Simply Raw

I was a self proclaimed "lazy vegetarian" for years before discovering a whole new world of cuisine.  I sat for a raw foods demonstration at an unassuming little table in a park on a windy Florida day expecting nothing more than to watch "eccentric" people show what they eat while hugging trees.  What I discovered was a vibrant blend of textures, colors, and flavors!  Raw food does not have to be complicated or time consuming.  The ingredients are so fresh and delicious that they don't need a lot of work to become something wonderful.  Save the complicated recipes for the weekend!  Here are some simple things I've put together recently.

Carrot Grapefruit Juice

Made from 2 fresh ingredients and a juicer!  A zippy start to any day!

Sprout, Avocado, Tomato Salad

I tossed beautiful cherry tomatoes (fresh from a farm stand), sprouts, and diced avocado into a bowl and sprinkled with fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, & pepper.  Much more satisfying than you might think.

My local farm stand had the most fantastic tomatoes in a variety of colors.  I cut them into wedges, broke up some asparagus, minced some fresh basil, and drizzled with balsamic & olive oil.  Sprinkled with a touch of salt.

Think being a raw foodist means nothing but salads everyday?  Wrong!  Check out this fabulous wrap.  I wilted a kale leaf in the dehydrator (to make it more flexible), filled with my favorite matchstick'ed veggies, and used a dipping sauce I had handy.  This time it was a combination of raw almond butter, water, dates, ginger, and cayenne.  I combined 2 dip recipes from a fellow raw friend to make that one.

More wraps please!   I'm a wrap obsessed girl, so here's another one.  All raw except the rice paper wrapper.  You can substitute any leafy green if you like to keep it strictly raw.  This one has kelp noodles (full of trace minerals), carrots, avocado, carrots, sprouts, basil, cilantro, and my favorite part..........wait for it......mango.  It's just not the same without it.  This wrap is so good it doesn't even need a sauce.  I make this every week or so, I never get tired of it!  Switch up the veggies to use whatever looks good where you shop that week.  *Kelp noodles are available at asian markets, if you can't locate them substitute with the rice noodles you soak for 10 minutes and can even get from the asian section at Walmart.  Rice paper wrappers are available at lots of stores in the asian section also.

Chia rice pudding!  I eat this one for breakfast quite a bit and try to bring enough to go around because the girls at work love it!  For this one I mix 1C almond milk, 3.5T chia seeds, a small handful of dried cranberries (you can use raisins but I substitute tart goodies wherever I can), and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice.  Mix well to avoid clumps.  Cover, place in fridge, and allow the chia time to absorb the milk, at least an hour.  Give it a taste and see if you like a little agave to sweeten or not.  Makes a great dessert!