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News that the Nation's first state-licensed raw food culinary academy is opening in Oklahoma got me thinking. For some reason I've always found the zeal and dogma displayed by some members (by no means all!) of the raw food movement as decidedly off-putting—and yet their argument is hard to counter. As noted in our guide to Green Foods—the less you cook and process your ingredients, the more nutritious they are likely to be.
What's always bothered me has been the idea that it has to be all or nothing. After all, many of us snack on raw vegetables and fruits, eat salads, drink freshly squeezed juices, and generally enjoy a diet rich in 'living foods' without even batting an eye-lid. Maybe we all need to think about "eating more raw", and maybe that means dropping the idea of raw food as a movement, and more as a cooking method (or 'non-cooking' method, to be more precise). Here are just a few of the raw food delights I've enjoyed in the last few weeks—I'd love to hear some suggestions for others:
Gazpacho soup
Simply a blend of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, celery, parsley and some salt and pepper. Sometimes stale bread is added too, though I guess that doesn't count as raw. Utterly delicious. (Pictured—though mine was not so pretty!)
Salad
There are simply too many to mention, but I guess salads are probably the most commonly eaten mainstream "raw food".
Salsas
I love a good salsa, whether it's a classic tomato and cilantro, or something more interesting with tomatillos, avocados, or almost anything else. Salsa's make a great "raw" component to cooked main dishes too.
Juices
Carrot juice, orange juice, beet juice—or a blend of all things yummy.
So what 'raw' items are regularly on your menu? With so many vegans in the raw food movement, I'm not sure where rare steak or unpasteurized milk, butter or cheese stand on the raw food debate—perhaps someone more in tune with the movement can enlighten me? In the meantime, I'm planning to branch out and try some more adventurous raw food 'cooking', though I don't expect to give up stone-baked pizza any time in the near future.
Sometimes it's the simple green steps that count. Dipping your toes into the raw food ocean is a great example.
Related Posts:
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Can Raw Food Go Mainstream?
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Raw for 30 Days: Documentary on Curing Diabetes with Raw Food
Salivating over sustainable eats? Learn how to make your own with help from Emeril Lagasse in Planet Green TV's organic cooking show, Emeril Green.
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