Artichokes and Brussel Sprouts

Yes, this week I am doing a raw food diet, and I went two whole days eating only fruits, veggies and nuts.  However, tonight I still stuck with the fruits and veggies-only theme, but decided to heat them up.  So technically this was not a raw-food meal, but it still consisted of only produce.

And it was amazing.

1 -- Boil the artichokes for about fifteen minutes.

2 -- Slice the brussel sprouts in half and blanch in boiling water for two minutes.

3 -- Slice half an onion and add to a bowl with the brussel sprouts and handful of red grapes.

4 -- Add to the veggies 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 pinch of dried thyme, 1 pinch of dried oregano.  Mix well.

5 -- Roast the vegetables on a baking sheet for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. 

Voila.  In less than half an hour we had an amazing dinner of simply veggies (and grapes).  My husband even got into this one enthusiastically.  He says that artichokes are like the lobsters of vegetables.  Okay!  Sounds good to me!

And don't worry, tomorrow I'm still eating salads and fresh fruit.

Fruits and Veggies For Life!

I have mixed feelings about the whole raw food movement.  Every time I try it I just end up getting massive headaches and feeling like the grumpiest person in the world.  I know, I know, this is what is SUPPOSED to happen.  I've read all the articles.  They all encourage me that I just have to get over this hump and then I'll feel energized and light and fresh and amazing!  Okay, so I kind of believe that, but I also believe in eating good food, and after two days of eating the entire produce aisle I'm ready to hit the cookbooks again. 

This week I decided to try out the raw food diet again.  I wasn't going to go all crazy and make all these fancy raw recipes like I did last time with marinated mushrooms and cabbage and such nonsense.  That was a little too much for me.  And also, I might actually incorporate some cooked vegetables, gasp!  The idea is to do two meals raw and one meal still veggies and fruit, but cooked or steamed.  In other words, I'm keeping it simple and am not going to kill myself if I want to cook a vegetable instead of chomping on it like a goat. 

Here we go:  grapefruit, apples, grapes and bananas for breakfast; cashews and almonds for snacks; gigantic salads for lunch and dinner.  The salads could be any variation of the following vegetables:

Baby lettuce-herb mix
Romaine lettuce
Baby spinach
Roma tomatoes
Mini heirloom tomatoes
Carrots
Celery
Bell peppers
Green cabbage
Kale
Cauliflower
Hot house cucumber
Avocado

As you can see, there are many options of salads to be made from this garden of goodness!  It's not like I even have to have the same salad for lunch and dinner.  Talk about mixing things up, I know.

For dressings, I concocted the following mixtures:

Lemon-Soy Dressing
1 freshly squeezed lemon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil

Lemon-Avocado Dressing
1 freshly squeezed lemon
1 avocado, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Braggs liquid aminos
Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy

So far I'm feeling very satisfied and full after each meal, but I AM suffering from the headaches and grouchiness.  Alas, I shall carry on.

Apples at Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Vermont, 11-4-11