Beginner Recipe Suggestions?

[halikatak]

What did everyone start out by eating the first week of going Raw? Right now all I have is a food chopper... so I'm kind of limited for the time being.

What do you suggest? :confused:

[SmilingRawDancer]

When I first went raw, I ate plain fruits, smoothies etc.
Smoothies are simple, I do a banana and then frozen fruit and some water if needed.

Salads are wonderful, just chopped greens, and a dressing if you like.
I do:
chopped romaine and spinach
chopped avocado
Bell pepper
cherry tomatoes
a clove of garlic chopped REALLY fine (I press it)
and then I season with some cayenne, onion powder and basil, and Apple CIdar Vinegar.

Maybe that looks complicated, but it's not :)

You can make banana ice cream too, if you have a food processor.

[Spiral Leana]

i started out with just a mini-chopper too

didn't even have a blender
didn't even have a stove if i wanted one.....living in a little cabin

i would throw watever vegetable i had the most of in the chopper and then usually add a little less of something else, and some flax oil and make little salads

example....use celery as the base, add some yellow summer squash.....add a little green onion, garlic and flax oil and there you go (tastes just like egg salad) eat it in romaine leaves

my favorite thing when i first started that i am craving as i write this is to mix pumpkin seeds and raw garlic in the mini-chop and make like a thick, spicy, cruncy, tangy, hot garnish for all of my food

yum
recently i bought a larger cuisinart with blades (for six bucks!!) at an estate sale....and it does cut down on prep time and makes yummy shapes etc

those lttle ones will burn out after awhile
and my housemate has a blender!

:D

[Lady Green Jeans]

You can do an awful lot of things in the mini chopper. Lots you don't even need that. Guacamole is one of my favs if you can get your hands on some decent avos right now. Just mix and leave a little lumpy--fantastic. I usually add jalapeno, tomato chunks, cilantro leaves, and some diced sweet onion. Could probably live on this alone.

Could make the nori rolls if you can chop the cauliflower in the chopper. Julienne with a sharp knife the other ingred. Could eat this at least once a week.

Could do any of Alissa's noodle-type dishes by using a potato peeler for the noodles. Your sauce may not be silky smooth in the chopper, but I have made some pretty decent things with just that and a decent knife.

Have you tried Alissa's marinara? Could do pesto and zuke noodles.
The possibilities are endless. Welcome and hope you dig in and enjoy the adventure!

[tvillemom]

I could live on almond or seed pate made in a mini chopper...just add whatever spice you want...take a nori sheet, spread on some type of lettuce or spinach (to protect the nori from excess moiture) and put on the pate, avo slices, carrot slices....NORI ROLLS!!

Salads, guacamole (all you need is a knife!)......hey, you can even make eggless egg salad in a mini chopper...that's a nice change in a lettuce/cabbage leaf...I also use nut pates rolled in a PURPLE cabbage leaf....

hmm...what else??? I'll be thinking.

Wendi

[subbacultcha]

If you want to dehydrate things without a dehydrator, you can put the oven on a low setting and leave the door open, not quite as convenient but it works!

[JEN]

In the beginning of eating raw I ate salads, fruits, raw veggies, almond butter, tahini, and smoothies. Every recipe I tried I hated in the beginning. It took me about 3 weeks or so to finally start liking things that I had never liked before. Some recipes you probably will like are the dessert recipes as it is really hard for my family to tell the difference in them. RP's brownies, Rawkinlocs Peach Delight (use apples this time of year), her cinnamon rolls are to die for, Alissa's Date Nut Torte, Maraw's Yummy Apple Cobbler. Any of these that call for dehydrating dont have to be. They are just as yummy cold or at room temp. All you need is a food processor and they are pretty inexpensive. Best of luck!!

[crystalmoon]

I use a small cuisinart mini prep machine which is probably abit like your mini chopper...it is great for seed pates, fruit smoothie, raw desserts, grinding nuts etc. I just have to half the recipe ingredients or do two batches ;)

[Troyanne]

I STILL don't have a dehydrator! lol It's just too expensive, and don't do like I did when using ur oven on the lowest setting with your door open, don't use a thick plate (it will double or triple your dehydrating time, DUH), don't use wax paper cuz doughs will stick baddd!!! lol Use parchment paper which you can buy at the grocery store and/or bakery at the grocery store.

The first week I did alot of smoothies at any time of day, salads with cold-pressed olive oil and (eek!) gourmet balsamic vinegar not apple cider vinegar, but I had been doing that since like 1993 anyway, with added spices, and now I take those with me if I'm on the go and need to eat out while away. I also lived on raisins and cashews carried with me as I was on the go from all the new energy! lol And I made a few of Alissa's and Carol Alt's simple recipes. Oh! I did A's macadamia nut fudge cookies twice in the beginning.... it's coming back now, I bought alot of button mushrooms and smothered them with A's raw marinara sauce ( I did invest in a cheap Black and Decker food processor at that point for $20 or so, and found a good used blender for $6, but at first I was just using a hand blender) because I couldn't afford to buy a spiral slicer yet... then I discovered Carol Alt's raw cheeses, meaning actual cheese, but unpasteurized (I'm not vegan, I'm a meat lover) which fortunately I can buy in my town... melted it on all kinds of things for hours at low oven temp or just ate it with a knife... Someone last week actually GAVE me a water purifier so I'm finally getting some pure water, at last!