antipasta: giving raw a chance
Recently I decided to try a raw foods diet. Mainly because it scares me. As a long-time vegetarian and a lover of butter, chocolate, and lentils, I wasn’t quite sure what I would eat if I eliminated not only dairy and eggs, but also grains and anything… you know, cooked. If you take my normal diet and remove anything that is not a raw fruit or vegetable, you aren’t left with enough to subsist on. Which is exactly the challenge: I wanted to re-think my approach to raw the same way I encourage meat eaters to re-think their approach to vegetarian. It’s not just about omitting, but replacing, discovering, and enjoying.
I will tell you some sites that I’ve found helpful: Kristen Suzanne’s Kristens Raw and Esme Stevens’ The Best of Raw Food. Mostly I’ve been having smoothies and juices, and I’m introducing new foods to my diet and magic bullet.
Here’s the tally so far, after about a week and a half of being mostly (not completely) raw, but avoiding refined sugar completely:
- I already have lost a craving for processed foods. Bananas seem overly sweet to me.
- With a few notable exceptions, I can enjoy almost anything I make in the magic bullet. Kale, spinach, and carrot smoothie? Bring it on. I don’t love eating salads but I really don’t have a problem with liquefied veggies.
- I had faux oatmeal yesterday that left me happy all morning. Banana, apples, flax seed, and cinnamon- it was delicious.
Today I made this salad.
I call it antipasta salad. Here is my recipe:
1 zucchini squash
1 roma tomato
some pinenuts
some hemp seeds
a splash of oil and vinegar
I shredded the zucchini using some sort of device that just happened to exist in this kitchen of dreams where I live. I was expecting it to taste slightly unpleasant, which is why I went heavy on the nuts and oils. But it was absolutely great and I was wishing for more of the zucchini. Next time I might just eat it plain.
Also of note: I was just looking back at some old posts and I saw this from 2005. I had forgotten what a deliberate goal it had been of mine to learn to prepare food. It’s all the more satisfying to remember, and motivation to continue.
