Make friends with the people that feed you!

Last post, I talked about how I discovered beets and how awesomely delicious they are. I also mentioned how the check-out man in line didn't know the code and just threw them in for free (he also happens to be the produce manager at Sunflower Farmers Market, where I shop every week). Well, we were joking around a bit in line, he asked if I blend/juice my plethera of fruits and veggies and I smiled with a "yes! how did you know!" (Ah, I love how perfect nature is. Who needs supplements when you have all the phytonutients, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and life in fresh food?) Anyways, that was two weeks ago, and last week I saw the same guy (Paul) and said hello. We greeted each other and I moved on to get things on my list. He came up to me later and asked, "Do you like pomegranates?" I do! "Here, you can take one on the house. Let me know if its any good, its the first of the season." Saweeet! It pays to say hello and be nice! Especially when that person is responsible for your food...
On that same note, Michael and I went to our second monthly Raw/Vegan Potluck dinner at Katherine's house in Spanish Fork this weekend. Unfortunately, the two young couples that we had befriended weren't there. Instead it was us surrounded by 40-somethings and older, mostly people who had been raw/vegan for a long time. I was buzzing around, soaking up as much wisdom as I could (I couldn't even sit still for the movie they provided, I just wanted to talk!) but Mike was less enthused. Without our crowd there, it was hard to relate to the older folks.
The food was magnificent! I brought a peach-macaroon dish that I invented with a celery, sunflower pate. (peaches were only 47 cents/lb this week, so we've been thriving on that). There were some new salads that I'd never seen before that were delicious, along with lots of fresh melon, fruit, a peach cobbler (that was a big hit with Michael), as well as some curry flax crackers and pineapple-buckwheat cereal. Katherine made her famous chocolate bars and we also had some banana-grapefuit smoothie. It was a feast! Agi was there as well, which was special. She called on all of us to write a 400-800 word essay on what being raw means to us, to be published in a book that she's compiling together of local people and their stories. I also learned more about Katherine Scott and her work. She has an amazing story of how she was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer and managed to cure it with her diet! She does a women's retreat center at her house, as well as classes weekly, and she hosts the monthly potlucks. If you want to learn more, her website is: www.40bladesofgrass.com

One dish that never fails in my new raw food world is banana ice cream! Michael and I both love it, and it makes for the perfect treat on a hot summer day, or while watching a movie. It's so simple: peel and freeze as many bananas as you would like (make sure they are ripened). put them in the blender with a little water, just a tablespoon or two of raw cocao powder and a biiiig squeeze of agave nectar. It's a little difficult to get everything blending, but once it does it should look like the picture above. You can eat it like that, but it's much less smoothie and much more ice cream-like if you re-freeze it and come back to it later. The agave keeps it so that its scoopable and not a frozen iceblock. You can take or leave the cocao, and even add any type of nut to make it crunch (hazelnuts and brazil nuts are awesome with it).

I made a lot more food this week, but didn't remember to photograph much of it. This is pretty simple though, make a romaine lettuce wrap with anything you want on it! I put leftover sunflower pate, red peppers, and some homegrown sprouts on mine. Anything works, it's just about you being as creative as you can be! That's what I love about raw food; recipes are more like guidelines. It really is all about your own personal palate and what you want/like/feel like. You can switch up any ratio of ingredients, mixture, dehydrating times, smoothie consistenties, whatever to match what you like. There is no wrong or right, overdone or undercooked. It can be whatever you want it to be, which gives me great confidence when preparing meals. Even if I don't end up liking what I make, it only makes me more excited to try again and get it right, for whatever is right for me!

More beets please!

This week was awesome! So many raw-some recipes (haha so funny). It was definitely the week of breads and flax crackers. They don't look very esthetically appealing when they come out of the dehydrator, so sorry, no pics. They taste delicious though. I made some raisin zucchini bread, banana bread, tomatoe flax crackers, mango-cashew bread, along with a protein bread made out of my latest batch up mung sprouts and assorted veggies, and rye bread. (You can make rye bread with sprouted rye berries and dates OR celery, cocoa powder, water, carraway seed and a pinch of salt. Who knew you could make rye without the rye eh?) I also made a delicious peach pie which I shared at a reunion get-together with my old roommates from two years ago. Yes, we ate the whole thing in one sitting :)

I saw this easy recipe for a sunflower pate in one of my books and thought I'd tackle it. One thing about raw food is that, in order to make it appeal to the everyday eater, you need to try a little harder to make it look like something "normal" that they would want to eat. A little bit of garnishing can go a long way. This salty pate had a savory-ness to it that made it taste almost tuna fishy. I enjoyed the leftover batter for the next few days sandwiched between some of my breads. Yum!

At the raw food potluck that we went to last month, there was a dish of grated beets that I tried that was to die for! I asked the lady who brought it what she put in it...just beets! That's all folks! No sugar, no dressing, no nothing. Just. Beets. Yes: beets, also known as the despicable vegetable that every child has nightmares about. I asked Michael if we wanted to try some then, but he vehemently refused. Ever since that night I have been plotting how to sneak beets into a raw dish and trick him into eating (and loving) them! It took a few weeks for me to even get the courage to buy them. I don't know why, but whenever I hear about a new awesome power-house vegetable or fruit, it takes me weeks to actually spend the money, find a recipe, take it home, and try it. Once I do, it always becomes a staple in my diet and a wonder how I ever lived without it. Another perfect example of this would be kale. I had heard all about kale's nutritional value, kale chips, kale salad, and kale smoothies, but I could not get myself off of the usual spinach and boring romaine. I remember buying kale for the first time, and not looking back. Same  thing with collards, arugula, radishes, pomegranates and mangos, to name a few. Upon buying my first beet, the check-out guy couldn't remember the number for it and said, "hey, this one's on the house." It was a sign! haha. The lonely beet found its home on the refrigerator shelf for a few days before I reluctantly retrieved it. I began peeling it and immediately notices how my hands, tools, and cutting board looked as if I had just killed something! Bright purplish-red color was unveiled under the ugly root's brown shell and I was delighted and horrified at the mess I was making! I had found a recipe for Raw Ravioli and kicked Michael out of the kitchen so that he wouldn't see me make it, but not before making him promise me he would try whatever it was I was making. He agreed. After I got the beet peeled and sliced I got onto making the "cheese." It was actually more of a pesto sauce, made with macadamia nuts, 1/2 avacado, parsley, salt, lemon juice, and garlic. The avacado made it super creamy, but not all the nuts got ground up in the blender, leaving it a little chunky. I  squished the sauce between two thin slices of beets and...that's it! Raw Ravioli. I nervously brought one in for Michael. "Those are beets!" He exclaimed. "Very observant...now you said you'd try it. Pleeeeease try it! I promise you can tell me if you hate it, but just try it." He grinned and put on his best face before taking a bite. A few seconds went by. I started to smile. "It's not bad." he said. "It's not good?" I replied. "No, no. I like it. I do." SUCCESS. I ate the leftover beet plain, sooo goood! It has the perfect blend of sweetness to crunchyness. I don't know why anyone would attempt to adulterate this beautiful vegetable by cooking it. I could eat plain raw beets all day long. We looked it up and beets are a good source of vitamin C, magnesium, and iron, as well as a great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Ladies, get your iron...eat your beets!

Yesterday was the Utah Valley Marathon. Michael and I woke up early as I was running in the 5K starting at 9am. I am not much of a runner, but a 5K is a good challenge for me every now and then, plus it was for a good cause. I really had no goals going in, besides to have a good time. I am running another 5K in July, so I was planning on basing my results from this race as a jumping off point for the next race.  I ended up doing a lot better than I expected, finishing in just over 24 minutes (7.5 min/mile). I came in 27th out of 363 runners! Woohoo! Not as hardcore as the half or full marathoners, but still, I was pretty dang proud of myself. Especially for not having trained specifically for it. Michael was beaming.

After the race, we checked out the Provo Farmer's Market located at a nearby park. We didn't go in planning on buying anything, just wanted to check it out. There were tons of vendors, some local scout groups selling Mexican food, local jewelry and crafts makers, one lady that turned used items into decoration pieces, etc. We did stop at this one stand where a guy was selling plants that he had already started growing. I had just been talking to Michael about starting a garden of our own, and this seemed to be the perfect start. Of course, we don't have any sort of land-property where we live, just a porch off of our living room. Obviously, we are seriously limited as to how much we can grow, but I still wanted to try. Michael's grandparents are an inspiration to me in this: they have and have maintained a nice plot of land that they grow, harvest, and rotate all sorts of crops year-round. They live in California and have managed to get their soil fertile and the temperatures are mild. I was most recently contemplating with Michael over starting out with a tomatoe plant. Growing up in Massachusetts, we always had a garden and tomatoes seemed to always grow successfully. To this Michael laughed and said, "good luck, tomatoes were the one thing in our garden growing up that we could never get to grow." Sounds like a challenge to me! We bought a budding plant at the market for $2, brought it home and transplanted it.

They guy said that we should have some sort of tomatoes growing by the end of July. I'll keep you updated on our progress! 

One thing that I truly love about whole foods is the color. Having been raw for just over a month now (post-honeymoon) it has forced me to try new foods, new recipes, new ways of eating. I have spent many hours preparing dehydrator sheets, cutting, chopping, dicing, blending, growing, and preparing dozens of foods. Whenever I look at what I eat or go grocery shopping, I am amazed by the symmetry and beautiful coloring of all the plants. An apple cut side-ways resemebles a star shape. An avacado sliced open exposes a beautiful yellow to green fade. A beet when peeled creates a beautiful purple ring. Rainbow chard has enormous veiny leaves that are interconnected with it's gorgeous red and pink stem. Mangos are delightfully yellow. Cantelopes are perfectly orange, honeydews a happy light green. Peaches are dramatically orange, then red, then yellow, as you bite in. By eating my colors, I have found beauty in things that I used to take for granted. I also search for the best, the most colorful, most ripe fruits and vegetables. The miracle of photosynthesis never ceases to amaze me as I see the power of the sun before my eyes and indulge in it daily.

What's been (un)cookin'

So I've made myself very busy this week trying out all sorts of new gourmet raw foods. You can only live on soups, hummus and veggies, and smoothies for so long. (Well, I would probably be happy living on green smoothies for life, but I have a hungry husband who needs more substance in his food. Not that smoothies lack substance, but rather "bite." Anyways...) It helps a TON that we just recently got an Excalibur Dehyrator which I have been running non stop! It was time to get past simple dried apple rings and mango slices though, and get on with it. I opened Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Cookbook and took on my first challenge: raw burgers. Ok this was a challenge. (Real) burgers are Michael's favorite food and I made the mistake of telling him that my creation was a mock-version. He looked at me like I was insane. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing beats a big, juicy, Red Robin burger on the perfect bun." I felt defeated. "Well you have to at least try it." I had worked hard, making the "meat" out of flax meal, celery, sunflower seeds, and all sorts of spices (for the record, I thought that, for it containing absolutely no meat product, it tasted pretty dang meaty), the bread was more of a flax cracker, with homemade ketchup out of roma tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, 1 dried date, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I was pretty dang proud of my meal. Michael wasn't a huge fan.
Next was my banana-flax crepes. Now those were a hit. I dolled them up all nice with blueberries, strawberries, and homemade raw orange marmelade. (Sorry, no pictures for my first two big meals.) That was a success with the hubby, and I could feel my momentum building. Time for even bigger better things. PIZZA.

Now I do realize this is sad looking pizza, but trust me when I say it tasted spectacular! It was a sundried tomatoe-flaxseed crust that was perfectly pliable (chewy, not crunchy. Not like bread bread, but like a very thin crusted bread) with a marinara sauce, thinly slices tomatoes underneath the cashew cheeze (cashews, water, garlic, salt). It was the most perfect margarita pizza I've ever had. I'm a little biased of course, but Michael enjoyed it as well. The whole thing was gone in less than 10 minutes.

Next was a moist, thick, rich chocolate cherry cake! I had bought some California cherries a couple days before and had no idea what to do with them! They were calling my name at the grocery store, but when I brought them home, I remembered I don't even like cherries. I tried one anyways; turns out I love cherries! I've either never had a good one before, or my palate is seriously changing (or both). 

This double-decker cake was made mostly in my food processor. You can use any nuts you like (I used a combo of brazil and hazelnuts), mash them up to a powder, add lots and lots of dates (until its sticky) and some raw cocoa powder and thats about it. I molded the rounds out by hand, and then created my sauces. The cherry jam filling was just cherries with dates and water, the kream was cashews, vanilla, dates, and a pinch of salt. (note: you can substitute agave for dates at any point in the recipe). Layer, decorate, and dig in!! Gluten-free, vegan friendly, flourless, sugar-less guilt free cake! Just don't eat the whole thing in one sitting. 

Here is just some of my almond milk that I've made. I've experimented with chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla flavorings. I prefer mine plain, but you really can't go wrong. It's SO easy. Just soak your raw almonds overnight, take off the skins if you want less "pulp," blend for 1 min. with 4:1 water:almond ratio, strain if you prefer silky smooth texture, and enjoy! We've been drinking ours with buckwheat cereal and dried fruit in the mornings (soak buckwheat groats overnight, dry in a dehydrator 3-4 hours, and store. Has the airy-crunchy texture of rice krispie cereal, but much better for you). 

One thing I've gotten very excited about is sprouting! I got tons of organic sprouts from Agi when she had her huge sale, but I'm just now starting to grow them. First of all, there is something about growing something, creating life, that gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment. I did this. (No, the sun did, but I like to take credit.) Then, being able to enjoy it and feast on it, its amazing. Not to mention, I paid pennies for the alfalfa that you see here, when I usually would pay over $2 for half the amount I grew. I literally put barely enough seeds in to cover the bottom of the jar, and they quadrupled in volume after the first day! It was incredible to watch. It only took 5 days to grow almost a half gallon of sprouts! I can't even eat that many in that short a time. Michael was impressed as well, and we have been adding them to all sorts of dishes, soupls, salads, sandwiches, everything. 

Ok, take two on the raw pizza. This time it was a pepper crust with alfredo sauce (macadamia, basil, lemon, garlic, salt) and dehydrated zucchini as the "pepperoni." All around, Michael and I liked the taste, but I did over dehydrate the crust by accident, so instead of it being pliable, it was crunchy and breaking. Still tasted good though.

Lastly, this is a dish that is for everyone, not just the raw-food enthusiast like me. It is literally one ingredient: frozen honeydew. (the blueberries were used as a garnish for the photo). Blend it up with a tad bit of water in a high speed blender, and you've got yourself the perfect summer treat. It also works well with canteloupe or watermelon that's been in the fridge as a nice cocktail. You really can't go wrong with raw food. There are so many options, so many more than what you might initially think of (carrot sticks, celery, apples.) And it really is so much easier than cooking...it's all about preparing (cutting, peeling, chopping) and combining the right foods. The three must-haves are a high speed blender, cutting board, knives, and food processor, and a dehydrator if you're really serious about it. Much much more to come next week!