Raw Food

Summer of Raw: Summation and Thoughts

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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Above: Apple chips!

So, my summer of raw is just about at an end. Forgive my lack of communication the last couple of weeks, I was on vacation and when I vacation I basically just shut down all modern day technologies and go hide in the woods with no cell service. I will be sure to post a few more raw recipes, but I think I’ve been with this long enough to talk about the experience.

Firstly I would say: this is really hard to stick to. Unless you have some reason that you absolutely need to have nothing but raw foods, I would try something with a bit more flexibility. I’m someone who spends a good deal of time prepping my foods each week, and probably commit more time to that task than most in an effort to eat healthfully and deliciously at the same time, and it was a lot, even for me. You basically need to be continually prepping things.

That said, there were a LOT of things I loved about trying to eat primarily raw. (I say this because I never ended up eating exclusively raw). Once I figured out to stop trying to replicate “real” things, it was pretty glorious. And I’ll definitely continue to eat this way as often as possible. Summer makes it easier; the abundance of fruits and vegetables make it easy to just throw some things into a bowl together and call it a meal, or a salad. If I lived in California or someplace like that I might consider making this a primary lifestyle choice…but maybe not, too. Because regardless of heat or good veggies, I feel my body changing each season, and craving different things in different seasons. And for me, the most surefire way to fail at something is to ignore what my body is asking for. My body always knows more than me.

If you want to eat raw, my suggestions are:

  • make sure you have all the proper equipment
  • Prep a bunch of granola and other snacky things to have whenever you need
  • Always have lots of ripe fruit, veggies and nuts around to grab as needed
  • DON’T try to make things like raw bread, crackers, pretzels, etc. This will be expensive, time consuming, and ultimately (just an opinion) taste revolting.
  • Don’t try to prep too much almond milk or other nut milk, they go bad fairly quickly so you’re better off making just a couple of cups at a time and then just making more. You will spend a lot of time making nut milks and other nut products, unless you plan on not having a very flavorful palette.
  • Good produce makes everything easier

These are probably pretty good tips just in general, anyway. (I say this for me to remember, not you!) So fear not! I will still be posting many raw things.

And I have a new project, starting soon, probably within the week. This one has a medical reason behind it, but there is definitely a project in there and it’s probably a good idea for anyone to eat this way, not just for medical problems. More on that, on the way.

Really I can’t imagine a project that involves food, that I wouldn’t be excited about.

Bitter Greens, Watermelon and Ginger Smoothie

~ tracyshar ~ 2 Comments

This is my go to smoothie; it’s way quick and easy, really healthy and also incredibly yummy.

Ingredients:

  • 4 large leaves of collards, kale, dandelion greens, or other bitter leafy green
  • Large chunk of watermelon (play around with the amount you like for consistency and sweetness)
  • 2 inch chunk of peeled ginger

Preparation:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a Vitamix or other high speed blender and blend until nice and smooth. You will need to tamper the ingredients until the watermelon breaks up — but once it does you will not need to add any water or milk or anything, the watermelon, she is magic.
  2. Drink.

Peaches and “Cream” Smoothie

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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This is super decadent. I actually almost felt like I was eating a peach milkshake. But no! It is healthy and also delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 4 – 6 small peaches, extra ripe
  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup almond milk (1 cup almonds, 3 cups water, 2 pitted dates, blend till smooth and drain in a nut milk bag)

Preparation:

  1. Blend ingredients until smooth in a vitamix or other high speed blender
  2. Enjoy!

Jicama, Watermelon, Tomato Salad

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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This is really good. Though I’m starting to think that any creation you can think of with jicama would be good. This is literally what I walked home from my CSA pick up with. (Aside from the jicama which I just had at home). I totally made it up as I went. Here’s the gist:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of cubed jicama
  • 1 cup of cubed watermelon
  • 1 cup of halved or quartered cherry tomatoes
  • pumpkin seeds (added after this photo was taken)
  • loosely torn fresh mint
  • loosely torn purple basil
  • about 1 tbls. balsamic vinegar
  • about 2 tbls. cold pressed olive oil
  • salt

Preparation:

  1. Mix all ingredients except for oil and vinegar together in a bowl
  2. Toss with oil and balsamic and enjoy.

Raw Vegan Spring Roll Bowl with “Peanut” Dressing

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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So. I knew I would like this when I saw the recipe on Rawmazing. But I kept waiting to have all the ingredients in house, and putting it off…finally I just decided to make it with whatever I had, seeing as you really can’t go wrong, if you like it and it’s crunchy, you’re good. So remember that as you look through this recipe and feel free to add whatever you’ve got and eliminate whatever you don’t!  Anyway, this is fantastic. I’m eating it right now as I type for extra inspiration. 🙂 The recipe below is what I ended up with, rather than the recipe as written, so again, I’d say to more look at this as a rough guide and then find your own way.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 5 carrots, shredded
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 4 scallions, sliced
  • 1-2 tablespoons basil, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 2 dates, soaked until soft (save soaking water)
  • 1/2 cup date soaking water
  • 1 habanero chili
  • 2 tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
    (or tamari or shoyu)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • Himalayan salt and pepper to taste.
  • 1 lime, sliced

Preparation:

  1. Mix cabbage,  celery, carrots, avocado, scallion and basil in a bowl.
  2. Place almond butter, dates, date water, habanero, Bragg’s, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.
  3. Pour dressing over salad, and mix well.
  4. Squeeze lime over salad just before eating, and garnish with extra lime slices.

Bam! Healthy, hearty, and delicious.

Cucumber Noodles with Dijon Thyme Vegan Cream Sauce

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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Now that I understand about cashew cream sauce, the possibilities are limitless. It is so delicious!! It feels like you’re eating something bad for you. But, it’s totally not bad for you at all!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cashews, soaked in water until soft, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon miso
  • 1 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon plum vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
  • Himalayan salt and pepper
  • 3 – 4 cucumbers
  1. Place all ingredients except thyme in high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into a large bowl and stir in thyme, salt and pepper
  3. Scrub the cucumbers and spiralize.
  4. Add noodles to the sauce and toss to incorporate.

The Antioxidizer

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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YUM!! A mix of many different ingredients all packed with antioxidants make this smoothie a delicious way to start the day. From Eat Raw, Eat Well, by Douglas McNish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup hemp milk (I like to make it with 3 cups of water to 2 tsp. of hemp seeds, plus 2 dates for some sweetness.)
  • 1/4 cup chopped kale or chard or other dark leafy green
  • 8 blueberries (I may have used 10 – 15)
  • 1 banana
  • 2 pitted dates
  • 1 tbls. raw cacau powder
  • 2 tsp. raw hemp seeds

Preparation:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or vitamix and blend until smooth and creamy.
  2. Pour into a cup and drink.

 

 

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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I admit fully to having my doubts about this dish. But it was actually amazing. Different, for sure, with unexpected flavors and textures. I was incredibly impressed, and, when I had unexpected visitors and this was all I had on hand to put out, they all asked for seconds!! Definitely a good meal to include in a raw diet, where it’s nice to have something different that feels a little more hearty. Oh! Did I mention that this is from Eat Raw, Eat Well again? I have NOT moved past the recipe stage of raw eating, since I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing at all, even with a recipe.

That said: make this for sure.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in 2 cups of water, covered, 8 hours in the fridge.
  • 1/2 cup dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 cup of water, covered, for 30 minutes.
  • 3 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp. chopped red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp. raw agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. turmeric
  • pinch of sea salt
  • pinch ground pepper
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup of sweet potato strips (spiralized sweet potato)
  • 1/2 cup finely diced carrot
  • 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

Preparation:

  1. In a food processor, process chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and 1/4 cup of their soaking liquid, until smooth.
  2. Add agave, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, salt, pepper and cayenne and process until incorporated.
  3. Transfer to a bowl. Add sweet potato,  cilantro, carrot, bell pepper, and chickpeas and stir well.
  4. Transfer to a shallow casserole -type dish and dehydrate at 105 F for 30 minutes, until mixture is warmed through.

 

Eating Raw Updates; week 4 and 5

~ tracyshar ~ Leave a comment

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Above: Raw Buckwheat Pretzels

So, I’ve been learning a lot about eating raw. I’m still enjoying it, but I’ve lately been changing the way I approach it.

While I do find many, many things delicious on this type of diet, what I find myself craving is something crisp, something that feels like bread or crackers, so to speak. So I’ve tried out a few recipes that claim to provide the cure to that craving.

So far, I have tried raw buckwheat pretzels, raw tortilla chips, and raw chickpea/zucchini fritters. The result? These are all disgusting. Like not, I don’t like it as much as the real thing, or even, I could make myself eat this but I won’t enjoy it, just plain old, these are inedible and should not be consumed. Are there really people who claim otherwise? Yes! I know there are, because they are listed in these otherwise reliable raw cookbooks as “delicious” and other deceitful words. Now, it’s definitely possible that I’m just doing something wrong. But honestly, what could I be doing that’s THAT wrong, that it changes from delicious to horrifying?!?

Here’s the thing: this is extra annoying because of a few reasons. Firstly, a lot of time goes into making these. Like, a LOT of time. Second, all these things cost a lot of money!! It’s not cheap to buy buckwheat groats and ground flax seed, etc. So when I’ve invested this much time and energy into something that comes out looking like a concrete block, it’s majorly annoying. Also, what it makes me do is suddenly need to go buy a real pretzel, or the like, to satisfy the craving that I’ve had the entire 48 hours I’ve been making these atrocities. (EXCEPTION: raw granola. Which is outrageously amazing).

So, I’ve had to re-think things. Nearly every single juice, smoothie, salad, etc. I have tried has been delicious. So have all the zoodles, and sauces and dressings, granolas, nuts, and so on! Why not just stick to those things? It actually feels a little more natural that way anyway, and most of these things take FAR less time and energy to make…plus they are actually good. Which is the quality I’m looking for. I will try making crackers from my juice pulp, which has been recommended, but I’m dubious. I’m only doing it cause juice pulp is free.

All that said; up next is a recipe for a complicated, weird, not normal raw dinner that is oddly wonderful. They do exist!

Below: Zucchini Chickpea Fritters (these went directly into the compost.)

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Kimchi

~ tracyshar ~ 1 Comment

At long last.

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This recipe come directly from Eat Raw, Eat Well, with no changes. Side note: so far this is the best raw food cookbook I have found, and EVERYTHING I’ve made from it has been DELICIOUS.

Kimchi

Ingredients:

  • 8 cups chopped napa cabbage
  • 1 cup coarse sea salt (Douglas McNish suggests grinding the sea salt gently with a mortar and pestle to ensure that it all comes off when you rinse. You can also achieve this same result by, well, rinsing well.)
  • 1/4 cup green onions, white and green parts
  • 3 tbls. Korean chili powder (or if you can’t find it, 2 tsp. paprika and 1 tsp. dried red chili flakes)
  • 2 tbls. wheat free tamari
  • 2 tbls. raw agave nectar
  • 2 tsp. chopped gingerroot
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

Preparation:

  1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage and salt and mix well. Cover, and set aside at room temperature for about 2 hours, until cabbage is wilted. Transfer to a colander and rinse well under cold running water. Squeeze any remaining liquid out with your hands.
  2. Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
  3. Transfer to a sealable glass container and pack down well, pressing down to remove as much air as possible. Cover with plastic wrap directly on top of the kimchi to prevent contact with air and seal tightly (I used mason jars and vacuum sealed them). Store in a cool, dry place for 4 – 5 days until mixture starts to take on a slightly sour taste. Transfer to the fridge and store for up to a month.

So tonight marks the end of fermentation for me…updates coming shortly on taste and enjoyability!!