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:)

My S&M Salad Recipe

Cool salads are perfect on a warm summer day! I have been having this salad a lot lately. I created the creamy dressing as an alternate for Sarma Melngailis' popular S&M Salad.The salad is simply mixed baby lettuce with avocado cubes, a sprinkle of hemp seeds, and some torn dulse. Sarma has her recipe for the famous S&M salad posted in this interview. It is also in her most recent book, 'Living Raw Food'.

Creamy Macadamia-Lime Hemp Dressing

Ingredients:
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup fresh lime juice*
1/4 cup fresh water
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 tablespoon agave, more or less, to taste
additional 1/4 cup fresh water or more if needed

1. In blender, combine nuts, lime juice, 1/4 cup water, and agave until creamy.

2. With blender running, add additional water until desired thickness is reached.

3. Mix in hemp seeds by hand.

Makes enough for 2 or 3 good sized salads. Keep in fridge 2-3 days in glass jar.
This is awesome as a dressing in a plain avocado half.

*to get the most juice out of your lime, have them at room temperature, press down on them and roll back and forth several times on the counter before cutting and reaming.



Raw Rosemary Crackers

Ingredients:
2 cups almonds, soaked 8 hours, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole golden flax seed, ground after measure
1 cup fresh water
1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
Additional rosemary for top of crackers, optional

1. In food processor fitted with "S" blade, process almonds until coarsely ground.

2. Add nutritional yeast, flax, rosemary, and salt, and process until combined. Adjust seasonings as desired.

3. With machine running, pour in water to form dough. Let mixture stand a few minutes to thicken if it seems too wet

4. Divide mixture in half and roll out onto 2 teflex sheets, sprinkle with additional rosemary if desired, and score into crackers. These are scored into 1" and 1/4" crackers. Check my post about making breads and crackers for some helpful tips:)

5. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for about 8 hours, flipping about halfway through. Drying time depends on thickness of crackers.

6. Store in glass jars for several weeks.

This is a very forgiving cracker recipe. It will work with more or less flax seed, rosemary, yeast and salt according to your personal preference:) These are also excellent using different herb blends, especially Italian mixed herbs, za'atar, or Herbes de Provence.

I could not resist making my own "Rosemary Quackers"...hehe, sorry:)

Check your dulse carefully!!!!!

I buy the large whole dulse in the bulk bins, and they usually contain a shell or two. This little critter was hiding!

A word about raw almonds...

As you probably know, all almonds purchased in the U.S. are now pasteurized. I still soak my almonds at least 8 hours before using them. They plump up and are very easy to peel at this point if desired. They pop right out of the skin if you pinch them after soaking.
The almonds in the picture show unsoaked (top right), soaked (bottom right), peeled(bottom left), and the empty skins (top left). Notice the soaked almonds get a white point that sticks out at the tip. The soaked almonds are smooth and plump, and quite a bit larger than unsoaked. The soaked almonds can be dehydrated and ground for almond flour, or just a crunchy snack.

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!