioned before, you can prepare zucchini—and summer squash, beets,

Some ways to overcome boredom on the raw food diet

I woke up this morning saying, "Yippee skippee, another day of smoothies and salads!"

Not really. It is only the third day of this lifestyle, and I am ready to branch out. Fortunately there are many, many resources available for varying raw food cuisine.

Reading these books has given me some excellent ideas:

• Alive in 5: Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes
• Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
  

. . . as has watching this video about making zucchini pasta and marinara sauce. View the video to see how an inexpensive piece of equipment can create "pasta" dish diversity. The video reminded me that I need to sharpen my skill level using the spiral slicer.

And, finally, I must get a dehydrator so I can make raw crackers and tortillas and burgers and pizza and many other boredom antidotes. In wondering which dehydrator to purchase, I read this comparison of three of the most popular models, each at a different price point. Do you have a recommendation?

Do you ever get bored eating raw foods? If so, what is your favorite boredom antidote?

Note added later: Click to read a good article on making raw food eating fun (Frederic Patenaude).

Image credit: Vegan Japan.