The Heart of Raw Food: Sprouts

Sprouting is the centerpiece of raw foods.  It brings life back into food and increases the level of protein.  Sprouting legumes allows you to eat them raw, so you keep the enzymes intact but make it edible.

My suggestion is that you try sprouting lentils.  You can use any kind of lentils (although red doesn’t always sprout as well), and my favorite is to do a combination of half green lentils and half black (or mung beans, or any other small lentil.)  

The equipment you will need is one glass mason jar, and then either your nut milk bag OR a lid for the mason jar and a piece of cheesecloth.

Steps:

1. Soaking.  Put about 1 or 1.5 inches of lentils in the bottom of a mason jar. Fill to the top with water and soak for about 12 hours on your countertop.

2. After the 12 hours, rinse very well and drain your lentils.  

3. Draining. Method 1: If you have a nut milk bag, put your lentils in it and hang it over a bowl or your sink to drain (this process is going to take about 2 days, so pick a good spot.

Method 2: Alternatively, if you want to use your mason jar, simply put a piece of cheesecloth (or a piece of screen if you have it) in the removable part of the lid, screw it back on, and leave the jar inverted in a colander.  Watch the cheesecloth to make sure it doesn’t get moldy; if it appears iffy, replace it.   Choose your method based on the equipment you have.

4.  Every morning and every night during the “draining” period, rinse out your lentils (you can leave them in your jar or bag while you rinse), and then invert and leave draining again for the next 12 hours (or so--it can be approximate.)  The whole process takes about 2 days.  You will know your sprouts are done when they look like this, below. The tails should be at least ¼ inch long (although it’s fine if they are ½ an inch or longer, too).  

5. Store finished sprouts in a jar in your refrigerator. Rinse them before eating.

You can add sprouts to salads, or you can eat them as a side dish.  Raw foodists often add a dressing on top--a yummy one to put on top is an almond-ginger dip.

Sprouts are outstanding for your health, and really so easy to do. I hope you try them!

A Little More about Raw

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know about my admiration for the power of raw foods.  Unlike cooked food, raw food retains all of its nutrients and all of its enzymes.  Enzymes are needed for every single function and activity that the body does.  When you eat raw food and your body absorbs those enzymes, it functions more efficiently, and your cells regenerate and heal at their deepest level.  Adding raw foods into your diet where you can makes a tremendous difference.  

Like any food preparation, raw food can be incredibly simple, or more complicated.  Raw foodists talk about dehydrators, and sprouting.  That may seem daunting at first, but it doesn’t need to be.  Sprouting is quite easy.  And you don’t have to dehydrate to enjoy good raw food.

I will do a lesson on sprouting in the near future!  But in the meantime, here is a simple entrée that you can do without any fancy machines or equipment.  Sprouts can be purchased at any health food store or market.

  

Avocado with Sprouts (Raw)

(serves 2)

2 avocadosJuice from 2 lemonssprouts of any kind (I used lentil sprouts and clover sprouts)1 carrot, grated2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped10 or so oil cured black olives, choppedhandful of pumpkin seeds

Halve the 2 avocados and remove the pits. Remove 1 Tbsp of avocado from each and add to a blender with the lemon juice. Puree until very smooth.

Combine the other ingredients in a bowl, and combine well, mixing in the avocado/lemon dressing from your blender.  Stuff in each avocado half and enjoy!

Amazing Anticancer Foods

The power of food is so exciting to me.  Way back when our mothers made us, but now, what we put into our bodies every day becomes our new cells, our thoughts, our actions.  We have the wonderful benefit daily of having a choice to put food into our bodies that will positively affect how we operate!

In terms of cancer, and cancer prevention, there are some real winning food choices we can make.  As I've discussed in this blog before, all "real" foods have unique properties, so variety is key, but there are some stand-outs.

Ginger is a big one.  There are studies that have shown ovarian cancer cells that come into contact with ginger disappear on contact.  The aloe plant is another.  You can buy big jugs of aloe at Whole Foods and can add them to smoothies.  Lemon and tangerine peels are also powerful cancer-fighters.  A way to eat these is to either juice them, or to throw cut-up whole lemons or tangerines into smoothies.  They can be bitter, but it is an acquired taste, and it's nothing some raw honey can't fix!

Sprouts are also tremendous anti-cancer foods.  All that energy and all those enzymes that are packed into those tiny new shoots of a plant can do wonders in your body.  Toss them into salads or eat them straight with a delicious dressing on top.  You can also throw them into your juicer along with your other vegetables.

I have talked on this blog before about Dr. Joel Fuhrman and his anti-inflammatory foods. He uses the GOMBBS acronym (Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, Beans, and Seeds.) There are over 200 studies showing that people with diets high in dark green leafy vegetables have 60% reduced chance of developing cancer. Dark green leafy veggies have also shown to shrink and in some cases even eliminate existing cancers.  Eating mushrooms every day (a variety of them) reduces your rate of developing breast cancer by 70%.  Mushrooms are one of the foods that have proven to be more effective cooked than raw.

This recipe incorporates lots of good cancer-fighting foods.  It's easy to make and keep in the fridge for several days, so that you can add it to your lunch or dinner at a moment's notice!

Most Delicious Massaged Kale Salad

This is a variation on massaged kale salad that I've posted before.  My friend Elin gave me the original recipe for massaged kale.

1. Take a bunch of kale, chop it into strips, sprinkle it with sea salt, drizzle on olive oil, and massage with your hands for 3-4 minutes until the kale is soft and tender. Set aside in a large bowl.
2. Make a honey ginger dressing: Mix together in a blender 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 an inch ginger chopped with skin peeled off, 1/2 Tbsp. raw honey, the juice from 1/2 an orange, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Blend until smooth. Pour over the kale and mix well.
3. Toss in an abundance of slivered almonds, raisins, unsweetened large coconut flakes, chopped apple, and pumpkin seeds.  Mix well.  Savor it!

* Kale is an excellent source of vitamin C, B6, carotenes, manganese, and fiber.  It also contains many minerals including copper, iron and calcium.  It's high phosphorous content has been proven to help prevent osteoporosis, and it has some of the highest anticancer properties of any food.
**Coconut is an excellent source of healthy medium-chain saturated fats.  It contains selenium and zinc, as well as manganese, copper, and even protein.  It increases the healthy HDL cholesterol, and provides the body with lauric acid, which is antiviral and antibacterial.  It protects against heart disease and promotes weight loss.
***Pepitas--or, pumpkin seeds--contain vitamins B1, B2, protein, vitamin A, and also contain healthy minerals like iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, and phosphorous.

Raw Foods, part 2

I just spent a week at The Raw Food Institute in Washington D.C.  It is run by the fabulous Lisa Wilson, who has designed a 7-day curriculum, immersing you in raw foods preparation, and, of course, the WHY behind raw foods.  During the week you are only eating medicinal raw foods, and therefore fully detoxifying your body the whole time.  There is a tremendous range of doctors, healers, meditation leaders, and of course raw foods chefs to lead & teach you.  I highly recommend the program if you are healthy and want to learn how to prevent chronic disease, are in a "healing crisis," or if you love someone who is!

Raw food can cure chronic disease because they flood your body with enzymes, oxygen, and micronutrients.  When we cook our food, we lose 30% of the nutrients and 100% of the enzymes.  Eating raw vegetables, greens, nuts, seeds, sprouts and juices gives our body needed enzymes to absorb all that healthy food we are eating, and therefore reduces the cellular inflammation that causes disease.  Eating raw heals at a deep cellular level.

We met and heard the stories of a number of people who have healed their illnesses (cancer, type 2 diabetes, heat disease, obesity...) through switching to a raw food diet.  We drank green juices and wheat grass shots throughout the day.  And we ate delicious, real, nutritious food.

In lieu of a recipe today, I will show you pictures of my growing wheatgrass, and of the sprouts which I prepared (it is so easy!)

Mung bean and lentil sprouts, ready to eat! They flood your body with protein and energy.

Sprouted wheatgrass, JUST starting to grow. It will be another week before I can juice them.

Perhaps next time I will tell you how to sprout....or maybe I will share a raw recipe or two.  We'll just have to see.  Until then, au revoir!

Raw Foods

Many nutritionists and food researchers believe that going on a raw foods diet can decrease the size of and even eliminate cancer tumors. This requires a radical shift to your diet, and even way of life.

I am looking forward to participating in a 7-day raw foods workshop in January. At that point, I will weigh in on my thoughts on the topic. In the meantime, however, it is hard for me to imagine that it cannot help to be eating an abundance of raw foods. If raw foods consist of 80% of your diet, it will make a huge difference in both fighting and preventing cancer, not to mention making you feel fresh, energetic, and healthy.

Vegetables in their raw form are rich in antioxidants and other nutrients. Live food also contains enzymes, which both help your body absorb nutrients (instead of turning to your body's enzyme reserve), and are catalysts for detoxification.  Cooking food decreases the nutritional value of most foods, and also has a more depleting effect on the body as it uses the body's existing (and finite) enzyme reserve.

Here are some raw foods that you probably already eat, and can increase in your diet!

-Salads: greens, an abundance of cut vegetables and fruits on top

-Pesto, with basil and raw nuts and olive oil

-Crudité: a platter of cut carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, or peppers with a vinaigrette

-Massaged Kale Salad: Remove kale from stems and chop, massage for a few minutes with olive oil and salt.
-Smoothies!
-Bowl of raw nuts, covered in spices
-Sprouts!
-Add raw veggies as a side to an already healthy dinner

Sliced avocado, garden cherry tomatoes, and basil & almond pesto are tasty raw additions 

to a home-cooked dinner of pasta and roasted acorn squash.

Many dishes and meals can be enhanced by adding raw ingredients, and there are also thousands of recipes out there for preparing purely raw foods. A few great links include Raw Guru and Gone Raw.  Both have recipes, sources for ingredients, and helpful information.

(Almost) Raw Pad Thai
Adapted from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
There is no cooking with this! Simply roast the peanuts in your toaster oven. Otherwise, it just involves chopping and your food processor.

First, prepare the easy dressing:

Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp. chopped shallot
-Pulse in food processor until well chopped

Then add the following, and pulse until smooth (4 minutes; scrape down sides a few times)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. Agave nectar
2 Tbsp. Tamari (soy sauce)
1 tsp. finely chopped jalapeno or Sriracha pepper

-Add 2 Tbsp more peanuts and pulse until chopped, not finely blended

(dressing can last 5 days in fridge in sealed glass container, if you don't use it for the pad thai.)

Pad Thai Salad
8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
4 cups bean sprouts
1 small red onion, or a green onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
half a bag of Rice Sticks (found in the Asian section of Whole Foods)--Optional
1 recipe Peanut-lime Dragon Dressing
-Soak the Rice Sticks in hot water for 10 minutes (if you choose to use them)
-Combine above ingredients

Serve with:
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges