Not Quite Raw; Slightly Cooked

Here's a quick and easy vegan stir-fry with a healthy helping of quinoa and a piquant tahini dressing with a hidden surprise, a generous dash of ground chipotle.

This is particularly quick and easy with a little advance prep, yet it's a snap to prep the veggies and whisk up the dressing while the quinoa cooks. (30 minutes).

Wash and prep the veggies while the grain cooks. To serve two: half a large sweet onion, sliced; half a large red bell pepper; 2 small yellow squash, sliced; 2 small zucchini, sliced; a generous handful of snow peas. (Double to serve 4, etc). This is a very flexible dish. Sauté veggies in a little olive oil. Start with the onions and red pepper. Sauté for a couple of minutes, lightly salt and pepper, add zucchini and yellow squash, stir fry for 3 - 4 minutes, add a splash of tamari and continue turning and cooking for another 2 minutes, add snow peas and continue stir-frying for a two or three minutes. Veggies should be crisp tender, not soggy and overdone. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add some minced fresh herbs. Basil is nice, but cilantro, oregano or thyme would be just as nice. Or be adventurous and make an herb blend.

In a small bowl whisk up a little tahini dressing: 1/4 cup organic raw tahini; 1/4 cup warm water; 2 TBS fresh lemon juice; 1 clove minced garlic, salt to taste and a generous pinch of cayenne or ground chipotle. (This makes ample dressing for 2 servings - double up on the quantities to serve more).

The amazing queen of grains — quinoa. One cup, rinsed and added to 1 1/2 cups of boiling water with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until water is absorbed and little tails emerge from each grain. Approximately 25 - 30 minutes.

To serve, place a generous helping of quinoa in center of dish, surround with a few large spoonsful of crisp, tender veggies, add a dollop of dressing and a little minced fresh basil. Pass additional dressing at the table. Enjoy a simple, yet delicious and nutritious one dish meal.

A fresh green salad for a starter, a lively little merlot to accompany, and this meal is a staple to add to the 'meals in a hurry' file.

Till next time . . . keep on cooking!

Salad Days

Papaya and Spinach

Heaps of green with vibrant color from fresh fruits and vegetables makes for a wonderful lunch or dinner salad. With a spirit of adventure, I've been enjoying a myriad of flavors and textures in my salad bowl by randomly choosing a wide variety of fresh, raw food.

Ten Ingredients In A Bowl

What are all those dark flecks? Sea Seasonings! Most of us have grown accustomed to a salty flavoring on our food. Seaweeds provide both the iodine we need and the salty taste we desire, without much sodium. Sprinkle on the nutritional benefits of sea vegetables, skip the table salt and enjoy another layer of flavor.

This is a tasty blend of organic dulse, laver and sea lettuce, harvested from the ocean off the coast of Maine. Read more about these sea vegetables and the folks who bring this great product to you.

Okay, so what's in those salads? The top one is a great bowl filled with green leaf lettuce, baby spinach, papaya, vidalia onions, cucumber, red bell pepper, raisins, sunflower seeds, and snack sprouts. It's dressed with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

The bottom salad contains, green leaf lettuce, broccoli, fresh basil leaves, cuke, sweet onion, avocado, mango, peppadew peppers*, sunflower seeds and a generous sprinkling of the Maine Coast Triple Blend Flakes described above. There is no dressing on this salad except for the juice that I could wring out from the flesh surrounding the mango pit. Allowing the salad to sit and wilt a bit, provided a nice juicy meal without added dressing. A light dressing with a citrus note would be a lovely addition, though.

* I cheated. The Peppadews are not fresh, they're processed with sugar and vinegar, and came in a jar! But there's flexibility in the raw food lifestyle — certainly in my version of it!

Till next time . . . To Eat Well, Eat Raw!

Peach Melba

The raw food lifestyle isn't just about green smoothies. This morning I blended a fabulous combination that I immediately knew I wanted to share, as it has such great nutritional value but is a super taste treat as well.
I bought a young Thai coconut for the first time. Getting it open was quite a challenge. Without the aid of a cleaver, hatchet or machete, I found myself whacking away at it with my 8" chef's knife. Scary proposition. I worried I'd slip and amputate a digit or two or worse yet, harm my favorite knife!
I was trying to follow the directions for opening a white coconut from Markus Rothkranz's site, I just didn't have the right tool.

Nonetheless, determination prevailed! I did get the top off, poured the coconut water into the blender and then when I couldn't get to the meat by cleaving the coconut in two, I resorted to a hammer! You know the old adage, "where there's a will, there's a way".

I was eager to get to the coconut water and use that as a base for my morning smoothie. According to the information on Markus' website, coconut water is identical to human blood plasma. It has strong anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-yeast and anti-fungal properties. Along with the coconut water, I scooped out the small amount of soft white flesh and tossed that into the blender, too. I decided on a simple blend of banana, peaches, and frozen raspberries. Delicious!

Peach Melba Smoothie

Blend until smooth:

8 oz fresh coconut water (and coconut meat)

1 frozen banana

2 ripe freestone peaches

1 cup frozen raspberries

Till next time . . . To eat well, eat raw.

Saturday at the Market

A quick walk through the Winter Park Farmers Market produced a few nice images. Unfortunately, it's another market with lots of plants, some cheese and bread, a few sweets, street food vendors, and many veggies that looked like refugees from the supermarket.

But there were a few nice choices to be had.

Fragrant Herbs

Lovely Sentiment!

Muscadines, the southern grapes with character!

Sweet and Juicy - Summer Favorites

Just saying . . .

Till next time . . .

A Transitional Dish

Several people have commented that they would like to 'try' raw food but as they have to prepare meals for the family, not just themselves, it's too much of a challenge. Here's a full flavored, easy to prepare, salad that makes a great try-it meal. With the cooked beans and a bit of cheese incorporated, this doesn't qualify for inclusion in the raw food lifestyle, but it's a great dish to bridge the gap between cooked food and raw food.



This is the same corn and black bean salad that shows up on my menu at least once a month in the summer. I make a big bowl full and serve it, with some variations, at several meals. This is simply diced onion, red pepper, tomato, jalepeño, fresh corn, off the cob, chopped cilantro, and organic, cooked black beans, served over greens (your choice). The corn and bean salad is dressed with sea salt, the juice from one fresh lime and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (first cold pressed). The salad above covers a bed of soft Bibb lettuce and to add a bit more zing, I topped if off with a few pitted Calamata olives.


To serve this salad to family members who expect a 'real' meal, add some cheese (Chevrè is a good choice) and a crisp crusted loaf of whole wheat bread with olive oil for dipping. If you are trying to incorporate more raw fruit and veggies in your diet, this is a good dish to start with.


Simple, fresh ingredients combined to produce a fast, easy, nutritious meal.

Till next time . . . To Eat Well; Eat Raw!

Going Green

I'll admit, I've had a difficult time with green smoothies. My mentors, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and Tera and Amy, The Raw Divas, along with just about everyone in the raw food community, advocate green smoothies as one of the most important 'meals' in a raw foods lifestyle.

Until I made the little number above, I've not been able to palate any of the green combos I've made. The glass above holds blended cantaloupe and organic baby spinach, simply blended in a regular household blender. The ripe cantaloupe cut into chunks and pureéd first and then the washed spinach leaves added and blended.

I found this combination posted on the Raw Divas Sisterhood forum by Shari from Everett, WA. Shari uses cantaloupe and either spinach or romaine for a great green smoothie. While the forum conversations describe the flavor as leaning towards vanilla, I found it just tastes like cantaloupe. Nothing wrong with that.

I highly recommend this combination as a great jumping off spot for making green smoothies a part of your diet. Even if you aren't attempting some portion of the raw food lifestyle, this is a potent fresh drink that will give you mega nutrient value along with increasing your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and to top it all off, it's delicious. I used one half cantaloupe and two big handfuls of baby spinach = 8 oz glass. Try it soon.

To Your Health

Till next time. . . To eat well; eat raw.

Gazpacho Base

What better time to make a batch of piquant, refreshing gazpacho? You don't have to be a raw foodist or a vegetarian to enjoy this delightful cold soup. But if you are a raw foodist and/or a vegan, this simple mix provides some fine meals.

Most gazpacho instructions call for pulverizing or pureeing the veggies, in a food processor or a blender, for the base. Early this summer, I read a different approach developed in the Cook's Illustrated test kitchen, and I decided to give it a go this past weekend. I liked the results of dicing the vegetables instead of pureeing. I did give the bowl a couple of swirls with the immersion blender, to thicken up the juice before placing in the refrigerator, but left most of the diced vegetables in tact.

The recipe from Cook's makes about 3 quarts, 8 - 10 servings. You can easily halve the recipe, but the soup does keep well and the leftovers are just as good as the first time around.Ingredients: 3 ripe medium beefsteak tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (about 4 cups)

2 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into slices then into 1/4 inch cubes (about 2 cups)

2 small cucumbers, peeled and seeded and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (about 2 cups)

1/2 small sweet onion, peeled and minced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (about 2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/3 cup sherry vinegar

freshly ground pepper to taste

5 cups tomato juice

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional) or

1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional)

8 ice cubes

Directions: Combine the tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, garlic, salt, vinegar and pepper in a large (at least 4 quart) non-reactive bowl. Let stand until the vegetables just begin to release their juices, about 5 minutes or so. Stir in the tomato juice *, hot pepper sauce, if using, and ice cubes. Cover tightly and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

To serve: Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and remove and discard any unmelted ice cubes. Serve cold, drizzling each portion with 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil and topping with desired garnishes.

Traditionally, diners garnish gazpacho with more of the same diced vegetables that are in the soup. Additional garnish possibilities include garlic croutons, chopped pitted black olives, or finely diced avocados. With this treatment, so chock full of nicely diced vegetables, I served it as is, without garnishes or olive oil. Serving the soup in chilled bowls adds a nice finishing touch, too.

* I used a quart of Knudsen's organic vegetable juice in place of the tomato juice called for.

With fresh, garden tomatoes coming into season across the country, this is a terrific dish to prepare. Dicing the produce doesn't take much time and the results are worth every minute.

Till next time. . . To eat well; eat raw!

I've been so immersed in the podcasts from the Raw Food World Summit for the past two weeks. Listening to a wide variety of personalities, all with compelling stories to tell of how they became involved with a raw food diet, and how making that change has affected their lives, health and happiness.

This awesome endeavor, gathering so many notable raw food enthusiasts and authorities sharing their insights and experiences, has been an education par excellence and the tuition can't be beat— it was FREE. Hey, I even caught up on all the ironing while I listened! Each speaker brought a different perspective to the table. Indeed, there was something for everyone.

I particularly enjoyed Dr. Doug Graham, and want to look further into his 80/10/10 System. I'm eager to read David Wolfe's books, Eating for Beauty and the Sunfood Diet Success System. Victoria Boutenko's talk was delightful. I'm a subscriber to the Raw Family Newsletter and can highly recommend her book, 12 Steps to Raw Food as a great place to get started.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Mike Adams from NewsTarget. It was Mike who steered me into the raw food scene. I've been a subscriber to his newsletter for quite some time. I appreciate the in-depth investigative reporting on health, drug and food issues. It was great to listen to him on the podcast.



I've been a whole foods, no processed foods, no synthetic chemicals, no artificial anything eater for years, but as I've aged, I've grown fat and sluggish. The high energy, mental clarity and effortless weight loss are just a few of the benefits of eating raw, organic food. The main reason to do it is to reverse or preferably, avoid deadly, debilitating diseases.

The carrot juice above along with this lovely, luscious plate of cukes with a mound of mixed veggies was today's lunch. The slaw is a combination of green and red cabbage, carrots, thinly sliced fennel, a Granny Smith apple cut into matchsticks, a few raisins to sweeten the pot and topped with a couple of tablespoons of snack sprouts. Lots of variety. Great textures. Nothing to bog me down for the afternoon.

Here are the other presenters in the Raw Food Summit podcasts. Do see Angela Stokes fabulous weight loss story. She lost 160 pounds! Dr. Gabriel Cousins is a world-renowned health authority. Happy Oasis is the calmest, most laid-back personality I've ever encountered. Check out The Raw Food Festival she's overseeing. I loved Richard Blackman's presentation and his no-nonsense approach. And there was Dorit, "Celebrating Our Raw Nature", Brendan Frazier, Matt Monarch, Brendan Cobb, Rhio and we wind up with Shazzie tonight.

Raw Food Summit surprised us with a couple of extra treats: Mark Perlmutter spoke about his upcoming documentary film, Raw For 30 Days, which I believe will be screened at the film festival in Osceola County this fall. Check out the trailer. Steve Prussack from Raw Vegan Radio was another bonus speaker. Check out the current episode.

Lots of excitement in the raw food world—lots of wonderful results. Imagine, just going back to eating the way nature intended, such a simple step offering such dramatic results.

Till next time . . . To Eat Well; Eat Raw!

A Dinner Salad

Take a close look at all the goodies tucked into this bowl of spinach. The ease of tossing together a great plate of food when eating raw, is one of the highlights of the program for me! Knowing that I'm feeding my body the best possible foods, with it all tasting so great and then having it be so easy, with so little prep work and so little clean-up, is just marvelous. This assumes, of course, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand.

I'm still not 100% raw, and many of my readers certainly aren't even 25% raw, so I'll continue to provide vegetarian cooked foods along with some ideas for increasing the amount of raw food we eat by sharing the meals I make for myself or suggesting places to look for more ideas that comply with being on the path to vibrant health.

Snack Sprouts
This spinach salad has sliced spinach leaves, washed and spun dry. A few thin slices of red onion, a generous helping of snack sprouts, a tablespoon of chia seeds, a cup of fresh blueberries, a couple of tablespoons of raisins, and is dressed with a splash of raw apple cider vinegar(Bragg's) and a very light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Toss well and enjoy. This salad is a perfect canvas for adding mango or pineapple chunks or even some citrus segments. You're only limited by your imagination and what you bought at the produce stand.

Till next time . . . to eat well; eat raw.

Salad in a Wrap

This light combination of tomato, cuke and lettuce has a secret punch. The whole wheat wrap has a light coating of organic, wasabi, soy mayonnaise. Simple, raw veggies make a quick lunch and with a little imagination offer a filling and satisfying meal. The sweet crunch of romaine topped with crisp slices of cucumber and juicy vine-ripened tomatoes becomes a wonderful sandwich filling. Adding a condiment with a bit of bite, brings this simple fare to a whole new level.

Asian Influence

Here's a quick veggie side dish or, in my case, main dinner course, with an oriental twist. Three young yellow squash, sliced, half a large vidalia onion, sliced; one clove of garlic, minced, two heads of Shanghai bok choy, sliced and half a cup of edamame. The veggies are cooked in layers.

In a large skillet, heat 1 TBS olive oil, when shimmering add the sliced onion, when it begins to soften, add the sliced squash and the sliced bottom portion of the tiny bok choy (reserve the soft green tops to cook last). Stir fry the vegetables until the squash and bok choy are fork tender and then toss in the minced garlic, reserved bok choy greens and edamame. Stir fry for 2 - 3 minutes. Finish with a dash of tamari, a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Till next time. . . keep on cooking.

Rawsome !

Lunch, with a big bowl of fresh greens, romaine and spinach enhanced with the bite of some thinly sliced red onion and crisp Kirby cucumber, sweetened with diced mango and blueberries, add a bit of crunch with a generous sprinkling of snack sprouts (adzuki, lentil and mung beans) as well as some raw sunflower seeds, then top it all off with crisp, crunchy sunflower greens. Zowee! How good can it get?

I dressed this bowl of raw food with a drizzle of fine extra virgin olive oil and a dash of Bragg's apple cider vinegar. Doing so veers from the discipline of true raw foodists but offers an alternative stage for those of us who want to eat better.

This bowl of green goodies was absolutely delicious—summer at its finest. While fresh, local produce is available, we should indulge at every opportunity. I didn't sprout my own sunflower greens. I purchased a container grown by Glaser Organic Farms in Miami, soil grown in natural sunlight, from Whole Foods.

The more I read and investigate, the more I'm convinced that taking responsibility for our health by what we eat and the lifestyle we choose, is the only way we can achieve vibrant health, avoid or overcome debilitating diseases, and enjoy an active, illness-free old age.

The Raw Food World Summit started 8/7 and continues via podcasts and teleseminars featuring some of the most internationally, notable raw food specialists—a fascinating, educational experience.

I also joined The Raw Divas Sisterhood, a great way to gain more knowledge, to interact with women, globally, who share the same goals: vibrant health, positive attitudes, fit, slim and mentally alert. Look into it!

Just adding more live, raw, organic foods into your daily diet will be a great first step in the right direction. Ironically, not only is it good for you — but it tastes good, too!

Till next time. . . To eat well, eat raw!

Just Picked

The soil, clinging to the base of these lovely heads of lettuce, was still damp this morning when I found them at the Orlando Farmers Market. As I headed home with my canvas bag filled with fresh goodies, dozens of possibilities swirled through my mind. The lettuce, briskly washed and rinsed and spun dry would provide the base for several crisp salads over the next day or two.

Freshly harvested lettuce like this, is rich in flavor, abundant in nutrients and can easily stand on its own, very lightly dressed or as an accompaniment to other fruits and vegetables.
The marvel of fresh produce is one doesn't have to spend hours concocting fancy sauces, adding a variety of herbs and spices to camouflage old, tired or stale produce that was picked halfway across the continent, warehoused, shipped across thousands of miles of highways, stored again, then finally transported to the produce section of my local supermarket. Produce involved in that scenario must not only be picked unripe, but must be treated with a variety of synthetic chemicals to allow it to be handled so much and still arrive unbruised and deceptively handsome and appealing. Ah, the marvels of modern technology.


Choosing locally grown, just picked produce not only offers better taste but provides better nutrition. With a fine bunch of Florida onions tucked in my canvas bag along with a head of crunchy celery and a fragrant Georgia pineapple, my list of possibilities kept expanding.


When a recipe calls for green onions, this is what comes to mind. Or as I like to think of them, giant scallions! But these are Florida onions, sweet and mild with just a bit of a bite to let you know that as lovely as they are, they are still onions, a favorite aromatic that adds such depth of flavor to so many dishes.

Without an image to include, let me tell you briefly about a fabulous spinach salad I tossed together. I was too eager to eat it to stop and think about shooting a photo for the blog!

SPINACH SALAD WITH FRESH PINEAPPLE

Wash and spin dry some baby spinach, stack, roll and slice (chiffonade). In a large serving bowl, toss spinach with pineapple segments, thinly sliced sweet onion, a generous handful of fresh blueberries and a handful of raw sunflower seeds, a light drizzle of very good extra virgin olive oil, a splash or two of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Slice two or three 1/4 inch thick coins of good French goat cheese, dice and toss over salad. This is especially good if the pineapple is very ripe and juicy.

Remember - To eat well; eat raw!

BOOK NOOK

I raced through a bevy of just released novels by popular authors during July. Some great entertainment!

Joyce Carol Oates . . . . . . The Gravedigger's Daughter

Robert Parker . . . . . . Spare Change

Louise Penny . . . . . . Still Life and A Fatal Grace

Pete Hamill . . . . . . North River

Jeffrey Deaver . . . . . Sleeping Doll

Thomas Perry . . . . . Silence

Ruth Rendell . . . . . The Water's Lovely

*********

Chard Burritos

This isn't a raw meal, but it is organic and vegetarian. And it's absolutely delicious. Rainbow chard is a dynamite veggie oft neglected and not often seen in produce departments of mainstream grocery stores. Farmer's markets, produce stands and chains like Whole Foods often feature this handsome green. I recently brought home a bundle and chose to follow Jack Bishop's suggestion for Chard burritos.

Jack comments that this is an excellent quick meal if one has leftover rice, but even with cooking fresh rice, this is an easy meal to assemble. I used my favorite Lundberg Farms' mahogany rice—that rich, chewy mix of dark brown and black rice. Jack's treatment calls for 2 cups of cooked white rice. I'm all about avoiding the deadly whites, though I do make an exception for Jasmine rice when making Thai curries. Using brown rice, or one of the dark rice combinations from Lundberg farms, offers more nutrition to this dish and a big bump up in flavor over bland white rice.

These burritos are great with fresh salsa but a good bottled one, like Green Mountain or Muir's would work well, too. The following recipe serves 4 as a main course. I used about half the quantities and made 3 generously filled small burritos.

Tomato-Chipotle Salsa
3 - 4 medium ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 small chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (about 1 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves (substitute cilantro or basil if desired)
salt

Chard Burritos
1 lb. chard, preferably rainbow chard, leaves washed, shaken dry to remove excess water.
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
salt to taste
4 large flour tortillas (about 12 inches - warmed one at a time in a large skillet)
2 cups cooked rice (from 2/3 cup raw)
1/4 cup sour cream.

For the salsa: combine the tomatoes, chile, oregano and salt to taste in a medium bowl and set aside.

For the burritos: With a chef's knife, separate the fleshy stalk from the green portion of each chard leaf. Trim the ends of the stalks and chop fine. Stack the leaves and slice them crosswise into 1/2 inch thick strips. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and chard stalks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chard leaves and salt to taste. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender about 7 minutes. If the greens are soupy, remove the cover and simmer a minute or two to evaporate liquid. Adjust the seasonings, add more salt if needed.

Lay the warmed tortillas flat on a work surface. Spoon 1/2 cup of the rice over the bottom of each tortilla. Top the rice with some chard and 1 Tbs. sour cream. Roll the tortillas, tucking the sides toward the center, to form neat bundles. Slice each burrito in half and serve, passing the salsa at the table.

These burritos are rolled in whole wheat wraps not flour tortillas. Extra flavor; more fiber.

Till next time . . . keep on cooking, but remember to include a lot of raw fruit and vegetables.

DAY SEVEN

This has been an interesting week, to say the least. With temperatures hovering mid-90's and the heat index close to 104°, I couldn't have picked a better time to choose to eat only raw food. The experience has opened up a whole new range of possibilities for those inevitable power outages that accompany tropical storms and hurricanes. Living in Florida guarantees that sooner or later another big storm will render us near helpless when the power is out for days at a time. While the neighbors may be outside grilling up some dead animal, I'll be well versed in preparing some tasty raw vegetable dishes.


Aside from having a great hankering for a glass of wine one evening, and the dull headache from caffeine withdrawal early in the week, I've had a wonderful time participating in the 7-Day Raw Food Detox program sponsored by The Raw Divas.


I've wiped down the stove a couple of times, but just to keep off the dust! I'm removing the microwave from the kitchen counter. How nice to have more space. It will be a perfect place to grow my sprouts! And, yes, organic produce is more expensive, but my grocery bill this past week was considerably lower, as I purchased fewer items.


Now that the detox program comes to a close, I'm eager to make a new batch of almond milk and turn it into some dreamy, creamy raw ice cream. The almond milk and frozen bananas make a super base for a variety of flavors. Adding fresh fruit: peaches, strawberries or mango for example, provides some fabulous taste treats, eliminating any feeling of deprivation yet avoiding all those synthetic chemicals, fat and sugar in commercially prepared ice cream. And I'm looking forward to both the novelty and challenge of preparing some of Nomi Shannon's extremely appealing suggestions and instructions for eating well while eating raw. Presentation plays a big part in our food satisfaction profile. Instructions with beautiful colored images abound in Nomi's book, The Raw Gourmet. My mouth waters as I pore over it looking, learning and lusting.

There are many books available and plenty of websites on hand, to help with learning to make a transition from eating condensed, cooked foods to increasing the portions of live, raw food in our daily diets. For those interested in becoming a raw foodist there are many programs and coaches available to lend inspiration, education and support. The Raw Divas have just introduced their new 30-day program, The Body Enlightenment System (BES) which promises to be an excellent way to move toward vibrant health with daily coaching and support.

During this adventure, I've discovered a bevy of raw food websites. Raw Food Right Now has been a regular read for me for quite some time. Following along with Justin and Heidi as they continue on their journey as raw foodist, baring their souls, unapologetically, about their happy experiences and real life dilemmas. Their honest, down to earth approach will do much to encourage novices. Karen Knowler's upbeat eZine, Successfully Raw, gives you some in-depth direction from across the pond by an enthusiastic raw foodist with a good deal of experience.

A big advantage to replacing cooked food is the time savings and ease of clean-up. But the ultimate reason to eat live, fresh, clean (chemical free) food is the amount of energy you free up, the boost you give your immune system and the immediate changes you can see in the way you feel, the way your hair and skin look and feel and the changes in inches you quickly notice. In all fairness, I planned to wait until tomorrow morning to get on the scale, but as I sat here writing, my curiosity got the best of me.

The bathroom scale registers 8 lbs lighter than it did a week ago.

What an easy way to shed fat. I ate tasty, easy to prepare foods and exercised. I've been walking between 4 and 5 miles each day, and had super support, wonderful suggestions, and on-going encouragement from Amy and Tera, The Raw Divas, and from many of the other women doing the seven day detox with me.

I encourage you to look into the amazing health benefits of including more raw food in your daily diet, it's the surest way to get on the road to being healthy and staying healthy. Synthetic drugs, whether prescription or over the counter, are not going to prevent nor cure any ailment. They only mask the symptoms and add side effects with dangers of their own. Taking care of our bodies is our responsibility. Why wait to get sick? Take a few easy steps to prevent the most common ailments so prevalent in our society: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and cancer.

Put a little green in your life daily!

RAW FOOD DETOX

I've been busy, reading up and gearing up for a seven day raw food detox program, courtesy of The Raw Divas. I believe there are about 700 women from throughout the world taking part in this week's program. We started last Saturday evening with a 24 hour fast, just water. Each day we've limited ourselves to organic fruit and veggies with no adornments. Smoothies, lettuce wraps, veggie nibbles, fruit and lots and lots of water. Exercise and ample rest are part of the program. This is a wonderful way to give our bodies a much needed rest. Help the digestive system cleanse itself and as a by-product, lose a few pounds.

I recently realized that I've been eating an awful lot of cooked food. It may be vegetarian and it may be organic, but I know better. In the mid-80's, when it became my turn for the inevitable change of life, skinny old me, started putting on some serious weight. At first, it was fine. It was nice to have something between my skin and bones. Before I knew it, there was an awful lot between my skin and bones and it was FAT.
Between Food For Life by Neal Barnard, M.D. and Fit For Life, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, I not only lost weight but had super energy and was the picture of health. I added walking to my day, ate nothing but fruit before noon, ate nothing after 8 p.m. at night and for lunch and dinner I paid close attention to proper food combining. 60% -70% of what I ate was raw fruit and vegetables.

I'm back to it this week, with a vengeance. I feel great. Meal preparation is quick, simple, delicious and clean-up is pretty minimal. I haven't turned on a stove burner since last Saturday. No deadly rays emanating from the microwave, just a blender, salad spinner and my handy chef's knife. No walking up and down the aisles at the grocery store either—a straight shot to the produce department or better yet, just a stop at a produce market or farm stand.

I'm not going to proselytize. We each have to make decisions about our lifestyle and health on our own. But I will encourage everyone to become more aware of the tremendous role our food plays in our health and overall well-being. Most of us take better care of our cars than our bodies. I strongly recommend reading Randall Fitzgerald's The One Hundred Year Lie to get a better picture of how the deadly diseases running rampant today have a direct correlation to the marvelous technological advances of using synthetic chemicals to manufacture our food and drugs. Millions of sick and dying people are proof of how our bodies are reacting to these toxins and carcinogens.

Check out Mike Adams website and newsletter. Up-to-date information on food and drug related issues along with excellent articles to keep us informed in layman's terms. And if you would like to experience the support of a couple of great ladies who've put together a no-nonsense, no mumble-jumble, FREE, seven day raw food detox program, check out The Raw Divas. They've put together a super support program, with simple instructions and a fabulous forum.

Guess I'll have to amend my sign-off from "Keep on Cooking" to:

TO EAT WELL, EAT RAW.

I

Alfredo Who?

Back in the day, before just looking at rich foods put on pounds, I would often whip up a mean Alfredo sauce for a group of friends on a Sunday night after we'd spent a day in the pool, and were settled in for the evening with a tall Scotch and soda and a classic movie spinning off the VCR. It was the quick and easy comfort food that appealed to all of us, with the sharp bite of a good freshly grated Parmesan and the rich, mouth feel of butter and cream, all lavishly laced over pasta cooked to al dente perfection.

What a delightful surprise to run across this quick, easy, fresh dish of pasta with ricotta, Parmesan and fresh spinach. The feel is much like Alfredo but the overall calorie count is much reduced. I love the little nest of freshly grated Regianno perched atop the pasta, don't you? It looks like a lot of cheese, but the marvelous rasp produces a virtual mound with just a couple of scrapes across the cheese. Hardly worth counting those calories, right?

This along with some 69 other summer recipes are featured in fresh - The Best of fine Cooking from the folks at Taunton Press. Check it out.

Fusilli is suggested, but I had multi-grain, tiny penne on hand, which worked just as well. Using a ridged pasta helps to catch the sauce, assuring each bite is equally flavorful. The following set of instructions makes enough to serve six. I cut everything in half and had three generous servings.

Ingredients: 3/4 - 1lb fresh spinach, stemmed, washed and cut into chiffonade; 2 TBS olive oil, 4 small scallions, thinly sliced (I used two shallots). Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt; 1 cup ricotta cheese, preferably fresh; 1 cup half and half; pinch of nutmeg; 1 TBS unsalted butter; 1 lb fusilli or penne pasta; 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add about 1 Tbs. salt.
Prepare spinach in chiffonade. Stack several leaves at a time, roll up and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch strips. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the scallions or shallots and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper to the pan. For a bit of a kick, add some dried red pepper flakes.(optional). Cover and steam until leaves are wilted but still bright green, stirring up from the bottom of the pan as needed.

In a small bowl, stir the ricotta, half and half and a few gratings of nutmeg. Stir the ricotta mixture and the butter into the skillet with the spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain well and return the pasta to its pot over low heat. Add the spinach mixture and enough of the reserved cooking water to make a sauce that lightly coats the pasta. Toss thoroughly. Transfer the pasta to a warm serving bowl or individual bowls and top with grated cheese and a few fresh grinds of pepper.

Till next time . . . keep on cooking!

Sin-Free Chocolate Chews

The good folks at King Arthur Flour, who fill the Baker's Catalogue® with so many good things to bake, call these lusciously decadent, deep dark chocolate cookies, 'sin-free'. In actuality they are low fat, but anything this good can't possibly be free of sin.

These are very easy to make, the only caution I would proffer, is plan ahead as the batter requires chilling before it is ready to handle for baking. Directions call for 3 hours or up to overnight in the fridge. I went with a hair less than 3 hours as I hadn't read those words of instruction when perusing the recipe. I'll just have to make them again (wonderful to have a legitimate excuse for more) to see if chilling longer produces more cookies. The recipe says the yield is fourteen big (3 1/2") cookies. My yield was 9. An ample amount, to be sure, as I was serving them for dessert with freshly churned strawberry frozen yogurt (thank you, Heidi Swanson and David Lebovitz). One cookie apiece was fine and I've enough left over to satisfy my chocolate urge for a few days.

Chocolate Chews

2 1/4 cups (9 oz) confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder ( I didn't use any)
1 cup cocoa powder (Dutch-process or natural)
3 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, salt, espresso powder, and cocoa. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and mix at low speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. The batter will seem dry at first, but will become shiny and smooth as it mixes. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the batter for 3 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (I only needed one for my 9 cookie yield). Drop the dough in ping pong sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
©2006 the King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

While on the subject of King Arthur, check out their European-Style Artisan Flour. A wonderful blend of wheats for producing crusty hearth loaves. Check out the recipes at the King Arthur website. I ordered a couple of bags of the Artisan Flour recently to use for some everyday bread but found a wonderful recipe for a Tuscan-Style Coffeecake on the back of the bag. The rich dough with a tight, yet tender crumb, is sweetened with a filling of dates and raisins and for an added crunch treat, toasted walnuts and I just had to go over the top with the addition of some dried citrus. This is a fine bread to serve at tea time or with morning coffee. It toasts nicely, too.

Tuscan Style Coffee Cake

Till next time . . . keep on cooking.

Book Nook

June was a good reading month. Lots of favorite authors, as well as new ones, kept me glued to the printed page.

Nora Roberts . . . . . . . . . . Irish Born Trilogy

Born in Fire; Born in Ice; Born in Shame

Khaled Hasseini . . . . . . . . A Thousand Splendid Suns

Michael Ondaatje. . . . . . . Divisadero

Michael Connelly. . . . . . . The Overlook

Ariana Franklin. . . . . . . . .Mistress of the Art of Death

Elizabeth Berg . . . . . . . . . Dream When You're Feeling Blue

Mohsin Hamid. . . . . . . . . .The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Nicole Mones . . . . . . . . . . .The Last Chinese Chef