Eating Raw in the D.R.

I’d never heard of people only eating raw foods until I met a couple who own a “raw” restaurant in Baja California a few months ago . Intrigued by the idea of “eating raw” I bought a book about it and found out that the raw diet is made up of lots of seeds, nuts, and dehydrated foods as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Since then I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend and started experimenting. I’ve found it to be a bit challenging here in the D.R. being that some recipes require 36 hours of dehydrating and I’m only likely to get 8 to 13 hours of electricity a day. And a lot of the recipes call for special health food ingredients that don’t exist here. However, it’s fun to experiment!

So here’s what I’ve been eating these past few days.

My first meal after a seven day fresh juice feast: “raw” banana bread, fruit salad, and carrot juice.  (Raw Banana Bread: 1 cup ground flax seeds, 1 cup ground sunflower seeds, 3 bananas, and a little honey; mixed in the food processor and then kept in the dehydrator for roughly 18 hours).

My second raw meal: a tomato cheese sandwich on onion bread  and a green salad. (Raw Onion Bread: 1/2 cup ground flaxseeds, 1/2 cup raw ground sunflower seeds, 1/8 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos, 1/8 cup olive oil, and three small onions sliced thinly; all ingredients mixed in a bowl and put in the dehydrator for 36 hours). (Sunflower Seed Cheese: 1 cup raw sunflower seeds soaked for 6-8 hours, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 clove garlic, and a few tbsp’s water; blended together until creamy).

My third raw meal: vegetables with hummus and mini veggie & cheese sandwiches on onion bread.
(Raw Hummus: 1 cup sunflower seeds soaked for 1 hour, 2 cups zucchini peeled and chopped, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 2 teaspoons salt; mixed in the blender until creamy).

Yes it’s actually possible to make raw chips to go with your fresh salsa, and it’s really easy too. (Raw Corn Tortilla Chips: I put 3 cups frozen corn, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 medium sized onion, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne powder, and 2 tsp salt in a food processor and mixed it until smooth…. then added 1 cup ground golden flaxseed and 1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds, mixed until smooth, spread the mixture out as thin as possible and then put it into the dehydrator for roughly 12 hours.

(Raw Carrot Cake: 1/2 cup raisins, 3/4 cup shredded carrot, 3 tbsp ground flaxseed, 1/4 cup homemade dried coconut, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp honey, 1/4 tbsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ginger, and 1/4 cup chopped sunflower seeds blended until all ingredients are well combined and then put in the dehydrator for about 4 hours). (Raw Sunflower Seed Frosting:1 cup raw soaked sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp water, and a pinch of salt; blended until smooth and creamy).

(Raw corn tortillas -for soft tacos and wraps: 2 cups golden flax seeds soaked for 4 hrs, 1/2 cup ground flax seed, 1 cup corn, 1/4 ripe avocado, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds soaked for 1 hr, 1/8 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sea salt, and 1 tbsp lime juice all blended in the food processor, spread into thin circles and dehydrated for roughly 4 hours).

My favorite raw foods treat, chocolate coconut balls. (Raw chocolate coconut balls: 1/2 cup almonds, 1/2 cup cashews, 1 cup pitted dates, 1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder blended well in the food processor, shaped into balls and rolled in dried coconut).

So in conclusion of my raw foods experiment, I think everyone who likes to cook and wants to be healthier should try it for a week or two. I personally feel a bit healthier and have been surprised by how good raw food tastes!