Monday, April 25, 2011
Cucumber Delight!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Raw Apple Crisp
Raw Apple Crisp
Serves 8
A simple mixture of nuts, raisins and spices makes a delicious topping for Honeycrisp apples.
Ingredients
Method
Put apples in an 8-inch square baking dish or 2-quart casserole dish. Drizzle with orange juice, toss until the fruit is coated and smooth the top. In a food processor, combine pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, ginger and cinnamon and pulse just until chopped. Spoon the nut mixture over the apple mixture and serve.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Raw Cookie Dough! with Goji Berries, Mulberries and Pistachios
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dates, pitted
1/2 cup raw cashews
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
handful of Goji Berries, mulberries and Pistachios or your favorite topping
Directions:
1. Measure out the cashews and then pulse them into the food processor until they are nothing but little confetti pieces. Then add the dates into the food processor and pulse them until they have completely blended with the cashews. Add the 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract and continue to pulse until you can see the mixture sticking together For the topping just combine the ingredients with mixture
2. Roll into balls and refrigerate. In an hour or so you are free to enjoy (if you can wait that long!).
3. All healthy, all natural, all raw, all good for you. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Muesli
This raw food recipe is guaranteed to fill you up and it
tastes delicious.
Ingredients:1 banana, sliced into rings
1 apple, cubed
½ handful brazil nuts, sliced into small pieces
1 handful almonds or other type of nuts, whole or sliced
1 handful dates, fresh or dried, chopped into small pieces
1 handful of raisins (presoaked)
1 handful of goji berries
1 handful of coconut chips
Almond milk (How to make almond milk?)
Equipment:
All you need is a bowl and
spoon for mixing!
Preparation:
1. Prepare all ingredients as above2. Mix all ingredients well
3. Pour on milk
4. Top with strawberriesEnjoy!
Goji berries are also good for the immune system because they contain vitamin C.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Stalk Options - Celery
Stalk Options - Celery
There's a lot culinary life in celery than the diet crowd lets on. And research shows it can help prevent memory loss, blood pressure and may even inhibit cancer.
Nutrition Know-How
A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition shows that luteolin — a bioactive plant compound found in celery, carrots, peppers, olive oil, peppermint, rosemary and chamomile — reduces age-related inflammation in the brain and may help prevent memory loss.
Celery contains coumarins, compounds that help prevent free radicals from damaging cells. Coumarins also enhance the ability of certain white blood cells to eliminate harmful cells, including cancer cells.
One serving of raw celery — about two to three stalks, or a little more than 1 cup chopped — provides 44 percent of the daily suggested amount of vitamin K (good for blood and bones) and 14 percent of vitamin C(an immune-system booster).
Celery is a good source of potassium, calcium and magnesium, all associated with reduced blood pressure.
The acetylenics in celery have been shown to inhibit tumor growth.
Celery contains active compounds called phthalides, which contribute to celery’s distinctive aroma and help lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, improve circulation and aid detoxification.
Nutritional Value:
- One cup of celery contains 15% of your daily value (DV) for vitamin C, a vitamin that helps to support the immune system. Vitamin C-rich foods like celery may help reduce cold symptoms or severity of cold symptoms.
- One cup of celery also contains about 40% of your DV for vitamin K. Vitamin K is commonly known to aid in blood clotting. When the body is injured, vitamin K initiates the process of healing by slowing and stopping the bleeding. Vitamin K also helps the body absorb the beneficial mineral calcium.
- Celery’s potential for reducing high blood pressure has long been recognized by Chinese medicine practitioners. Celery contains active compounds called phthalides, which can help relax the muscles around arteries and allow those vessels to dilate. With more space inside the arteries, the blood can flow at a lower pressure. Phthalides also reduce stress hormones, one of whose effects is to cause blood vessels to constrict.
- Celery is a diuretic. It is rich in both potassium and sodium, the minerals most important for regulating fluid balance, stimulates urine production, thus helping to rid the body of excess fluid.
- Celery contains compounds called coumarins that help prevent free radicals from damaging cells, thus decreasing the mutations that increase the potential for cells to become cancerous. Coumarins also enhance the activity of certain white blood cells, immune defenders that target and eliminate potentially harmful cells, including cancer cells.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
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Tips for preparing celery:
To clean celery, cut off the base and leaves, then wash the leaves and stalks under running water. Cut the stalks into pieces of desired length. If the outside of the celery stalk has fibrous strings, remove them by making a thin cut into one end of the stalk and peeling away the fibers. Be sure to use the leaves-they contain the most vitamin C, calcium and potassium-but use them within a day or two as they do not store very well.
Celery should not be kept at room temperature for too long since, because of its high water content, it has a tendency to wilt quickly. If you have celery that has wilted, sprinkle it with a little water and place it in the refrigerator for several hours where it will regain its crispness.
Kitchen Tricks
• Try adding chopped celery to dishes that may need a little boost of fresh flavor or texture. Both celery’s saltiness and crunch bring out the best in otherwise simple backgrounds, like tuna and egg salad sandwiches.
• To crisp up raw celery before serving, soak it in cold water.
• The outer stalks of a head of celery tend to be stronger flavored. Use these in soups, stuffings or sauces when you want more pungent flavors. The delicate inner stalks are great sautéed and added to milder dishes like rice pilaf, risotto, sauces, or soups like cream of celery or broccoli.
• Various cuts (diced, julienned, chiffonade, grated, puréed) bring out celery’s diverse qualities. Celery, thinly sliced, makes an excellent base for green and vegetable salads of all kinds.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment — or to begin using celery as a staple ingredient, like food guru Dorothy Kalins does. She writes: “Celery is my onion; a rough dice with carrots is the way my cooking starts. The aroma of celery softening in oil confirms for me a kind of primal connection.