NYC Farmer's Market

Headed to the Union Square Farmer's Market yesterday. It's open every mon, wed, fri and sat. It has quite a big selection of vendors and it's open until 6pm on saturday which is nice for sleeping in.

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My scores for the day: sorrel, purslane, russian kale, mustard greens and mixed shoots (sunflower, asian, broccoli, sweet pea).

Apple Cinnamon Donut Holes

Made from almond flour, shredded coconut,  and apples.

These were fun and easy to make. I always love a fake rendition of common American food. :)

The recipe calls for dates as the main sweetener, which before dehydrating was enough but after, they were not sweet enough to my liking. So I rolled them in palm nectar and cinnamon to make them a little sweeter. The coconut oil in the recipe combined with the warmness of them coming out of the dehydrator, gave them a nice baked flavor.

Recipe from Everyday Raw Desserts, by Matthew Kenney.

Cauliflower Stuffing and Brussel Sprouts

Cauliflower Stuffing with carrot, onion, celery and pecans. Brussel Sprouts marinated in flax oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.

These are a couple side dish recipes from Living Raw Food, by Sarma Melngailis that are intended for Thanksgiving. It was a chilly not so spring week last week, and this fit the mood. She has other recipes for Thanksgiving as well, such as a veggie mash, marinated mushrooms, and cranberry sauce.

These two dishes were easy to make and tasty, and I would make them again for Thanksgiving. The stuffing tasted a lot like stuffing, I did add tamari to the recipe to give it more flavor but other than that, a great recipe. The brussel sprouts were easy, slightly sweet (I added less maybe syrup than the recipe called for) and savory. Both dishes were put in the dehydrator which solidified the flavors, warmed them and gave them a golden brown texture. The dehydrator is great for that.

The Best Smoothie I've Ever Made

Kale, coconut, banana, hemp milk, almond butter, maca powder.

More please.

I made this one up inspired by a coconut kale smoothie I used to get in LA, but added hemp milk and maca powder to bump it up a bit.

Super yum town and really good for you.

1 fresh coconut, water and meat

1/2 bunch kale

2 bananas, frozen preferably

1 cup unsweetened hemp milk

2 tablespoons almond butter

1 1/2 teaspoons maca powder

blend it up.

I've recently been enjoying maca powder for, as David Wolfe writes, 

"its ability to balance and stabilize the body's glandular-hormonal system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and musculature". 

It has a sweet malty taste that I think compliments creamier smoothies, sweet snacks or desserts.

Fruit Sorbet

Mango, mixed berry and banana (topped with shredded coconut)

SUPER easy to make.

Cut up fresh fruit and freeze it. Put frozen fruit through a juicer with the solid (non screen) plate in. It turns the frozen fruit into a nice creamy texture.

Done.

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds really are amazing, and are gaining recognition as of late for good reason. They were once a staple of the Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures, along with the Native Americans of the southwest. They are high in omega 3's and 6's, protein, calcium, potassium, iron, and antioxidants.

Other benefits according to Raw Reform, are that the provide energy, boost strength, bolster endurance,  level blood sugar, induce weight loss, and aid intestinal regularity.

When put the seeds in liquid, they absorb the liquid and develop a gummy halo, which makes them very hydrating when consumed. This halo is removed slowly by the digestive system, keeping the colon hydrated while releasing electrolytes and nutrients. 

They are virtually flavorless making them great to add to anything you want. I like to add them to a cold sun tea with lemon and agave. 

High Raw

I just finished reading a very important book written by three long term raw food pioneers, called Raw & Beyond, How Omega-3 Nutrition Is Transforming the Raw Food Paradigm. It talks about the importance of focusing more on balancing omega 3's and 6's, and incorporating in cooked food if necessary. They all found that about 6-7 years into a 100% raw diet, that their health was not as tip top as it had been. They each individually discovered on their own that they were needing more omega 3's in their diet. They discovered that that was the one thing that a 100% raw diet couldn't provide for them in a sustainable way.

For example, raw foodists turn to nuts to get enough calorie intake, to get healthy fats and to keep them feeling full. But with more reaserch they discovered that most nuts were high in omega 6's, which ironically, if too much is consummed, it counteracts the Omega 3's that are consummed. One of the authors even started feeling nauseous at the even thought of eating nuts. She started listening to her body and cut back on her nut intake and like the others, did more research on how to improve her diet.

Despite possible scruitany, they looked to a few cooked foods, like quinoa, millet, various beans and vegetables that are a little easier to consume lightly cooked, like broccoli, bok choy, and sweet potatoes. They decided it was better to eat some of these foods that are omega balanced or a have a good amount of omega 3's, than to eat more nuts or oils that were high in omega 6's. They decided to evolove into what they call a "High Raw" diet, or a diet consisting of 80-95% raw foods.

I was relieved to read this for many reasons.
One - I was glad to receive such important nutrition information early in my raw food "journey".  I've thought about omega 3's and their importance but didn't know much about them or took them very seriously.
Two - It is more sustainable in the long run to be able to eat out at more places, or more easily with non raw foodists.
Three - I too had moments of feeling like my body was trying to tell me to ease off the nuts, just in my short time of eating all raw. I had mild moments of nausea, feeling dehydrated, tiredness, and now I know why.  Just since incorportating in more omega 3 heavy ingredients, I haven't felt those things and I'm back to feeling consistantly good.

Some foods that are high in Omega 3's that are good to focus on getting more of:

greens greens and more greens
chia seeds
hemp seeds/milk
flax seeds/meal/oil
kidney beans
walnuts

Eating a high raw diet might also be easier for newcomers to transition into raw food as well. There is less pressure to be 100%, all or nothing. I echo the authors in the book, and still value the importance of a mostly raw food diet, for its low inflammatory, high enzyme, high nutritional makeup. So I focus on eating raw first, getting enough omega 3's and welcome more lightly cooked foods when I am needing them.

One dish I made last week that was partially raw and partially cooked:

Modified Macro Plate

Raw kale, wakame and arame on top of cooked quinoa, black beans, and lightly steamed sweet potato, topped with raw tahini dressing and avocado. First time I had beans in 2 months! I was definitely glad to give the cashews a break for a night.

You can find more info from Victoria Boutenko about omega 6's and 3's here.