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Mushrooms

By Nomi | Published: June 8, 2011

I bought some enviro mushrooms but I’m wondering about the correct way to prepare them for a meal.

- Mary Reid

Nomi’s Answer:

I have no idea what enviro mushrooms are some mushrooms can not be eaten raw…once you know that you can eat them raw there are tons of recipes, usually they are marinated

There’s a great marinated mushroom recipe in my book Raw Food Celebrations.

Also posted in Ask Nomi | Leave a comment

A Little Raw – A Little Cooked

By Nomi | Published: March 30, 2011

This is what I had for dinner last night.

It’s not all raw. So, depending on how

much hate email I get (Yes! amazing isn’t

it? People actually send me horrible mean

emails about various things I say in this

-the last time I looked-F’REE newsletter)

maybe I will include the occasional part

cooked/part raw meals I sometimes make.

Because I know and you know that most people

including my (mostly) wonderful newsletter

readers aren’t always ALL RAW. They are SOME

RAW and aspire to be MORE RAW. Well I’m

mostly raw and sometimes eat some cooked

food…it’s wise to eat ‘your percentage’ of raw

at each meal (50/50, 60raw/40 cooked,80/10 etc)

you don’t have to think so hard that way.

Really this isn’t a recipe it’s just something

I made and ate and perhaps may never make

and eat again, tho it was pretty tasty so

I might. If I remember. Or not.

My friend Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo gave me a bag of sea palm

seaweed last weekend. I had never had it before.

It tasted good right from the bag, hard and crunchy

and very salty. I thought it would be really good soaked

so here’s what I did:

I took about 4 heaping Tablespoons of the sea

weed and put it into a small bowl. Added water to cover.

After awhile (sorry I don’t remember how long, maybe

10 minutes?) I drained the water out.

Then I put water in the bowl of seaweed again. Now

I was formulating in my head what to do with it, so

I added some dehydrated tomato slices to the

seaweed and water.

I had made these slices myself last fall when I bought

a ton of big ripe red tomatoes on sale. Actually these

weren’t as tasty as I’d hoped so I wound up dehydrating

a bunch, thinly sliced.

When I could see that the tomato slices had begun to

soften I drained the water out again. (maybe took

5-7 minutes) I lifted out the tomato slices and put

them on a cutting board and cut them up into

bite size pieces.

To the seaweed mixture I added the following:

1 teaspoon sesame oil (toasted not raw)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

a dash of cayenne

dash or two of Trocomere (brand name nice seasoning)

couple splashes of coconut aminos (health food store)

2 Tablespoons minced olives

few drops of organic lemon oil (I like Simply Organic

brand, the brand really matters in this case, this

is oil, not extract)

Stir well, taste, adjust seasonings. I was planning on

using a few drops of maple syrup but it didn’t need it.

Meanwhile I was baking Dutch Yellow baby potatoes.

(Melissa’s brand). I haven’t eaten white potatoes in

forever but decided to try them out since my friend

Kevin Gianni says the indigeneous people of Peru

just about live on potatoes -there are a zillion varieties.

I put the cooked baby potatoes in a large shallow bowl

(a plate would do) and cut them up a bit and mooshed

them (this is a technical culinary term that means

mooshed them with a fork). I put a few drops of olive

oil on the potatoes.

The olive oil I used I will probably never see again,

a friend sent it to me from France (Thanks Joyce

you are the best) and it is infused with real asparagus,

so it’s a pretty green and tastes a bit like asparagus.

Very Cool.

Then I dumped (another culinary term means poured

over) the seaweed tomato mixture onto the hot mooshed

lightly oiled potatoes.

This was a particularly filling and satisfying meal. For me

it was high fat as I seldom use oil or any kind of added

fat. It was good too that I had it for dinner as those

potatoes are a carb..best to eat carbs later in the

day and protein at lunch. It takes approximately four

hours for most proteins to digest, whereas carbs

digest more quickly and they also help your body

relax and get ready for bed.

Eating protein then going to bed soon after, leaves your

body with the job of having to digest and sleep at the same

time this isn’t a great combination.

Anyhow…rather than send me hate email because you think

I am evil that I mentioned cooking food in my raw food

column, do me a favor? Just unsubscribe. I’d be so grateful.

Thanking you in advance.

Also posted in Recipes | Leave a comment

Chocolate pudding

By Nomi | Published: March 21, 2011

The Raw Gourmet Recipe Corner

It’s a really good time to put some
sweetness into life.

This recipe is really quite Divine.
I hope that you enjoy it.

There are a couple of funny stories about
this recipe below.

Chocolate pudding/Pots De Crème Au Chocolate
This recipe is very satisfying, it lasts a few days
in the refrigerator and no one can tell its base
is avocado! The grated orange zest adds a nice gourmet
touch, you can’t really taste the cayenne, you’re
not supposed to; it just adds another layer
of taste. But do feel free to leave it out!
The salt, cayenne, orange zest, cacao nibs and
even the vanilla are there to lend complexity and
richness of flavor to the recipe, it’s what takes
plain chocolate pudding and elevates it to
Pots de Crème Au Chocolate!
Serve plain or top with a dollop of Cashew Crème.
INGREDIENTS
2 Medium size ripe avocados

Agave nectar to taste (start with 1/4- 1/2 cup,
or use soaked dates,
or maple syrup which is not raw)
[ I like to use a combination of sweet products.
For a lower glycemic /carb/lower calorie approach
you could also use stevia plus 1 or 2 other sweeteners
ike dates or any of the newer sweeteners like coconut sugar]

1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
[with a high speed blender I use the whole vanilla pod
I don't bother to scrape out the seeds and pulp]
Pinch of sea salt

dash cayenne

1-2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs (optional)

3-4 tablespoons raw cocoa powder (or to taste)

Water-enough so blender will run smoothly,
about 1/4 cup or a little more

1 teaspoon of dried or fresh orange zest (add last and
just pulse blender or stir in)
DIRECTIONS
In a blender, blend well. Put in ramekins and refrigerate.
Tastes even better the day after you make it.

Variation: This recipe tastes wonderful without the
chocolate in it as well, it tastes like vanilla pudding!
But it’s a very GREEN vanilla pudding.

Note: I grated the zest the night before I used it and I
left it out for the night to dry in the air. It was perfect
the next day. If you are crazy for the taste of orange
zest you could use more than 1 teaspoon as
this was fairly subtle- you could taste it, but it wasn’t
overwhelming. It was 1 teaspoon when fresh,
when dry the volume is reduced.

Note: When you put the pudding in each ramekin,
smooth the top with a spatula and clean around the edge
with a paper towel so your presentation is pristine.
Cashew Crème

1 cup cashews
3-4 dates or more to taste
1/2 vanilla bean (see below)
DIRECTIONS
Soak cashews overnight. Drain. Put in blender with
just enough water to allow blender to do its job.
Add only enough water to make it smooth,
then add dates one at a time, or agave syrup or
maple syrup to sweeten, taste for sweetness. You
want to achieve a fluffy whipped-cream type consistency.
I like it best when vanilla is added too.
The same sweetener notes as in pudding recipe
apply to this one..tho the dates really assure
a just-right consistency.

1 cup of cashews will make 1 1/2 or more cups of cashew
crème. If using dates, start with 3-4 then keep tasting
until it’svsweet enough. Use 1/2 vanilla bean or 1
teaspoon vanilla extract, or approx 1/2 teaspoon
raw vanilla powder-all to taste.

Funny Stories
I was living in North Carolina when I developed this recipe
and it took quite a few trials before I felt it was awesome
and perfect. I didn’t want to eat it all! I was friendly
with quite a few of my neighbors in this conservative,
meat eating, pig roasting community.

The real test of this pudding’s taste was proven
with two of my friends husbands. One of them ate
no vegetables at all! (I was puzzled by
this because he was a very good looking man
who seemed very healthy and athletic and trim)
and he would never eat it if he knew it contained
avocado in it. (ok avos technically a fruit maybe
he sometimes ate fruit but never an avocado)

So I brought it over in it’s little colorful ramekins
and they enjoyed it for dessert, the report is he loved it!
And never suspected a thing!

Similar story with another friends rather elderly husband
who was very fussy about food and not interested in
anything healthy either. He was used to pudding made with
milk. He loved it! She eventually bought a blender from me
so she could sneak healthy food into him!

So this pudding has passed the SAD eaters test with
flying colors;safe to bring to a church pot luck!

Another reasonably simple recipe brought to you by
your friend Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet

Also posted in Recipes | Leave a comment

Mongering and Panic

By Nomi | Published: March 18, 2011

RE: the Fear Mongering and Panic about the Nuclear Plant Situation in Japan

A voice of reason, this note is from a friend of a friend who works at a nuclear power

plant here in California, His background is Nuclear Engineering/Bio Medical Sciences.

I am not going to mention his name because I did not ask his permission to print this as I don’t directly know him. I am just really -I don’t know quite what word to use? Annoyed? Aggravated? Disgusted? Shocked? Appalled at the news coverage that is just engendering fear and this includes the natural health world. I hope that this scientists opinion and the websites her recommends calms everybody down.

I would not want to think that the run on iodine and other substances is due to human greed. People trying to make a buck by creating fear.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan

There are six units at Fukushima Daiichi. I say that because

there are four more units at nearby Fukushima Daini.

Most folks haven’t heard anything about them because they

shutdown and have been maintained in a successful, uneventful

shutdown since the earthquake.

All the operating Daiichi units shutdown when the earthquake

occurred, along with several other nuclear plants in Japan.

The problems began when the plants lost offsite power due

to the earthquake – power lines were downed so electrical

power for equipment was not available from outside sources

(like other power plants). Of course this was true for much

of the surrounding area including hospitals, businesses,

homes, etc. Nuclear plants have backup diesel generators

to provide emergency power in the event of the loss of offsite

power. The diesels did start up immediately to provide

power but were then tripped off themselves. The reason for

this is unclear to me – I’ve heard two stories: one that the

tsunami wiped out the diesel fuel tanks or two: that the

tsunami wiped out the cooling system for the diesels so they

couldn’t operate (like the required cooling for your car’s engine).

In either case, the diesels were no longer operable so the

entire plant was under what is called a Station Blackout.

Nuclear reactor fuel must be cooled even after the reactor

is “off” or shutdown. Think of an electric range. When you

turn the dial on an electric range to zero, the heating elements

stay quite hot and take time to cool. Similarly the nuclear

reactor requires significant cooling for some time period even

when the reactor is shutdown. Without the cooling, pressure

can build up and the water in the system can reach boiling.

The worst thing that can happen is that you have insufficient

water and you “uncover” the fuel so that there is little heat

removal. The fuel can then reach high temperatures and

“melt.” Even though it doesn’t really melt, the fuel is then

damaged to the point that very high amounts of radioactivity

can be released.

Systems should have been available to provide cooling water

to the fuel. However, with limited power supplies, plant

operators have had to reduce pressure by venting the

systems so that the pressure was low enough so water

from firefighting equipment could be forced in. They’ve

resorted to seawater because the plant fresh water supplies

have been exhausted, perhaps mostly boiling off to steam.

Once they vented the system, hydrogen gas that was

generated in the primary system traveled outside the

primary containment structure into the reactor building.

This type of reactor does not have big concrete domes like

most plants in the US but instead has a much smaller

containment structure surrounded by robust concrete

structures and a building with a fairly ordinary roof.

The hydrogen gas accumulated in the reactor building

and ignited at Unit 1 and the next day at Unit 3. Those

were the spectacular explosions seen on TV. Along with

the explosions, some radioactivity was released to the

environment. Radiation doses outside the plant boundaries

were not high and were what is commonly described as “puff”

releases since the gases are puffs that dissipate quickly.

Not a lingering exposure.

Then this morning (Tuesday) Unit 2 suffered a similar

hydrogen explosion that some believe may have damaged

the primary containment, something that had not occurred

at Units 1 and 3. Lastly, Unit 4 that was in a shutdown condition

before all this began, appears to have had a fire associated with

lubricating oil for some pumps, not a fire associated with fuel

as some media have speculated. That fire reignited today

but was put out after about 30 minutes.

Consequences

As long as the fuel stays cold and covered with water as is

currently being done with seawater, there should be little

or no more significant releases of radioactivity. Hence the

Japanese authorities request that nearby residents

(out to about 20 miles) stay indoors instead of evacuating.

People who lived close to the plant (~12 miles) were previously

evacuated. The few reports of actual measurements indicate

that radiation exposure rates at the plant boundaries have not

reached any levels that present concern for health hazards and

have been reduced significantly. The onsite doses have been

high and that’s why “non-essential” personnel from the plants

were also evacuated. The only thing I’ve read so far about

workers is that one worker received about 10 rem, twice the

US regulatory limit, and a couple of dozen have been contaminated –

and cleaned up with soap and water. Contamination like this is

not a significant