Foods enjoyed in their raw state are becoming more and more popular. For good reason.
Raw foods, the kind nature prepares with sunlight, nutrient rich soil, and rain are the most natural foods of all.
They are the easiest to prepare, unprocessed, succulent, vibrant and full of life and nourishment. There is no extensive gap between the life-giving forces of the plant and the living forces of our bodies.
Any recipes you prepare using these healthy, life giving foods are guilt free! They are sweetened by nature’s own sweeteners and are excellent choices for snacks and treats.
Raw foods provide us with increased energy levels, clearer skin and eyes, satisfaction from eating without overeating and an overall improved sense of well being. It offers a good chemical balance between alkalinity and acidity.
Scientists and nutritionists believe that our diets should ideally be made up of 80% alkaline foods and 20% acid foods. However, a typical Western diet is loaded with bad carbohydrates, sugars and fat and low in complex carbohydrates. This promotes an overly acidic body chemistry. So, the best way to get our bodies into the proper pH balance is to eliminate some of the acid producing foods from our diet and increase the alkaline ones.
The raw vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits that are used in my recipes are all alkaline foods that you can enjoy in abundance.
Additionally, the enzymes in raw food help make other foods we eat more digestible providing our bodies with a wider range of nutrients to choose from. Cooking destroys many of these valuable enzymes, robbing us of nutrition and depleting our “enzyme bank.” An empty enzyme account leaves us susceptible to aging, disease and premature death. In order to avoid this, we must make regular deposits into our “enzyme account” by choosing foods in their natural state.
Although preparing raw snacks is a fairly new culinary pastime and still very experimental, the best news that you do not need to be an experienced cook to enjoy creating healthy raw snacks. All that is required is that you own a strong high powered blender (tools are important) and know how to follow a recipe. I’ve done the hard work for you.
Here’s a recipe from my “100 Raw Snack and Treats” series to get you started on your raw food journey.
ALMOND COOKIES
- ½ cup raw almonds
- ¼ cup raw walnuts
- ½ cup dates
- ¼ cup raisins or dried cherries
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- dash salt
- ¼ cup ground almonds
- Place the almonds, wlanuts and salt in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped.
- Add the dates and almond extract and process until the mixture begins to stick together.
- Don't over process; you should still see chunks of almonds and walnuts.
- Add the raisins, if desire, and pulse briefly, just to mix.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon mixture into your hand and squeeze firmly until it sticks together.
- Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten slightly to make a cookie.
- Roll each cookie in the ground almonds, and place on a plate.
- Chill at least 2 hours before serving.
- For Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Replace the raisins with chocolate or carob chips and add 1 teaspoon orange zest if desired.
- Omit the raisins and press a square of dark chocolate onto the top of each cookie.
- Replace the almond extract with lemon extract and add 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
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