PURE Bar - Veronica’s Blog

I have several interviews in the coming weeks with media regarding the benefits of eating raw food, so I thought I’d talk about it and provide some of the recipes that I’ll be preparing on air.

First of all, what is raw food? Very basically it is natural food (fruits, grains, seeds, nuts, vegetables, legumes) that has not been heated above 118 degrees. When food is heated above 118 degrees, the enzymes present begin to breakdown and become useless. These enzymes are important because they allow our body to extract maximum nutrients from the food. Heated food is simply less nutritious then raw, unheated food. Raw food has much better, deeper, more colorful flavor than cooked food. BTW I always choose organic!!

Why is raw food a healthy choice? As stated above raw food is more nutritious. Whole raw food is also perfectly made to nourish our bodies. It is filling and has a perfect blend of fats, sugars, fiber, protein so eating a wide variety of raw foods will give you great nutrition as opposed to cooked and highly processed foods which leave your body craving more and tend to artificially nourish us ( a chocolate/peanut butter energy bar just shouldn’t be packed with Vitamin C).

How does someone go raw? I always tell people that it is the easiest life change there is. The key is to go slow. Gradually incorporate more raw choices into your life (see recipes below). Find raw foods that you crave, (for me guacamole is one-Pure Bars another) and enjoy every bite you take. Juicing is another delicious and filling way to incorporate more raw food into your eating. I have found that the more raw I eat, the more my body takes over and starts to change on its own. It begins to crave raw instead of cooked and processed. I used to crave ice cream and have a weakness for it. Now I can hardly stomach it. The funny thing is that it was never a conscious choice. It just happened along the way. If you can get to eating about 70% raw you are doing fabulous!!

Fav Recipes: (All ingredients are organic)

Guacamole:

1 avocado chopped

1 tomato chopped

1/2 a small onion chopped

1/4 cup cilantro

Juice of 1-2 limes

1/2 jalapeno chopped

This is one of my favorite lunches just mix it all together and eat with some raw flax crackers (see next recipe).

Flax crackers:

Combine 3 cups flax seeds (you can sprout if you want by soaking them in water for 1/2 hour) juice of a lemon and 1/4 cup Nama shouyo (like soy sauce) blend for a short time and spread onto cookie sheet or dehydrating grid. Dehydrate at 110 degrees (my oven has a bread rising selection that keeps the temp at 104-perfect) for 3 hours or until cracker-like. You can also purchase raw flax crackers at your local health food store. They are great with guac. and hummus and fresh salsa too!

Hummus:

1 cup garbanzo beans ( you can use the boiled from a can or if you want all raw hummus then soak them for 8 hours rinsing well every 2 hours)

1-2 cloves garlic

Juice of 1-2 lemons

1/4 cup cold pressed olive oil

2 tsp Tahini (sesame seed paste)

1/8 cup water

3 tsp fresh parsley

Pinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Sprinkle w paprika.

Mango Butternut Soup:

3 cups raw butternut squash peeled seeded chopped

1 mango

2 tsp curry powder

4 cups fresh squeezed OJ

1/2 cup honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and garnish w a banana and some mint.

Earth Lovers Wrap:

Hummus

Chopped carrots

Sliced tomato

Sliced cucumber

Romaine lettuce

Honey

Tortilla (I like the green spinach ones)

Spread the tortilla with hummus. Drizzle honey over the hummus. Layer lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. Roll and eat!

Raw Oatmeal: (if I’m not having a Pure Bar for breakfast, this is it baby!!)

Soak 1/2 cup of oats in water overnight in the fridge (put enough water so oatmeal will be creamy).

In the morning stir in pieces of apple, pear, raw almonds, walnuts and banana. Drizzle with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar…so good!!!

Juices:

Kale Apple Lemon

Orange Apple Carrot

Spinach Beet Apple lemon

Get creative! I invested in a Green Start Juicer- a great decision!

Hopefully this gets you started. Remember the key is to go slow, add raw food gradually and ALWAYS enjoy what you choose to eat. Eating needs to be a pleasurable experience. Some amazing side effects of going raw include better skin and nails, more energy (tons) and losing weight even though you are always full and satisfied. Have at it!!

Tags: Organic, Raw, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian Kids, vegetarian recipes

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Organic, Purposeful Eating, Raw Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.