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VEGGIE LOVE: Celery Root
If you’ve ever wandered around the grocery store looking for something new to eat but are too nervous to pick up the (sometimes scary looking) vegetable you’ve never heard of: fear no more. My new Raw Girl recruit Kenzie, is going to give you the low-down on the organic produce aisle where hidden gems can be unearthed that are worth incorporating into your diet. Welcome to Veggie Love, a Raw Girl Toxic World segment meant to share all the nutritional insights and yummy recipes of not-so-typical fruits and veggies. -XOXO Raw Girl
This week, we’re going to dive right in to the scarcely used root veggie: celery root. I was first introduced to this veggie during my time in Copenhagen, Denmark—where celery root is not hidden behind the parsnips and beets but piled high in even commercial, non-‘health food’ stores.
Celery root is literally the root of the celery plant (sometimes called Celeriac). And when the rough skin is peeled off, it is a fibrous, water rich vegetable loaded with vitamin C, vitamin B6, phosphorus, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, and thiamin. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects against cell damage, helps heal wounds and fights infections, promotes healthy bones, teeth, gums and blood vessels. Vitamin B6 makes hormones, insulin, antibodies, and cell membranes and helps maintain a steady blood pressure.
The combination of minerals in celery root support muscle contractions, a healthy nervous and immune system, strong bones, and a steady heartbeat. They also aid in cell repair, stabilize metabolic reactions and maintain oxygen levels in blood cells and muscles. Celery root is also high in dietary fiber which lowers blood cholesterol, promotes easy and slow digestion, stabilizes blood sugar, and keeps you full longer.
After all this good information it’s time to eat up!
Preparation:
Celery root stores well—up to 3 weeks unpeeled. To start, Chop the ends of the root and peel the rough skin off with a large knife. Once it’s peeled it will be a crisp white. Use some lemon juice or soak in vinegar water to prevent browning.
EAT IT RAW: Celery root has a strong nutty flavor. Shred, chop, or grate into salads for a new flavor or try this recipe…
Pink Celery Root Slaw
Veggies:
1 celery root: shredded or mandolin cut, 1 large beet: shredded, julienne peeled, or mandolin cut, 3 carrots: shredded, julienne peeled, or mandolin cut, 1 apple: shredded, julienne peeled, or mandolin cut
Dressing:
1 cup cashews: pre-soaked for 6 hours, 2 Tbs agave nectar, 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar, Juice from ½ lime, 4 Tbs filtered water (added slowly)
Make the dressing in blender or VitaMix creating your desired consistency with the water. Pour onto sliced veggies. You may have dressing left over, depending on taste.
ENJOY IT COOKED: While in Denmark, my favorite thing was to sauté the root in large circular pieces either with cinnamon or paprika and rosemary. Delicious. Celery root can also easily be added to soups, stir-fries, and any vegetable medley to add variety.
Veggie Love is meant to assist you in diversifying your diet and educate you on the benefits of your veggie choices. So get out there, experiment, and feel confident about your new veggie know-how. And please, share your knowledge; share the love.
– Kenzie, Signing in for Raw Girl
How to Make Vegan Spicy Curry Hummus :)
Hummus is one of the very few things not raw, that I still incorporate in my diet. I cook my chickpeas in a slow cooker, which heats on low around 170 degrees, so no, this not a raw hummus, but suitable for vegans, non-100% raw fooders, and fabulous people who love hummus as much as I do. If you still buy hummus in the store, be weary of the preservatives and possible industrial materials that could be lurking in your whipped concoction which may have a pasty consistency. The mission to make my own hummus started when I really went raw and became so sensitive to things that I would have immediate allergic reactions after eating something “toxic.” Store bought hummus always made me sneeze, immediately after! I make all kinds of hummus, but this is one of my favorite kinds, because I enjoy spicy dishes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n5gAUpYNvc]
Ingredients:
16 oz/1 lb bag of chickpeas, pre-soaked and then cooked, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 3 Tablespoons of yellow curry, 1 tablespoon of paprika, 2 tablespoons sea salt, red pepper to suit your pepper tolerance, dash of cumin , juice of 3 organic lemons
Put all in high speed blender and blend until a creamy, thick consistency. Pour into bowl and sprinkle the top with thyme, red pepper, and any other seasonings you like. Keeps in fridge, use for wraps, salads, or as a dip. Enjoy!
The copyright of this recipe is owned by Esosa Edosomwan (AKA Chef Eazy E.) Permission to republish this recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Divinely Delicious Raw Green Goddess Yogurt
Mostly due to the fact that I heart spirulina, I created this quick raw recipe that can be used as an early morning pre or post-gym meal or dessert. For those of you who cringed at the thought of green yogurt, it’s green of course because of the spirulina, and a great way to get a nice dose of nutrition and dessert in one meal. The spirulina tends to boost my energy (even more—scary), so I try not to eat this too late in the evening.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ1zfdZyDCY]
Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)
2 ripe organic bananas, diced pineapple, 3 dates, 6 pitted & dried prunes (preservative free), purified water, 1 tablespoon of spirulina powder
Put all in high speed blender, add a little water and blend until a creamy, thick consistency. (Make sure not to add so much water that it beomes runny, unless you want to drink it as a juice, which is also good. I messed up in the video and had to add more dates) Pour into bowl and sprinkle with diced fruit and or shredded coconut. Enjoy!
The copyright of this recipe is owned by Esosa Edosomwan (AKA Chef Eazy E.) Permission to republish this recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Tropical Green Sunrise Smoothie
Since spirulina is my new supplement fetish, I have experimented with several morning smoothie combinations. This particular combination is divine, especially if you love tropical fruits like I do.
Ingredients:
1 Thai Coconut (will use meat and water, also can just use plain filtered water), 1/4 pineapple, 2 ripe bananas, 1 kiwi, 1/2 mango, 1 Tablespoon Spirulina
Break open your Thai coconut using a butcher knife. (If you have never done this, you may want to get help, but it’s worth the struggle.) Pour coconut water into a glass. Scoop out coconut meat and put in blender. Add in all your ingredients including the Spirulina, and pour coconut water into blender to get the fruits blending. You will probably only use about half of the glass of coconut water to blend, the rest you can drink and enjoy. Blend until smooth and drink up!
The copyright of this recipe is owned by Esosa Edosomwan (AKA Chef Eazy E.) Permission to republish this recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
New Article: “The Wonders of Spirulina”
About two years ago, I was introduced to spirulina, when offered a green shake at a vegan spot in Brooklyn. I thought it was good but I knew nothing about this strange-sounding food, so I never really started regularly incorporating it into my diet until a couple of months ago. For now, I generally add it in powder form to my morning post-workout smoothies, and my delectable raw “Green Yogurt” dessert (a recipe I will share), and find that it gives me an incredible amount of energy that lasts throughout the day.
As I did some research for this article, I was excited to learn more in-depth about the incredible amount of nutrients this algae provides. In this age of biggest losers, obsessive dieting, and fad health frenzies, heavens knows we need to teach people to start incorporating more nutrients in their diets. I was upset last night when I heard trainer and life coach Jillian Michaels (with the fabulous abs) connected with Biggest Loser inadequately respond to a question about overweight people feeling too hungry to cut their portion sizes. People are frenzied over the incredible portion sizes they eat, but what they forget is that when they ate that giant fast food meal or whatever, they just fed the body a lot of empty food devoid of nutrients, and that’s why they are still hungry!
Of course, there is an emotional component as well that cannot be overlooked, but those who are sexy raw foodies or have tried raw food, know that they feel surprisingly full after meals, mostly because they body is actually being fed food with nutrients and just empty calories. Spirulina is one of the wonder foods that can introduce a great deal of necessary nutrients in your diet and boost your immune system.
To read the full article:
http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_wonders_of_spirulina
NY Times Article: “More Perils of Ground Meat”
This kid's burger could be contaminated!
Thankfully, I am a sexy vegan and don’t have to worry about these meat crises anymore. Why take the risk nowadays? Apparently a beef company started to inject ammonia as a way to kill harmful bacteria in their products. They sorely overestimated its effectiveness, and their meat, which was distributed to fast food restaurants, school lunches, and made available in groceries stores is now being recalled for contamination.
To read more:
Gourmet Raw Vegan Pizza! – Part Two
Just in case you missed it, in the last post I included the necessary ingredients and step-by-step process of how to make the crust and sauce for the raw pizza featured in the photograph. Now we’ll focus on making the cheese and adding toppings.
Cheese Ingredients:
2 cups cashews ( soak a couple hours or soak night before), miso paste (white), 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup water
Topping Ingredients:
Dice a variety of vegetables that you like. I used: yellow zucchini, mushrooms, shalots, orange bell pepper, black olives, tomatoes, & basil. Then, I seasoned with thyme and hot red pepper.
Again, here is Raw Chef Elaina Love’s video demonstration of the process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKG9H-k9KYg
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKG9H-k9KYg]
New Article: B12 an Essential Supplement for Vegans
“Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” ~ Redd Foxx
True, we are all gonna die, but I am playing my cards so I still have the upper hand when I’m older. I’d rather get taken out by a bus than cancer. Or any disease that degenerates my mental faculties for that matter. My hope is that at least I will be able to play a round without having someone wheel me over to the table, or have to ask someone else hold my hand for me in the game of life.
The thing is, even if you are already a sexy vegan, and eat a wide range of fresh organic produce, if you don’t take your B-12, you may find youself lacking in energy, depressed (which is definitely not sexy), and loosing mental faculties way before your time. I had my own personal experience with B12 deficiency after being a vegan for almost ten years and then transitioning into a diet consisting of mostly raw foods. To say the least, it was not fun. I started to notice I felt tired a lot, my feet and hands were tingling, and my memory was horrible. Let’s not get into the fact that I was pretty sure I was actually loosing my mind! It was a scary experience, but luckily the core issue was remedied in time.
Supplementation of this vitamin is not optional if you are a vegan, it is an absolute necessity. Apparently even though B12 is found in animal products, many meat eaters are deficient as well. David Wolfe, one of the leading authorites on raw food, claims that Spirulina, which is a type of blue green algae, is the best food source of B12. More on Spirulina later…
Cleansing in the New Year…
Last year, I began the ritual of juice fasting into the new year. The aim of the fast was to give my body a rest, clean out my system, affirm release of old habits or blocks of the past year, and renew a spiritual and physical connection. Last year the fast was 10 days. This year, I made it to day 7 and then on day 8 had a strange burning desire for vegetable broth that I couldn’t shake, so I used the last three days to come down off the fast. If your looking for a way to jump start the year, amplify new positive resolutions, or renew yourself spiritually, physically, or mentally, you may want to give fasting a try. Just make sure to consult your doc if you have a special condition and to give your body adequate time to come down off the fast.
If you aren’t a fan of fasting cold turkey on vegetable juice, or would like to ease into it, here are some modifications that may allow you do some form of cleansing in this New Year:
- Try starting and ending the day with vegetable juice or master cleanse, and eating a meal mid-day.
- Eliminate meat for a specified period (3 days to a week) If you are transitioning into the vegan world, and still eating all kinds of meat, you can use your fast to eliminate red meat and still eat fish.
- Go raw for a couple days: meaning you consume only fruits and vegetables and/or juices for a specified period of time.
- Try to go for 3 days to a week not eating any packaged, heavily processed, unnatural foods. Read the labels on everything you consume and try to understand what the ingredients actually are in the food you are eating. It’s harder than you think… as they say, ignorance is bliss!
- Substitute morning meals for fruit smoothies with flaxseed or pysilium husk.
For a refresher on the benefits of fasting feel free to revisit this article: Juice Fasting: The Ultimate Tool for Anti-Aging & Spiritual Awakening
** Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Listen to your body, consult w/ yr doc if need be, and take my advice at your own risk. Side effects may include general joie de vire, a spiritual awakening, or an increase in magnetism & overall sexiness.
Gourmet Raw Vegan Pizza! – Part One
My Finished Pizza on Dehydrator
Most of my raw recipes are quick and require very little equipment, but over the holidays I decided to try my hand at a gourmet recipe. I bootlegged this delicious pizza recipe from raw chef Elaina Love, and of course added my own secret ingredients. If you are a food connoisseur or just someone who loves good pizza, the rich raw flavors in this recipe will win you over fast. It was amazing and disappeared from the dinner table quickly, but as a forewarning, making the crust takes time. The actually prep time is quick but then the crusts have to dry in a dehydrator for anywhere from 8-12 hours. So this definitely requires planning a day in advance, but is worth the wait and you can also maximize your time if you make a lot of crusts and save them for later in the freezer. Make sure to have fun and modify ingredients to your taste buds!
Crust Ingredients:
3 cups chopped yellow zuccini, 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup soaked almonds (soak 1/2 cup to get 1 cup when soaked), 1 cup flaxseed meal, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, ( I added in a bit of yellow curry*)
Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup sun dried tomatoes (soaked briefly), 3 chopped regular tomatoes, 2 dates, garlic clove, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, 7 basil leaves, 1/16 onion
Here is the cheesy video I watched that breaks down preparation step by step:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zg5Jmf3tk&feature=related
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zg5Jmf3tk]