Mediterranean Cucumber Cups

This is another recipe by television foodie Rachael Ray. It only needed a tiny bit of tweaking to make it raw:) Here is Rachael's recipe. I simply replaced the feta cheese with pine nuts, and included the cucumber removed from the cups in the filling. My recipe is also scaled down for one lunch serving:)

Mediterranean Cucumber Cups

For cups:
1 English cucumber

For filling:
1 slice red onion, diced
1/4 orange bell pepper, 1/4 inch dice
2 campari tomatoes, 1/4 inch dice
8 kalamata olives, 1/4 inch dice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
juice of 1/2 a lemon
zest from whole lemon, use less if not a lemon fan like me:)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:
1 tablespoon pine nuts
extra sprinkle of parsley or oregano

1. Peel cucumber so it has 4 or 5 stripes lengthwise. Trim both ends off cucumber, and cut into about twelve 3/4 inch slices. Carefully scoop out center of each slice, leaving the bottom intact.

2. Dice the removed center of cucumber and combine with onion, pepper, tomato, olives, oregano, parsley, lemon juice, zest, and oil. I used my vidalia chop wizard to dice all veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste, I just add pepper because the olives are salty enough for me.

3. Fill hollowed cucumber cups with filling. Garnish with pine nuts and desired herbs.

This has been a fast and easy lunch favorite of mine for a while now, but it is a great appetizer for a party. Once in a while I just make the filling part and top a mixed baby green salad with it...so good!

Thanks to Rachael Ray for the yummy recipe and inspiration:)

I had Rachael Ray on my mind today because I saw her at the market yesterday with her hubby John Cusimano, lawyer and front man for The Cringe. I actually spotted John first, and knew Rachael wouldn't be far away:) They are the cutest couple in person!

I wonder if I could get her to rawify some more recipes:)

Rawifying Recipes

Many regular recipes are almost raw already. Has Rachael Ray gone RAW????(Rachael Raw hehe) Well, not quite! Yesterday on the Rachael Ray show, she had a lovely cucumber salad that only required a few tweaks to make it all raw. Check out the original recipe.

Now here it is with the simple modifications:

Pickle-Dilly Salad

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon agave
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon pink salt
1 clove garlic, peeled and cracked
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cucumbers, sliced thin

I used the food processor to slice the cucumber very thin.
Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the cucumber.
Let stand at least 1 hour.
I keep it in a jar until serving















This show also featured a pasta dish. Simply leave out the cheese in this recipe, don't toast the nuts:), and of course use your favorite "pasta", like spirialized squash. Recipe easily rawified!












note: I added some sliced black olives and chopped pistachios to garnish and tossed a spoonful of nutritional yeast into the pesto. The "pasta" is yellow summer squash spiralized using the large hole plate, and chopped slightly to resemble elbow macaroni:)

Sorry, I couldn't help but notice a related recipe on the Rachael Ray cucumber recipe for Asian cucumber, spinach salad...so here it is!














The rawified recipe is:
The dressing
1/3 cup water (I like a little less)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon agave, or a big juicy date
1/2 clove garlic
small knob fresh ginger, approx. tip of pinky size:)
2 teaspoons nama shoyu
pinch of salt and pepper, optional

Combine all dressing ingredients in magic bullet until well blended and pour over salad.

The salad:
3-4 cups spinach
1 good slice red onion, slivered
1 large cucumber, cut in half and sliced thin in food processor
1/2 teaspoon approx. crushed red pepper flakes.

I have to thank Rachael Ray for the recipes above, and also for the inspiration for me to go raw! She had several shows in 2007 featuring Dr. Timothy Brantley, author of the book The Cure. After watching the first show he was on, I read his book, and it was so inspiring, I went raw as soon as I finished it.
Many heartfelt thanks to Dr. Brantley...you changed my life!


Some great recipes are already raw, such as most salads, salsa, guacamole, and gazpacho.

Here is a recipe for taco filling that uses mushrooms in place of meat...thank you, have_mersey!













As you become used to eating raw, you will see how easy it is to rawify recipes.
You can usually substitute dates or agave for sugar, flax seed will thicken dishes in place of eggs, raw apple cider vinegar for any other vinegar, nuts or mushrooms are often used for meat, nutmilks for dairy milk and so on.

Transitioning to the raw food diet

The easiest way to transition to the raw food diet is to start eliminating processed, packaged foods. Increase your consumption of raw foods one meal at a time. Your trash will tell you if you are consuming too much processed foods:) It will be full of boxes, cans, and other food packaging.

Enjoy as many raw fruits and veggies as possible every time you eat. I actually didn't start out to be a raw foodie. For a year or so before becoming raw, I had cut out all processed foods. In 2007, I read a book called The Cure, and as soon as I finished it, I knew I would consume as much raw food as I could for the rest of my life! I started to see and feel the results of eating raw, and the rest is history:)

I found it very easy to start with breakfast. Until noon each day, eat any, (and as much!) fruit, juices, and smoothies as you like! Do this for a few weeks, then add a raw lunch.

A few weeks later, add a raw or mostly raw dinner. Food combining may help with digestion issues and weight loss. This site has some good information for transitioning. Click here for some wonderful guidelines for choosing healthy options.

Although I have been what I consider a raw foodie for several years, I am not 100% raw. This means I sometimes consume items from the Dead Food List, as well as some other ingredients. There is usually a raw substitute for these ingredients, but I eat them occasionally and in such small quantities I don't worry about it. On weekends, we eat out so I usually have 2 meals weekly that are cooked.

Today's lunch was an example of 'mostly raw' ingredients:













I wanted to try a recipe from gone raw that looked so good to me! It is called Summer Rolls by paige4. They were very different from any sushi recipe I usually have so I had to try them. They were so good, it was love at first bite! Thank you paige4! I put in a bit of red bell pepper and had to sub chives for the spring onions, and parsley for coriander. I used my trusty julienne peeler for the veggies.
*posting the recipe since goneraw.com sometimes has "issues" :(
 

Here is a picture of the nori I used. Although labeled "raw", it could just be un-toasted. I found this one at the health food store.













The summer rolls went perfectly with another recipe from gone raw, Korean cucumber salad by mptraveller ((( hugs to you!))). This was one of the first recipes I ever tried from there, and it is now a staple in my happy raw kitchen.
*posting recipe due to goneraw.com working intermittently:
 
Here is a pic of the cucumber salad. I add a touch of dark sesame oil and use rice vinegar.














While transitioning from SAD to raw, you may want to keep some of your favorite non raw items on the menu. This helped me tremendously while incorporating as much healthy raw foods as possible. I occasionally still have Ezekiel tortillas , pictured below with eggplant/bacon, lettuce, tomato, and sprouts.













I may never be 100% raw , but that's O.K. with me, as I have never felt better, or had more energy in my life!