Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

(Raw) Green Goddess Dressing, and More Thoughts on Meal Delivery

Hi all!

Hope you’re enjoying a great weekend.

One of my very favorite challenges as a counselor is helping my clients to find healthy alternatives to some of their less-than-healthy favorites. This is not only rewarding for obvious reasons (helping a client to make healthy upgrades in his or her life) but also because it’s incentive for me to challenge myself in the kitchen! More often than not, helping a client find a healthy “upgrade” means coming up with a fun recipe. And I love the challenge.

A few weeks ago, one of my lovely clients made a special request: a raw version of Annie’s Goddess Dressing (her store-bought favorite) to make her salads a little more enticing. I was excited about this request for several reasons. The first is obvious: I love giving anyone an incentive to eat more greens!! The second is personal: I love coming up with raw dressings, as I consider them a versatile staple of a raw diet. A great dressing, as we all know, can make or break a salad. And dressings can also serve as dips, sauces, zucchini pasta dressing, and more. Finally, I was excited to make my client happy: it was obviously by the way that she spoke about the popular Annie’s dressing that it’s a tremendous favorite of hers, and that she misses it.

To be clear, I have no issue with Annie’s dressings. As far as processed foods go, the Annie’s products tend to have a great deal of integrity. They and Harriet’s Organic dressings are the two that I recommend to clients when they need a great dressing in a pinch. This particular client, though, is very far along in her raw journey – she eats mostly raw and vegan, and she is beginning to love making raw foods from scratch. So she’s seeking out  all raw and homemade alternatives to her old faves.

And this is where I come in. I decided I’d give my client a hybrid: a mix of the Goddess dressing (which, as you all probably know, has hints of sesame and garlic) and the Green Goddess dressing, which tastes mildly of dill. The result? Awesome. I confess, I was never such a fan of the original dressing, but I am a huge fan of this one!

Whenever I formulate dressings for clients, I begin by mixing all ingredients without garlic and onion, reserve a portion of the garlic-free dressing for myself, and add garlic at the end, to taste for my theoretical “audience.” So bear in mind that the garlic and onion in this recipe is totally optional, though it will certainly taste more like the Annie’s original if you add them both. Enjoy!

Gena’s Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients:

¼ cup tahini
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp + 1 tsp nama shoyu
1 tsp mellow white miso
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp toasted sesame oil (not 100% raw, but…)
2 tbsp raw and unfiltered apple cider vinegar, such as Bragg’s or Eden Organic
1 cup parsley, tightly packed
½ cup dill, tightly packed
½ cup water
1 clove garlic (optional)
1-2 green onions, chopped (optional)

Procedure:

Blend all ingredients on high in a food processor, magic bullet, or blender (if using a food processor, you might want to chop the garlic first).

Dress your salads, dress up raw romaine wraps, or even feel free to use this in lieu of mayonnaise on sandwiches for a fresh taste. Or, do what I did, and dress up some veggie crudités for a raw snack!

Speaking of snacks, I have another review of Pure Market Express meals for you! This snack (slightly more elaborate than my own humble one above) was the chili lime crackers and jalapeno cheese. The verdict? Delicious! Most raw crackers tend to have thick textures: flaxseed or nut based, they’re typically on the grainy side. These crackers, though, are delicate, thin, and crispy: they reminded my quite a bit of your typical blue corn chips (if you’re curious, I don’t have a raw recipe for those, but I do really like the Guiltless Gourmet brand and recommend it to clients). And the cheese was great, too. Tangy and flavorful, it’s heavy on the acid (which I like). A winner!

Speaking of my fridge full of catered goodies, I want to draw attention to a great comment left to me on Friday by Willie. In response to my thoughts on raw delivery services, he wrote:

Dear Gena,

I really appreciated reading your polite criticism of raw delivery services. Don’t get me wrong, you did a great job of detailing all the great things about Pure Market Express, too! Yet it was your awareness and honesty about the possible downsides of such a service that I found really insightful.

For me, one of the things I like most about the raw food lifestyle is that it, by its very nature, gets one’s diet away from processed foods and towards whole foods. And as you point out, this change does not necessarily mean a commitment of several extra hours in the kitchen every day; it can be accomplished simply by making more conscious food choices and planning. But as I see more and more raw snacks and bars filling store aisles, and now raw food delivery services popping up, I am worried that the raw food lifestyle is, like so many other things, being co-opted by the food industry, for its own ends.

Now I think you’re right to point out that such raw delivery services provide good “gateway” raw meals for newcomers, as well as good last minute meals for raw foodists who suddenly find themselves without much time. And I think you’re right that the founders of Pure Market Express started their company with only the best and raw-positive intentions. And it’s true that delivery service raw food is much better than ordering pizza or going out to Applebee’s, in the same way that buying organic cereal is better than buying conventional, sugary cereals. But at the same time, I like to believe that both the organic and the raw food lifestyle are about more than just changing the direction of our consumerism; they are, rather, about making profound changes in the ways in which we consume.

I guess I’m writing just to hear your opinions on these issues. I know raw food means a lot of different things to different people, but what do you see as the core principles of the raw food lifestyle, and do you think they are compatible with the traditional workings of the food industry?

Thanks so much,

Willie

What a terrific comment, Willie. Thanks. And you can probably predict my response here. To me, the fundamental principles of a raw lifestyle are these: creating simple meals from plants, nuts and seeds, fruits, and grains. Eating food in plain combinations. Thinking about eating not as a primarily social rite, but as self-nourishment. And yes, Willie, I believe that it’s in keeping with the raw lifestyle to avoid consumerism and product sampling as much as possible.

This is a funny time for you to be raising this issue, because it’s only in the last month or two that I’ve remembered to request a few product samples from various raw companies for my blog. Naturally, I am (and will continue to be) grateful to those who’ve obliged me, not only for the food I’ll be eating, but for their work in giving consumers healthier versions of many packaged foods on the market. Even so, you’ll see that the products I review are as minimally processed as possible: nut butters, seaweeds, dried fruits. You won’t see a ton of raw analogs of conventional fast foods (crackers, cookies, and so on).

Certainly, I believe that raw versions of cooked favorites serve a function: these foods and meals can be the turning point for many people who discover the raw lifestyle. And as long as they show consumers that raw foods are delicious and satisfying, I’m glad that they’re in the world. But of course, I’m even gladder when my clients (or anyone who’s showing an interest in raw cuisine) begins to appreciate simple food; when he or she begins to savor a minimally dressed salad, or a simple soup, rather than craving raw versions of traditional “comfort food.”

I once had an amusing conversation with a friend. He’d asked me what my five favorite foods were, and I’d responded with my answer:

Avocados
Kale
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
Fuji Apples

He noted that virtually everyone else he’d asked had responded with something akin to his own list:

Bacon cheeseburger
Cupcake
Marinara Pasta
Pot Stickers
Creamed Spinach

In other words, they’d responded with dishes, rather than foods – end products, rather than building blocks.

This is, of course, an extreme example: I like to a particularly simple set of foods, while my friend likes exceptionally traditional kinds of comfort food. Most people, I’m guessing, would respond with a mix of simple, plant-based foods and more elaborate favorite dishes. But you guys get the idea: I think of food in terms of the raw materials, rather than the end products, while my friend thinks conversely.

It’s my most sincere hope that this blog helps you all to re-connect with the building blocks. And maybe along the way you’ll start to rethink the very notion of what a “meal” or a “dish” means.

Naturally, raw lasagna and cheesecake don’t help to battle our consumerist tendencies or help to redefine what “food” (meal vs. building block) is. But they help to build a very vital bridge between the paradigm in which most of us were raised, and the very simple lifestyle that eating raw can offer us. For that reason, they have my support and endorsement—especially since the recipes I tend to offer you guys are so simple! I give you raw dressing + sugar snap peas; Pure Market Express offers you cheese and crackers. Depending on your tastes and what you’re hoping to experience with raw foods, one of these two may appeal more than the other. But I’m grateful for both—to one for reminding me that a perfect snack can mean a bowl of simply dressed, seasonal veggies, and to the other for reminding me that even the simplest building blocks can yield foods that are innovative and comforting.

Thanks for contributing to a great conversation, Willie! Please check out the comments section of my last post to see some of the other remarkable comments that were offered.

I’m off to the Jersey Shore for what unfortunately looks like a rainy Sunday! Have a good one.

xo

Raw Delivery: Only in NYC? Think Again.

Lasagna and Garlic Bread (c) Pure Market Express

Yesterday, as I announced the lucky winner of Living Raw Food, I hinted at my upcoming review of a new raw foods delivery service. “A raw delivery service?” one reader commented. “Man. Only in New York.”

Au contraire. You guys will be surprised to hear that raw foods delivery services are cropping up all over the country. They ship intricate, high-quality, organic, and all raw food right to your front door—no matter where you are. Most offer various packages (you sign up for a certain number of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks) or the option of ordering a la carte. And in my experience, most of these companies have been started with love and passion by someone whose life was touched by raw foods.

This is certainly true of Rebecca Irey, the co-founder and executive chef behind Pure Market Express, an incredible raw delivery service based in Minnesota. Rebecca grew up on the Standard American Diet: meat and potatoes, goulash and steak. A few meals at a raw restaurant in Minneapolis, though, were enough to pique her interest in the raw diet. If raw foods were as sumptuous and tasty as the foods she tried there, she figured, eating raw might not be so difficult after all. Rebecca was soon a regular at the restaurant, a raw foods convert, and she became a student of Alissa Cohen’s.

Thousands of recipes and a fully raw pregnancy later (Rebecca and her husband and co-founder, Quentin, have six children), Rebecca is committed to making the raw lifestyle accessible and delicious for those who may not have the time or motivation to embark on a culinary journey at home. And she’s particularly interested in re-creating the tastes and textures of familiar and beloved dishes, from tostadas to pizza to lasagna. The dishes are prepared with love and passion, packaged fresh, and shipped frozen so that clients can enjoy enzyme rich, ready made meals in an instant.

When the Iveys got in touch with me about the chance to sample their cuisine, I was delighted. I’ve never tried a raw delivery service before, but I’ve always been curious (if only to see how much dry ice goes into shipping!). I had the chance to make a few menu selections (I went with lasagna and garlic bread, pineapple slaw, chocolate cheesecake, chili lime crackers, and I got a bonus of banana cream pie), and within days the food arrived neatly packaged to my office. It was light to transport home, and when I opened it, I was delighted to find fresh, carefully bundled meals:

Knowing I’d only be able to sample a few of them this week (it’s another busy one, with some meals out, so I didn’t want anything to go to waste) I refrigerated half and froze the other half. And I can’t wait to sample the goods!

Now, I’ll admit that my feelings about raw delivery services are slightly mixed. All of these services purport to  encourage raw lifestyles by giving clients meals that they wouldn’t necessarily be motivated or able to make at home. This is certainly admirable: if home delivery is going to help a busy new working mom to sustain her raw lifestyle as she attempts to juggle mothering and her job, or to motivate a businessperson who has virtually no free time to cook between travel and work, that’s great. If it’s going to motivate a newcomer to eat raw consistently by impressing his or her tastebuds, that’s great, too.

But many of us aren’t quite as strapped as new working moms or CEOs, and some of us aren’t quite newcomers to healthy eating. Most of us reside in a slightly in between place: we have a slice of time in which we know we can take healthy steps, but we’re not quite sure how to begin; or, we’re in the habit of establishing healthy cooking habits once in a while, but ultimately we get lazy and fall back on packaged foods.

In my mind, it’s important for this group—those of us who are busy, but have some time in which to prepare food—to understand that eating raw needn’t mean sumptuous recipes and hours in the kitchen; it can be as quick and easy as any kind of routine food preparation. And I’m not entirely confident that food delivery (or dining at a raw restaurant) encourages this awareness; if anything, it may compound a fear of taking ownership of one’s raw lifestyle and applying it on a consistent, day to day basis.

As a counselor, I see it as one of my main tasks to give my clients the life skills they need to sustain healthy habits. I know that, long after a client and I are no longer working together, he or she will have the greatest chance of success if I’ve been able to pass along a set of simple, practical, and easily implemented skills: how to throw together a raw dinner quickly; how to pack healthy, yet filling lunches, how to order in a restaurant. Do I love it when clients become inspired to reach new levels of culinary artistry? Yes! But I would rather see a client emerge from our time together with a set of skills that, if not all raw and vegan, is practical and lasting. In fact, I’d rather know that a client has taken on a few major habits permanently (for instance, eating mostly plant-based till dinner; mastering certain basic healthy dishes for weeknight suppers) than worry that a client who seems to have made a sudden lifestyle transformation is going to burn out when the novelty wears off.

Raw delivery services (and even juicing services, like the Blueprint cleanse), serve an important and valuable function. They show newcomers—including some who would never think to juice or eat raw—how absolutely delicious uncooked and plant based foods are. They allow those who have the means to indulge in healthy, delicious raw cuisine on a day to day basis, so that the lifestyle becomes habitual. And they give those who are interested in raw foods, but live far away from raw restaurants or even decent health food stores, a chance to experience raw dining at its very best. It may be my hope that all of my readers become proficient raw chefs, but that is no reason why they shouldn’t also have the option of having tasty, nourishing raw food delivered to them when they feel like it.

We’re not all born kitchen lovers, after all; even when it comes to regular cooking, there are those who like it, and those who don’t; those who eat in and those who eat out or get takeout. Raw delivery gives those in the latter category a huge and delicious array of options.

And even for those of us like me—guys and gals who love to be in the kitchen—there is always a night (or a week, or a month!) when the thought of preparing something—anything—is overwhelming. I know for a fact that this will be such a night for me. I’ll be leaving work, doing an interview for the blog, running home to change, and meeting a friend, and dinner will have to happen in the thirty minutes I’m home. Could I throw together a soup and salad? Sure. Am I really, really excited that I have an amazing lasagna to sample? Hell yes. What would otherwise be a rushed dinner is, thanks to Pure Market Express, going to be a special one.

And as you all know, I’m a slacker on raw desserts. I rarely find time to make them. But this doesn’t mean I don’t love it when other people make them for me! Naturally, the first dish from Pure Market that I sampled was the chocolate cheesecake. And I can say honestly that it was one of the best raw desserts I’ve ever eaten (it’s long gone now, but here’s a shot of the goods after my first bite).

If all of the food continues at this level of excellence, I’m in for a delectable week.

Expect more reviews of my meals as the week goes on. And don’t take my word for it—check out the service for yourself! You can learn more about the food options, pricing, philosophy, and story of Pure Market Express by checking out their website. Note the exceptionally reasonable prices and the warm, welcoming spirit behind the company. If you’re looking to get a break from food prep—especially as August assaults us with a little heat wave—I recommend Rebecca and Quentin’s work.

Just remember to get the chocolate cheesecake.

xo

We Have a Winner!

Hi all! I’m lucky that I have a conscientious readership! If it hadn’t been for Melinda’s query this morning, I’d have forgotten that I’m a few days behind on announcing the VERY lucky winner of a copy of Sarma Melngailis’s new book, Pure Raw Food!

The winner — drumroll — is Lucca!  Lucca’s response to Sarma’s interview was near and dear to my heart, as she mentioned some of the commercial pressures of book publishing and Sarma’s honesty about the marketing process. But here, I’ll let her tell you:

“I was most inspired by the humanity she demonstrated, and the points at which she allowed herself to slip from behind the publisher’s persona, the public image, and the book cover, to reveal her weaknesses, her broke-down sundays, her fears, and her big dreams for her small business. It was refreshing to read so humble an account. When faced with a bookstore wall of glossy, presentational, sales-flash driven covers glossing so many raw food books, it’s not always easy to remember that the minds, lives and personal stories behind them belong to real, flawed, complex, and fallible human beings, and that transitioning, staying the course, and finding balance in daily life may be just as difficult for them as it is for oneself. The humility that was present throughout her interview (and beautiful job on the interview, by the way!) made me all the more intrigued to read her no-recipes, all-thought book, if she ever finds time to write it.

Thank you very much, Gena, for this lovely interview. It graced my afternoon. All my best, Luc.”

What an awesome response, Lucca! I hope that you’ll enjoy the book as much as I already am.

I’ll be back soon with news about a new raw delivery service, and a really great picture of raw chocolate cake.

xo

Nutrition in the News: The High Price of Cheap Food

Hi guys!

Hope you’re enjoying your start to the week. I just wanted to draw everyone’s attention to Time Magazine’s very excellent cover article this week. It details the true cost–economic, medical, cultural, environmental–of mass-produced and processed food, and it’s worth reading and sending to your loved ones A.S.A.P. The article probably won’t tell you anything you didn’t learn from Food, Inc. or The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but it’s powerful, succinct, and uncompromising. Most importantly, it’s a huge sign of progress that major newsweeklies are spreading word about the true cost of cheaply produced, high-protein diets. My favorite quote?

“The industrial food system fills us up but leaves us empty — it’s based on selective forgetting. But what we eat — how it’s raised and how it gets to us — has consequences that can’t be ignored any longer.”

Amen.

Have a great day, everyone.

xo

(Image (c) Time.com)

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