Many people are starting to take notice of the Raw diet. It was decided that we should start a recipe/food discussion thread. Many of the people on here were introduced to Raw foodism through Oatmeal's Raw and Living Foods Thread.

Raw & Living Foods Thread (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6479)

Please ask all questions in the above listed thread unless you're asking about a recipe, or discussing your food. Refer to the discussion thread for all diet related questions.

Questions about recipes, or the food itself are to be asked here! Show your progressions in increasing raw food intakes, as well. This will also serve as a journal, and guide for up and coming raw foodists. :)

Here, VB's raw enthusiasts, and others who are curious about raw foodism, can find and contribute recipes for tasty salads, or find ideas for tasty things to do to raw fruits and vegetables. Raw Foods are NOT bland at all! Just add ANY fun, and interesting ways to use vegetables and fruits in a raw foodist manner. :)

Go on and post your recipes!! We'll try to consistently experiment, create, and add new things! Have fun! :)

I'll kick things off with a recipe I created tonight.

Avocado salad with Garlic Dressing

serves 1-2

Salad:
2 small or 1 large avocado
1 cup spinach
1 cup romaine lettuce
2 scallions
1 roma tomato
4 1/2 inch thick red pepper rings.

Dressing:
2 cloves of garlic
juice of one lemon
extre virgin olive oil (cold pressed)

INSTRUCTIONS:

vinaigrette: With a mortar and pestil, grind the garlic cloves finely, add a bit of lemon juice, and grind the garlic more. Do the same with olive oil until it forms a thin paste. add about 1/4 a cup of both lemon juice, and oil. and mix together. Set aside.

Salad: Cut the tomato into chunks. slice the avocado into chunks, slice red peppers thinly, and chop it up, mince the scallions shred the spinach and romaine with hands. Combine in bowl, and toss with hands... Add in the dressing, toss and serve. Add salt and pepper, to taste, if desired.



EDIT: I tried this recipe with lemon instead of vinegar, and I liked it much better! So I altered the recipe. :)

Just a note: About the dehydrator - I bought one for $40 at Walmart. My mom wanted one, so, I went to buy her one at Walmart, and they were on sale for $10! They're definitely worth $40, but, I'm sure if you shopped around at places like Walmart or Big Lots you could find one for cheaper.

This salad sounds wonderful and would only be 100% raw without the vinegar. Vinegar is distilled, which = cooked.

Originally posted by Wiccanveg
This salad sounds wonderful and would only be 100% raw without the vinegar. Vinegar is distilled, which = cooked.

thanks for that info!! I did have some doubt because of the distillation. I asked Oatmeal and he wasn't sure. But I do believe if you're going raw for the nutritional content of foods, vinegar would be okay as it doesn't have nutrients. (some raw foodists drink tea) I will go edit the recipe for those that would like to omit the vinegar.

Yay! Thanks a lot Fafi!! :)

I'd just like to point out that the way I understand raw foodism is to drastically increase your raw and unprocessed food intake. It is an ongoing transitional process, even long time raw foodists constantly look for ways to further refine their diet.

So I think it is acceptable to post not only "100% raw" recipes here - especially if the not-raw ingredient is something as easily omitted as vinegar.

I would be glad to see all kinds of recipes and ideas here from all kinds of people. If only "100% raw foodists" would post here, this thread would be quite lonely and boring I think.

With a bit of creativity every mostly-raw recipe can be converted to 100% raw. I will try to make suggestions whenever I see non-raw ingredients, but policing each others recipes just would send the wrong signal to someone interested in raw and reading this thread.

So don't be concerned about "100% raw" when posting here. When in doubt, please post what you have!

As general guideline, I'd say that a salad with a bit of vinegar is OK, but a pasta salad would be not OK ;)


About the vinegar: Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (http://www.bragg.com/products/applecidervinegar.html) which is raw and unheated, can be used in recipes calling for vinegar. I has a pleasantly mild vinegar taste. Also, freshly squeezed lemon juice (or any other citrus - orange, grapefruit,...) can be substituted for the acid ingredient in dressings.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad:
-peel and slice (very thin) one cucumber
-cut 2 large tomatoes or 4 roma
-chop fine some dill (lots and lots, this adds a lot of flavor)
-add appox. 1T olive oil
-top with choppped green onion
(I use vinegar fot this recipe too, but becuase it's not completly raw, you don't need to use it.)

Originally posted by sunshinemelissa

(I use vinegar fot this recipe too, but becuase it's not completly raw, you don't need to use it.)

or, i guess you could use oatmeal's idea. I read it after I posted the recipe:)

here's the gazpacho (i like to call it gazpachi ;)) recipe. it's from "the enchanted broccoli forest" by mollie katzen.

green gazpacho
3 green tomatoes (i used red tomatoes, kinda ruins the whole green thing but whatever)
1 green bell pepper
1 medium cucumber
4 scallions (i used a bit of chopped onion instead)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup packed minced parley (i just used a bit of dry parsley)
juice from 2 juicy limes (or lemons) <--about 6 tbs juice
1 medium avocado
3 cups cold water (optional, depending on how thin/thick you like it)
1 tsp salt
lots of fresh black pepper
1 tbs. freshly minced basil (or 1/2 tsp dried basil)
2 tbs. olive oil

put everything in a food processor and you're done. if you don't have a cuisinart of blender of some sort, chopping all the vegetables up would be fine too. it's a great summer snack!

once i find my spaghetti with meatball recipe i'll post it.

Banaynay popicles!

1)peel a ripe banana (ripe as you want)
2)toss in the freezer
3)eat when solid!!

Fun and simple!

Keegan I love doing that with banana's! it's awesome.

Anyways, another variation on the tomato cucumber salad is slicing some avacado with it and omiting the olive oil.

I've been starting raw. Usually I'll last about 2-3 days before going back to cooked food. This weekend though I'm planning on doing 100% if possible for as long as I can.

A great breakfast that was posted in another thread is raw nut butters with mixed fruits. Someone had mentioned it and I got addicted, even bought raw cashew butter that was about 20 before my roomie reminded me that cashews are cooked :(

My favorite is frozen grapes. They are so much sweeter than normal.

Mmmm, great recipes all!!!

Oooh and frozen desserts. Great ideas, I'm going to try them!! :lick:

I also love ICE CREAM from the Champion Juicer (http://www.championjuicer.com/). I know that is specialized equipment that not everyone has, but I wanted to mention it here. If we would have to get rid of our Champion, I seriously would consider getting another one, and perhaps more because of the ice cream than because of the juices, LOL (well, it's hot summer here).

There is a setting on the Champion, where it doesn't juice but just "chews" what you put into it. (This way you can also make nutbutters.)

You just feed it any frozen fruit, and out comes the most delicious ice cream ever. Bananas are amazingly creamy, high water content fruits are more sorbet like.

Heaven! :drool:

I have an ice shaver that I make frozen treats with. I just freeze my fruit and put it through the shaver. It's like an icee, but without all the gunk.

That's actually how I made a sorbet (except not with a champion) with cantaloupe. And without an ice cream maker.

I juiced it all to be sure I had a fine puree. Of course I saved all the juice, then I combined the juice and fruit and stirred. You cover it in a bowl and put it in the freezer. When it started to harden a bit, stir it well. When it hardens a bit more, stir again... repeat that 1-3 more times until it's hardened. If it gets too hard, it should easily be shaved.

I should go invest in a champion. :)

Originally posted by Wiccanveg

I've been starting raw. Usually I'll last about 2-3 days before going back to cooked food. This weekend though I'm planning on doing 100% if possible for as long as I can.


Better than me. heh. I haven't had a complete raw day yet. But next week I am going to do all raw. I have a shopping list together and everything. :D

Just including my list because I have nothing better to do. :p

12 lbs bananas
2 bunches of spinach
2 heads romaine
6 mangos (perhaps 9? I lurve mangos!)
2 lbs strawberries
watermelon
3 avocados
bag of oranges
1 lb of small mushrooms
raw sunflower seeds
raw peanuts
raw almonds

not a recipe, but i just wanted to say juliano just opened up his restaurant "raw" here (in santa monica) a few months ago.. it was good..! but somehow, whenever i eat the raw "gourmet" condensed type recipes, i always get a tummy ache..! :( oh well..

i love raw fruit pies though (fruit is the best :D).. i have no original recipes, only from books!

And if you're from the Chicago area...a good restaurant to check out it "Karyn's Fresh Corner" - I think it's in Villa Park or somewhere around there. It's completely raw-food and sounds awesome! Haven't been there yet though.

I wonder what their kitchen there looks like? No oven, microwave, stove, etc... :)

Anna..I'm in Chi Town and I would recommend Vitality Natural Foods in Wilmette over Karyns. They have a small deli type bar with some salads and a few sandwiches. Their not tuna is amazing.


As for Karyns, she cooks with Liquid Aminos and a lot of raw foodists frown apon that. So it is sufice to say that her cooking is probably 70-80 % raw.

a health food store near me prepares a bunch of raw dishes. they are very expensive but totally worth it! the raw pizza is HEAVEN. and the raw blueberry cheesecake... WOW. i've also tried raw quiche (sp?) and lasagna. if I had the recipes i'd post them... they only give you the ingredients on a little sticker.

burrito idea:
Use a large leaf of lettuce as a tortilla. I prefer to use icebeg lettuce, but it cracks a little. If you don't like the cracking, try bib lettuce.
Fill with beans, guacamole, salsa and whatever else floats your boat.

Any type of lettuce wrap would be really cool... I like that idea mel. I am planning on developing a couple recipes to add once I finally go shopping! :D

Today I was thinking about throwing some romaine together with oranges... but I wanted something more creative, and I came up with this!

Citrus & Greens Salad with Spicy-Lemon Dressing
Ingredients-

Salad:
3/4-1 cup sliced strawberries
2.5 cups salad greens (I used romaine and spinach)
1 large orange, peeled, and sliced into chunks
1/4 of a large, red bell pepper.

Dressing:
Juice of one medium lemon (and pulp, if desired)
cayenne pepper, ginger and raw sugar, to taste.

Combine fruits/veggies, toss. Mix lemon juice, sugar, gingerand pepper in a bowl to desired taste, and sugar is dissolved. Combine with salad, and toss. I made my dressing into, what tasted like, a spicy, slightly sweet lemonade.

SUGGESTION: Sprinkle crushed, raw almonds on top, if desired.

heh... I love making dressings now! I get creative... forget anything bottled! :D

Ooh, I also made some really good raw ice cream in my blender yesterday!

2 large bananas (frozen)
1/2 a mango (frozen)
5-7 medium strawberries (chilled)

First process the strawberries and mango so that you don't end up with huge chunks. Add the banana, process until creamy.. yum!

(if things don't get moving, add a tiiiny bit of water)

:drool:
Danny