Summertime Uncooking
May 25th, 2009
**Hang on, have you entered to win some sweet Massa Organics yet? If not, enter now! You only have until June 4th.
I hope you all had kickin’ Memorial Day weekends! Here in Boston we had a good amount of sun and the kind of temperatures that beg you to open the windows and feel the breeze. This was perfect, because instead of picnics and parades we had a lot of painting scheduled for the long weekend.
I am not ashamed to admit this – we put down primer in the office about a year ago and only this weekend did we finally paint! It’s now a lovely shade of gold and I couldn’t be happier sitting here with my plants on the bookshelves and cat on the desk surrounded by warm golden walls.
As the weather warms, I typically start craving different things. The outdoors, for instance! And instead of stews and soups, I want salads or sushi. Instead of Shiraz, I want sangria. You don’t have to practice Ayurveda or Macrobiotics to know that with a change of seasons it’s important to change your diet.
So as the weather warms up, it’s the perfect time to experiment with raw foods. Now there are two kinds of people: those who think raw foods sound boring (salads again, awww man!) and those that think raw food sound scary (raw what? wait, what does that mean? aughhh). Well, I’m here to tell you that raw food does not need to be boring or scary and can in fact be quite delightful. Wait, there’s one more kind of person – the kind who IS a raw foodist and eats only raw vegan foods and swears by this lifestyle. Well, hello, you. If you are a raw foodist, please share in the comments your experience with raw foods!
Last summer I ate all raw for 2 months and it was an enlightening experience. What a great detox program – eat all you want and get super clean from the inside out. I could see why people want to eat raw all the time but when the weather got cooler in New England I felt instinctively it was time to start cooking my food again. Plus, I missed cookies.
So not everyone can or should make the commitment to eating 100% raw, but I like to think of it as just another food preparation method that everyone can benefit from. In fact, my next Cooking Club is going to feature an all-raw menu. If you are in the Boston area, please join us!
The recipe I’m sharing with you today is adapted from an excellent raw cookbook, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. I like it because it’s easy, fast, cheap, and tastes great on a hot day.
Creamy Herb Wraps
4 large collard leaves
2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked in water overnight
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tbl. white miso
4 stalks fresh rosemary
1 package fresh oregano
2 tomatoes, sliced thin
2 avocados, sliced
1. Choose collard leaves that are intact, without tears. Wash and slice each center stem away so you are left with two leaf halves. Set aside.
2. In food processor, combine seeds, lemon juice, miso, and leaves from rosemary. Blend well until smooth, adding water as needed. You are looking to achieve a consistency between ricotta and sour cream.
3. Place leaf-half on a flat surface. On one end, place scoop of creamy mixture, tomato slice, avocado slice and oregano leaves. Roll up carefully and serve.
