Whole Foods Raw Class!!!!

I just got back from the Raw Class at Wholefoods and it was so much fun and enlightening!!!  Plus, it was extra nice since my husband went along with me, as well as one of my very best friends...double bonus!!!

Chef Olive treated us to A LOT of various recipes and had us laughing and talking the entire time.  The class was supposed to only last 1 1/2 hours, but she laughed that there was no way she could squeeze everything she wanted to say in that little amount of time! :)  Fine by me...lets get the most out of the $5.00 I spent!!!  Which by the way was SOOOO CHEAP compared to the information we learned, and all the food and drinks we got to enjoy.  Apparently she has these classes once a month, and even has a pot luck support group/get together outside of Wholefoods on the 2nd Sunday of every month for everyone to come with some of their favorite raw dishes to share and commune together!

She is a pretty remarkable woman...funny too!  She started eating raw because of the VAST amount of health issues she was dealing with.  I don't remember them all, but a few that stuck out in my mind was that she lost 60 lbs. within 3 months, completely got off all high blood pressure medication, insulin injections for her diabetes, off all thyroid medications she was, currently has dreadlocks down to her waist where she used to be going bald, moles that covered her body in various places fell off completely, was deaf in her right ear and now has 60 % hearing, had very poor vision and wore tri-fold glasses where she now only uses regular glasses for night time driving on occasion!  She has been raw for 7 years now and has lost a total of 116 lbs.  It wasn't that she doesn't like cooked food...she does...it just doesn't like her and was wrecking havoc on her body!

We all took our seats in this room that was all set up with overhead cameras so that we could see what she was mixing up in her bowls.  There was probably 45 people in attendance...several you could tell were repeat guests, some new like us!

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of everything we ate (DOH!!!) but I did manage to snap a few before I scarfed them down.  They were all wonderful and really shows that eating raw doesn't have to be bland and boring... I'll share some of the recipes we learned about today...

Upon arrival she had some freshly made flavored water, and made several different kinds throughout the time we were there.  The first was a Vanilla/Rosemary water.  It simply consisted of two vanilla beans and a large batch of fresh rosemary and filtered water.  She allows it to steep outside in the sun to really bring out the flavors.  This one was "okay", especially not compared to the plum water we had next...this was by far every one's favorite!

The Plum water consisted of about 15 small plums steeped with about 8 tea bags (she used green tea) in about 1 gallon of water.  The plums provide a natural sweetness in itself, but you can also add some raw honey to make it even sweeter.  This was delicious.

Another water that she made, which wasn't my favorite, I believe she called Green Water...my girlfriend said that it tasted like we were drinking gum water due to it's peppermint flavor.  Again, 1 gallon of water, with 3 T of chlorophyll and 1 dropper of peppermint.

Now onto the foods....

First she made "pasta" out of zucchini using a spiroli...oh my word...I want one of these things.  Seriously...it made the most perfect looking pasta out of a vegetable!  They had such lovely curves and curls...it was great!  Unfortunately I scarfed it all down before I took a picture of it...but here is the recipe for Zucchini Pasta...

5 zucchinis - sliced into pasta using the spiroli

Add 2 T EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil) to the noodles right away so they don't weep

3 cloves of garlic (she put the garlic into this contraption called the Rev'n Chef...it has a string that you pull...kinda like the old speak and say toys you had as a child...and it was wind this thing up and pulverize the garlic!)

1 2/3 tsp. of umboshi paste (which is basically fermented plums)

1 T. raw honey

3 T. Nama Shoyu

1/2 tsp. five spice

2 scallions finely chopped

1 T tamarind paste

handful of fresh snow peas, field peas and flat leaf parsley

Mix all this up and then top with sesame seeds

The next recipe we got to enjoy was a Carrot, Zucchini & Pesto dish!

She had a large bowl full of carrots and zucchini that she sliced up using a peeler.

Add 3 T EVOO

Borsari spices - sprinkled heavily over top

Mix all of this with your hands, really work these ingredients in.

Add 2 T of arugula/basil pesto

Add a handful of pine nuts

Mix all this together and serve along with the Everyday Tomato Sauce

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked then drained, leaving 1/3 cup of the water

3 plum tomatoes

1 cup of raw cashews

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

3 cloves of garlic (again she pulverized it first)

1/2 tsp. paprika

handful fresh cilantro

1 tsp. celtic sea salt

2 T honey

2 T lime juice

Blend all of this together.  To make a "meatier sauce" add the following:

2 cup of raw walnuts...pulse them in a food processor...don't over pulse - you want a thicker consistency.  Once pulsed just right add to blender and mix gently.

Serve sauce and carrot dish together.  This was one of our favorites for sure.  Here is a picture of it...Chef Olive put it on the side so that we could taste the carrot mix with or without the sauce...it was so good though...I wanted to lick the plate! ;)

The next dish that she made was raw RICE!  I was excited to see how this was going to turn out!!  

Head of cauliflower and pulsed it in the food processor.  Again, you don't want to pulse it so much that it gets all mushy, but just enough.

Add couple sprigs of fresh dill (chopped)

Sprinkle lemon pepper

EVOO (I didn't right down the amount dang it...I'm thinking no more than 2 T!)

Separately pulse the following nuts:

Handful of raw pinenuts

Handful of raw cashews (she prefers macadamia nuts but didn't have these today)

Blend all the ingredients together by mashing a bit with a spoon.

Upon eating the first bite I was disappointed.  Not in the taste, but I guess I was expecting it to really be LIKE rice.  But it wasn't, and it can't...it's raw, not cooked.  But it only took a nano second to get over my disappointment because it tasted out of this world.  My husband was also VERY into this dish.  As you can see below...I wolfed it down before I realized I hadn't taken a picture so this is just a few crumbs I had left to photograph!

Another big hit was a Papaya Sorbet of sorts:  The ingredient list is short and super easy to make!

1 papaya, split and de-seeded (which you can use the seeds, once dehydrated, as pepper!!)

Freeze the papaya

Once frozen, then take out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge for one hour

Using a cheese grader, grate the papaya and place in bowl

On the side, mix up the syrup you will use: equal parts agave syrup & fresh lime juice.  I believe she used 1 cup agave & 1 cup lime juice.  

Serve the papaya in individual bowls and then drizzle the syrup over the top.

She gave us a tip on a syrup that she often uses, and licks the bowl over, for her raw pancakes is orange juice, agave nectar and a pinch of cinnamon!

Here's the recipe for Mohitos! 

honey and lime juice syrup (equal parts) - I "think" she used 1 cup of each...

3 cups of crushed ice

fresh mint - pound with bottom of bowl to release flavors, then placed into mixture and gently pound again

2 Kombucha bottled drinks (of your choice, she used #7 today)...this makes the "sparkling flavor" of the drink.

This was good, had a definite KICK to it!

One recipe that she did not get to, but gave us the recipe anyways was for

Tomato and Fennel Soup

4-5 tomatoes cut

1 med fennel bulb

1 sm. yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 cups of rejuvelac

1/2 cup of sunflower seed

2 tsp thyme

1/4 cup EVOO

Mixed all up in blender.  If you prefer it warm...put it on stove top and just warm until WARM to the touch...don't want to cook it and kill all those great enzymes!

As you can see...today was a plethora of information.  It was so fun and something we will most definitely do again and again!!!