Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

One reason I keep going on and on lately about raw desserts and raw ice creams is best conveyed with an example.  Here are the ingredients in Cool Whip, a commonly available whipped topping:

• water
• hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut and palm kernel oils)
• high fructose corn syrup
• corn syrup
• skim milk
• light cream
• less than 2% of:
• sodium caseinate
• natural and artificial flavors
• xanthan and guar gums
• polysorbate 60
• sorbitan monostearate
• beta carotene (color)

Wow, I had a chemistry set in 5th grade that had a lot of things that sounded like some of those items. It’s actually mind-boggling to envision the industrial processes necessary to produce everything on that list — not that it’s entirely possible to do so. After all, among the list of ingredients are “natural and artificial flavors.” Ever wonder what, exactly, those are?

Well, finding out is easy, really. Just pop over to the Code of Federal Regulations (here) and read the definition:

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.

So, not only may natural flavors be non-raw (which may or may not be important to many), but they may in fact not even be vegetarian (which is likely important to quite a lot of people).

The term “artificial flavors,” by the way, refers to:

any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof.

So, those really could be derived from just about anything imaginable (with the exception of actual food!).

Okay, so let’s compare that with my own recipe for whipped cream. Yes, I realize that I said the other day that I didn’t have a good recipe for it, but then I realized that I really do — and it relates back to our recent post on parfaits. You see, I’d been in such a hurry to consume these delicious parfaits that I failed to do what I recommend in the recipe, which is to refrigerate the cream.  If you actually do this step, you’re going to basically get whipped cream that tastes 10x better than any store-bought chemistry set, and is also perfectly healthy!

Raw Whipped Cream

Into your Vitamix, add:

• a large handful of nuts (cashews, or maybe macadamias)
• just enough water so that the nuts will blend
• a bit of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• optionally, a few strawberries or other berry for color and subtle flavor
• optionally, a bit of agave or other sweetener

I would highly recommend, prior to making this, a thorough study of our Raw Parfaits post last week, as it gives extra hints about adding thickness and so forth. I’d highly encourage experimentation with this basic formula!  Blend your mixture thoroughly. When you think you’re done blending, blend it even longer. Seriously, it’ll be better.  Then, the trick is to cool the cream. Spatula the whole mess into a bowl and toss it into the fridge for several hours, taking it out just prior to serving.  This will render a whipped cream topping to live for.

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Photo by jonathangaskin on Flickr (Creative Commons).

While I was growing up in the Midwest, I had a rich uncle who lived out East in Philadelphia. I didn’t know him very well at the time, but would often glean stories via the family grape vines of his business successes. After high school, I attended college in Northeastern Pennsylvania — Wilkes University — where, incidentally, I first met Wendi!

Being out there, I got to visit my uncle from time to time, and dine with him and his family.  Among other things, he was quite the gourmand. I’m not so sure what he’d have thought of raw foods, although I suspect he’d have appreciated the many gourmet efforts.

His wife, my aunt, was from Ireland. She and her elderly mother lived there in Philadelphia, too — all at the palatial estate.  Usually, for dessert, they liked to have a pie of some sort. But, quite to my surprise as a young student, they served it topped not with ice cream or whipped cream, but with liquid cream. It seemed strange to me, but I came to appreciate that perhaps not everyone in the world does things that we do in America — and vice versa. So, to date, I’m aware of at least three major ways in which pie is topped (ice cream, whipped cream, and liquid cream). We’ll cover two of those today!

Both of the following recipes are imitations of things that are dairy — and so both will demonstrate how dairy-like you can get using various ingredients.

Pie Topping #1:  Raw Ice Cream

This will be the lower-fat option, as it uses only fruit! Making super-tasty raw ice cream is SO easy; all you need to do to achieve a basic ice cream is freeze a few bananas, and then run them through a masticating juicer such as a Champion brand one (which is what we have). Doing this makes a delicious, creamy ice cream — and you can also add other frozen fruits in to flavor the ice cream.  If you do not own a masticating juicer, you can achieve some nice, thick ice-cream-like concoctions by experimenting with your high-speed blender. Just toss in frozen bananas, and some liquid of your choice (and, likely, some sweetener). This won’t be quite as thick or ice-cream-like as it would be from a masticating juicer, but it’ll surely taste pretty good.

Pie Topping #2:  Raw Cream

The following recipe is one of thousands of possible cream recipes. It’s directly from our free Raw Recipes book that we give away to all who sign up on our web site. This one is called “lemony cream”:

• 1/2 cup cashews (soaked for two hours)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons shredded coconut
• few dashes of salt

Blend until very creamy, and then spoon onto your raw pie!! SO delicious!

Sadly, I don’t have an excellent raw whipped cream recipe to share at the moment, but I’ll look into it for you — and I’d encourage you to do the same. (Looking in the All Raw Directory is a great start, of course.)

So, there you have it —  a universal pie recipe yesterday, and starting points for some delicious toppings, above.

Over the weekend, we visited the spectacular Oregon Country Fair in Eugene and, once again, experienced a joyful and overwhelming sense of recognition that we’re living in a place where people are much more accustomed to just being themselves.

Personal expression and nonconformity are so valued here that one becomes quickly enamored of the whole ambiance, which could well explain why more people come to Oregon than leave. The region seems to represent, to many, a chance to finally discover and explore an identity perhaps not completely free from outside influence, but at least free from the undesirable influences that society elsewhere seems to insist upon. Or maybe I’m misreading it all and providing just one of many interpretations.

In either case, I can think of perhaps no greater form of self-expression and nonconformity than the creation of a raw fruit pie. Think of it not as a dessert, but as a symbol of your own limitless, blazing, dazzling, unique, fiery spirit. Here’s what a slice of a Patti’s Raw Fruit Pie looks like:

But, your raw fruit pie might well look and taste quite different.  I thought I’d share today some elements of any raw fruit pie, just as we shared a more universal take on parfaits last week.

With a pie, you basically have only two requisite components: (1) a crust, and (2) a filling. I think, in order to classify something as a “pie,” you’d need to at least include some semblance of those two things — although “requiring” anything at all within an article themed upon nonconformity, I’ll admit, is humorously ironic.  Of course, pie is also quite often topped with something (usually ice cream), so we’ll include “(3) a topping” as an optional, yet desirable, component.

To those unfamiliar with raw foods, seeing a raw pie is almost always exciting. I, too, remember the joy of learning that one could enjoy pie made of natural, and healthy raw ingredients rather than the Crisco-laden heart-clogging flakiness that we all love and hate simultaneously. Once we discovered this, we began doing things that would have been considered insane by conventional society — things like having pie for dinner! So, let’s get to it…

Part One:  The Crust. Okay, so all pies need a crust.  Since this is not meant as a specific pie recipe, I’m just going to list the things you’ll want to play around with.  First, you’re almost always going to want to have access to a food processor. I’m sure you could somehow achieve a crust without one, but it’s probably going to be significantly easier with one. So, into your food processor, toss:

• A Cup or two of Nuts. We commonly use almonds, although you could experiment with any single nut, or mixture of nuts. Other common ones would include walnuts and pecans. Cashews are also nice. But, again, see what you can come up with. Like the parfait recipes we shared last week, it’ll be tough to make any real mistakes here.
• Spices. Depending on the pie, you may want to add some spices to the crust, as well.  We would always recommend adding some salt, for flavor enhancement. But don’t feel limited by your spice selection — here or in the filling. Be as creative as you like.
• Something sticky to hold it all together. Quite commonly, people use dates here (pitted, of course).  But, you might also add in something like some agave nectar, some honey, or perhaps some maple syrup (which isn’t raw, but does contain a lot of nutrients for a “cooked” food — esp. if you get Grade B).

Process your mixture adding in the sticky part slowly, until you’ve achieved something rather thick and, likely, very messy and sticky.

From there, you’ll want to press this into your pie tin (or, really, any kind of dish). We’ve found that if you “pre-powder” your dish with a coating of something (we use powdered raw carob), the slices will be easier to dish out later. Also, you can pop these pie crusts into the freezer for later use, as the cold will help them set up more.

Also, as you can see in the above picture, the pie shown has some crust on top as well. This is optional, of course. And, remember, it can be more of the same crust you used on the bottom, or something entirely different. Furthermore, it could be something raw, or not. (See last Friday’s post for a brief discussion of raw and not-so-raw options in the “crunchiness” department, as much of that applies here.)

Part Two:  The Filling. Again, this is going to be really tough to mess up, as all fruit is naturally sweet and delicious.  The goal here, in general (or, at least, what I like to do) is to come up with something that has a bit of a sauce and also a lot of whole pieces of fruit. So, I often like to make a base mixture of briefly blended fruits (e.g., using some bananas, strawberries, berries, etc.), and then stir this up with some chopped fruits. Again, there is no right or wrong way to make a filling. Use any fruits (or anything else) you like, either singly or in combination with other things.

Don’t forget that you can spice the mixture up with any spices you like! For whatever kind of pie you’re making, try using the same spices that you’d use for that pie’s “cooked equivalent.” Also, you may or may not want to sweeten the mix a bit with a sweetener of your choice. Personally, I find the fruit is usually sweet enough on its own. But, it’s quite common for raw foodies to sweeten a pie filling a little bit.

Of course, once you get your filling made, simply pour it into your crust and you’ve got a raw pie!  We generally like to refrigerate, or even freeze, ours prior to serving.

Part Three: The a la mode part.  Again, you’ve got options here — from (1) not using a topping, to (2) using a liquid cream-style topping (such as is traditional in parts of Europe), to (3) using an ice-cream topping (traditional in the U.S.).  No worries… all are easily achievable with raw foods. In fact… this post is getting a little long-winded … let’s cover creams and raw ice cream tomorrow.

Above is a quick camera-phone pic I posted to our Facebook group lately. I did talk about making raw parfaits on that page, but want to talk a little more about them today, as it’s just the perfect time to be talking about delicious raw parfaits (at least here in America, in any case, where many of the fresh berries you’ll probably want are cheap and in season). I’ll share a brief story about them, and then share my own basic recipe, and then we’ll make some plans for MORE parfait talk really soon, okay?

I’m almost hesitant to talk about raw food parfaits here because, well, if the government found out how unbelievably healthy and ENJOYABLE parfaits are, I’m sure they’d make them illegal. But, I’ll take a chance…

So, after we moved to Portland, I discovered that the leading local raw restaurant (Blossoming Lotus) offered some raw packaged foods for sale at co-ops around town. We began buying their parfait quite regularly. They’re simply divine — and I enjoyed them to the point of our food budget straining a bit. So, eventually, I thought, “Hey, this isn’t rocket science… Make your own!”

Actually, a parfait isn’t so much different than a few other things you may already enjoy. But, it has a few special things going for it that, for some odd reason, just fill me with unending delight. For one, it’s called a “parfait” — which is fun. It seems like a dessert or something, right?

Second, it’s customarily served in some sort of tall glass or similar container. This is because, in most cases, a parfait is a vertical, layered recipe — and so it’s a best practice in terms of presentation to show off the layers as best you can.

In general, a parfait will have three components (as far as I can tell, anyway):

• First is the fruit.
• Second is the cream.
• Third is the crunchy stuff.

After that, it’s all about variations, style, and personal ingenuity.  So, let’s tackle those three items, above, in a bit more detail.

The Fruit: Okay, this one’s ridiculously easy:  Get some fruit, and chop it up into small, bite-sized pieces. I’ve found that a nice mixture of fruit is palatable — apples, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pears, blackberries, bananas, etc. Again, there are no rules here, so I’ve found it’s best to stick with whatever is in season near you. That’ll be the freshest and cheapest. (And, by the way, since the in-season fruit is always changing, you can use this same basic recipe all year round and still experience amazing variety!)

The cream: This is where things really get interesting because you’ve got a TON of options to achieve a huge variety of tastes, textures, colors, and even fat-contents (low to high). I’m going to tell you right here and now: As soon as our kitchen is video-ready, I’m going to have a full-on “Parfait Week” here on Pure Jeevan. So, watch out for some great vids on that topic.  But, for now, let me just share a very basic recipe that I’ve found tasty and easy:

• Toss a decent handful of nuts (I like raw cashews) into your Vitamix
• Add some water so it’ll blend well
• Toss in a few frozen strawberries
• Add a bit of  vanilla extract (bonus points if you have real vanilla beans on hand!)
• Pinch of salt
• A bit of  agave (optional)
• Dash of cardamom powder (optional, but encouraged!)

Begin to blend, and keep one or two bananas on hand as it blends.  Toss in the bananas until it looks super-creamy. And, make sure to blend it thoroughly, as you’ll probably like a nice, smooth cream. Now, most creams will ideally be left to thicken in the fridge for a while. But, I’m just not that patient in the morning. This is why I recommend the frozen strawberries and (fresh or frozen) bananas — both of which really help add creaminess immediately.

But, if you’re patient, you could well try making your own and refrigerating the mixture for an hour or two. There are certainly many other options for attaining creaminess (such as trying chia or Irish moss, or maybe avocado).  One thing I’ve found that also helps is a bit of protein powder. Remember: You can change up *anything* in the above recipe. So, the possibilities are easily in the billions.

Okay, so you’ve got your fruit and cream. It’s time for the crunchy stuff:  Here’s where you can split things off into either a 100% raw dish to maybe downshift to a high-raw one. The local raw restaurant uses sprouted, dehydrated buckwheat as their crunchy element (also adding, I’ve noted, some pepitos — which also tastes good). I’d love to do that, too, as my first preference. However, our kitchen is not yet fully functional (the dehydrator still sadly packed away).

I’ve tried roasted buckwheat (available at my local grocer), but it didn’t taste very good to me.  Plain old oatmeal, though, tasted about right, as did some meusli I tossed into one once. I imagine there are a hundred things that would probably taste prett good, and still clock in as at least very high-raw and generally healthy.

The final step is the layering: Spoon in some of the fruit, then a layer of the cream, and then some crunchy stuff. Repeat until you’ve filled the serving glass.

Final thoughts:

• Make LOTS of the cream at once!  If you have extra cream, you’ll be able to store it in the fridge, which will improve the consistency to a really nice thickness! Plus, not only will it be thicker and better later, but you’ll have saved yourself the whole step of making the cream again.
• For lower-fat varieties, try less nuts and more low-fat thickening ingredients (e.g., bananas, etc.).
• For cream flavor varieties, make sure to try different nuts and seeds, as well as varying the other items.
• Try alternating colors or creams in different layers! To achieve this, try varying the cream ingredients. Use things like colored berries, green powders, various juices, etc., to achieve the colors you want.
• Finally, share some with me!

Did I leave off anything important??? Please let me know.

Hi Everyone.  It’s Friday… Let’s have some fun!  For today’s blog entry, I thought I’d post my submission to the recent video contest held by the Vita-Mix company. They were looking for a new spokesperson, and offered a $10,000 prize for the best video. I didn’t make the final cut, but did have a good deal of fun making this short video. Hope you like it:

On this blog, I’ve featured smoothie recipes similar to the one shown in that video, so I won’t post a special recipe here. I really just needed a very easy, yet tasty, recipe for the purposes of the vid. But, simple smoothies like this are very delicious, so definitely try it!