The Live Green Smoothie Diet

Yesterday at the “contemporary Mexican” restaurant Sinigual here in Tampa, my mother ordered a romaine hearts salad with a creamy cilantro dressing that had been thickened with a parmesan-like cheese. And my immediate thought… sunflower seeds! They are excellent at providing a dairy-like flavor and approximating a cheesy texture in certain recipes. So I knew I would try my hand at making a copy-cat raw recipe.

If you don’t have basil on hand, use cilantro, or even simple Utterly Pedestrian fresh parsley.

The dressing is thick and very scoopable, a la guacamole, but with a “cheesier” quality due to the sunflower seeds. I also have used a heavy hand on the salt because caesar-type dressings are that way, using anchovies and parm to layer the savoriness in. And as I’ve explained in other recipes, I very much enjoy ways to bring in salt & savoriness in raw recipes, to offset the natural sweetness and high-water-content blandness of a high-raw diet. Use half the salt, for starters, if you prefer.

You can make this dressing to use over a large plate of romaine hearts for enjoyment by 1-3 people. Or, serve on the side for vegetable or chip dipping!

Note: A salad or sandwich made with this dressing would be EXCELLENT with good quality Kalamata or sun-cured black olives!!!

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This low-fat dressing is made rich and creamy with… fresh corn off the cob! You’d never know.

In addition, while one of the things I have never liked about most fruity vinaigrette salad dressings is that they are too tart, and certainly destroy the ability to enjoy a glass of wine with your salad (which may not be a concern of yours…), this salad dressing is mild, savory, with a nice hit of garlic, and not tart in the least. I enjoyed a small glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with my dinner salad, here, and it was just lovely.

And what gives the dressing only the slightest “tang” is whatever natural acidity is contributed by the fresh strawberries and a small amount of sweet cherry tomatoes (again… you’d never know).

This is a very pretty dressing, great for entertaining (start including this with your crudite spread), and is shown here over some chopped romaine and topped with a couple sliced strawberries… so very simple.

In addition, for those who are not fully “raw” but are simply seeking to incorporate more living foods wherever possible, this would make a great dressing for a chicken salad, or to use instead of mayo in a Salad Sandwich, with or without meat & cheese.

For my high-raw readers, I know you’ll enjoy the versatility for this one as well.

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One of my absolute favorite raw recipes is my Savoy Cabbage/Tomato/Almond Butter Salsa/Chopped Salad. It’s a mouthful, I know, and suffers from an identify crisis when it comes to its name because it can be Just So Many Things! A salsa to enjoy with raw chips or organic tortilla chips… a great filling for a salad sandwich and for nori rolls… something you can serve open-face on toasted Ezekiel bread, even as a canape… and probably more possibilities that escape me at the moment. It’s a mouth-filling, utterly scrumptious combination that makes my mouth water just to imagine it!

However… the recipe requires raw almond butter (which I do not have on hand, and which is easy to run out of) and raw apple cider vinegar (which I also am currently out of).

So… I created this Baby Zucchini Salsa as an homage to the spirit of my beloved Savoy Cabbage chopped salad!

This recipe is super-simple, and you make it from utterly pedestrian ingredients (a favorite thing for me and a priority for this site because I want everyone to learn every possible way one can feed oneself deliciously with raw and living foods in a way never before conceived).

It’s explosively flavorful, rich, savory and salty (with good salt, of course, not that toxic white stuff). And makes you feel like you’ve really eaten something substantial!

When I radically “jack up the raw” in my own diet, the first thing I start to crave is savory, chewy meals. And this definitely fits the bill. Am enjoying it with some organic tortilla chips for my dinner this evening.

At least… what the kids are leaving behind for me! This is seriously kid-friendly, as my little nephews are bearing witness to!

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Who knew that raw broccoli could be so tender? And when paired with this slight sweet Creamy “Ranch” dressing, it’s sweet and almost juicy. And you can make the dressing by itself and use as a dip or sandwich spread.

My 20-yr-old enjoyed nibbling this right along with me. So much for raw green vedge being intimidating to young male adults.

This would make an excellent filling for a raw salad sandwich, and brilliant as a side-salad for the BBQ’d steak crowd! Perfect for summer grilling feasts!

I just ate the greater part of it for dinner.

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 What a great salad. Seriously folks, if you haven’t tried any savory fruit salads, give this one a try! My 20-yr-old son who does not like tomatoes loved it. And the dressing… it’s amazing what you can do with fresh corn and zucchini!

Here we have the sweetness of crunchy watermelon mixed with the slightly acidic zing of tomatoes, but with the tomatoes almost imperceptible once you toss everything up in the Creamy Garlic Dressing. And that dressing… it’s made with fresh corn off the cob and baby zucchini!

This salad isn’t non-fat, but it’s low-fat, with only 1 teaspoon of cold-pressed olive oil in the entire recipe! Both watermelon and tomatoes are great for the heart and rich in phytonutrients that will make you feel great. Not to mention the immune system-empowering garlic in the dressing!

You can whip this all up (including the dressing) in just a few minutes and be feasting in no time… and feel truly satisfied afterwards. That’s what I love so much about savory fruit salads, that’s they convey they are meals and not just snacks or desserts.

If you like both watermelon and tomatoes, get in the habit of keeping them both on hand because there are so many different ways you can combine them for a delicious and filling meal!

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Why isn’t tomato paired with tangerine more frequently, I wonder? It’s a great combination… gorgeous on the plate, and the sweetness of the tangerine pairs so nicely with the acid in the tomatoes!

This particular recipe has so many uses. You can serve as-is. You can add fresh greens and toss for a green salad, using it as a dressing. You can serve it as a relish, as a salsa, as a dip, and as a side to a plate of antipasto.

And this was just made for spooning over fresh fish! I’m a lover of Moroccon sardines (I keep “Season” brand “skinless, boneless, saltless, in water” variety on hand and freshen them up with some himmy salt, black pepper, a squeeze of lemon, and some cold-pressed olive oil. With this dressing on top it’s a feast and a half.

Raw vegan recipes aren’t just for raw vegans.

To make this, I used tiny little “mineolas”, wee little mandarin orange-type things. If you use larger tangerines, be sure to get the pips out first… or just pick up tangelos, which are seedless. But whatever you buy, the smaller and more fragrant, the better, in my opinion.

And be sure to use wee, sugary grape tomatoes!

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Lately I’ve been exploring the surprising versatility of raw zucchini. When I discovered that it is neutral-tasting and rather creamifying in raw smoothies, I thought it might make a very nice salad dressing. And I was right! You could even use this as you would mayonnaise, in a salad sandwich.

Here is an excellent base or template recipe you can use to make a dressing or dip using fresh zucchini as the base. To this basic recipe, you could add so many variants the possibilities are staggering… fresh tomato and a bit of raw sugar or honey to make a kind of “French” dressing… or ginger and Thai seasonings… or jalapeño, red onion, and tomato for a Mexican flair. You could dress it up with a bit of miso and seaweed for a Japanese flair, or cumin, coriander, and turmeric for a curried effect, or… well, you get the idea.

But just stick with the basics of this simple slightly garlicky recipe.

I took it and paired it with a bit of chopped portabella mushroom and fresh cilantro, creating an earthy, comforting effect not unlike potato salad… just more refreshing, and certainly far more healthful and enlivening!

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Who said salsas have to have tomato in them? Certainly not me… Papaya makes a great substitute for tomato in a salsa! This fresh, all-raw recipe would make for an interesting change of pace the next time you entertain.

For my part… I ate it all up just as you see, and it made quite a filling dinner as a savory fruit salad with not a thing on the side. The papaya is ridiculously luscious, and the salad just explodes with flavor, even though it is very simple.

For variety and additional color (as if it need more color…), add some fresh cilantro. But simply as-is, it makes for a tasty dish that’s also, happily enough, wonderful for the digestion and the skin.

And so festive!

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This milky dressing is light and nicely flavored with fresh garlic and olive oil to stand up to any ingredients you’d like to toss in. Paired very simply with fresh finely-chopped kale and hothouse cucumbers, anything would work in this dish: olive, red peppers, red onion, and pine nuts come to mind as great suggestions.

If you like to be able to make dishes that can sit in the fridge for a couple days, this is a good one. Keep it around for snacking and for quick salad sandwiches.

The dressing would also make a nice dipping sauce for fresh veggies!

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This is one of those recipes I wish I’d known how to make back when I first encountered the whole raw & living food world. Would have made staying “high-raw” so much easier.

This “hummus” is made from raw macadamia nuts and a few other utterly pedestrian ingredients. It takes only a few minutes, and what you get is a hummus I actually enjoy better than hummus made from sesame. It has a “cleaner” flavor, it explosive with garlic, tangy with lemon, and makes either a great dish for dipping or a delicious (and filling) raw sandwich spread!

An excellent recipe for rummaging up a quick supper!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

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