Monday, June 21, 2010

The Introduction to Raw

So I have recently begun introducing the Raw diet into my daily diet.  And I must say, strange things have begun happening.  I have noticed that when I have not eaten raw food in a few days and instead eaten processed foods such as vegan cookies etc... my stomach gets very upset!! It has been an interesting little experiment.  That simply goes to show that our bodies are truly do digest raw foods much more easily than those that have been overly processed.  It's also interesting just how good my body feels when I have eaten a Raw meal, just very clean and satisfied and not overly stuffed and weighed down.  I don't feel that I could ever go completely Raw with my diet, just because there are some foods that I love too much to let go.  But I do want to really begin incorporating more Raw style meals. 

  Tonight for dinner I made the perfect meal for a day like today (high 90's) I made Linguine with sliced tomatoes, english cucumbers, red onion and I made my own vinaigrette of dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, olive oil, freshly ground pepper, kosher salt, italian herbs and garlic powder.  So very yummy! and very refreshing and satisfying!  



   For dessert I made a Raw raspberry kream soup.  The recipe is from Ani Phyo's recipe book titled Ani's Raw Food Kitchen  The "Kream" is blended almonds and water in the blender to a smooth cream like consistency then you swirl in pureed raspberries and medjool dates, then cool it in the fridge to desired temperature.  I think it tastes better really cold, so be sure to make it ahead of time so that when you're ready for dessert, it's ready to go!
   The recipe actually calls for strawberries, but I am obsessed with raspberries so I used those instead.  And really, I think you can substitute any type of berry or fruit desired :-)
  Here is the recipe:
Makes 4 Servings
  Soup
4 cups Strawberries (or any other type of fruit desired)
1 cup Medjool pitted dates, or 1/2 cup honey, agave, or maple syrup

Kream
2 cups almonds
1 cup water
4 spearmint leaves, for garnish
4 slices strawberries, for garnish

 Puree strawberries and dates in a food processor, pour into mixing bowl and set aside.

To make kream, place almonds and water in blender and whip into a smooth kream.  Fold kream into bowl with soup.  Mix barely enough to swirl the red with the white.

**Will keep in fridge for 2 to 3 days

  Calories per serving: 273