Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

California Ranch Sandwich

Is it just me, or does every single deli and sandwich shop have a wrap or sandwich labeled “the California wrap”? At the very least, I can think of three delis in my neighborhood that sell somesuch thing, usually involving grilled chicken and avocado.

Well, today I’m sharing my own version of a “California” sandwich, so called primarily because it uses Napa cabbage leaves as the bread, and secondarily because of the sweet ranch dressing and avocado stuffed inside.

When I don’t use Ezekiel bread or collard wraps for sandwiches, Napa cabbage leaves are my “bread” of choice. They’re big, sturdy, and flatter than romaine leaves, so I find that they make more stable and sliceable foundations for sandwiches. (For the record, Napa cabbage is also loaded with vitamins K and C). I often pile them with nut pate, guacamole, or raw hummus, but simple shredded veggies and a zesty dressing taste great, too.

This particular sandwich is brought together by a sweet, tangy ranch dressing. There are plenty of raw dressing variations floating around online, but this is my own version–and my favorite! It’s rich and fresh tasting, and it’s dotted with spring herbs, so it’s perfect for this time of year. It’s a little greener than your traditional ranch dressing, but that’s just the dill and parsley making their presence known!

Raw Ranch Dressing (Yields 1 ½ cups, or so)

¾ cup cashews, soaked for at least two hours
½ cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar (a little more if you like it more tart)
3 tbsp olive oil
¼-½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp dried oregano
*1 clove garlic
*½ tsp onion powder
3 tbsp fresh dill
3 tbsp fresh parsley

* You all know me well enough to know I’d never include these! But if garlic and onion don’t, um, make you gag, use them for a more traditional “ranch” flavor.

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender – OR blend all ingredients except for the oil in a food processor, and drizzle the oil in until the mixture is creamy and emulsified.

When dressing is blended, chop an additional few tablespoons of herbs and mix them in. Enjoy on top of a big green salad, or in…

Gena’s California Ranch Sandwich:

Take two generous leaves of Napa cabbage. Pile one of them high with red cabbage, cucumber, tomato slices, and some thinly sliced avocado (sprouts or carrot would also be a nice addition). Drizzle generously with raw ranch dressing, cover with the other cabbage leaf, and serve.

Close up:

A note to all of my food combining friends: technically, this sandwich combines a nut-based dressing with some avocado. Most of you should be able to get away with it, since the avocado used is very minimal. But if you’re highly sensitive to food combinations (like me), I would serve this sans avocado, or with avocado and an avocado-based or neutral dressing.

This sandwich makes a perfect, light lunch, and it would be easy to take to work: just pack your cabbage leaves and shredded veggies into one container and your dressing into another, and assemble at the office!

So, switching topics for a moment, many of you have been inquiring about my coaching services lately. This is great! One of the more frequent inquiries I’m getting is, “Do you only work with people who want to go totally raw?” And the answer is a big, resounding no! I work with clients at all levels and with all dietary habits: the only prerequisite is that you have an interest in adding more raw or high-raw foods to your life. Depending on what your goals are, I’ll help you to prepare raw meals (whether that’s once daily or once weekly), talk to you about green grocery shopping and meal planning, and help you understand the raw lifestyle better. I encourage a gradual transition process, and I’m also here to help you develop strategies for dietary pitfalls, such as sugar addiction or emotional eating.

If you’ve got lots of questions and want to work on eating more raw, I encourage you to shoot me an email at gena@choosingraw.com to inquire about my rates and packages. Email counseling is a great option for those of you who are far away and have questions that need answering; I’m getting so much curiosity from you, but I can’t always answer your queries without a detailed sense of your history and needs. Which is where coaching comes in

Alright my friends. I hope you’re all enjoying a nice, early summer weekend! My plans include:

•Lots of work
•A trip downtown to hear Victoras Kulvinskas speak with my friend Cassie
•A rooftop party
•Waiting for Time Warner Cable to replace my cable modem
•A run, some yoga

Have a great day!

xo

P.S. Speaking of dressings, check out my friend Lindsay’s Zukay Dressings giveaway!!

The Raw Wednesday Veterans’ Giveaway

Hi all!

Thank you for the impassioned response to yesterday’s post about fats! I am thrilled that this topic struck a chord. It sounds as though many of you have been avoiding or carefully portioning out your healthy fats, and I hope I made a small contribution in helping you to feel more comfortable eating them.

So are you all bummed out that the Raw Wednesday challenge is over? I am: I was really enjoying hearing about your brave adventures with raw meals. So here’s what I’m thinking: let’s not stand on ceremony. I welcome you all to keep the Raw Wednesday tradition going, and I will continue to delight in your experiments. And to those of you who are really getting into the raw meals, I encourage you to keep eating them as often as you like!

I hope that you’ve walked away from the challenge with some food for thought. A bunch of you have emailed me to say how surprising it was to consider how processed some components of your meals really were: it’s kind of incredible, isn’t it, to realize that so many perfectly commendable and healthy foods (whole grain wraps, hummus, coconut milk, oatmeal) are nevertheless at least a step away from nature? (See Michelle’s interesting thoughts on this.) I always like to explain to people that my definition of “raw” foods isn’t so much literal—whether or not heat is employed in preparation—but rather metaphoric—how absolutely unprocessed is your food? Is the food on your plate in its raw state? The “raw” label can mean “natural” just as much as it means “uncooked.”

Whether or not you’re continuing Raw Wednesday, I want to thank everyone who participated with another giveaway! This one is truly special: a gaggle of goodies from my very favorite dining establishment, Pure Food and Wine.

My friends Sarma and Amelia have been kind enough to offer one lucky Raw Wednesday veteran a One Lucky Duck totebag full of incredible goodies: a copy of Raw Food, Real World, which is without a doubt my go-to book for raw entertaining; two sets of the infamous Quackers, Rosemary and Cheesy; raw macaroons; raw chocolate chip and gingerbread cookies; and, finally, the brand new honey bunches grawnola bar. I can attest to the incredible tastiness of these treats: I’ve had the Quackers many a time, and adore them. I sampled the grawnola bar right after it came out, and loved it (this from a girl who doesn’t like most raw granola). And since Sarma was generous enough to offer me some of the chocolate chip cookies, too, I can tell you that they’re beyond delicious: it’s like eating a cross between shortbread and chocolate chip cookie dough.

These treats are the ideal way for any newcomer (or expert!) to experience to true potential of gourmet, creative raw un-cooking. So I encourage you all to enter the giveaway! All you have to do is respond to this post with a comment saying one new thing you learned about raw food, the raw lifestyle, or raw health over the course of the Raw Wednesday challenge. I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday. Good luck!

On that note, friends, it’s back to the grind. Have a good one!

xo

P.S. Speaking of giveaways, don’t forget to enter ZestyCook’s blog makeover giveaway!

Question of the Week: The Truth About Raw Fats

Happy Raw Wednesday!!

I hope you’re all enjoying the final Wednesday of our challenge! As usual, I can’t wait to hear all about your raw eats.

So I wasn’t planning on a lengthy post today, but a topic keeps coming to my attention that’s just too important to ignore. This is the topic of fats on a raw food diet. I’ve been getting a high volume of questions from you guys about avocados (and my high consumption of them). Just last night, I got the following two comments:

“hi gena!

i know avo’s are your favorite food, but i CAN’T seem to get over their fat content! PLEASE devote a whole post to them & help dispel all of the myths about how fattening they are. i feel like if i eat a avo everyday, i will turn into one (if you know what i mean). thanks gena. you are a true inspiration.”

And

“I am with Lisa about the avocados, please make a post about it! I’ve never really eaten them before and always hated guacamole (I know, crazy right?) but I really want to try them! I’m hesitant about their fat content mostly, but I’m thinking if I just start out with 1/4 of one I can work my way up to 1/2 or whole?”

Nothing frustrates me more than the bad rap so often attributed to the poor, innocent avocado—not to mention society’s generally foolhardy ideas about what is or isn’t “fattening.” Don’t get me wrong, Lisa and Justine: these misconceptions are not your fault! They’re the fault of lousy nutritional information that’s reinforced by doctors, health and fitness magazines, TV, and the media at large. If I can accomplish anything here, I hope I can get you all to start thinking for yourself, rather than heeding these ridiculous claims about what is and isn’t going to make you fat.

To dispel the “fat myth,” we need a two-pronged attack plan. We need to address the health angle (“are raw fats ‘bad’ for me?”) and the cosmetic angle (“will eating raw, plant-based fats make me gain weight?”). Let’s start with the health angle.

All fats are not created equal. I cannot stress this enough! When you’re wondering whether or not something is “fattening” or “bad for you,” it’s not the quantity of fat in the food you need to worry about, but rather what kind of fat it is. Raw, plant-based fats (avos, young coconuts, nuts, and raw, cold-pressed oils) are the “good fats” we hear so much about: mono-unsaturated fats (avos), Omega-3 fatty acids (flax and hemp), and polyunsaturated fats (e.g., walnuts). They contain antioxidants, oils that help joints, nerves, and bones, properties that help to lower the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol, and proven effects on lowering high blood pressure. They also help us to feel sated, to digest fat-soluble vitamins (A,K, D and E), and they promote brain function. These fats—provided we eat them in reasonable quantities—are not only beneficial, but vital to our diets.

It’s hard to get “fat” from these fats. Why? Raw fats enter the body with the lipase enzyme, which helps us to digest the fat itself, intact. This makes us easy to digest and assimilate them. Cooked fats don’t contain lipase, which makes it tougher for us to assimilate them properly. When we don’t assimilate fat well, we store it; that’s when it begins to clog up the blood and arteries, causing all kinds of chronic and degenerative diseases. And that’s when it begins to sit on our hips and thighs.

And there’s much more reason for us to fear cooked fats. There have been some widely publicized studies lately on the effects of heat on oils, amounting to the discovery that heating oil at high temperatures releases carcinogens, including acrolein, nitrosamines, hydrocarbons, and benzopyrene (one of the worst cancer-causing agents known). This is why some oils now list their “safe heating” temperature on the bottle. In animal studies, oxidized (heated) fats, oils, and cholesterol induce higher levels of arterial plaque (i.e., atherogenesis) than the corresponding non-oxidized fats, oils, and cholesterol.

A few of you have emailed me to ask about cholesterol. You’re probably aware of the following fact intuitively, but let me just put it on the record: there is no non-animal source of cholesterol! Cholesterol is made in the livers of living beings (even strict vegans will produce about 800-1500 milligrams a day internally). This means that we make enough to live on. We don’t need to get more from animal sources. And when we do start taking in dietary cholesterol from animal products—as the heart disease, obesity, and high-cholesterol epidemics prove—we tend to get ourselves into trouble. It’s perfectly safe for you to eat raw, plant-based fats; it’s their cooked and animal counterparts you want to be conscious of.

OK. So now we have a sense of why raw, plant based fats aren’t going to give us heart disease or cholesterol. But let’s get real here: I know that the reason many of you are worried about these fats is aesthetic, not nutritional. You want to know if those avos are going to end up as saddlebags. So let’s take a second to examine real question: “will avocados (and other raw fats) make me fat?”

I begin my answer with a disclaimer: if you’re binging on anything (with the possible exception of green juice) you’re not going to feel great, and you may retain weight. I don’t care if it’s raw, cooked, plant, or beast: our bodies aren’t meant to accommodate gross excess. So keep in mind that what I’m about to tell you resides within a context of general moderation and normalcy.

The whole idea that the fat in avocados (or other plant-based sources) will make you fat reveals a serious misunderstanding of what does and doesn’t contribute to weight gain. In fact, if I could choose another title for this post, it would be “fats aren’t making you fat.” What makes us fat, my friends, isn’t simply (or primarily) the number of fat grams we take in or calories we consume. It’s the accumulation of waste and toxins that results from poor, mainstream diets, and our inability to process what we eat efficiently.

When we let our bodies become highly acidic (which mainstream diets do) we begin storing and accumulating waste matter. Even when we think we’re eliminating normally, we’re not: chances are, we’re clogged up from years of eating junk. Certainly, some of us have healthier food histories than others, in which case the effects of this accumulation are lessened. But most contemporary people experience overly acidic bodies, waste accumulation, and their attendant nutritional consequences: gastrointestinal disorders like IBS and excessive bloating, low energy, and weight retention—in spite of exercise and efforts to eat well. (Not to mention health complaints of greater severity: allergies, chronic colds and flu, yeast infections, acne, eczema and psoriasis, fatigue, depression, migraines, and so on).

The only way to break up the cycle of waste accumulation and weight retention is to alkalize our bodies with a diet of plant-based, easy to digest foods. This means greens, vegetables, vegetable juices, and, yes, avocados and plant-based fat sources. These foods not only help to raise our alkalinity, but they also act like brooms, sweeping through our systems to help remove the waste and toxins we’ve been storing. The effect of these foods, along with regular colonic irrigation, is an end to weight retention and a renewed capacity to assimilate foods—fats included—efficiently.

The key to a slim, lithe body is not avoiding fats or calories. It’s avoiding dense, clogging foods! Avoiding fats (especially healthy fats!) is not going to keep you slim if you’re still eating tons of grains, soy, and dairy, kids; this is why “low-fat” diets are being constantly disproven in the media. It’s wise to avoid animal fat, yes, but that alone will not guarantee weight loss. If anything, some of the other foods you might use to replace fats in your diet (soy, grains, yogurt, etc.) might contribute to the very problems (acidity and weight retention) that are keeping the pounds on.

But the good news is that eating healthy fats will not make you gain weight! If anything, avocados and young coconuts will help to alkalize your systems and keep you sated, which can contribute to weight release. I routinely eat 2-4 avocados within a single day (one or two at lunch, one or two at dinnertime). Seriously, guys: I do this all the time. I don’t like to talk numbers and stats on this blog, but as you can probably tell from photos, I do not resemble an avocado! I stay slim effortlessly, and I’m infinitely happier with my body than I ever was years ago, when I fretted and sweated about fat grams.

As with all fats, raw fats are not created entirely equal. I find that avocados and coconuts are the easiest to digest and most idea fats for women (there’s some controversy about the fat in young coconuts and coconut oil, but I fall on the pro-coconut side of this). I also digest oils beautifully, and I prefer hemp and flax varieties. Some raw foodists find that oils are more difficult for them to digest, which may be true for their bodies; I find that cold-pressed oils actually contribute to my elimination and energy.

Nuts and seeds are also fine in moderation, though of all raw, plant-based fats, I consider these the least ideal. They’re infinitely better than any animal fat, of course, but they’re the densest of the raw fat sources, so I recommend that you consider eating them with some consciousness; 3 oz. or less daily is a great place to start (and this is generous).

Again: it’s not the fat that’s to be avoided. It’s the relative denseness and quality of the foods you’re eating. The question when you sit down to a meal shouldn’t be “how much fat is in this?” but rather “what kind of fat is this” and “how digestible is it?” Holding an avocado up to those standards, you’ll see that it’s full of beneficial properties and extraordinarily easy for our bodies to digest—hence, pretty damn perfect from a nutritional standpoint. That mucous-forming “lite” yogurt or brick of tofu? That cardboard-like Luna Bar? Not so much.

The lesson here (I hope!) is for you all to think outside of the box. I know it’s hard to shake off all that you’ve been told about what is or isn’t fattening. Our culture is deeply entrenched in a wrong-headed and depressing mentality that favors fat gram counting and calorie restriction rather than the promotion of good health through natural, whole, quick-exit foods. One of my favorite stories involves a client whose mother has been giving her some grief about her high-raw diet, questioning whether it’s too “extreme” or restrictive. But when said client ordered half an avocado with her salad over a recent lunch (a mere half!), her mother asked, “aren’t avocados fattening?”

No anecdote could be more telling about mainstream dietary wisdom in this country: on the one hand, we’re encouraged to eat “everything in moderation” and “not be restrictive”; on the other hand, we’re programmed to fear fats without a knowledge of their distinctions or health properties. If you’re retaining unwanted weight, I encourage you not to pinpoint fats without looking at the larger picture. Chances are that too many animal products, too much sugar, or too many dense grains are the culprit. Not fat.

Sure, it would be easy if all that it took to stay slim and healthy was the avoidance of avocados—without any deeper changes to the way we eat. Wouldn’t that be nice?  Vilify one food or a few, and do what you want the rest of the time! No wonder we love fad diets and fat-phobia: it allows us to make a few omissions from our diet without really having to work hard at comprehensive change. But I’m afraid it’s not that easy. Staying slim and healthy isn’t about avoiding certain “bad” foods: it’s about shifting the way we conceive of what is and isn’t health promoting in a panoramic way.

But here’s the good news: we don’t have to be slaves to dumb convention about what foods will or won’t make us fat! And we can enjoy fats in healthy quantities when we like, without suffering any ill effects. So for the love of Pete, do not fear avocados! Try them. Love them. Eat them. Often. Start with ¼ if you want, but you’re just as welcome to start with a whole—or two! I guarantee that they will not hurt you, provided you’re doing other things right (alkalizing foods, a cleansing lifestyle, and avoiding animal fats).

And while you’re at it, give my guacamole a try!

OK ladies. I’m stepping off of the soapbox. I hope this has been an informative post.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a new giveaway for my raw Wednesday participants! In the meantime, as usual, you’re all encouraged to comment on this post with stories of your raw adventures today — or any thoughts you’ve got to share.

xo

OMG! I made a dessert!

Hello friends.

Hope your transition back into the work week hasn’t been too painful! Today was crazy at the office, but I managed to stay sane with a morning yoga class (thank you, Laughing Lotus) and will soak up some schadenfraude as I watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey later (no, it’s not as good as the Real Housewives of NYC, but it’s trashy enough to hold my attention, thank you very much).

So. I did the extraordinary this weekend: I made dessert!

Many of you have been asking me for dessert recipes. And, dear readers, I have failed you. I know it, you know it, we all know it. Even this post is a feeble reprieve, since I’m using a friend’s recipe, rather than my own.

You’re going to forgive me, though, because this recipe is killer. It’s been making its way through the blogosphere for a few weeks now, and though I was late to try it, I’m so glad I did! It’s Kristen’s Holiday Chia Pudding, and believe me, it’s just as good as the hype suggests.

If you read any food blogs, you’ve probably been hearing all about the wonders of chia seeds. These little guys are nutritional powerhouses. They have amazing hydrophilic properties, absorbing up to nine times their weight in water. They’re also great sources of soluble fiber, visible in the clear, tapioca-like halos that develop around the seed when you soak them. This makes them a great food for hydration if you’re a runner or vigorous athlete.

And the health benefits extend far beyond these: chia seeds are also a great source of calcium, protein, B vitamins, and more. For an in depth discussion of the health benefits of chia, I will defer to my friend Heather, the chia goddess, who recently stated some excellent chia facts on her blog (her source was Chia, Rediscovering a Forgotten Crop of the Aztecs by Ricardo Ayerza Jr. and Wayne Coates). Here’s what she learned:

•    Chia is an amazing plant-based low sodium source of omega-3 fatty acids. The seeds have an oil content that ranges between 29-33%, and their oil contains the highest percentage of alpha-linolenic acid known (62-64%).
•    A study conducted in the UK to determine potential food allergens of chia found no evidence that chia exhibited any allergic response.  This was the case even with individuals having peanut & tree nut allergies.
•    Chia seeds posses 19-23% protein, higher than many other cereal grains including wheat, corn, rice, oats, & barley.  1 TBSP contains 6 grams of protein.
•    Chia seeds are free of gluten and a good source of B vitamins.
•    Chia seeds are an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, & copper.  In fact, chia seeds contain 6 times more calcium, 11 times more phosphorus, and 4.6 times more potassium per 100g of edible portion than does milk.
•    Chia seeds have 6 times more iron per 100g of edible portion than spinach, 1.8 times more iron than lentils, and 2.4 times more iron than beef liver.
•    Chia seeds demonstrate strong anti-oxidant activity.
•    Chia seeds are high in dietary fiber. They are made up of 5% soluble fiber, which appears as clear mucilage when placed in water. Clear mucilage = pudding like oats & extra thick smoothies. 1 TBSP of chia seeds contains 5 grams of fiber.
•    Unlike flax seed, you do not have to grind chia seeds to reap the benefits.

If that isn’t motivation enough to try chia seeds, they also make for really, really fun puddings. And no one has explored the potential of chia pudding better than my friend Kristen!

I’ve already told you plenty about Kristen and her incredible ebooks and recipes. But what I haven’t mentioned is that she is the master of tasty, fast, and nutritious desserts! Whenever I need inspiration for concocting a sweet treat (which I almost invariably do) I turn to her (or my girl Ani Phyo). This recipe, which Kristen intended to save for the holidays but found too scrumptious not to share, is a winner. It’s sweet, creamy, spiced with comforting gingerbread flavors. Best of all, I find that most chia puddings feel relatively light, as far as desserts go: they won’t leave you with the sugar shock or heavy feeling that some raw cakes, cookies, or other treats might. And this particular pudding is perfectly combined, so it will digest seamlessly!

Yeast issues? Don’t worry. You can also use stevia in place of dates.

Holiday Chia Pudding, by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com

Yield 1 1/4 cups

1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened, dried coconut
1 cup water
1/4 cup raw cashews (soaked 1 hour, drained and rinsed)
4 soft medjool dates, pitted
2 cloves
1 teaspoon lucuma powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Place the chia seeds and coconut in a small bowl, briefly stir to mix, and set aside. Blend the remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour the blended cashew mixture into the bowl with the chia seeds and coconut and stir. Wait a few minutes and stir again. (You’ll notice the chia seeds beginning to take on a gelatinous texture.) Wait a few minutes, again, and stir. Do the “wait and stir” once more, and then place the Holiday Chia Pudding in the refrigerator for about 15 – 20 minutes (or longer, if desired). Then, enjoy.

Here’s a photo of the pudding, complete with a cheesy, holiday-themed serving piece:

If you’re wondering where to find chia seeds, you should be able to find them in any local health food store, Trader Joe’s, Wild oats, Whole Foods, etc. But if you can’t, then I highly recommend these guys:

A few weeks ago, Don at Chia Seeds Direct (a company that ships reasonably priced chia seeds to consumers without a middle man) asked me if I’d like to try some chia seeds free of charge! (Thank you Don.) Now that I have, I will always be using his company for chia seeds. These were fresh, well packaged, and the prices are great. Check out the website!

I also want to share some happy news. I got an email from my friend Mary today saying that a friend of hers was inspired to give up dairy by…Choosing Raw! I cannot tell you how happy this made me! You guys know that I respect all lifestyles and choices on this blog, but it’s also my hope that I can inspire some of you to make healthy upgrades. These might be a little hard for you at first, but they’ll pay off by making you feel proud of yourselves. I am always here to support you in your journeys to be healthy — whether those take the form of giant strides or baby steps — and that I’m always thrilled to hear about your success!!

OK everyone. I hope that great things are in store for Raw Wednesday! I’ll be posting later tomorrow with my Raw Question of the Week. And I’ll be eager to hear your daily eats!

xo

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