Raw Food Recipes:
book review

I had the fortune to get my hands on a copy of "Raw for Dessert: Easy Delights for Everyone" and since Valentine's Day is steadily approaching I thought I would take the time to discuss this book.

"Raw for Dessert" is an eclectic collection of sweet and scrumptious recipes from internationally recognized Raw Food Chef and instructor Jennifer Cornbleet.

Cornbleet substitutes customary dessert ingredients such as flour, butter and processed white sugar, with ground nuts, coconut oil and dates and other healthy alternatives to create sweet treats that are bursting with flavor. She demonstrates that baking isn’t necessary to create the sophisticated Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee, comforting Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting or festive Pumpkin Pie.

Covering the full spectrum of desserts from cakes and cookies, to pies, candy and creamy desserts, "Raw for Dessert" starts off with the “Basics” chapter featuring recipes, which delicious in their own right, are predominately used as the building blocks of Cornbleet’s other creations. All of the desserts are a breeze to construct and require no more time than it takes the Coffee Ice Cream to freeze. Yes, that’s right, coffee. Not all the ingredients are raw. Cornbleet is forthcoming with the use of non-raw items and provides a detailed ingredient list at the beginning of the book.

Ideal for foodies, raw or not, with a mad sweet tooth, "Raw for Dessert" offers up a slew of tips, suggestions and recipes. Whether you are in the mood for cool and refreshing, like the Grapefruit Granita or leaning more to the exotic with the Indian dessert Kheer, this book will not disappoint.

It was hard to choose a recipe to try for this review, everything reads so delectable. I finally decided on this candy. My eldest daughter, Jordan, is deathly allergic to most nuts and I was pleasantly surprised that this chocolate indulgence was nut-free. She happily ate the lot of them.
Dark Chocolate Truffles
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
4 pitted Medjool dates
½ cup maple syrup or dark agave syrup
1 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
1/8 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt

Combine the coconut oil and dates in a small bowl and soak for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and add the maple syrup, ¾ cup of the cocoa powder, and all of the salt and process until very smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the blender jar with a rubber spatula. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

The Daily Raw Note:

Now it‘s just about this point where you might be tempted to eat the dish as is. You know who you are. To be honest, who could blame you? It is rich and gooey and luxurious as all chocolate concoctions should be, but, please refrain from eating it. If you must get your chocolate fix, lick the blender cup. Believe me, the truffles are worth the wait.
Place the remaining ¼ cup cocoa powder in a small bowl and set aside.

Scoop out a heaping ½ teaspoon of the chocolate mixture. Pull it off the measuring spoon with your fingers and lightly roll it into a ball between your palms. Dip and roll the truffle in the cocoa powder, then place it on a plate or in a paper candy cup. Repeat with the remainder of the chocolate mixture. Chill the finished truffles in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Stored in sealed container in the refrigerator, Chocolate Truffles will keep for a 1 week.

VARIATIONSCoconut Truffles: Dip and roll each truffle in unsweetened shredded dried coconut instead of cocoa powder.

Curry Truffles: Dip and roll each truffle in curry powder instead of cocoa powder.

Mexican Chocolate Truffles: Add ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a generous pinch of cayenne to the chocolate mixture in the blender. Roll each truffle in cocoa powder. (The Daily Raw Café Note: I added a bit of cayenne pepper to the cocoa powder.)

You know what? I can't have all the fun. Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I want to offer one (1) lucky winner a copy of Jennifer Cornbleet’s “Raw for Dessert.”

All you have to do is answer the following question in this post's comment section.

“What are your Valentine’s Day plans?”

The contest will end Monday night, February 8th @ 11:59 pm. IS CLOSED I'll enter all who answered the question into a drawing and announce the winner on the Daily Raw Café, Tuesday, February 9th.

*Please note: this contest is only open to people living in the United States and Canada.

Are you having a party soon? Do you have your menu planned yet? Might I suggest the book “Raw Food Celebrations Party Menus for Every Occasion" by Nomi Shannon and Sheryl Duruz? And once it has been decided the menu will be one featured from the book, is it too rude of me to invite myself to the party?

After using “Raw Food Celebrations Party Menus for Every Occasion” there should never be a reason why anyone couldn’t effortlessly prepare a raw food meal and dazzle friends. NEVER A REASON. With six different menus to choose from, Italian, Thai, Brunch, Cocktail, Traditional and Light Luncheon buffet, Ms. Shannon and Ms. Duruz lay out the ground work for you.

Easy-to-follow recipes with step-by-step instructions, equipment lists and a “Planning Ahead” section makes it feel like these two ladies are in the kitchen with you. From someone who loves to prepare ahead, that section is my favorite.

It breaks everything down for you, from when to grocery shop, set the table, which components of recipes can be prepared ahead of time and so much more. Make sure you pay attention to the “Serving Suggestions,” sections. They are chock-full of useful tidbits for creating a memorable meal.

Last weekend, I created the Thai Menu as an early anniversary celebration. I didn’t prepare everything on the menu but the items I did make were visually stunning and tasted incredible.

Daily Raw Café Annversary Celebration On the MenuThai TeaThai Coconut SoupThai Cucumber Salad
Phad Thai
Phad Thai, pg. 35

Thai Tea
(adapted from Raw Food Celebrations)
8 cups water
4 cups loosely packed Thai basil leaves (approximately 32 leaves)
Juice of 2 medium-sized limes
¼ teaspoon stevia*
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh peeled ginger

Combine water and basil in a blender. Process until basil is chewed finely. Stain the mixture through a nut milk bag. Return basil water to the blender; add lime juice, stevia and ginger. Blend until well-combined. Serve on ice.

*I used NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract

Thai Cucumber Salad
(recipe from Raw Food Celebrations)
6 Kirby cucumbers or other small cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 limes, juiced
4 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons light agave syrup

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving time. This can be made the night before.

Thai Coconut Soup, p. 36

There is melancholy and embarrassment within me that I can’t guide my family in a 100% raw food lifestyle. In my perfect world, my husband, my children and myself would live off the land, home educating, exploring the world, yet distancing our way from the “bad” influences of a very “cooked” and nutritional-depleted world. It is my dream to learn, grow and eat our way to a raw bliss.

But, I live in the city of Denver, CO, my children go to public schools, I shop at grocery stores and my husband works very hard as a cook and makes NO money. Other than our beautiful children, we have nothing to show for our efforts. I know in my heart it is possible to live the way you choose anywhere you choose, it is the amount of effect you place forth. And I believe our existence is our own doing, no one else placed us in this life.

I feel we are in a perfect position to make a drastic move. We have literally nothing to lose. Our meager (yet digital-dependent) lifestyle screams for change but we both are too afraid to make a dramatic move toward something more substantial in life.

In comes Viktoras H. Kulvinskas' book “Survival in the 21st Century: Planetary Healers Manual." This book is the epitome of the search for a connection of something greater than oneself. In the digital age of the internet, netbooks and iPhones, Survival in the 21st Century’s idealistic premise of paradise found seems outdated, an almost impossible dream. Or is it? Could it be the wake-up call we all need to get our lives together before it’s too late.

I don’t know. That is my most honest answer. This book was hard for me to review, it reads like a New Age science fiction manifesto entangled with a practical self-help handbook. Some of the principles of the book would be easy to embrace if the delivery of the message wasn’t so…for lack of a better word, "out there."

I am going to ignore the fact that the world hasn’t ended as Kulvinskas predicted in his previous printings of this book over the past 40 years. He isn’t the only one who has made predictions of mankind’s demise and he won’t be the last. I didn’t get the “end of the world” vibe from the book so that issue for me is null and void.

Moving forward.

The manifesto aspects of the book features the conspiracy theory chemtrails, breatharianism, the section on “How to be a God”, “New Age Eating at a Glance” in the appendices and the underlying premise of the book that consuming a diet of “green whole organic food oriented diet” plays a key role in our survival of an impending apocalypse (specifically the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012). I love a good New Age/science fiction/spiritual awakening read but not in the same context of a self-help book.

If you can make it past the fear of imminent catastrophe, some of the practical information Kulvinskas shares is actually pretty useful. The passage on sprouting is extensive. Explaining how to grow sprouts in soil and jar, which seeds are conducive to sprouting and the sprouts that make up the “Viktory Gardens for Survival.” Kulvinskas touches upon the benefits of consuming juices and what weeds are good for health and survival. After reading it, I went through our garden (and the new neighbor’s yard) and pulled dandelions to juice. The sections are they are straightforward and easy to follow with beautiful illustrations.

The book isn’t without topics that are a bit on the controversial side, notwithstanding the chemtrails.

He touches upon a woman’s menstrual cycle. A brave place to go for a man. At first glance his theory that having an monthly cycle is unhealthy for a woman and that she should eat in a way to eliminate it could be seen as some as farfetched. But the statement his makes regarding the inferiority of a civilized woman to a man is caused “largely by the debilitating effect of the menstrual hemorrhage.” could be construed as an irresponsible and reckless statement.

I am not here to debate whether or not it is healthy to have a period or not (I, personally, have them less because of the way I eat and I suffer no ill effect) or if menstruating women are inferior to men (women will always be the foundation men need to exist and thrive).

My point is that his idea of eliminating periods isn‘t so implausible, just take a gander at FDA-approved Lybrel. The no-period birth control pill that contains 90 mcg levonorgestrel and 20mcg ethinl estradiol. Where is the logic of polluting a woman’s body with a synthetic progestogen and bio-active estrogen for 365 days to stop menstruations but being in superior health from living foods, creating the same result, is absurd? Something to think about.

The section on Physiognomy, the art of analyzing facial features to determine the state of health, is interesting. It had me checking the moons on your finger nails. Full moons indicate state of high vitality and finger beds without moons showed “very poor circulation. Lots of mucus” Needless to say, I found myself rummaging through the medicine closet hunting for a cuticle stick.

Truth be told I would love to live in a world the Viktoras Kulvinskas creates in this book. If it were as easy as changing your diet or subscribing to a existence of fruitarians, breatharianism, longevity and the many more optimistic situations he dreams of, count me in. In reality, I can’t. I currently live in a digital age where with a few clicks on a mouse I can find information that disputes his theories. Maybe, just maybe I am not ready to ascend to a higher level of consciousness.

The truth as I know it to be is this, our physical bodies will end, it’s not a new concept. Now, if you believe that our energy, spirit, soul, etc will continue to be or not to be or will be go on to live again isn’t the issue. Whether it be by chance or apocalypse, if you live 165 years or 165 minutes, makes no difference. It was never about how you will die, it will always, always be about how you will live.

Publisher: Book Publishing Company

“Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its works. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food. But to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.” — Hippocrates

Reading “Power Juices, Super Drinks: Quick, Delicious Recipes to Prevent & Reverse Disease” by Steve Meyerowitz (aka The Sproutman), I couldn’t help but think of Hippocrates's quote. In its essence the book embodies the quote.

Meyerowitz creates a medicine chest, in book form, filled with juice, smoothie and tea recipes for just about whatever aliment plagues you.

Achooo! Bless you. Try the “Vitamin A & C Potion” on page 116 to put that cold in check. The juice is filled with carrot, red pepper, spinach, collard greens, kale and spirulina to help rebuild your immunity.

Feeling blue? Perk up into a “Heavenly Peace,” p., 139, by blending cashews, cantaloupe, wheat germ and water. The anacardic acid in the ingredients has been used as an anti-depressive.

Can’t fall asleep? Drink “Good Night Tea,” p. 257, one bag each of Valerian, Passion Flower, Chamomile and Hops, an hour before bedtime. You will be counting zzzzz’s in no time.

This book was constantly by my side as a reference during both my juice feasts.
If you are ready to be your own physician this book is a good starting point.

Rejuvelac is a fermented liquid used to improve digestion and as a starter for raw nut and seed cheeses, yogurts or as flavorings in soups, sauces or drinks. It is rich in enzymes and contains eight of the B vitamins, vitamins E and K. You can make Rejuvelac with sprouted wheat berries, rye, quinoa, oats, kamut or barley.

Day-by-Day Plan for making Rejuvelac
Adapted from Steve Meyerowtiz and The Complete Book of Raw Food, p. 9

1 cup Soft Wheat Berries
Filtered Water

Day #1: Make sure your jar and any utensils you are using have been thoroughly cleaned to prevent contamination during the fermentation process. Place wheat berries in a gallon (or ½ gallon) jar.

Add about 1 quart filtered water. Cover the mouth of the jar with a piece of cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Soak the berries for at least 8-12 hours.

Drain the berries, rinse them with water and drain again. Place the jar upside down at a slight angle to drain off excess water. Once water is drained, place the jar upright in a cool, place away from direct sunlight and allow to sprout.
Day #2: Rinse and drain the berries twice, morning and evening. After each drain, place the jar upside down at a slight angle to drain off excess water. Once water is drained (about 5-10 minutes), place the jar upright in a cool, place away from direct sunlight and allow to sprout. You will see little tails develop.

Day #3: Rinse and drain the berries twice, morning and evening. Once drained, remove the cheesecloth (discard it) and fill the jar with approximately 3 quarts (or 1 ½ quarts for a half gallon) of filtered water . Secure the jar with another cheesecloth and rubber band; place in a warm area of your home, somewhere between 68-90 degrees. The warmer the surrounding temperature, the faster the wheat berries will ferment. It should take between 36–48 hours depending on the temperature and the strength/flavor desired.

If you see a foam forming on top, then it should be ready.

Day #5: Pour your first batch of Rejuvelac into quart Mason jars and store in the refrigerator. It’s ready to drink. Rejuvelac should have a slight yeasty smell with a lemon-like flavor.

Day #5: 2nd Day batch of Rejuvelac: Do not rinse the wheat berries. Pour 3 quarts of filtered water into jar with sprouted wheat berries and allow to ferment another 24 hours.

You can create a 3rd Rejuvelac batch by repeating Day 5. I wouldn’t recommend extending it a fourth day.

You can compost the sprouts or give them to squirrels, rabbits or birds.
Rejuvelac may be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week as long as the taste still agrees with you.

Strawberry Fizz
Serves 2-4
½ cup frozen organic strawberries
1 cup Rejuvelac
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar

Process ingredients in a blender.

Want to win a copy of "Power Juices, Super Drinks: Quick, Delicious Recipes to Prevent & Reverse Disease?" Giveaway here.

Mango Bliss
Delights 1

Mango tree
Ladder (optional)

Pick a ripe mango from the tree. Peel and eat it immediately, preferably on the beach or near a river.

Bliss.
Swim.
Wow.
(page 104 of The Raw Truth)

I knew I was in trouble when I chose to review Maribeth Abrams and Anne Dinshah‘s “The 4-ingredient Vegan” as part of Book Publishing Company’s Live Delicious, Eat Vegan campaign.