Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Raw addiction

It's funny how this lifestyle becomes addicting. I was thinking the other day that I never particularly cared for cooking, but now I'm so into my "uncooking", It's so satisfying to create a dish from raw, healthy foods that essentially replicates and usually blows away it's SAD counterpart.
Many of these recipes are as easy as popping a bunch of veggies into the blender, or slicing up some veggies. I'm at the point now that I may start with a recipe, then ad lib as I go along.
Here's some of the simplest ideas:

You like pasta? How about raw, veggie pasta:



The "pasta" is simply spiralized zucchini. Yellow squash, carrots, beets, daikon radish, parsnip, or any firm vegetable works also.
The sauce is tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, and any other spices you desire whirled in the blender or magic bullet. Uncooked, delish, and bursting with enzymes and important nutrients.
Serve with a side of dehydrated flax crackers and you won't even miss Italian night.

Flax Seed Veggie Crackers
1 cup flax seeds, soaked at least 4 hrs.
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, parsely, or whatever spice you desire
3/4 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked at least 2 hrs (if you use sundried tomatoes in oil from a jar, omit soaking)
1 tsp kelp or dulse (or both)
1 jalapeno or hot red pepper to taste
1 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 onion
2 cups veggie pulp from juice

Place all ingredients except flax seeds in blender or food processor and puree.
Add soaked flax seeds, which will now be gelatinous and thick.
Spread onto non stick sheets in dehydrator and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8 hrs. or until top is dry.
Flip onto mesh rack and dry an additional 5-8 hrs or until crisp.

These crackers can be easily modified by adding different ingredients, so experiment!

If you've been missing bread and the dehydrated crackers and flat breads don't quite do it for you, here's a recipe for healthy sprouted bread that's absoulutely delicious! While not technically raw, it's cooked in low temps for a short time, so the inside temperature of the bread is probably not high enough to kill the enzymes. I'm going to experiment with dehydrating it next time instead, but it may take forever due to the thickness.

Sproutman's Basic Sprout Bread
From Steve Meyerowitz' "Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook"

Soak 1 cup of hard winter wheat in jar for 8-10 hrs. Sprout for 2 days until the shoot is the length of the berry. (The shoot is short and thick, and grows in the opposite direction of the hair-like roots.)
Grind the sprouts in food processor or Omega/Champion juicer with the blank screen to form a smooth paste.
Form a 1 1/2 X 3" loaf by hand. Wet hands constantly while shaping to prevent sticking.
Line cookie sheet with seeds (I used sesame) to keep bread from sticking and bake at 250 degrees F for approximately 2 1/2-3 1/2 hrs. or until underside is firm. The inside will remain moist. Lift bread up momentarily half way through baking to avoid sticking.




Even my dog is crazy for the veggies now. I've created a monster that stalks me every time she hears the juicer.


Veggie dog waiting for her next fix

Then she inhales the pulp without even breathing!



She never takes her head out of the bowl.
Ah, but now she has her new slim figure to show for it!

Well, I hope everyone had a great 4th. I got a bird's eye view of some great fireworks:





Cool!

7 comments:

Carrie Nicole said...

oh wow! your dog will just eat the pulp fresh from the juicer? I'm going to have to try that for my kids, I wonder if they will take to it. They love fruit and like some veggies when mixed in with their food. I was going to try making the pate that Ani Phyo makes for her dog. I would love to get my kids on a homemade diet!

Jill said...

I give her a small amount of dog food in the morning, but the rest of the day she gets my pulp. She definitely loves the veggies way more than she likes her dog food!

Carrie Nicole said...

Ok, I'm sold! I've been reading lots and lots on dogs being on a raw vegan diet (I know cats can't) and sounds like all signs point to that they can thrive and achieve ultimate health just like we can. So, I am going to start working on bringing them into my transition...hey, maybe i'll even include them in my 100 day raw food challenge that Bunny Berry's heading up!! OH! Now THAT's an idea!

Jill said...

I'm telling you, since I started my dog on veggies at least twice a day, she's lost weight, her energy level is higher, and she isn't limping any more. But the best development is that she had these fierce allergies which made her hair fall out in patches. In all these years the vet couldn't figure out what to do about it except give her antibiotics, which are of course only a band aid. Since the raw food- it hasn't happened once!! Gone!
Spread the veggie love!

Anonymous said...

Jill, great recipes, Thanx for sharing! I made the spaghetti tonight but my sauce came out brown. Then I used waaaaaay too much datyl pepper (it was my moms brilliant suggestion to use peppers from my brother's garden)it's edible just reaaaaaly spicy. How do you get your sauce so red (not that it matters I guess) and how do you get the vegetables to look like that? I used a carrot peeler.

Jill said...

I used a spiralizer. I have the spirooli, which costs about $35. It really makes the texture exactly like spaghetti. You can get it here:
http://healthfree.com/shop/index.php?action=item&id=252
My sauce is just blended tomatoes and spices, but don't blend too much or it's too soupy. I use the magic bullet and pulse it. You can also use a food processor on pulse.
I love mine spicy as well- lots of red peppers. Maybe the peppers you used made it brown?

Anonymous said...

LOL. There's the dog... I haven't tried the begle with the pulp yet. Great blog. I'm going to have to try those crackers! ( : 123