Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K, plus the antioxidant benefits of lycopene*. They are a fruit, but they are usually served as a vegetable. *Lycopene is the pigment that makes tomatoes red. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene it has. Season: Available year-round but tomatoes are at their peak June-September
How to select: Choose firm tomatoes, richly colored and noticeably fragrant.
photo by babybee
How to store: Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature and used within a few days.
photo by Pieter Pieterse Tip: Don't store tomatoes in the refrigerator, cold temperatures kill the flavor and turns the flesh grainy.
Tomato Salad 6 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces 1 small red onion, thinly sliced1 orange or yellow bell pepper, sliced in strips (de-seed)1/2 cup basil, cut into stripsHemp oil (or your favorite oil) Apple Cider Vinegar Sea salt, to taste 1. Place tomatoes in large salad bowl, add slice onions on top. 2. Layer with bell pepper and basil.
3. Drizzle hemp oil and vinegar over the top of salad. Sprinkle with sea salt and gently toss. Fun Facts: The tomato is in the same family as the potato, pepper, eggplant, and petunia (nightshades). Tomatoes are also known as the 'apple of love' There are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes
Are you cool as a cucumber (botantically a fruit but it's okay for this survey)? Do you like to hang close to the ground like an eggplant or do you swim with the fishes like seaweed? My question to you if you so choose to answer is.... "If you were to be a vegetable, what vegetable would you be?"
Here are the ingredients I used to create my recipes for The Daily Raw Blog Recipe Challenge
1. Red Grapes 2. Cashews 3. Almonds 4. Garlic 5. Red Pepper 6. Lemon 7. Tomatoes
Focaccia with Grapes Yield: 12 slices
2 cups flax seeds, ground into flour 1 cup almonds, ground into flour ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling 2 teaspoons agave nectar 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon chopped onions 2 tablespoons Italian seasonings 2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup red grapes, sliced
1 Combine flax and almond flours in a large bowl. Add olive oil, agave nectar, garlic, onion, rosemary and sea salt. Mix well.
2 Fold in grapes.
3 Spread Focaccia dough on two Teflex-sheets, making them about 1/4-inch thick. Drizzle with olive oil. Place in dehydrator at 140 degrees for 4-6 hours or until Focaccia is dry on the top.
4 Flip over and remove Teflex sheets. With a pizza cutter, score the Focaccia into six large rectangles. You should have 12 slices of Focaccia bread. Drizzle with olive oil. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for an additional 8-12 hours or until the Focaccia is dry and semi-hard on the outside but soft and somewhat moist on the inside.
The Daily Raw Blog Kitchen Tip: From time to time I use a thermometer to check the temperature of the foods I dehydrate. Particularly when I raise the temperature of the dehydrator. I just like to make sure the temperature of my food doesn't rise also.
My 1, 2 and 8-year old children are used to mom's raw food creations. For better or worse, they have acquired a taste for fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Kevin, my 14 year-old stepson is the new kid on the block and has come from a bag-of-candy-a-day habit. Now, when I create dishes, he is the gauge I use to determine if my recipes are up to par. I am pleased to say that he has asked me to make this recipe twice since it's conception.
Red Pepper Aioli 1 cup cashews, soaked for an hour ¼ cup water 2 garlic cloves, minced juice one one lemon ½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons sea salt
1 Combine cashews, water, lemon juice and garlic in a blender. Blend until cashew becomes a thick, smooth mayonnaise. Add more water one tablespoon at a time until you cashews break down and you achieve desired consistency.
2 Add in the red peppers, olive oil and sea salt. Briefly process until peppers are smooth. 3 Serve with bread, cucumbers, mushrooms and tomatoes.
It's not too late to submit a recipe for February's challenge. Next week, I'll post the recipe for Radicchio and Fennel Coleslaw.
I wanted to share how talented and creative Man on the Raw is. Here are a few things he has created over the last week or so.
A Git-Fiddle out of a cigar box. It‘s very intricate, the neck is made from wood with inlay made from peach wood . He also made an amp from a thrift-store tin and a speaker from one of the kids’ broken toys. The amazing thing is that the fiddle plays and the amp and speaker work. It’s amazing what you can do with scraps. Wicked.
His Valentine’s Day gift to me was a fruit and vegetable sculpture which I immediately juiced. Very nice. To top it off he bought me a sugar cane to chew on.
In return I made him a chopped salad with Matt Amsden’s Sweet Basil Oil Salad Dressing (p. 88).
My mother asked me to write something to help my Aunt Gigi get on a path of healthier eating. And although I would be the first to say “Go Raw” I realize saying it is much easier than doing it.
If I can offer Aunt Gigi a smoothie or salad recipe here or there, she could take baby steps into more greener pastures.
But first I should remind her of the reasons why incorporating more fruits and green leafy vegetables into her meals (and less of the processed, dead crap) is beneficial to her health. Also, exercise is a must with our family history. You feeling me?
So here are the Top Five Reasons you, Aunt Gigi should eat healthier.
5. You gain a tremendous amount of energy to continue to stay out all night dancing.
4. You feel good. Just ask the man who was rubbing up against you on the dance floor.
3. You become positive and happy without doing major drugs.
2. Your mind becomes sharp and alert, so when you get pulled over, you can think of something clever to tell the police officer.
1. You live longer. I’ve got a few bucks on you outlasting mom, do me proud.
Love you both, Terilynn
Recipe #39 of the Complete Book of Raw Food Endeavor is Rhio’s Marinated Collard Ribbons (p. 65). Now this is a risky recipe for Aunt Gigi to try because I don’t think any woman in our family, excluding myself, has ever eaten collards raw. I believe that there is a family law, punishable by death, which states collards (or mustards, or turnips) greens must be cooked a minimum of 8 hours or until the paint wears from the walls, whichever happens first. Trust me Aunt Gigi, these marinated collards are delicious and you will enjoy. Spicy Marinated Collardsadapted from Rhio's recipe 1 bunch collard greens, stems removed, cut into thin strips (Chiffonade)2 tablespoons olive oilJuice of one lemon2 teaspoons sea salt1/4 teaspoon cayenne peppera pinch of red pepper flakes In a large bowl, combine collard strips, olive oil, lemon, sea salt, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Massage the collards with your hands. Cover the bowl and let set at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Asparagus Select — Spears with a vibrant color and no bruises or blemishes. The buds at the tip should be tightly close. Peak Season: March to May
Store — Remove any bands that bind the spears together and put the bases of the steams in a jar filled with 2” of water. Change the water daily to keep asparagus fresh longer. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Trim — Hold one end of the asparagus spear in each hand and bend the stalk. It will naturally break at the point where it is tough.
Recipe #35 and #36 of "the Complete Book of Raw Food" Endeavor
Asparagus Avocado Salad by Rita Romano, p. 54 Honey Mustard Dressing with Poppy Seeds by Elaina Love, p. 85
This refreshing salad combines the crispiness of asparagus with creamy avocado and tangy grapefruit.
image Detoxifynow.com On an episode of "He Said She Said" Man on the Raw and I talked about food combining and offered an overview of the principles of food combining. I wanted to touch base with it again after Traci left a comment on the post.
I want to stress that during "Everything I Eat -Raw" thus far, I am not practicing food combining at all. Not to say that I won't. In between Living Light's culinary school creations, I actually was thinking about trying different raw food "diets" (mono, juice feasting *a third one? IDK*, 80-10-10, etc.) and documenting those experiences. For now, I am enjoying sharing the raw goodies that are out there to be had.
On to the question.
Traci asks "What are examples of "concentrated carb/concentrated protein?"
Concentrated Carbohydrates are considered foods that are on the the top of the glycemic index, mainly starchy vegetables and fruits.
Here is a brief list of various vegetables and fruits carrying a high glycemic index:
High glycemic fruit blueberries dried fruit figs grapes kumquats loganberries mangoes mulberries pears pineapple pomegranates prunes watermelon (however, it has a low glycemic load)
Other resources on raw foods and food combining: Raw Food Living has a chart with digestive times. Raw Food Explained offers several articles on the subject Food Combining for Optimal Health by Angela Stokes-Monarch Food Combining Wallet Card
I promise I had the best intentions. I had a beautiful menu planned for you for this Thursday. Each day this week I would focus on a different course for you to seduce your sweetie into a meal he or she would always remember.
The foreplay of the evening would have been the Sweet and Spicy Neptune Salad Cocktail, followed by a bit of cool Cucumber soup or maybe a Shaved Fennel salad with cranberries. Moving on to main event it was a Mushroom Ragu and Chickpea Polenta with Asparagus Rolls. The climax was Cheesecakes Shots with Blueberry sauce.
I like to cuddle after. Do you like to cuddle? I thought you might cuddle with a Fruit Platter of pineapple cubes, strawberries and raspberries with two spicy chocolate sauces for dipping and feeding . One laced with cayenne and the other with cinnamon.
Time escaped me and I really couldn't indulge in such an extravagant venture, you know the juice feasting thing.
Now before you leave in a huff and curse me for being such a tease or so you won't wear "that shirt" that says "I visited The Daily Raw Blog and all I got was this stinking T-shirt"...try this, to soothe the savage beast.
A sweet and fiery concoction that will most definitely set the fires ablazing. Here folks to get your party started is the.....
Sweet and Spicy Neptune Salad Cocktail 2 cups finely diced coconut meat 2 tablespoon finely diced red onion 1 Holland chili (or another red-colored chili or pepper), finely diced 2 long pieces of dried seaweed, broken into small pieces, save extra for garnish 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon coconut butter Juice of one lime juice 1 teaspoon sea salt 2 lettuce leaf 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into slices A few sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 Toss coconut meat, onion, chilies and seaweed in a bowl.
2 Whisk together honey, coconut butter, lime juice and sea salt until the honey and coconut butter dissolves a bit, creating a smooth consistency. Pour into bowl with coconut meat. Marinate at least an hour.
3 Place lettuce leaf in the bottom of cocktail glass. Place a heaping amount of Neptune salad on top of leaf. Garnish with avocado, cilantro and a few flakes of seaweed.
Servings: 2
After you finish eating the salad, sip on the juice that have collected in the bottom of the glasses.
Shannonmarie of Rawdorable has passed along this Creative Blogger award to me. Thank you very much, it is quite an honor. As many of you know I have 5 kids and any sort of time I can crave out to be creative is cherished. So it's great that I can share the fruits of my creative labor with so many of you and to be recognised for that is pretty cool.
Also thanks to Heidi and Justin for the Juice Feasting award. I just found out about that one today. Much love to you both. — Terilynn
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.
Here are some photos from The Denver Living and Raw Food Cafe rawluck I attended yesterday.
Kale Salad I made a platter of crudites with three different flavors of flax crackers, olive tapenade and
vegetable dip. I will share the recipes for the platter sometime next week. As you can see there were a variety of raw dishes at Saturday's rawluck, it was amazing! Fettuccine Alfredo
Blondies
Stuffed peppers with Cashew/Macadamia nut cream and avocado
Fruit Salad
Apple with chocolate
I am attending a second rawluck on Tuesday so there will be even more tasty treats to share!
My son, Bishop, loved your delicious banana ice cream. And I appreciated the fact that it was super easy to prepare; just throw frozen bananas into a food processor to create a creamy dream of a dessert. Also, thank you for the pointer about topping the sweet treat with nuts, carob powder or soft fruit. I choose chopped walnuts. I do wish you would have given me fair warning about the importance of eating this dish immediately, it was a soggy mess after 15 minutes or so out of the freezer. I just have one tiny, itty, bitty question. What does “Whip the Mister” mean?
9:12 a.m. 1st glass of grapefruit juice10 a.m. Associate Chef students' desserts
10:53 a.m. 2nd glass of grapefruit juice11:19 3rd glass of grapefruit juice
12:15 p.m. Salad bar fixings (mixed greens, romaine, cucumber, beets, cabbage, carrots, raw Dijon Dressing, nutritional yeast)2:46 p.m. Mila with water
5:45-7:15 p.m. Four-course raw meal at Living Light with Man on the Raw featuring...
Hibiscus Cooler
Mediterranean Torte with flax crackers
Gazpacho with pumpkin seedsCaesar Salad with Mila croutons
Ice Cream and brownie with chocolate sauce and raspberry coulis
9 p.m. red organic wine at home with Man on the Raw
Where are all the daily recipes from The Daily Raw Blog? With the holidays, hanging with the expanded family and a couple of other projects in the works, I've been kind of busy. No worries, there will still be tasty raw recipes posted, just not everyday.
I do have some exciting news I will post later in the month, so at the very least you have to stay tuned for that.
Here is the fruitcake I promised a couple of weeks back. This is the one my (very picker eater) eldest daughter was willing to go raw for if she could only eat this. When I told her no, she nixed the whole idea of raw foods.
Raw Fruitcake serves 4-6
Dried Fruit 1/4 cup agave nectar 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped into small pieces 1/4 cup dried pineapples, chopped into small pieces 1/4 cup dried cherries 1/4 cup golden raisins
Okay, I wasn't going to blog any more this week, I'm on vaca, right? But when my 16 year-old daughter (whose diet consists of pasta, cheese and apples) said she would be willing to eat raw foods if she could eat only this cake, I couldn't resist posting my photo of a raw fruitcake. Now it is just a food teaser, the recipe won't be posted until a later date. I just wanted to whet your appetite. Happy Thanksgiving,Terilynn
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Essene BreadTuesday: NachosWednesday: Chocolate, Mint and Lemon GranitasThursday: Clementine slices Raw Delivery Service in the Denver and front range area Living Foods Chef Melissa Gilbert provides raw food meals delivered right to your door every week. The weekly package will include:
2 savory soups or 2 smoothies
4 Gourmet Entrees
4 Side Dishes
2 Desserts
Raw Snacks
Delivery area will be from Boulder in the north to Castle Rock in the south. Morrison to the west and Aurora to the east. There is a small fee for deliveries outside of Denver. Want more information? Contact Melissa at gilbertd921(at)comcast.net. Westlake's Web of Life Natural Foods Market has weekly lectures on raw foods by Evelyn Theiss, Plain Dealer Reporter Carol Alt's book featured in a Cookbok Review by Erin Mendell, Baltimore Sun Natural habits by Natalie Mikles, Tulsa World Scene Writer Normally, I wouldn't comment on news articles but with this one I'll make an exception. It was a fairly good article (Pam's Apple Pie Salad caught my attention) until the "note" regarding pineapples at the very bottom.
I'm not very rigid with my raw culinary ingredients. I use honey, red or rice vinegars, frozen fruits and, if you're familiar with my chocolate sauce, I even use maple syrup. But under no circumstance would I ever, ever, ever prepare a raw dish using anything that comes out of a can!
SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have raw food related item for "Raw News You Can Use" please feel free to pass it along. Send information to yahoo.com and I will post it on Friday's blog.
Believe it or not, I don't always prepare elaborate raw food dishes. I do appreciate the simplicity of a piece of fruit on top of fresh greens. But, of course I have to create a spectacular dressing.
4 cups spring mix 2 pears, cut in slices Place spring mix lettuce on plate, top with pear slices.
Tangy Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette (Yield: 1 cup ) 3/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons agave nectar (optional) 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Combine balsamic vinegar, cranberries, agave nectar and sea salt in a blender. Slowly stream in olive oil. Drizzle on top of salad.
