These salads are my daily staples. I have one of these for lunch. The Basic Salad is a variation of "Donavan's Salad." The ingredients are so simple you can add so much more to it. I started eating the Kale Salad last winter. I think I needed a heavier green to fill my belly and kale did the trick. My neighborhood grocery store didn't carry kale, with the exception of using it as garnish in their deli and fish counters. What a waste! I would go to the produce guy every week and hope he would have kale left and if he did, I would buy 5-7 bunches. I evenly found another grocery store that had kale as their produce supply. So they got my business. I love the combination of the slight bitterness of the kale and the sweetness of the raisins, it's a wonderful contrast. Kale Salad1 bunch kale, cleaned, stems removed1 avocado, diced1/2 jalapeno, diced1/4 c raisins1/4 c scallions, dicedSweet Dressing1/4 c olive oil1/4 c agave nectar2 t sea salt Place dressing ingredients together in a mason jar and shake until well combined. Pour dressing over kale and gently massage into leaves. Let set for 30 minutes. Toss in remaining salad ingredients and combine well. You might note that I don't use as much olive oil on the basic salad as I do the kale salad. My reasoning behind this is, the kale is a much heavier green and can handle more oil compared to the green leaf, which can be weighed down with 1/4 cup of oil. It can leave it a bit soggy for my tastes. I like to keep my greens as crisp as possible. Basic Salad1 bunch green leaf lettuce1/2 jalapeno, diced 1/4 c scallions, diced Toss salad ingredients together. Basic Dressing2 T olive oilJuice of one lemon1 T flax seeds Place dressing ingredients together in a mason jar and shake until well combined. Pour over salad.
There’s no question about it, embracing a raw food lifestyle comes with its fair amount of changes. Weight loss, excess energy, the “Glow”, the increased knowledge of nutrition, the “condescending” smirk one might bestow upon cooked friends, the list goes on and on. When you first go raw, the excitement overwhelms you so much, it can be hard not to let it consume your life.
That would be fine if you didn’t have a life that is shared with a loved one.
When I first went raw I had the luxury to share the journey with Man on the Raw. We went “crazy” raw together, only annoying (and alienating) our friends and family with our new found life.
There might have been bumps in the road during our marriage. If one or both of us fell off the "raw" wagon, hostility, resentment, jealousy would ensue, manifesting itself in petty arguments over who used the last of the lettuce or even worse an avocado. Why would you eat those ‘since you aren‘t even raw anymore?’
Through it all, the basic principle (the adhesive that keep us raw and together) why we wanted to maintain a raw lifestyle, stuck with us. Raw foods make us feel alive good and it could be the golden ticket to both of us growing old gracefully, together.
Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done if Man on the Raw agree to go on this raw journey with me. Back in the day, there wasn’t a book in existence that discussed the raw-cooked relationship. Until now, that is.
The e-book “Me Raw-You Cooked” by Emma and Rod MacDougall is really, really good. It touches on the raw food lifestyle a tad but the essence of the book focuses on how to maintain your raw-cooked relationship without driving each other away.
The book is written in three sections. The first being a modern-day love story of a Raw Girl and her cooked fiancé, struggling to survive in their relationship. Emma writes about her passage into a raw lifestyle as Rod shares his thoughts on various situations in their relationship. Reading this section, I was literally rooting for this young couple to work things out and live happily ever after, despite the enormous wedge raw foods had created between them.
Section two is geared toward both the raw foodie and the cooked partner, giving a balanced perspective of what the other might be feeling regarding the raw way of life. Keeping the lines of communication open is emphasized as an important tool to get through the rough spots of the raw-cooked relationship. A must read is the segment called “Recipes for Disaster,” which offers practical tips for common raw-cooked pitfalls. The final section of the book delivers tasty recipes for raw and cooked partners. “Lisa’s Split Personality Salad” is a good example of the balance between the two worlds. It features a raw zucchini noodle salad for the raw foodie and a Prawn and (rice) noodle salad for the cooked partner. “Me Raw-You Cooked” does a good job at balancing the two sides to the raw-cooked relationship coin and proves that both sides are of equal value.
Jane’s Kaleiscious Chips 3 big bunches of curly kale 1 red pepper 1 tablespoon raw tahini 1 tablespoon tamari 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes ½ cup ground sunflower seeds (or pumpkin or sesame)
Remove the stalks from the kale and tear up leaves in to bite-sized chunks. Blend the pepper, tahini, tamari, yeast flakes and seeds and pour on to kale leaves. Massage the mixture until all the kale is thoroughly coated. Dehydrate over night at 105 degrees until nice and crisp!
These dish is a great substitute for popcorn.
Would you like a copy of the e-book “Me Raw-You Cooked?” I want to offer one (1) lucky winner a copy.
Here is how to enter -
Following Susan’s lead at Rawmazing, all you have to do is to ask a question you have about raw food, raw food cuisine, juicing, etc. in this post’s comment area and I will answer the question in a future posting. It’s win-win.
Please feel free to enter as many times as you want, just add another comment with a new question. No limited of the questions you ask.
The contest will end Friday night, March 26 at 11:59 p.m. (EST) IS CLOSED. I'll enter the numbers in the handy-dandy True Random Number Generator and announce the winner on the Daily Raw Café, Monday, March 29th.
Since this is an e-book this contest is open to anyone in the entire universe and beyond, as long as you have access to an email (your email will not be posted, I just need it to send you the ebook).
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.
Kaia Foods gives one (1) lucky winner a chance to win a bag of granola, sunflower seeds, 4 fruit leathers and a bag of their newest product, kale chips!*
For a chance to win, visit Kaia Foods tell me which flavor granola, sunflower seeds, fruit leathers and kale chips* you want in the comment box below.
Optional entries: Here are more ways to enter. Each Way Gets You One Entry, except #1.
Remember, leave a separate comment on my blog for each entry you want. If applicable, please leave the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Blog in the comment you leave me.
1. Link the Daily Raw Blog's 3rd Anniversary Cyber Celebration back on a Blog Post of yours. **You Get 5 Extra Entries for Doing This** Please leave a link. And create 5 separate comments in the comment field below.
2. Follow Me on Twitter. If you are already following me, let me know.
3. Post this on your Twitter: "Kaia Foods giveaway at josculinary.com"
4. Post this on your Facebook: "Kaia Foods giveaway at josculinary.com"
The deadline, for the all the contests, is tonight at 12:32 a.m. {May 28th} (EST). Random.org will pick the lucky winner.
This giveaway is open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
At contest time Kale Chips are not posted on the company's website. The flavors are barbeque, cheesy, chili lime and salt and vinegar.
Kaia Foods gives one (1) lucky winner a chance to win a bag of granola, sunflower seeds, 4 fruit leathers and a bag of their newest product, kale chips!*
For a chance to win, visit Kaia Foods tell me which flavor granola, sunflower seeds, fruit leathers and kale chips* you want in the comment box below.
The Kale Chip aren't listed on the website, the flavors are barbeque, cheesy, chili lime and salt and vinegar.
You may enter more than once, I will leave it to you whether you want to FB, twitter, etc. It's all good, just leave a separate comment for each one.
The deadline is Sunday, June 6 at 11:59 p.m. (EST). CLOSED The winner will be announced Monday, June 7. This giveaway is open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
June flew by. I can't believe it's July (WARNING: subliminal message in italics). June kept me very occupied. I've been busy spending time with the kids, testing recipes,
making a lot of kale chips using kale from our garden, ignoring the kids for a minute to finish the book, testing products, creating recipes, (July 31st is my birthday), trips to the park, going to the movies (went to the midnight showing of Twilight Eclipse last night with my daughters Jordan and Donavan, loved it) having mini break-downs, spending 12 hours in a chair getting my hair braided, (July 31 is my 40th birthday) packing and shipping off clothes for the trip (yeah! NO check-in luggage for us), hung out ALOT with my eldest daughter Jordan, who as watched over 1,000 movies, in her short 19 years. July is a huge month for me (on July 31th Terilynn would have traveled 40 years around the sun), The kids and I are visiting my mother in California for the first time since she moved there some-15- odd-years-ago. She visits us every Christmas. I am starting raw culinary school, I can't wait to share that experience and I will be flying solo. Six weeks of no man, no kids. I don't know what to think about that yet.
A bit of quiet bliss mixed in with where is my beautiful, chaotic family. And umm, let me think. . . oh.. . yeah a little tiny thing happens at the end of the month but I can't remember what it is at the moment. Maybe it will come to me later.
Nutiva and Xagave Reviews Over the past month I have been using Nutiva and Xagave products. Both companies generously sent me product to try and I was very happy with the results.
Let's begin with Nutiva. Started in 1999 by author John W. Roulac, Nutiva sells coconut oil and hemp products. I was sent the raw coconut oil, raw coconut chips and hemp protein powder samples to try.
I really enjoyed the coconut oil. I used it in its liquid form, which had a nice coconut smell and the taste is very light.
The coconut chips were surprisingly moist, not dry at all, very tasty. I used them in raw desserts, trail mix and snacked on them right out of the bag.
I am not a protein powder fan, I had a bad experience once with a chalky, clumping powder and I was turned off. If it wasn't for Man on the Raw trying and enjoying Nutiva's Hemp Protein Powder, I would have avoided it. I reluctantly gave powders another shot. There was no clumping, no chalky, not funny aftertaste. It actually tasted pretty good a bit sweet. Overall, I was really pleased with Nutiva's products.
Xagave If I had to pick a team, it would be for Team Angelina, Team Edward and Team Agave.
Although, I like to explore other raw sweetener options, I enjoy working with and consuming agave nectar, raw or not. I would prefer a raw product but hey, I use maple syrup on occasion without strife.
I don't know about other companies but Xagave states that it's a pure, raw (produced at a temperature less than 118F), low glycemic product so I can only believe they are telling the truth. If you want to know more about Xagave and the raw agave nectar debate, here is a response from Stephen Richards, President of BetterBody Foods & Nutrition (the company that sells Xagave), to Dr. Joseph Mercola's constoversary claim.
The flavor is very sweet so I would recommend not using alot at first. Start with a teaspoon at a time, until you meet your sweetness threshold. The textured was smooth and not a thick syrup consistency which was very nice.
It is a multi-purpose sweetener. The children have used Xagave in their lemonade and Man on the Raw has used Xagave in his coffee with great results.
Nutiva's Raw Coconut Oil Size: 15 fl oz Price: $11.87 Ingredients: Raw, organic, unrefined extra-virgin coconut oil Certified Organic: Yes
Nutiva's Raw Coconut Chips Size: 8 fl oz Price: $3 Ingredients: Raw, organic shredded coconut Certified Organic: Yes
Nutiva's Hemp Protein Size: 16 oz Price: $16.99 Ingredients: 100% raw organic hemp protein powder Certified Organic: Yes
Xagave Size: 36 fl oz Price: $15.99 Ingredients: Organic Agave Salmianan Nectar and Inulin derived from Agave Tequilana (12% by volume) Certified Organic: Yes
Chocolate-Covered Bananas
3 bananas, peeled and halved crosswise (6 pieces)
Skewer the banana halves on 6 popsicle sticks; place on a plate and freeze for 4 hours.
TOPPINGS ½ cup raw coconut chips ( I used Nutiva) Grind coconut flakes into powder using a coffee grinder or high-speed blender. Set aside.
½ cup raw cacao nibs Grind cacao nibs into a coarse powder using a coffe gringer or high-speed blender. Arrange the toppings on a flat plate and set aside.
Chocolate Sauce ½ cup organic cocoa powder ¼ cup raw agave nectar (Xagave) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup coconut oil (liquid) (Nutiva)
Blend ingredients. Pour into a shallow dish or a cup.
Dip each banana popsicle into the chocolate, until it is well-coated.
Roll chocolate-coated banana into the toppings. Transfer the banana to a plate and place in the freezer for an hour or until chocolate hardens.
Broccoli, Kale and Celery Juice by Vita Mix, p. 139
I fear after this post, Vita Mix will enter my home and revoke my high-speed blender privileges. Since I am juice feasting, I was eager to try this recipe. Most of the food I will be making over the next few months I won’t taste, so the few beverage recipes that are juice, I of course, want to drink. This is not the case with this beverage. It is not a juice, it’s a smoothie…kind of.
The recipe is straightforward, using minimal ingredients. A few broccoli flowerets, half of celery stalk, a bit of kale, carrot and smidgen of apple. Preparation is a no-brainer. Drop all the components into the blender with ice and cold water, blend and viola, yuk. I believe that was the word my husband used to describe this drink. He said it tasted of thick broccoli swamp water. That’s a consequence I was heading out to see “The Princess and the Frog” with our youngest daughter. That too, is set in the Bayou.
Maintaining my persistent mind-set and not wanting the recipe (or my first real posting back) to be a complete failure, I strained the brew through a nut bag, creating a green liquid.
It's been a few months since I've posted. I've missed you, dearly. I needed some time away. The energy required to maintain two blogs kind of hit me like a ton of bricks and I needed to back off. I took the time to hang with the kids, play in the garden, avoid the internet, take a family vacation, do an intensive hot yoga teacher training, watch movies, get a tattoe....yada, yada, ya. The list goes on and on. Truth be known, I hadn't had anything new to offer to you regarding raw foods, until now and even now, I'm not going to go into a recipe right away. This has been my summer of slowing the heck down, not being in such a rush. It's been nice.
Bishop and zucchini from our garden
I'm taking things a bit slow, there's really no hurry to get started with anything really. Summer isn't quite over, although, my oldest daughter starts her senior year of high school this Wednesday, but the other kids don't start until later this month.
Avery watering the spinach and lettuce. Anywho. There are several recipes that I would like to experiment with but I'm not in a hurry to master. In the next coming days (weeks, months) I invite you to come along with me while I venture into the raw culinary unknown.
Kale from the garden Gardening and yoga has taught me that the journey is more important than the destination. The first recipe I am going to focus on is Dr. Ann Wigmore's Energy Soup. I'll read information about, experiment and share what I've learned. Again my personal lesson could take one post or several. No rush. Above is a quickie version of the soup made from kale and tomatoes from our garden, I'll share the recipe and process in the next few posts. In the mean time, let's catch up a bit. Drop me a line in the comment box and tell me what you have been doing this summer.
I love salads and I go through cycles of greens to match the seasons. In the winter, I enjoyed hearty kale salads, this spring I was digging the bitter, yet lightweight frisee and coming into the summer I am moving on to herbs and parsley seems to be the herb du jour.
Parsley Salad 1 bunch curly parsley, stems removed, coarsely chopped 1 cup cherry tomatoes, seeded, quartered 1 cucumber, peeled, chopped 1 avocado, peeled, cubed Juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon hemp seeds 1 teaspoon sea salt
Mix parsley, tomato, cucumber and avocado in a large serving bowl. Pour in lemon juice and toss until vegetables are well-coated. Sprinkle with hemp seeds and sea salt. Give a gentle toss. Serve.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope your 2008 is going as great as mine. I'm in heaven and I am so excited to finally share with you what I have been up to.
I started another juice feast on Dec. 1 and I'm blogging my experience at Inspiration:Life. Some of you might know that's how The Daily Raw Blog started. It was a blog documenting my first juice feast back in May that lasted 28 glorious days. From there The Daily Raw Blog took a life of its own with recipes and it was an outlet for my creativity to shine. I'm so blessed to have it and to have all of you guys be part of it. So thank very much.
And as an added bonus I met some really special people along the way. My husband has committed to going raw again in 2008 so if you can send him a silent prayer to get him going that would be appreciated. I have some really good recipes lined up for TDRC and my husband will be preparing many recipes for TDRC in the next few weeks so we have that to look forward to. Believe it or not he is the true talent in the kitchen. I'm lucky his talent just rubbed off on me. And the fact that I love raw food helps, too. ;)I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year!Peace and Love,Terilynn Garlicy Green juicemakes 1-1.5 quarts
1 pound of your favorite greens1 cucumber, chopped3 carrots, chopped1 garlic clove1 tablespoon hemp oil1-2 cups water
1 Place cucumber, greens, garlic clove and carrots in a blender* with the water. Blend until ingredients break down into a thick mixture.
2 Strain the mixture in a nut bag or painter straining bag into a large bowl. Squeeze the bag to get all the juices out of the pulp. 3 Pour juice into a glass and add hemp oil. Don't forget to compote you pulp or mix with flax seeds to make crackers. *You can use a juicer instead of a blender. I use a blender because the clean-up is faster for the amount of juices I make. Also, please note if you use greens that are heavier in weight (kale, collards, etc.) a high-speed blender will work better at breaking down the greens.
"Raw-food diets may offer healthier lifestyle" by Kim Pierce, McClatchy News Service. The saga of raw foods and scientific study continues.
"TLC introduces Raw Foods" The Desert Sun Leaf Cuisine offers packaged organic raw vegan meals, Available meals include: Caesar Salad, Mock Salmon Pate, Kale Crisps, Pad Thai, Bombay with Coco Curry, Veggie Sun Burger with Salsa, Apple Pie and Chocolate Brownie. All raw and 100 percent certified organic. Entrees are $5-$10. The meals are available in various locations in California, including Whole Foods and online at the Leaf Cuisine website.
Cinco De Mayo Gourmet Rawfood Feast Organic Garden Cafe hosts a five-course raw menu, 6:30 and 8 p.m. $35. Reservations recommended. 294 Cabot St., Beverly, MA, 978-922-0004
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!
This one is easy-breezy, the kids enjoyed putting almonds into dates.
Lanna has asked if I would briefly speak on my Juice Feasting. I am actually blogging about it on Inspiration:Life. The catch is I'm keeping it private for now, until I get a good footing. I promise, I will open it in the next month or two. For now, I'm settling in for a long haul so there is no rush by any means.
Since we are on the subject of juices, let's for the fun of it add Recipe #4 Green Lemonade by John Larsen, p. 147. A juice containing kale, lemon, celery and apples. It is very, very tasty, but for as many apples that are used (10 large) it should be called Green Apple Juice.
I made two quarts, thinking I was going to enjoyed all by my lonesome, but as you see, my daughter Donavan finished off a quart by herself.
The Daily Raw Kitchen Check this list against the contents of your raw food kitchen. Print out this page and take it with you to the market to pick up what you need.This is just a guide, please feel free to add or delete based on your family's needs. photo by Clyde'shouse Produce
Apples Avocados Bananas Basil Cabbage Carrots Celery Cilantro Cucumbers Garlic Ginger Greens (i.e. kale, spinach, collard, red leaf lettuce) Jalapeno Lemons Limes Mint Mushrooms Oranges Parsley Sprouts Zucchini
Nuts/seeds Almonds Cashews Flax seeds, tan and brown Macadamia Pecans Pine Nuts Pumpkin Seeds Sesame Seeds, tan and black Sunflower Seeds Walnuts
Oils and Nut Butters Almond Butter Cashew Butter Cacao Butter Coconut Butter Extra Virgin Olive Oil Flax Oil Hemp Oil Pecan Butter Tahini, tan or black
Dried Fruit Cranberries Goji Berries Pineapple Raisins
Seaweed
Dulse Nori sheets Wakame
Sweeteners Dates Honey Maple Syrup (grade B) Raw Agave Nectar Stevia
photo by Gavin Bell Spice Rack Almond Extract Apple Pie Spice Basil, dried Black Pepper Cayenne, ground Chili Powder Cinnamon, ground Curry Powder Dill Italian Seasoning Mexican Seasoning Mustard, Dry Nutmeg Paprika Poultry Seasoning Psyllium Powder Pumpkin Pie Spice Red Pepper Flakes, crushed Sage Sea Salt Tarragon Thyme Turmeric Vanilla beans Vanilla extract, organic
Miscellaneous Apple Cider Vinegar Balsamic Vinegar (use in moderation) Carob (or Cocoa) Powder Chickpeas Coconuts Frozen Organic fruit Greek Olives Miso, white or dark Nama Shoyu Rice Wine Vinegar (use in moderation) Spirulina Wheatberries Rye
Make Your Own Seasoning Italian Seasoning 2 teaspoons dried basil 2 teaspoons dried marjoram 2 teaspoons dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried sage
Combine ingredients and store in a small jar.
Mexican Seasoning2 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon paprika 1 tablespoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
