Raw Rag™

New Denver restaurant does not include any raw food items on its menu BUT . . .

Unfortunately another restaurant has opened in Denver with nary a munchable nod to raw food enthusiasts. Munchable, no. But sippable? Yes.

Although there are no raw solid-food items on the menu, the juice bar at Wild Bangkok Bar and Grill does have plenty of liquid offerings for the raw foodist. If you are looking for a place to meet for Happy Hour within walking distance of the 16th Street Mall, this might be the place.

For an hors d'oeuvres to accompany your smoothie, you could have, hmmm, the dinner salad? Maybe soon local restaurants will begin to include just one or two items for the raw foodies?

Oh, well, the drinks look excellent.

From the menu [pdf]:

Juice Bar Menu

• Green Apple
• Carrot
• Orange
• Grapefruit
• Celery
• Juice Combo (up to 3 items)

Juice Blends

• Super Cleansing-Carrot, apple, celery, beet, wheat grass, parsley.
• Detox Shock-Apple, lemon, ginger and a shot of wheat grass.
• Monster Green-Spinach, kale, apple, celery, parsley.
• Popeye’s Blend-Spinach, carrot, apple.
• Immune Support-Carrot, ginger, garlic, orange.
• BKK Lemonade-Lemon, grape , apple.
• Sunrise-Carrot, orange, beet , lemon.

Specialty Smoothies

• Colorado Workout-Mixed fresh fruit, ginseng, mixed berry juice, banana, protein powder
• Wild Patpong-Acai, blueberries, banana, pomegranate juice
• Ayatthaya Acai-Acai with organic soy milk, banana, strawberries
• Chiang Mai Delight-Watermelon, lime juice, mint
• Puket Tropical-Strawberry smoothie with banana, pineapple/coconut juice, spirulina

Does not look like your pedestrian Jamba Juice fare, does it? Have you tried the juice bar at Wild Bangkok Bar and Grill? If so, let us know what you thought in the comments below. Thanks.

Note-The location: 1630 Welton Street Denver, Colorado 80202. Phone: (303) 623-4999.

Image credit for photo of 16th Street Mall: denver.org.

My tongue is burning: An ingredient I won't again add to my smoothie

In keeping with my current practice of adding at least two leaves of greens to my morning smoothie, today I threw in two big mustard green leaves. Not a good idea! The drink was peppery, almost stinging, and my tongue was not pleased. So as not to waste all the other ingredients (nuts, seeds, protein powder, fruit), I diluted the smoothie with water to suit my taste and tongue. I was able to drink it all.

Yesterday I added one mustard green leaf and one big collard leaf; that was fine, tasty even. But two mustards? Not for me. Do you have any experience with mustard overload?

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

Made a Costco fruit and greens trip today: Some good deals

In addition to a clam of organic greens (1 pound for $3.99 -- Whole Foods charges $6.99) for smoothies and salads, we bought four big and reasonably priced bags of frozen fruit for smoothies. Costco inventory varies from visit to visit, and from one location to another, but I have never visited a Costco that did not carry a nice assortment of frozen fruit.

Here is the bounty from today's visit:

• Rader Farms Nature's Three Berries (blueberries, marionberries, raspberries)
• Townsend Farm Pomeberry (pomegranates, blueberries, black raspberries, cherries -- do NOT include any cherry pits in your smoothie because they are poisonous)
• Wawona Festival Blend (mangoes, papayas, strawberries, pineapples)
• Northwest Origin Scenic Fruit Company Blueberries

Part of the fun of this lifestyle is looking for good deals. If you run into a bargain, please let us know by posting it in the comments.

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.

Quick post before I forget what I put into my breakfast smoothie today

Today's breakfast drink is delicious! What an appreciated and welcomed difference from yesterday. I chose the ingredients using my intuition, and trying to be aware of what in the refrigerator was "calling."

I threw all this into the VitaMix and processed it into an eye- and palate-pleasing smoothie:

• A big kale leaf
• One peeled orange (left seeds in)
• 3 tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds
• Half of a frozen banana
• 3 baby carrots
• 2 ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon of raw walnuts
• 1 tablespoon of raw cashews
• 2 tablespoons of raw sunflower seeds
• 1 cup water

I gave Edd a sip, and he said, "I want that recipe to make my lunch!"

Because of the kale, this smoothie is a pretty green. As soon as I figure out how to take photos with my phone, I will include food pics here in posts to come.