Mandoline A compact, hand-operated machine with various adjustable blades that creates slice, julienne, shred, crinkle or waffle-cuts. It's used primarily to cut firm vegetables (such as the daikon radishes and zucchini pictured above) with uniformity. We bought our mandoline three years ago and it took me until just recently to garner the courage to use it. For me , it was an intimating machine, but once I got the hang of it, of course, I wanted to slice everything. Having said that, it's a sharp piece of equipment and you have to be careful. I can provide some basics tips on using the mandoline and these in no way supersedes that of the manufacturer's instructions. I would suggest reading their instructions a few times until you feel comfortable.Mandoline Tips1. Place a damp towel under the mandoline to provide extra support.2. Always, always, always use the safety handle. 3. To avoid injury, note where the straight cut blade and fluted blade are located.4. Do not attempt to slice the last bit of vegetable. 5. To operate, position the vegetable against the safety guard's spikes to hold it in place. Slice the vegetable by moving the guard up and down the mandoline.6. The position of the stand will be determined by the cuts you wish to make. To control the thickness of the slices, you raise or lower the bearing plate by adjusting the thickness lever. The lower the plate, the thicker the slice. 7. When in doubt, consult the instruction manual.
The Daily Raw Recipe Wrap-up Monday: Sushi Rolls with Spicy Pecan Dipping SauceTuesday: Oatmeal Cookie BiscottiWednesday: Apple GaletteThursday: Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Icing
The Daily Raw News BriefsThe Daily Raw is mentioned in Join me as I jump into the blog, by Kristen Browning-Blas, Denver Post Food Editor Tools for Living, by Vince Basehart Raw diet is healthy alternative by Laura McFarland, Rocky Mount Telegram The Hallelujah Diet Explained, eMaxHealth Raw Spirit Festival, Oct. 12-14. The festival celebrates organic raw vegan foods, world class music, spirituality, inspirational education, eco-sustainable solutions, healthy living and more. Enjoy a Raw Latin American Fiesta! Kristen, of Kristen's Raw , offers a Mexican cuisine class noon-2 p.m. October 20 at the Wild Oats Market in Scottsdale, AZ. For details and to register, visit her website. Journeys for the Soul, Oct. 24-28. A transformational liquid fasting retreat with hosts Kerrie Dancing Butterfly and David Wolfe. SHARE YOUR NEWS! If you have an 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. Have an rawsome weekend!Teri
Kudos to Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools, a program to fund and award 6000 salad bars in schools over the next three years.
The grants provide a healthy salad bar kit that includes a five-well bar, utensils, pan inserts, chilling pads and training tools. So far 552 schools in the US have salad bars through the program.
photo by Kirsten Boyer PhotographyTo learn more about how to get support for bringing a salad bar to a school in your community or if you would like to donate to the program visit here.
It has been 7 years since Jennifer Cornbleet published her groundbreaking book, Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People. Judging by the state of my own tattered copy of the original, it's about time for a new edition. I have to admit, I was a bit curious on how the best-selling classic could improve. Well lo and behold, Jennifer has indeed improved and expanded on her already stellar cookbook.
From the beginning, Raw Food Made Easy has been an informative book that contained easy and delicious recipes that can be made in minutes and that worked every time. The revised version has managed to keep what was attractive with its predecessor (quick and simple) and add a few items that the readers have requested over the years. For example, for those who count calories, every recipe contains nutritional information, including calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber and sodium. New chapters that have been added are focused on the ever-so-popular green smoothies and tips on traveling in the raw. The most important aspect of the revised Raw Food Made Easy is that it houses 50 more new recipes with a wider range of ingredients. For those who may be hesitant to jump into a raw food diet for fear of not knowing where to start, rest assured: Jennifer provides an informative “Kitchen Setup” section that lists kitchen equipment, staple ingredients and a weekly grocery list. She also includes “Raw Basics” that explains the soaking of nuts, seeds and dry fruit and also includes a tools and techniques sections that details everything you would need to set up your raw food kitchen. And to completely take the guess work about out of 'what should I eat today', the book provides breakfast ideas and menu plans for lunch and dinner. Whether you are new to preparing raw foods or an accomplished home chef this is a great book to have you your collection.
One of the most quickest and satisfying dishes in the book is the Avocado Boat. Avocado BoatYield: 1 Serving½ avocado, peeled and pitted¼ cup Salsa, (p. 76) or Mango Salsa (p.77) Use a teaspoon to removed a small amount of the avocado flesh to create a cavity. Fill with the salsa. Serve immediately. Modifications:I replaced salsa with ¼ cup of Man on the Raw's Confetti Zucchini Relish Confetti Zucchini RelishYield: ½ cup 1 zucchini, chopped1 red bell pepper, chopped2 tablespoons chopped red onionJuice of ½ lemon1/8 teaspoon black pepper1/8 teaspoon salt Toss the ingredients together in a bowl. Coming in a close second to a quick and easy recipe is the Cucumbers with Fresh Mint Salad. It took all of five minutes to prepare start to finish. In the recipe, I used Pineapple Mint from our garden, it was a surprisingly nice complement with the cumin.
Cucumbers with Fresh MintYield: 1 Serving 1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber¼ cup peeled and shredded carrot (optional)1 tablespoon minced fresh mint1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil¼ teaspoon crushed garlic1/8 teaspoon saltDash ground cuminDash ground pepper Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, Cucumbers with Fresh Mint will keep for 3 days.
Modifications: Doubled the recipeUsed a little less than ¼ cup shredded carrotUsed Pineapple Mint Jennifer Cornbleet is a nationally recognized raw-food chef and instructor and a long-time faculty member at Living Light Culinary Institute in California. She lectures and holds classes in the San Francisco Bay area and internationally. For more information about Jennifer, visit www.learnrawfood.com. For book orders visit here.
