Guest Essay #2

This guest essay comes from a lovely lady I met on-line. Thanks, Vegwriter. And a special thanks for this: Hurricane Relief and Raw Food

Summer Recipes to Keep You Cool
By Judy Pokras

The raw foods lifestyle is a healthful one.

Here are several cooling refreshments for summer. They’re all good for you, loaded with antioxidants and other nutrients. The recipes aren’t hard to make. Some call for nutritious, delicious ingredients that can be ordered online. (See below.)

Lemonade With a Twist
(serves 2)

2 organic lemons
1 juice orange
Raw honey or raw agave nectar to taste
Mineral or spring water
Fresh mint leaves for garnish

The night before you plan to serve the lemonade, juice the orange. Pour the juice into an ice cube tray and freeze.
The next day:
Squeeze one lemon into each tall glass.
Add some raw honey or agave nectar to each glass (a half a teaspoon or more to taste) and stir. You don’t want to overwhelm the juice with sweetness because you want to allow the ice cubes to gradually melt into the juice, bringing the sweetness of orange juice. Add enough mineral or spring water to fill the glass almost to the top. Add the orange juice ice cubes. Garnish with mint leaves. As a variation, use limes instead of lemons.

Summer Fruit Salad
(serves 2)

1 container organic strawberries
1 container fresh organic one
1 package frozen blueberries
½ cup pre-soaked goji berries (Presoaking softens them)
About 20 grapes
2 organic peaches or nectarines, sliced

Hull the strawberries and cut them in half. Place in large bowl with all the other ingredients and toss. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The fruit salad looks pretty brought to the table in a large glass bowl. Serve in dessert bowls.

Frozen Banana Creme Sundae
(serves 2)

4 ripe bananas (bananas are ripe when they have some brown speckles on them)
½ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup walnut pieces

The night before you plan to serve this, peel the bananas, discard the peels, and break the bananas into two inch pieces. Freeze in a freezer bag. Right before you plan to serve the sundae, run the frozen banana pieces through a Champion or similar juicer. The Champion turns the frozen bananas into a creamy confection with the texture of soft-serve ice cream. If you don’t have a Champion or similar juicer, you can get a similar effect by putting the frozen banana pieces in a food processor with a small amount of water if necessary. (Add only one tablespoon of water at a time). Spoon the banana creme into dessert dishes and sprinkle the shredded coconut and the walnut pieces on top. Decorate with Raw Carob-Cacao Topping.
See recipe below.

Raw Carob-Cacao Topping
(serves 2)

6 peeled raw cacao beans (or 2 teaspoons raw cacao nibs) ground to a fine powder in a coffee grinder
2 tablespoons raw carob powder
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
½ vanilla bean
optional: 1 tablespoon mesquite powder
optional: 1 tablespoon raw almond butter

Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the insides into a small bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix the ingredients, adding a small amount of spring water to create a smooth texture. The topping should be slightly thinner than the texture of hot fudge.

Banana Papaya Blueberry Ice Creme

4 ripe bananas, peeled
1 large red papaya (at least 10 inches long) peeled and seeded
1 container of blueberries

Puree the above ingredients in a food processor and then pour into an ice cream machine. The taste is out of this world!

You can order raw cacao beans, raw carob powder, goji berries, tocotrienols powder and mesquite powder online at www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com

Judy Pokras is the founder and editor of RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com and http://sketchgrrl.blogspot.com and a food consultant on transitioning to a more healthful way of eating. Write her at vegwriter@aol.com