The Food Journey: Raw and Delicious!

I ate some really delicious RAW food that I want to tell you about.  I attended a dinner at Original Herbal Remedies this past weekend and it was superb! If you are in the NYC area and are interested in exploring raw cuisine please stop by.
 I forgot to take pictures of the appetizer, but see below for the menu and pictures of this scrumptious meal.

Appetizer
Kale and cabbage salad with kale crackers and nut cheese
Mango salad

Entrée:
Cauliflower rice with spicy cheese topping
Stuffed tomatoes with cashew sour cream
Brazil nut sunflower meatballs in tomato sauce
Bulgur cabbage on abed of power greens with avocado

Desert:
Raw carrot cake
Orange and chocolate ice cream
Coconut chocolate macaroons

If it sounds like a lot of food....it was!! :)  I was stuffed to the brim! 



The Entrée



 

Dessert - chocolate and orange ice cream, coconut macaroon and carrot cake

 

What I love most about eating raw food is that it's alive!  All of the nutrients the food has to offer is being added to my body system. None of the nutrients have been degraded by heat making the food more nourishing.  A few months ago I wrote a piece on raw foods after taking my first raw food preparation class.  Here is an excerpt I want to share again (with slight modifications):

1. RAW FOOD = LIVING FOOD
2. When we cook food, the nutrients  are degraded and in some cases totally destroyed.  Leaving the food we eat on a daily basis with little nutrition.  Most of us supplement with vitamins we take orally.  If we eat well we can get all the nutrients we need solely from our food.
3. Raw food is SO FLAVORFUL (if prepared right)! Oftentimes we think of raw, vegan food as gross, cardboard-ish and boring. 
4. Raw food is very FILLING!
5. Start slow.  Pick a recipe and perfect it before moving on to more complicated dishes.
6. You can adapt cooked recipes to a raw version. 
7. Our taste buds are dead and traumatized by all the processed food we eat.  We can revive them by eating better wholesome foods...and when you do , it will be hard to go back.
8. If cooking using conventional means add oils and pepper last.  Oils and peppers can degrade while cooking and interrupt digestion.

After the  30-Day Raw Food Challenge I conquered this summer I felt like a new person.  I believe in raw foods and enjoy making and eating them.  If you've eaten a vegetable or fruit salad then you've had raw food! :)   Explore the concept a little further to really see what raw foodism entails.  I don't think I will ever be 100% raw, but I love the cuisine and encourage you all to eat one full raw meal very soon!

 Peace and blessings!