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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Raw Pad Thai


I'm currently on day five of my two week raw cleanse. It's been challenging, particularly because I currently live in Austria with a kitchen lacking a juicer/blender/food processor/dehydrator/etcetc and raw foodism in Austria is essentially unheard of. It is nice, though, because in general the quality of produce and other foods is higher-- there are very strict food safety standards here. (plus no GMOs! wooo go EU!)

My diet has mainly consisted of lots of fresh fruit, salads, stuffed peppers, sprouted lentils and buckwheat, sauerkraut, nuts, and dried fruits. I've been coming up with some pretty wonky concoctions, but so far everything has been tasty! It definitely requires a large shift in perspective (moreso, in my opinion, than even omnivore to vegan) about your relationship to food, but that's really what I was looking for with this detox

I'm also starting to feel a lot better. My detox period was virtually nonexistent, and even on day five I already feel a lot clearer and more alert; waking up early is no longer a problem. Before, I might need 9-10 hours of sleep to not feel sleepy during the day. I've also been working out regularly for the last two months and have been building a lot of muscle and toning, but now I'm finally staring to see myself 'slim down.' And I've actually found myself less hungry than normal... I think it's partially that perspective change I mentioned earlier; I have a habit of getting excited about eating (and then overeating), but with raw food that's not really a problem (excluding oils and nut butters). I basically get to graze all day, never be hungry, and still feel great! It's quite ideal. The only downsides I'm experiencing are related to price, availability of products (ex: no raw peanuts here. anywhere.), and a little bit of a social aspect. I plan to remain 80%+ raw after this cleanse as well, basically just excluding moments where I want to go out with friends-- who's to say a girl can't enjoy a beer and a veggie burger once in a while?

One of my favorite cooked meals is pad thai, and I was once at a vegan restaurant in VT that had a raw pad thai made from "zucchini noodles." I took that idea and ran with it, adding in carrot and cucumber noodles as well, and this was the result. It was extremely tasty!

Try to use all organic and raw varieities of the ingredients listed in this recipe; there is no raw or organic peanut butter here, so I just used what I had. There's also no Bragg's or Nama Shoyu, which I would recommend, so I just used regular apple cider vinegar and organic soy sauce.

Pad Thai
1.5 zucchinis, sliced thinly with a vegetable peeler
1 carrot, sliced thinly with a vegetable peeler
1/2 large cucumber, sliced thinly with a vegetable peeler
1/2 block tofu, cut into small cubes (optional; it's not technically raw, but I'm eating it regardless until my sprouting lentils and buckwheats are done)
4-5 green onions, sliced thinly
2 cups bean sprouts, soaked and drained

Sauce
1/3 cup organic soy sauce
2 T tahini
1 T peanut butter
2 T apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch chunk of ginger, minced
2-1/2 limes, juiced
1 bunch cilantro, minced (reserve 2T for garnish)
2 T minced parsley (optional; I just had it on hand)
1 small chili, minced (optional)

Garnish
1/2 lime cut into slices
2 T minced cilantro
handful of peanuts

Mix the pad thai ingredients together. Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor or blender (or, in my case, a jar...) and process until smooth. Pour sauce over pad thai and let marinate for 20-30 minutes to let the flavors develop. Garnish and serve.

Stays fresh for 2-4 days, so it would also be a nice option to make a large batch and bring to school or work for lunch.

3-4 servings

The bounty
My organic soy sauce I found! Very exciting
Tahini
My favorite raw food kitchen tool- a vegetable peeler!
The peeled zucchini, carrot, and cucumber


The sauce ingredients pre-mix
Sauce! 

The final product 


Easy Korean Cucumber Salad

So I apologize for the rather extended hiatus, but I'm back! At present I'm doing a two week raw cleanse, so I'll be posting some raw recipes I've created as well as about my experience in general.

The first thing I thought I'd share is a favorite dish from my childhood. As a kid, I would often go with my dad to a Korean restaurant called Shin La in Brattleboro, VT. I always got the cucumber salad and found it absolutely otherworldly; I didn't know at the time, but this would be just the beginning of my love for sesame.

I love this recipe because it's something that's extremely flexible and works as a side dish for a lot of meals. Sometimes I'll just make a batch of the marinade and get a rotation going where I buy a new cucumber everyday, chop it up, marinate it, and eat it the following day. Rinse, wash, repeat. It's great!

1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
2 T organic soy sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T sesame oil
1 T sesame seed
1 T agave nectar or honey

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate and marinate for 30 minutes. It should keep 4-5 days.