Raw! Raw! Shish-kum-ba!

So, I've been posting a lot about diet and food and such lately. Jeff and I have been eating more raw food and losing weight and loving it. Since I love lists, here is what I've learned/noticed about a raw food diet so far (though we are not doing it 100%, you can pry that cheese out of my cold dead hands).

1. I feel lighter, more alert and like I run faster (though I'm not sure if that is quantifiable or just a feeling :).

2. There is a TON of variety in raw foods, it is not just a glorified salad.

3. There is an abundance of easy, fast delicious recipes out there. Just like conventional cooking, you can find the recipies that suit your eating cooking style.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes so far:

Pad Thai salad, Rawshi (think sushi but with only veggies and diced jicima for the rice), Raw Burritos. The Pad Thai salad can be found here and the raw burritos can be found here. The Rawshi I found here, but I've modified it enough that I will just write out the recipe:

Rawshi:

(you will need Nori sheets to make this recipe)

"Rice"

Dice 1 Jicima* in a food processor

2 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp (optional) fine grain raw sugar

*this makes enough for about 4 rolls, you can also use other root vegetables like carrots and beets in the same manner as the jicima.

Filling:

1 cucumber (peeled and julienned)

2 carrots " "

avocado " "

*there are so many veggies you can use as filling in the rolls, I'm not going to list them all. Just look in your crisper and get creative!

Assembly:

I like to use a bamboo mat (you can get a sushi making kit with the mat fairly cheaply at most cooking stores and maybe even TJ Maxx) but you can just put down a sheet of plastic wrap on a plate.

Place a sheet of Saran wrap on your bamboo mat and put the nori with the rough side up down on the mat.

Spread the jicima 'rice' on the nori leaving about an inch of nori on the top of the sheet (the side furthest from you) don't spread the rice too thickly, about 1/4" thick max.

Place filling in a line down the center of the nori sheet.

Using the bamboo mat to guide your hands roll the sushi and hold it in place for a few seconds before you take the plastic wrap off.

Cut the sushi roll into pieces.

*Use the sharpest knife you have. To keep the knife from sticking to the nori, wet the blade before each cut.

Serve with pickled ginger or soy sauce (I know soy sauce is not raw, but it makes it so tasty!)

I'm sure I'll be posting more recipes as I discover them, but I totally encourage you to check these out! They are delicious!

Note: I'm still working on getting Bean to eat this stuff, his diet is much more cooked than Jeff and mine right now, I'll keep you posted.