Raw Food Made Easy

Many years ago, My husband, youngest son and I spent 10 fabulous days in Barcelona, where my husband gave a talk at a conference. Barcelona was our base, and there was so much to see in the city we had no trouble filling our time, but we made a spur of the moment decision to take the train to Costa Brava for a little adventure. I made a list of hotel possibilities, and we set about calling each one, only to be told there were no rooms. Finally, we found a reasonably priced hotel with space, and we were off. The long, complicated hotel name was in Spanish, of course, but there was something so familiar about it; I just couldn't put my finger on what it was.

While we were on the train, it suddenly hit me where we were going, and at the moment of my recognition, my husband said, "I wonder if we'll find anything to eat." "I don't think that will be a problem," I answered. "We're staying at a Hippocrates Institute." If you don't know what that is (my husband didn't) it's a raw foods healing center. (Founded in 1956 by Ann Wigmore, the Hippocrates Institute has its main center in West Palm Beach, Florida, and I don't know if the one in Costa Brava was associated with the one in Florida, or not, but it sounded similar.) The hotel — large, old and slightly eerie — was perched high on a hill overlooking the city. The rooms were comfortable but vaguely hospital-like, and we may have been the only guests not walking around in thick, white terrycloth robes and receiving treatments, but we did attend all the meals. The food was a spectacular array of raw, vegan dishes — everything from massive displays of gorgeous fresh fruits, veggies and salads, to gourmet preparations of intricate raw food dishes. We were in heaven.

I like raw food, and would like to add more into my diet, but raw food cuisine beyond the basics of whole raw fruits, veggies and smoothies, can seem complicated and time consuming, which is why I was excited to receive a copy of "Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People," by Jennifer Cornbleet.

The author has chosen easy and delicious recipes "that can be made in minutes, that work every time, and that can be eaten every day." She's divided the book into sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, and has provided a list of equipment and pantry staples as well as a weekly shopping list, to make food preparation easier. There were so many recipes I wanted to try it was hard to pick just one, but I chose the Not Salmon Paté variation of Not Tuna Paté, partly because it sounded interesting, and partly because I had the ingredients. At least I thought I did. I didn't have celery so used parsley instead. The finished paté looked good and tasted great.

Not Salmon Paté (reprinted with permission) makes 1/2 cup, 2 servings

• 1/2 cup soaked raw sunflower seeds (soaked 6 to 8 hours)
• 1/4 cup soaked raw almonds (soaked 8 to 12 hours)
• 1/4 cup shredded carrot
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 tablespoons minced celery
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill weed or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1. Place the seeds, almonds, water, lemon juice and salt in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process into a paste. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
2. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in the celery,onion and dill. Mix well.
3. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

So what did I do with the paté? There are several suggested ways to use the paté in the recipe sidebar, and ironically, I decided to make sushi, which was one of the suggestions, though I didn't realize it. Ms. Cornbleet calls the dish Not Tuna Rolls, and I didn't look at the recipe. I wish I had. My nori rolls were filled with only paté, shredded carrots and baby greens, and were gorgeous and quite delicious, but hers also contained avocado, which would have made them even better.

My version of the rolls, using baby greens and carrots

Here is Jennifer Cornbleet's recipe:
Not tuna rolls (reprinted with permission) makes 2 rolls, 1 serving

• 2 nori sheets
• 2 teaspoons mellow white miso
• 2 cups alfalfa or clover sprouts
• 1/2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup not tuna paté
• 1/4 cup grated carrot
• 1/4 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• tamari for dipping (optional)

1. Lay one sheet of nori, shiny side down, on a bamboo sushi mat
2. Spread 1 teaspoon of miso in a single horizontal line anywhere along the the bottom third of the nori.
3. Along the edge of the nori closest to you, layer the sprouts, avocado, paté, carrot and pepper.
4. To roll, grip the edge of the nori sheet and the mat with your thumbs and forefingers, and press the filling back toward you with your other fingers. Using the mat to help you, roll the front edge of the nori over the filling. Squeeze it with the mat, then lift the mat away and continue rolling.
5. Just before completing the roll, dip your finger in water and run it along the far edge of the nori to help seal the seam.
6. Cut the roll into 6 pieces with a serrated knife. Make the second roll.
7. Serve with tamari for dipping if desired.

note: For more detailed directions (with photos) on how to roll sushi, click here. The directions are for traditional sushi with rice but could be helpful if you've never made sushi before.

Full disclosure: The cookbook described in this post was sent to me free of charge by the publisher. No attempt was made by the publisher to influence my review, nor was I paid to write a review.