Jicama and Orange Salad with Mint

Sometimes it's fun to shake things up a bit and try something new. I recently made this salad and it was very refreshing with a nice crunch from the jicama. I found the recipe in The New American Plate Cookbook. Everyone enjoyed it. I made a large bowl and the leftovers kept well, although it was all eaten by the next day.

Jicama and Orange Salad with Mint

1 medium jicama (about 3/4 lb), peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch matchsticks

2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated or julienned

2 small seedless navel oranges, peeled and sliced

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste

salt

8 fresh mint leaves, thinly slivered

In a medium bowl, combine the jicama, carrots, and oranges. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, orange juice, honey, and lime juice and add salt to taste. Whisk the dressing and pour it over the jicama mixture. Toss to coat. Refrigerate the salad for 2 to 3 hours. Top with the mint leaves before serving.

Nuts are nutritious!

I read an article in the U.C. Berkeley Wellness Letter last night about how great nuts are for you and that adding them to your diet (in moderation) doesn't seem to cause weight gain. So we've decided to add them back into our dinner entrees. Of course, not every raw meal needs nuts, but they are one of the staples of the raw diet.

Today I am soaking raw sunflower seeds and almonds to make Not Tuna Pate. I may add more celery or carrots to my mix to lighten it up a bit.

Here are a few nutty facts:

• Nuts seem to be good for your heart. Studies show that they have a favorable effect on blood cholesterol. Eating 2-3 oz of nuts most days of the week--in particular almonds, pecans, peanuts and walnuts--may significantly lower total and LDL cholesterol.
• For people who don't eat meat or want to consume less, nuts are one of the best plant sources of protein.
• Almonds are richest in vitamin E and calcium.
• Brazil nuts are the best dietary source of selenium. Just one medium nut a day provides all you need and 2 or 3 a day provides about 200 micrograms, the amount found to lower the risk of prostate cancer in some studies.
• Cashews are the richest in copper and zinc.
• Peanuts, although technically a legume, contain resveratrol, are the richest in arginine, and have the most protein.
• Walnuts are richest in alpha-linolenic acid, a heart healthy omega-3 fatty acid.

My advice? Eat a variety of nuts throughout your week!

Raw Creativity Blunted by Dr. Fuhrman

I was humming along the raw path and then the Dr. Fuhrman tree fell right over my path! My husband has embraced the Eat to Live doctrine and asked me to cut out all additional oils, avocados and nuts from my dinners. He gets some walnuts with breakfast and he really is trying to keep the fat down. Well, these restrictions have just sucked the life out of my cooking creativity. Most of the raw recipes use some oil or nuts or avocados. My husband even banished the flax seed crackers because they are probably higher in fat than he would like.

After a few weeks like this, we made a bit of a compromise, but to be honest, I feel like I've hit the wall. John still has a large green smoothie for breakfast and a huge salad for lunch, which means that he is eating a lot of raw food. But a lot of the raw dinner recipes that I have highlighted here use olive oil or nuts and seeds or avocados. Take those away, and there are only a few left. Anyway, I'm at a raw standstill right now as far as dinner goes.

Just another raw dinner...

Zucchini pasta with sauce, kale salad and fruit salad all seemed yummy together! Some raw foodists would never combine the fruit with the veggies, but I'm not at that level yet, and may never choose to go there.


Still, it's funny how your idea of what makes a good dinner can change!

Pizza Kinda!

Who doesn't love pizza? Well, my Raw Food Gourmet book has a raw version that just might work. I tried it and I was happy enough that I will try it again to improve upon it.

First you have to soak and germinate buckwheat. Then you put the buckwheat (about 2 1/2 cups) into the food processor with some olive oil and seasonings and make a batter which you form into pizza rounds on top of dehydrator mats. I let them dehydrate for at least 8 hours, but although they were tasty, they were much too crumbly.

My next attempt will involve flax seed. If you add it to very hot water, it will make a gelatinous mass that substitutes for egg whites in vegan recipes. Why not in raw pizza rounds?

These "pizza-kinda's" were topped with pesto sauce (made with peas), tomato sauce, mushrooms and marinated (and probably not raw, but I had them in my frig) artichoke hearts. Guacamole would taste yummy on these as well.

Eat to Live for Weight Loss

My husband has lost 14 lbs so far and he's gone down a waist size. I know that this doesn't sound like a huge amount for 7 weeks, but I'm very happy because he has always had difficulty losing weight--that's one thing we have in common! :-) We are also getting better at preparing food with less fat and our exercise is starting to increase. So I believe that with this mostly raw diet, less dietary fat and more exercise, his weight loss may even become more rapid in the weeks ahead. Still if he lost 2 lbs every week, that would still easily get him down to his goal weight by the end of the year.

I know it may sound counter-intuitive for a cancer patient to be trying to lose weight, but in fact his oncologist recommended it. Being obese or overweight is a detriment to your immune system and increases your risk for cancer.

My new favorite book is Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It is packed with great information and written as if a friend is giving you good advice. Dr. Fuhrman has come up with a useful formula: H= N/C or Health = Nutrition divided by Calories. In order to increase your health, you need to get the most nutrition with the least amount of calories. That means that the bulk of your food should be nutritionally dense and only a small proportion should be calorically dense. Fruits and vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables will give you a high amount of nutrition for a lower amount of calories.

Now, if you are trying to lose weight, you cannot gorge on avocados, olives and nuts--you have to eat those sparingly. John gets 1 oz of walnuts per day and a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed to make sure he gets his essential fatty acids. But he's cut out most other fat (well, we did splurge a little for Easter...I made some coconut "vice cream" that was way too rich!).

If you are looking to be healthy and/or lose weight, read Eat to Live. Dr. Mehmet Oz of Oprah fame endorses his book with these words, "A medical breakthrough. If you give this diet your complete commitment, there is no question in my mind that it will work for you." He also writes the forward for the book.

Easter Dinner

Spinach Mousse, Red Cabbage and Corn Slaw, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Asparagus were all on our Easter dinner menu yesterday. The slaw had an interesting but good dressing made out of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, liquid aminos and ground cinnamon. The spinach mousse was a success and I will be making it again, but next time I think I will experiment by adding some basil and garlic so it will be reminiscent of pesto--something my husband loves! Here is the recipe for the spinach mousse which is like an alternative to quiche. Next time I might try making this more like a pizza so that the mousse part is spread out like a sauce. It looked beautiful in the pie plate, but as pies often do, fell apart when we served it.

Spinach Mousse

Crust

2 cups almonds and/or pecans (3 cups for a thicker crust)

1 T. liquid aminos (or soy or tamari sauce)

2 - 4 T. water

1 T psyllium, or more (I used ground flax seeds)

The recipe asks you to soak and then dry the nuts. You can do that, but I didn't this time. I processed the nuts in my food processor and then added the other ingredients until it came together into a dough ball.

Press evenly into a pie plate. This took a few minutes, but keep at it. Then put it in a dehydrator for 60 minutes or in a low oven for 30 minutes.

Mousse

2 T. pine nuts, soaked for 20 minutes

1 lb spinach, torn in pieces (I used the baby spinach so no tearing needed!)

1/4 cup raw tahini

3 T. lemon juice

3 cups sliced mushrooms, including trimmed stems (leave 2 or 3 to decorate the top)

3/4 tsp. sea salt

5 T. water

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1-2 T. psyllium (Confession: I do not have psyllium and so I added nutritional yeast flakes and some ground flax seed. I really do need to try the psyllium!)

Process pine nuts, spinach, tahini, lemon juice, mushrooms, salt, and water in the food processor. While the processor is still running, gradually sprinkle in the nutmeg, then the psyllium. Pour into the pie crust. Decorate and chill for at least 30 minutes before eating.