Raw Food Kitchen E-Book

Dunja Gulin

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

There's so much more to raw food than smoothies and grated carrots. More and more people are turning to raw food to give them energy, boost their immune system, clear their skin, lose weight and stay slim. There are so many dishes and ways of working with raw food to create an interesting, sustainable diet, without needing many hard-tofind ingredients or hours of preparation. This friendly cookbook is the perfect guide to introducing raw food into your life and understanding how certain ingredients, and their preparation, can be not only delicious and appealing, but also hugely beneficial to your health. With chapters on Smoothies, Breakfast, Soups, Salads, Mains, Snacks and Desserts, there's something here for every day, occasion and appetite. Try Gazpacho, made with the ripest tomatoes; pretty Fennel & Zucchini Carpaccio marinated in mustard and vinegar dressing; Sweet Cherry Temptations made with ground nuts and dried cherries; and fantastic Brownie Squares with Cashew Frosting. You'll be amazed at how much you can achieve within the principles of raw food, and how much better you'll feel - even if you only practise it from time to time in among your regular everyday diet.Dunja Gulin is the author of cookbooks Dorucak (Breakfast, published in her native Croatia) Raw Food Kitchen, The Vegan Baker and The Vegan Pantry. Apart from writing cookbooks and publishing healthy recipes on www.dunjagulin.com, she teaches healthy cooking, works as a personal chef and prepares Mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic and raw food meals on yoga retreats and cruises around the world.

Leseprobe

raw food kitchen

Naturally vibrant recipes for breakfast, snacks, mains & desserts

Dunja Gulin

photography by Kate Whitaker

LONDON  NEW YORK

Senior Designer Iona Hoyle

Commissioning Editor Céline Hughes

Production Gordana Simakovic

Editorial Director Julia Charles

Art Director Leslie Harrington

Prop Stylist Liz Belton

Food Stylist Lucy Mckelvie

Indexer Hilary Bird

First published in the UK in 2012

by Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields

London WC1R 4BW

and

519 Broadway, 5th Floor

New York, NY 10012

www.rylandpeters.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text © Dunja Gulin 2012

Design and photographs

© Ryland Peters & Small 2012

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

eISBN: 978-1-84975-323-4

ISBN: 978-1-84975-223-7

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

A CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Printed in China

notes

• All spoon measurements are level unless otherwise specified.

• Recipes containing raw fish or shellfish should not be served to the very young, very old, anyone with a compromised immune system or pregnant women.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any claim arising out of the information in this book. Always consult your health advisor or doctor if you have any concerns about your health or nutrition.

contents

the power of raw food   drinks   breakfast   salads   soups   mains   snacks   desserts   index

the power of raw food

Today, more than ever, it seems that we are all eager to achieve balance in our bodies and minds. However, achieving balance has never been harder! Unhealthy lifestyles, stressful jobs and lack of time are all working against us; it’s a great challenge to juggle all our everyday responsibilities with the basic responsibility we have towards ourselves – to respect our bodies and our planet.

For the past 15 years, I have been trying to find a lifestyle formula that will enable me to live a happy, healthy and balanced life while being kind to the world around me. My search ended in the kitchen, a place of creation, meditation and enjoyment.

I believe that raw, organic, wholesome, local and seasonal food in its purest form – the best that nature can offer us – is the best for our bodies.

With this book, my intention is to encourage you to experiment with new ingredients and new types of food preparation so that you can find the path that works best for you. You will learn about preparing delicious raw foods, key ingredients and the basic principles of preparation, as well as the health benefits of this way of eating. Whether you are just curious and looking for inspiration, you want to introduce more raw foods to your everyday eating, or you plan a period of raw detoxing, I hope you’ll find the following recipes helpful.

My belief is that going to extremes, following any concept dogmatically and looking for a ‘magical’ formula can cause extreme stress to mind and body. Food is important and we should eat good-quality food as much as possible, but being flexible and adaptable is the healthiest choice. After all, we should feel grateful for having the privilege of choosing what we want to eat.

The power of our food choices

Everybody has to eat every day and we, and only we, are the ones who choose our food, our daily fuel. That freedom of choice gives us more power than we can imagine. Our food choices have a great impact on our (and our loved ones’) health and happiness, the food industry and the environment. In a way, what we put on our plates might be the biggest show of activism we will ever make! Here are six simple guidelines to help you make the right food choices.

1 Eat organic!

Foods produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and that do not contain genetically modified organisms should be your choice whenever possible. I realize that organic food is often more expensive and we can’t always afford this choice, but being on a mostly raw food diet means that any harmful chemicals on the food can’t be destroyed by cooking and heat, so it is doubly important to eat organic.

2 Eat wholesome!

When food is taken from its natural state and is altered, processed, refined and packaged, it loses enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants. All these nutrients are very valuable for our overall health.

3 Eat locally and sustainably!

Inform yourself of where your food grows and how it is produced. Small, local producers are more likely to take good care of their land and be truthful to their customers. Try to consume foods that do not need days of travel from faraway lands, as traffic pollutes our planet.

4 Eat seasonally!

Using seasonal foods in the kitchen will keep you in touch with the cycles of nature and give you a sense of time and place. There’s a reason why nature offers us certain foods at certain times of the year (for example, bitter greens with their cleansing effect in spring; dense root vegetables that warm our bodies in autumn, etc.). Eating seasonally will help your immune system stay strong throughout the year.

5 Eat diversely!

Every ingredient is special, carrying its own individual nutrient content. The body is smart enough to take nutrients it needs to stay healthy, but if we’re limiting ourselves to a very narrow range of foods, that can, over time, cause nutritional deficiencies. Besides, eating a boring diet will make you unhappy and you’ll soon start to crave processed foods and sugar.

6 Eat intuitively!

This is a real eye-opener for anyone who has a history of trying out different diets. An eating regime that works well for one person could be wrong or even harmful for another, so pay close attention to what your body is telling you and act accordingly. Let me give you an example. Think about the climate you live in. If it’s hot for the majority of the year you will want to eat as much raw, refreshing and cooling food as you can. It’s only natural – your body is telling you to eat raw, and long cooking feels inappropriate, even unpleasant.

However, think about very cold winters in the northern parts of the world. Your body needs the heat that cooked foods provide and you’ll crave hot soups, long-cooked stews and baked foods. So, insisting on a 100% raw-food regime while it’s freezing outside will just make you even colder, more miserable, and, over longer periods of time, you might develop a health condition.

What is raw food?

The dictionary definition says it all: Raw /rô/ uncooked; being in a natural condition; not processed or refined.

Since uncooked, unprocessed and unrefined foods are alive until the moment we eat them, they give us that same energy, that vital life-force that increases our health and make us strong and vibrant. Foods that can be eaten raw should have a place in our daily eating practice, taking into consideration individual adjustments, as mentioned previously.

Raw foods contain enzymes and vitamins that are destroyed when exposed to high temperatures. That is why the raw food ‘rule’ is not to heat foods above 40–47°C/104–117°F if you want to protect all thermally unstable (heat-sensitive) nutrients! However, some foods cannot be eaten raw: some vegetables, grains, grain sprouts and most beans and bean sprouts. In my opinion, they should be in our diets too from time to time, cooked to the point when they become digestible and edible.

Health benefits

There’s no doubt that eating a largely plant-based diet with a lot of raw fruits, vegetables, sprouts, seeds and nuts increases our overall health; our immune system also becomes stronger and we have more energy and stamina, etc. Many people experience intense mental clarity and better focus after introducing more natural foods into their diet. Clear complexion, strong hair and nails can also be side effects of eating this way.

Always remember that we are all individuals and a perfect formula for staying healthy does not exist! Think of your constitution; if you are strong, vital and rarely fall ill, you can experiment with different food regimes and find your way back to balance easily. However, if you consider yourself quite weak, pale and prone to illness, you need to change your diet and lifestyle, but you have to go gradually and take advice every step of the way to avoid getting even weaker. In general, eating raw foods increases our health and stamina, but if your digestive system is fragile, sometimes raw food can just be too heavy to digest.

So whatever your reasons for turning to raw food, you can be sure that, if you listen to your body and don’t go to extremes, then your mind, body, family and friends and the entire planet will benefit from the good food choices you’re making every day. Slow down and enjoy life; and I hope this book helps you on your way to health and happiness!

Getting started

You will need some kitchen gadgets to transform your basic ingredients into yummy meals. Some are obligatory, some are optional. I’m aware that not everyone can afford to buy expensive kitchen appliances, so none of the recipes in this book require a food dehydrator. Even though dehydrating is fun, I think dehydrated foods should be eaten in moderation, more as a treat than as everyday food.

Kitchen equipment

A good-quality knife, food processor, high-speed blender, coffee grinder, kitchen scales or measuring cups, sieve/strainer, peeler, glass jars and an oven thermometer are essential companions in your raw food kitchen.

A dehydrator, spiralizer, sprouter, juicer, mandoline and lemon zester are all nice to have but aren’t essential for making the recipes in this book. Don’t feel frustrated if you don’t own them, but buy them gradually if you feel your kitchen could benefit from them.

Storecupboard ingredients

Preparing delicious meals quickly and efficiently is not just about talent; at least half of the credit goes to good organization! Planning meals ahead, shopping for ingredients regularly and storing them neatly in your pantry and fridge will be of enormous help in your daily food preparation.

I use sealable glass jars to store most of my dry ingredients. During autumn and winter, nuts, seeds and grains can be stored in cupboards, but as the temperature starts to rise, some organic and untreated nuts and seeds can quickly turn rancid. Or, you’ll notice pantry moths flying around. That’s when it’s time to transfer your jars from cupboards to the fridge. Buy long-life ingredients in bulk whenever you can but also try to shop weekly so you don’t have too much food stored at once.

As for fresh food like fruit and vegetables, visiting farmers’ markets or supermarkets twice a week and purchasing them when you need them is a good solution. Feel free to adjust the recipes in this book according to what is on offer locally.

Above is a list of basic dried foods that might be of help in organizing your pantry. As you go through the book, you’ll notice that, apart from the main group of raw food ingredients, I’ve also included unpasteurized yogurt, goat cheese and cured fish. Many raw cookbooks are entirely vegan, but since I come from the Adriatic coast, where goats graze herbs among the cliffs and fish swim in the clear sea, I felt the need to include these healthy foods in my book and encourage those people who feel the need for a small percentage of animal protein in their diets to try them. That said, all but five recipes are entirely vegan!

Basic nutrition

There are five main types of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. In addition to the big five, water and fibre are also essential for our body to function properly.

The staple ingredients of a largely raw-food diet are rich in carbohydrates, water, ‘good’ fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. If you follow the six guidelines given on page 7, you shouldn’t be deficient in any of the five nutrients listed above, for the following reasons.

• Organic and seasonal foods contain a higher percentage of vitamins and minerals compared to conventionally grown foods.

• Wholefoods are complex packages of nutrients that our digestive system recognizes as such, and the absorption of these nutrients runs smoothly. If our diet is based on processed and refined foods (which are everything but ‘whole’), during the metabolic processes our body has to ‘steal’ micronutrients needed for proper digestion from somewhere else in the system. For example, if you consume a lot of refined sugar, it’s likely that, over time, you’ll develop calcium deficiency, since your body will take calcium from your bones to substitute for the calcium that refined sugar lacks. This is the reason why eating wholesomely will protect you from the mineral deficiencies so many people experience nowadays.

• If you eat diversely, your body will have plenty of sources from which to absorb nutrients.

• If you eat intuitively, there are no forbidden foods on your menu, only foods that your body needs in a particular moment – as long as you are able to recognize that need.

However, occasionally people on a mainly raw and vegan regime suffer from insufficient protein intake. As I’ve already mentioned, we are all individuals and there are no universal eating rules that will keep us healthy forever! Therefore, it’s understandable that some people might experience certain problems with absorption of protein on an exclusively plant-based and mostly raw eating plan.

There are two main reasons for this, but don’t worry – there is a solution!

• Firstly, it is known that the digestibility of vegetable proteins in their natural form is lower than that of animal proteins. What this means is that you might be trying to eat a lot of plant protein but that it won’t be effectively absorbed by the body.

• Secondly, some nutritional research has shown that vegetable protein quality is improved with cooking, which implies that some vegetable proteins from foods that are consumed raw are even more difficult to absorb.

So, if you combine an entirely vegan diet (no animal-derived food consumed) with a raw diet (almost no cooked food consumed) it is very possible that you will lack protein if your body has difficulties digesting and absorbing the plant protein that you are eating.

The solution? I suggest eating cooked beans regularly, and small amounts of organic yogurt, goat and sheep cheese, and wild fish once in a while. It’s entirely up to you how you decide to proceed. Personally, as someone whose body has stuggled to absorb adequate amounts of vegetable protein in the past, I have experienced very positive changes in my overall health after switching from an exclusively plant-based diet to a plant-based diet enriched with small amounts of the protein-rich foods mentioned above.

Basic methods of preparation

Certain practices are used frequently in the preparation of raw food to provide variety, improve digestibility and increase their nutritional value.

Sprouting

Compared to their unsprouted versions, nut, seed, grain and bean sprouts contain a much greater concentration of vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants and trace minerals; their concentration in sprouts is even greater than in the fully matured plant! Sprouts are one of the most nutritious living foods available to us – plus they are simple to grow and taste great!

Quite a few recipes in this book call for seed or grain sprouts. Sprout them yourself whenever you can; they should be an obligatory addition to your daily eating routine!

Growing sprouts is easy, cheap and requires almost no effort. You actually don’t need any special equipment; all you need is a glass jar and muslin/ cheesecloth, or, in some cases, a plate or tray lined with kitchen paper/ paper towels, depending on the method of sprouting. There are two basic methods of home sprouting: in jars, or on a plate or tray.

Jar method

Most of the sprouts in my recipes are sprouted this way.

Refer to the table opposite for sprouting criteria. Use a 3:1 ratio of water to seeds: Put the seeds and cold water in a bowl or jar and allow to soak for the time stated in the table opposite. Drain the soaked seeds and put them in a sealable jar, filling it no more than one-third full – there needs to be enough air flow for the sprouts to grow properly. Cover with a clean tea/kitchen towel or a piece of muslin/ cheesecloth and seal it in place with an elastic band. Put the jar in a shallow bowl and tilt it slightly so that the opening is facing down. This will allow any excess water to drain off. Rinse the sprouts well in a fine-mesh sieve/strainer the number of times stated in the table opposite. Sprouting in jars can last from one to five days, depending on the type of seeds. Refer to the table opposite for the sprouting timeline and the average length of the sprouts when ready. Rinse the sprouts really well once they’re ready to eat, as there will be a lot of thin seed skins left (especially with alfalfa, cress and clover) that can start fermenting and spoil the sprouts.

Plate or tray method

Only a few types of seeds are sprouted this way.

Refer to the table opposite for sprouting criteria. Use a 3:1 ratio of water to seeds: Put the seeds and cold water in a bowl or jar and allow to soak for the time stated in the table opposite. Line a plate or tray with two layers of wet kitchen paper/paper towels. Spread the drained seeds in an even layer over the paper.

Spray the paper the number of times stated in the table opposite (in the ‘Rinsing’ column) by either placing the plate or tray under running water, or by using a misting bottle. The paper should be damp at all times but make sure you pour off any excess water in the plate. Refer to the table opposite for the sprouting timeline and the average length of the sprouts when ready. When they’re ready, harvest the sprouts by cutting them at the base.

Soaking

Nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors that protect them until the ideal conditions for sprouting are met (enough light and humidity). By soaking them, we imitate these conditions; the enzyme inhibitors are released and their vitality is increased. Soaking also makes them softer and easier to process, especially if we want to achieve smooth textures.

Blending and processing

Used to make smoothies, spreads, soups, sauces, etc., blenders and food processors are essential to preparing gourmet raw food. Some recipes don’t call for this type of preparation, but you will find that the majority of soups, main dishes and desserts will use these machines to achieve smooth textures.

Fermentation

Fermenting is a great way to preserve food and it has numerous advantages beyond just preservation. Starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits are converted into lactic acid which enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin and enzyme levels that promote the growth of healthy flora in the intestines. The fermentation process can last from 24 hours to many years and all fermented foods are a great supplementation to our daily diets. Many of my recipes include fermented foods like miso, tamari soy sauce, umeboshi vinegar and tempeh. I’ve also offered a couple of recipes on how to make your own fermented dishes, as in Home-fermented Kimchi (page 58), Horseradish Pickle (page 98) and Pressed, Purple Salad (page 57).

Juicing and dehydrating

Some people use these methods daily, but juicers and dehydrators are quite expensive and not essential. Juicing can be done with a blender and a piece of muslin/cheesecloth, and dehydrating can be done in the oven if you’re patient enough to check and regulate the temperature using an oven thermometer.

drinks

In the process of sprouting, the vitamins, minerals and proteins in the seeds, as well as their digestibility, increase substantially compared to their non-sprouted state. And sprouts are extremely inexpensive because you can grow them even if you live in a tiny flat on the tenth floor! Almond sprouts are a particular treat in this milkshake. Finding almonds that will sprout is a challenge, but it’s a good way to test whether the almonds you’ve been buying are truly raw! See pages 10–11 for more information about sprouting.

apple, banana & almond sprouts milkshake

250 ml/1 cup almond milk

3 tablespoons almond sprouts (see pages 10–11)

1 tablespoon red clover sprouts (see pages 10–11)

1 small, ripe pear, cored

1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped

1 banana, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil

2 tablespoons hazelnuts

serves 1

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and foamy. Drink immediately.

You can use alfalfa sprouts instead of red clover sprouts, as they have a similar, mild taste. Cress, arugula or mustard sprouts look similar but all have a strong, pungent flavour that would quite ruin the sweet and zesty taste of this beautiful milkshake!