First of all, I hate having my entire fridge full of produce. It's so full I can't find anything. And there isn't room for anything except produce. And it's getting squished. I only did a one-week shop because there is no way I'd be able to fit more than that. It was expensive.
Second, if a meal flops, there isn't much you can grab at the last minute so you don't starve. Most of the meals require quite a bit of prep and many need "marinating" time. Essentially I'm making 6 meals a day, 3 for my kids and 3 for my husband and me. It's a deflating thought to have to go back into the kitchen and make something else if the first thing tastes yucky.
That being said, here's what I ate today.
Breakfast
Hot Pink Smoothie - recipe by Green Smoothie Girl
1 1/2 c. young Thai coconut water
1 large carrot, cleaned and cut into pieces (or 5-6 baby carrots)
1/2 medium raw beet, peeled
1/4 c. cashews
1/4 c. chopped dates
2 tsp. vanilla
12 frozen strawberries
2 tbsp. kefir or yogurt (optional)
Puree all ingredients except strawberries for 90 seconds. Add strawberries and puree on high until smooth.
Okay, here are my thoughts after having made this a bazillion times...the coconut water can be obtained by cracking open a young Thai coconut (look for the white pointy one, not the brown hairy one). You can also use canned coconut water if needed. I also scrape out the coconut meat and add that to the smoothie.
I don't add the dates. I also don't add the vanilla.
I add way more than 12 strawberries. About a cup or two. I often add a berry mixture instead of plain strawberries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and/or blackberries).
I also just throw everything in at one time. I love this smoothie and drink it about once a week. Thai coconuts cost $2.29 each so I don't use them every day. My husband thinks this tastes "too beety", but I enjoy the taste and don't find it overpowering at all.
Lunch
Romaine Wraps with Sweet Mustard
3 leaves romaine
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1 avocado
2 tbsp raw agave
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 tsp mustard powder or 1 tbsp prepared mustard
salt and pepper (to taste … about 1/4 tsp each)
Mix agave, mustard, salt and pepper and set aside. Chop cucumber into sticks, shave carrot curls with a vegetable peeler, slice avocado into strips. Divide all equally between the romaine leaves, drizzle with the sweet mustard sauce and wrap up. These are juicy and messy. This serves 1 person.
My thoughts....these were fantastic. My husband and I agreed that we'd eat these again, even if we weren't on a raw diet. And here's a funny thing about me - I hate cucumbers. But I loved them in these wraps.
We each ate 3 wraps worth (3 leaves) and felt pleasantly full. I cut the cucumbers into small matchsticks (and only used half of a large English cucumber). I used a handheld julienne peeler for the carrots (I used 2, one for each of us). One avocado per person. I didn't use the onion and I didn't have any sprouts.
For the sauce I used agave, but if you like raw honey (like I do) you could easily switch them. I also used prepared mustard (French's, which probably isn't raw but it was the easiest to find while making lunch). I added salt and pepper, then some garlic and onion powder. I kept tasting until I thought it was right. Then I doubled it because it was so good! So per person I used 4 tbsp. agave + 2 tbsp. mustard and the seasonings.
Eating these were messy. Very messy. But yummy. I think next time we'll make this into a salad - same ingredients, but chopped up and eaten with a fork. One of my 10-yr-olds asked me to show him how to make the dressing and he ate a huge plate of salad with it and said it was "one of the best I've ever had".
Dinner
1/2 of a pomegranate
Sesame-Mixed Vegetable “Noodles” with Herbs -
from Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis
Sesame Dressing
1 cup sesame tahini
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup mellow red miso
3/4 cup plus 2 Tb. filtered water
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/4 cup of the water. Add the remaining ingredients a bit at a time and continue whisking until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds and set aside.
Vegetables Noodles
4 cups daikon radish, julienned on a mandoline
2 red bell peppers, cored and julienned
3 medium zucchini, julienned on a mandoline
3 medium carrots, julienned on a mandoline
6 baby bok choy, leaves thinly sliced on a bias
3 scallions, whites and about an inch of the green, thinly sliced
1 big handful cilantro leaves
Sea salt
In a large bowl, toss all prepared vegetables and the sesame dressing until evenly coated. Season to taste with sea salt. Serves 8-10.
My thoughts....the sesame dressing was disgusting. I tried the sauce after making it and knew I would never be able to eat it. That sparked a "discussion" with my husband about how all raw food was gross and I just needed to Cowboy Up and eat it. We went back and forth for a bit and I just made a different sauce (actually two of them) to serve with the noodles. At the table my husband insisted on serving himself the sesame sauce, and said "It isn't bad. Just what I expected raw food to taste like." A few minutes later he said, "You're right; this is bad." He then sampled the other sauces and enjoyed them much more!
The 'noodles' themselves were great. The daikon was a bit peppery, and next time I'd use less. I didn't use the quantities in the recipe because I didn't want to serve 8 to 10 people. I just julienned (with my hand-held gadget) the amounts I thought looked good. I also only used 3 baby bok choy.
For the sauces I used two that Misty over at J&M Ranch shared.
Raw Asian Dressing
1/4 cup safflower or grapeseed oil
1/4 cup of agave
2 Tbsp Nama Shoyu, San J Tamari, or High Quality Soy Sauce
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sesame oil (optional)
Blend on low power in Vita Mix just until blended. Store in a mason jar or salad dressing jar in the fridge.
My thoughts....very good. I just used a small hand whipper thingy because my Blendtec doesn't like small quantities like this. I think I added a bit of salt too.
Raw Spicy Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup raw peanut butter
1 teaspoons Chinese hot chili oil with red pepper flakes
3 teaspoons Nama Shoyu or organic soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
Coconut milk
In a food processor combine everything except the oil until well blended. Add the coconut milk just until the sauce is of the consistency you like. Adjust shoyu and chili to taste.
My thoughts...I don't have a food processor so I just used the hand whipper thingy again. We all really liked this.
I preferred the peanut sauce on the 'noodles' (the Asian sauce would be better as a dip or lettuce salad dressing). One of my older sons had 2 servings of the noodles, plain. The other 10-yr-old ate a big helping of the noodles with the peanut sauce. Neither was required to do so, they just saw it and wanted to try it! We ate them with chopsticks which made us feel super cool.
This is very similar to a recipe for Asian Noodle Salad that I tried (and liked) from Pioneer Woman, but which isn't entirely raw.
So final verdict...I'd made the noodle part again and use the Raw Spicy Peanut Sauce or similar delicious sauce. I might also try the PW salad without the noodles. Or with them when I'm unraw again.
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