I just got the most exciting question ever! You know i love to write and i LOVE to eat. Today's e-mail had a note from Bo's awesome niece Chloe (he has the best nieces EVER!) asking for man-friendly concoctions. She says that she and her husband both like raw food but disconnect when it comes to taste.
My first thought is — how awesome that he likes to eat raw! You're already leaps and bounds ahead of most of the raw community, from what I understand.
And I have to say — it NEVER occurred to me that my mountain-man husband would have gone vegetarian, let alone raw. But one morning he came home and said, "Damn! I wanna feel the way you LOOK like you feel! Make enough whatever-that-is for me too!" Of course it helped that he had no qualms about eating ANYTHING, including the proverbial south end of a north-bound moose if he was hungry enough.
After that first thought, my brain just started tripping all over itself, thinking of the raw stuff I made for Bo to take on the road, and the new recipes we'd try when he came home. He wasn't a raw fanatic like I was for a while, definitely enjoyed piping hot soups & rice dishes too, but he loved to indulge me — raw recipes tend to make way more than I wanted to eat by myself, LOL.
First & foremost, he ALWAYS had a baggie of Better-Than-Snickers granola, the sprouted buckwheat concoction I adapted (and made in Washington for his memorial!) The recipe is here but my links are broken; for now, you can also find it in the notes on my facebook page (and "like" me while you're there!).
The next thing that comes to mind is Pineapple-Jalapeno Slaw. Most of my recipes came from Raw Food Rehab (.ning.com), but in a search i find it here. Raw modifications in the version I used include agave nectar for the sugar, sea salt for the kosher, and olive or flax oil — more likely to suit what you have on hand anyway. We used extra cilantro, as much as a cup, subbed parsnip for the jicama b/c the latter was unavailable, and usually forgot the mint altogether even though it grows outside the door. Warning about this dish: If you love it, you'll want to make it again very soon, but try to restrain yourself, because enough is ENOUGH and then you'll never want to eat it again! Weird that way.
Now here's something Bo liked but I hadn't acquired the taste for yet. (Hopefully you're more advanced than I, LOL!) Most weeks, he'd make up a batch of "salad" using a rotation of (non-dehydrated) sprouted grains, his favorite being red quinoa that I scored for cents a pound at the salvage store. A throw-together kind of guy, he'd just toss in whatever greens, herbs & vegs needed used in the fridge, and a bunch of store-bought italian dressing. (That part always made me cringe, LOL, because he'd always pick up the k-mart brand while he was on the road…)
One that even my KIDS will eat is Ruby's Smokin' Hot Tomato Soup. Not having a vita-mix yet (NEXT WEEK!!!!!!! Jump up & down with me!!!!!! :D), we all preferred it warmed a bit on the stove, especially as it's perfect in colder weather.
There's a tomato-avo-based chili I made, too, from Dr. Cousens' Rainbow Foods book, that Bo liked, although I kept as many things chunky as possible because it had a weird smooth consistency. Um we did replace the leeks w/ onion & garlic — i'm sure he's got great reasons for eliminating those from his diet, but we just weren't there yet.
OH! Mexican Fajita Veggies!!! We made these every couple weeks. Matter of fact, there's a whole mexican-themed feast here, which we duplicated once. I also love to put the leftovers atop salad or over rice (I cooked it but you could have it sprouted instead, right?) Mmmm it'd be good with sprouted lentils, too, or sprouted quinoa…
I made a lot of tamari almonds (nama shoyu or bragg's, onion powder & garlic powder) and curried pumpkin seeds (maple syrup, dab of ACV (a happy accident that i just kept), Penzey's curry powder) in the dehydrator.
He loved stuffed mushrooms ala Alissa Cohen (Living on Live Food, my most-used raw cookbook): Smush an avo w/ diced onions & tomato and sea salt. Cram into a portabella cap & top with more diced tomato, black olives & bean sprouts, drizzle w/ Bragg's.
Now I seem to remember this one required a lot of groceries AND prep, so it wasn't a standard, but we both enjoyed it: Cajun Creole Gumbo. We left out the okra and added file powder to the sauce. We also forgot the bean sprouts and it was great anyway.
Another one that even my kids liked was when we had a wrap bar. Ohhhh yeah! We used Rebecca's Sweet & Spicy Cashew Collard Wrap recipe as the base, and provided any fruits & veggies we had around. Everyone liked making their own, and when the recipe says "try not to guzzle" the sauce, it's not kidding! The choice of sauces was good, too, although everyone preferred #1 and it got drizzled rather than dipped into.
Indian Spiced Vegs are good if you have a dehydrator: Just cube eggplant, zuch, bell pepper and carrot, toss with coconut oil & agave, sprinkle with garam masala, s&p, and dehydrate for a little bit. My original recipe (i think it was from my favorite blogger, Gena at choosingraw.com) said to D overnight, but that was WAY too long. A few hours is fine, just long enough to get that cooked texture. I love these, like the mexican veggies, over rice or salad, or in ezekiel wraps.
Sauerkraut is great on a salad with poppyseed dressing! I've never made it myself; our food co-op has a great local vendor. He loved kim chee but i'm not that brave & made him keep the foul-smelling stuff in his truck.
He loved cheesy kale chips and onion crackers, too. The kale chips are in notes at my facebook page. The onion crackers are actually from a cookbook by someone named Matthew, but I've gotten sooooo many raw-food cookbooks from the library I can't tell you which one.
We liked to make fresh salsa, then mix in fresh corn and chunked avo.
I hope that helps! (I also marinated asparagus in a red wine vinegar dressing, but don't remember whether he particularly liked that or not. If you want the recipe LMK.) Often I would just send him to my favorite sites (Raw Food Rehab and The Sunny Raw Kitchen – OMG!) and have him browse for new recipes he wanted to try out. (His were invariably asian-inspired, LOL)
Can you help Chloe & Justin? Do you & your man enjoy raw meals together?
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