A Few Raw Food Things. . .

My raw food books.
I think there are others, but where are they?
Maybe I loaned them to a daughter of mine.

I wanted to answer a few questions here, particularly about raw food. “Winterwood” asked me how I use the sauerkraut I buy. The only thing I ever do with it is eat it just the way it is in the jar because to heat it would make it non-raw, and it would kill all of the beneficial cultures. It would be great as a condiment on hot dogs or hamburgers if you eat that kind of thing (I did this on the 4^th of July). I’ve added it to fried potatoes after the potatoes have cooled a bit. But I honestly haven’t done much with it except to eat it plain.

My grandpa made sauerkraut all the time in a big crock, and it was so delicious! I grew fond of it then, and when I read how good it is for you (in its raw state), I figured I’d start making it myself someday (it’s very easy to do), and in the meantime, I buy it at the farmers’ market or in a natural foods store. I only consume about ¼ c. at a time because that’s all a person really needs, and it’s expensive to buy.

And here, you can click on the jar for a close-up and some of the company’s ideas for using sauerkraut:

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Mary Beth asked what some of my favorite salad dressings are because I said raw food books have some of the best dressings and vinaigrettes. They do, but actually all vegan and vegetarian books tend to have great salad dressing recipes. My standard, because it is straightforward and relatively inexpensive, is simply 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil (that’s the traditional acid:oil ration) and salt, but I often add Dijon to this and a touch of maple, too. But my favorites? I’ll go through my books to look, but here’s one of them, from Matt Amsdem’s book, Raw Revolution. This is for garlic lovers:

Garlic Cream Dressing 

¼ c. fresh lemon juice

¼ c. Nama Shoyu (which is raw shoyu, but regular shoyu will work)

8 cloves garlic, peeled (I’d mince them, too, for much easier blending)

One 3” piece ginger, peeled, chopped (I’ve substituted powder in a pinch)

1 ¼ c. olive oil

Combine all but the olive oil in a high-speed blender (mine isn’t), then while the blender is running, stream in the olive oil til the dressing is thick and emulsified. (I’ve been lazy and dumped it all in at once and then blended, and it was fine, but it’s best not to be lazy!)

I’ll look for more of my favorite salad dressings/vinaigrettes and post them soon.

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Here’s another salad dressing, this one created by Renee Loux for a particular salad—“New Waldorf Salad.” Her twist on the old Waldorf salad consists of lettuce tossed with chopped or sliced apple, chopped celery, grated carrot, and raisins, with chopped walnuts on top. Here’s the dressing (I use it for this salad as well as lots of others):

3 T. raw sesame tahini

1 clove garlic

¼ c. lemon juice

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1 T. organic olive oil

1 ½ T. raw honey or maple

1-2 t. salt

Water as needed (if it’s too thick when you blend)

Whirl all in a blender, and add 1 T. water at a time, as needed.

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And one more. A treat from Raw Food Real World. These are somewhat expensive to make because of the maple syrup, but they are a treat and should be eaten sparingly.:-) I don’t dehydrate these, but I make them into truffles. I just mix together all of the ingredients (click on the photo if you want to read the list), shape them into balls, set them on parchment paper, sift some cocoa powder over them, and place in the fridge til they firm. Then I put them in a container with a lid and keep them in the refrigerator. I don’t make these often, but I love them.