I began adding more raw meals to my daily eating practices in January, and I feel so much better as a result. It’s so much fun to experiment with familiar flavors, like pesto, in the context of a raw entree or snack. The Raw Truth: Recipes and Resources for the Living Foods Lifestyle, 2nd ed.
Pesto Wraps (My son loves pesto and would definitely give these a shot. They remind me of pigs in a blanket!)
Serves 4 to 6
3 large zucchini, peeled
Pinch of sun-dried sea salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Presto Pesto
2 cups chopped walnuts
2 cups loosely packed fresh green and purple basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 heaping tablespoon red miso
2 tomatoes, cubed
Chopped green and purple basil, for garnish
Using a vegetable peeler or mandoline, cut thin, wide strips lengthwise down the zucchini. Place the zucchini strips in a bowl, cover with water, add the sea salt and lemon juice, and soak for 2 hours, or until they taste clean (not starchy). Drain, rinse, and drain again.
To prepare the pesto, place the walnuts, basil leaves, and garlic in a homogenizer juicer or food processor and homogenize, creating an oily paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl and stir in the miso.
To prepare each wrap, lay a zucchini strip flat on your work surface. Drop a teaspoon of pesto in the center of the zucchini strip. Press a small piece of tomato into the pesto. Fold or roll up the zucchini strip. Secure the wrap by piercing it with a toothpick or place it, seam side down, on a serving plate. Serve garnished with the chopped basil.
Mixed Melon Ball Salad (a.k.a., a sneak peek of summer’s glory!)
Serves 4 to 6
1 cantaloupe, halved and seeded
1 honeydew melon, halved and seeded
1 watermelon, halved
Juice of 2 limes
Scoop out the flesh of the melons with a melon baller, place in a large serving bowl, and mix gently. Splash with the lime juice and serve.
If you’re more experienced with raw food prep, check out this recipe for Falafel. It does require dehydrating and a juicer, according to the recipe, although I’m sure you could employ work-arounds.
Falafel
Makes four 8-inch crusts or eight 4-inch crusts
6 cups sprouted garbanzo beans (see page 20)
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup raw tahini
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 onion, minced
2 tablespoons ground cumin
6 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos, or 2 tablespoons sun-dried sea salt
1 cup sesame seeds
Using a homogenizing juicer with the blank plate in place [or a food processor (Candace's note)], homogenize the garbanzo beans and parsley and place in a large bowl. Place the tahini, lemon juice, onion, cumin, and Braggs in a blender and blend. Stir the tahini mixture into the garbanzo paste. In a spice grinder, grind the sesame seeds into a fine powder. Mix into the garbanzo paste. Press into 1/4-inch-thick crusts, each 4 or 8 inches in diameter. Dehydrate for 12 to 14 hours, flipping at least once during the drying time.
How to Sprout
Sprouting is the easiest way to grow foods for yourself. You can grow sprouts in any climate anywhere in the world. If you can live there, so can sprouts. To sprout, first select the type of seed you wish to grow and refer to the chart on pages 22–23 to find out the optimal soaking time. You can sprout seeds in just about any container, including a cloth bag or even a wicker basket, although a large glass jar (1/2 to 1 gallon) with a screen cover is the most popular setup. As a general rule, for a yield of 1/2 gallon of sprouted seeds, use 2 to 3 tablespoons of small seeds such as alfalfa or clover; 11/2 cups of medium seeds such as wheat, oat, or garbanzo; or 2 to 3 cups of nuts and rice. After soaking them for the appropriate amount of time, drain them and then rinse the sprouts with fresh water at least twice a day until the tails are at least three times the size of the seed in length. Next, expose your sprouts, still in the jar, to sunlight for about 15 minutes to activate the abundance of chlorophyll. Now, chow down!
What are your favorite raw recipes or dishes?
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