Raw Food Recipes:
Dear Daily Raw

DeAnna Raw in Obamaville has a question about dried fruit and almonds.

She asks, "Do you make them yourself and dry them and then soak them or do you buy them dried from the store? Just wanted to know. And also must all almonds be soaked and for how long?"

DeAnna,

Thank you for the question. Other than fruit leather, I have not dried fruit in my dehydrator, yet. It’s definitely on my raw foodie to-do list.

I buy my dried fruit at a few places here in the Denver area, Sunflower Farmers Market, Sprouts Farmers Market and Vitamin Cottage.

Soaking almonds is a good habit to get into. It removes the enzyme inhibitors, thus making the nuts more digestible. A good time frame is 6-8 hours. Before you go to bed, just place almonds in a bowl and pour filtered water over the nuts to cover and in the morning you are good to go.

If you were going to prepare an almond flour, you have two options. 1. Soak, dehydrated until dry and crunchy, then grind into flour. or 2. Grind straight away to flour. I think at this point it’s personal preference and how much time you have to work with almonds. I am more prone to grind straight away. (Ok, is it me? or did that statement just come off naughty?)

There’s a catch with soaking though. Soaking doesn’t amount to a hill of beans (nuts) if the almonds are not raw. I purchase my almonds at one of the stores mentioned above and buy from the bins labeled “Organic Raw Almonds.” They are priced about twice as much as the pasteurized raw almonds. I’ve asked about it and I was told the Organic Raw Almonds are straight from the farmers and they are unpasteurized.

But truth be told I don’t know if they are truly raw. I have soaked them and they soak fine. I see nothing hanky. It’s hard to tell with almonds because you don’t get a sprout to indicate life. I have to trust I purchased the good stuff. I’m not going to sweat it too, much. Heck, I just found out that agave nectar is evil now. I’ve been away too long.

Here are a few sites that offer raw almonds:
Living Nutz
Sun Organic Farm
Briden Wilson Farm

If you want to get updates on The Authentic Almond Project, visit The Cornucopia Institute. They have done a good job relaying current information regarding the matter.

If others can add more to anything stated, please feel free to. The more the merrier.

DeAnna, thanks again for your question and for reading.

Terilynn

for providing the information regarding Raw Kitchen Design in yesterday's Dear Daily Raw comments page.

The Raw Gourmet Nomi Shannon wrote an ebook called "Kitchen Design with Raw Food in Mind." The book is $39.95 but you get three raw culinary books for free.

Thank you so much Melinda, you are a Goddess!

I did a bit more searching and found this:

Raw Chef Dan does consultations for restaurant kitchens but it might be worth a try to see if he offers advice for home kitchens.

Susanna Balston of Raw by Design in the UK offers a free newsletter on designing a raw kitchen. She also has a video on Give it To Me Raw that discusses raw kitchens.

Jerrine asks:

"Do you know of any source that gives advice for designing a kitchen for raw food prep?"

Terilynn of The Daily Raw Blog says:

I have always dreamed of a home kitchen that was fully, functionally raw. No stove, huge refrigeration, walls upon walls of dehydrators, an island full of cutting boards and pantry space to die for.

But alas, I'm still living in the land of cooked.

If I were building a pimped out raw food kitchen in my home (I'm assuming it's for your personal space and not a restaurant) I would consult a raw (un)cooking school, raw restaurant or professional raw chef to offer advice on what items you would have in the kitchen.

I wish you luck on your kitchen project, here is a very brief list of resources that could be of service.

Raw Food Planet
The Ann Wigmore Foundation
Living Light Institute
105 Degrees Academy
Tree of Life
Alissa Cohen
Jackie & Gideon Graff
Chad Sarno

Check back in the next few days and I'll have some items posted to help you stock your raw kitchen.

I'm opening up this question to the masses. Do you have any suggestions, ideas, tips for Jerrine? Please share in the comments page.

Judi, from Kansas City, wanted raw recipes for kids to share with moms in her area.
Fresh fruit is always a winner with children. A piece of fruit is the simpliest thing you can give a child and they will be happy for it.

(Avery at 8 months)Bananas, apples, mangos, melons, children more times than not love them all. My youngest daughter Avery loves eating an avocado straight from its skin.

(Avery at 3 years old)All the raw desserts my children loved without fail, especially ice cream made in the blender.

DonavanA green leafy salad is an excellent meal for children. My children eat their greens some of the times. They are more likely to eat salad if they can pick their own from our garden and help with the dressing preparation.

My son Bishop eats mint straight from the ground.

The more you involve children in the preparation of the meal, the more they are likely to eat it, no matter what you prepare. My least "raw" kid, Bishop actually tasted the raw kale he was tearing. He didn't like it but at least he tried it. I don't think it dawned him that kale is one of the ingredients in the smoothies he drinks for breakfast.

(Avery and Bishop tearing kale for kale chips)Below are some recipes from the Daily Raw Blog archives that my children have enjoyed over time.
Donavan's SaladAnts on a LogAnts in a CanoeRaw CandyGuacamoleChocolate Pudding
Fruit KabobsMixed Fruit Ice Cream

Tropical Green SmoothieMakes 2 quarts1 handful of your favorite greens1 cup water1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, diced2 mangos, peeled, diced2 very ripe bananas, peeled2 tablespoons raw agave nectar, or more to taste
Combine greens and water in a blender. Process until greens are liquid. Add remaining ingredients in a blender until well incorporated, working in batches if necessary.
I feel downright embarrassed submerging these grapes in chocolate. They were very sweet and tasty by themselves. No worries, we have about 5 more pounds of them sans chocolate. This recipe really should be called "THE PRE-BREAKFAST TO FEED BISHOP WHEN HE RISES AT 5 IN THE MORNING WANTING A SMOOTHIE AND PROCEEDS TO INTERUPT MY SLUMBER TO GET FED" Grapes. But that title seemed a bit long.

Chocolate-Covered Grapes1 pound seedless grapes1 recipe for Chocolate Sauce

Use scissors to snip the grapes into small bunches, put them on a large platter lined with parchment or wax paper. Place platter in the freezer while you prepare the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze¼ cup water¼ cup maple syrup (not a raw product)½ cup cocoa powder¼ cup coconut oil (liquid)
Combine ingredients in the blender until well combined. Pour into a bowl. Hold a bunch of grapes by the stem over the bowl of chocolate. Dip the grapes into the bowl of chocolate to coat them completely. Let the excess drip back into the bowl. Arrange the chocolate-covered grapes on the platter; repeat with remaining grapes. Freeze for 30 minutes and serve.

A couple of lovely ladies have had trouble sprouting chickpeas. Whether they had a foul smell or slimy chickpeas they haven't had much success.
So, I revisited my October posting about How to sprout Chickpeas to double check that the instructions were up to snuff.Over the weekend I sprouted 3 quarts of chickpeas in quart size Mason jars.
In each jar I put 1/2 cup of chickpeas, I filled the jar with water and then I secured cheesecloth with the lid at the mouth of the jar.
The Mason Jars were the only variation I did from the original post. All the chickpeas came out great.
I am eating a lot of chickpeas because of the Raw Fit Challenge. They are high in protein, a good source of calcium, dietary fiber and low in fat. It works perfect for what I'm doing. Don't be surprised to find alot of chickpea recipes in the future.

I enjoy sprouting chickpeas because they don't take long from soaking to sprouting to using.

Here was my timeline.
9 a.m. Friday: soak
8 p.m. Friday: drain soaking water and rinse and drain at a 45 degree angle
9 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. Saturday: rinse and drain at a 45 degree angle (This might be a bit excessive for me, it was one of those weekends and rinsing chickpeas seemed to be the only things I could do successfully without fail.)
Noon Sunday:

I noticed the tails sprouting and they were ready to use.
Tip: If you won't be using the chickpeas right away, make sure they are well drained and dry and place them in the frig.

photo by Meetak

I am not sure why the chickpeas spoiled. If I were to guess maybe they were soaked too long or didn't drain well enough. Or it could have been a bad batch.
If anyone else has any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. What did I do with all those chickpeas? I made Garden Chickpea Fritters.

The recipe I will feature tomorrow.
If you have a raw food kitchen question, forward to "Question for the Daily Raw" at yahoo.com.
Coming soon: Is there a substitution for avocados? Tips for being raw and a new mom.

alchemist asks:Could you tell me what brand of mandoline you have? There are so many out there and they range in price from dirt cheap to pretty prices. I'd love a recommendation...Thanks!
Alchemist,I have a OXO Mandoline. We've owned it for 4 or 5 years and I only started using it last year. for the longest time, the sharp blades frighten me. But once I discovered how to work it, I fell in love. It's very user-friendly and I enjoy playing with the various cuts.
I don't remember where we purchased it but Macy's and Cooking.com carry the exact same one I have. They both are around $70.
Here are some recipes that I used with my mandoline: Lasagna with Chunky MarinaraDaikon Dumpling in Miso Broth
Thank you for getting the ball rolling with the question. Keep them coming.

Hello everyone! I want to thank you all for the patience and support you have given me these past three months during my juice feast. I am happy to say that starting next week, The Daily Raw Blog will return to posting 4-5 days per week.

Also there are some new and exciting things going on and I hope you will enjoy.

Monday (and sometimes Friday) features "Focus On"

The Daily Raw will "Focus on" a spice, an ingredient, a piece of equipment, etc. There will be great tips, history and information on an item along with a recipe.

Tuesday honors the readers
The features include "Dear Daily Raw", surveys, reader feedback, questions, comments, etc.
If you have a raw food kitchen question, forward to "Dear Daily Raw" at yahoo.com. Your question will be posted in Tuesday's section.

Wednesday is Recipe Day
Traditionally, across the country Wednesdays are food day for newspapers. It will be no different for The Daily Raw.

Thursday is the day for News You Can Use and the Calendar listing
If you have an raw food event you would like to have posted, pass it along for Thursday's Calendar section. Send items to yahoo.com.

Fridays is my day off, well, actually it's my Test Kitchen day. I'll take the day to develop new recipes and test them out.

Unless I want to share with you what I'm working on or if it's a special occasion, there won't be any posts on Fridays. But you never know what surprises I might have in store.

And don't forget about the monthly Daily Raw Blog Recipe Challenge .

There will be some major news coming in late April, early May so stay tuned.

See you next week for new and fun raw food at The Daily Raw Blog. Peace and Love, Terilynn