Raw for a Day

If you’d like a raw adventure, here’s an experiment to try. Turn your back on your toaster, microwave and stove and eat uncooked foods for a day. The menu below was developed for travelling or for those days when you need to cut preparation to a minimum. To meet recommended calcium intakes without milks or supplements, greens are in every meal, even breakfast! Figs, oranges, tahini and greens – lettuce, snow peas, and broccoli – all are rich in calcium. Tahini and orange juice can be stirred or shaken together to make a dressing or dip. Fresh raw corn is delicious. Eating this way takes a while; when time is short, blending some items can help. A mini blender allows you to create smoothies, raw soups and dressings and dips while travelling. Following the menu, you’ll find an impressive nutritional analysis and caloric variations.

Breakfast
2 cups raspberries or other berries
3 figs
4 cups romaine lettuce
or
1 blue-green smoothie (blueberries, banana, and greens)

Lunch and snacks throughout the day 
2 1/2 cups (2 packages) snow peas or whole pea pods
1 cup cherry tomatoes
4 oranges
3 bananas or other fruit
Trail mix: 1/3 cup walnuts, 1 Brazil nut, 1/4 cup currants

Supper 
Corn: 2 cobs
1 cup each: broccoli florets, carrot sticks and zucchini
Veggie dip: 1/4 cup sesame tahini mixed with 1/4 cup orange juice (or use Lemon Tahini Dressing below)

Nutritional analysis: calories: 2057; protein: 60 g; fat: 64 g; carbohydrate: 361 g; sugar: 167 g; dietary fibre: 78 g; calcium: 1025 mg; iron: 21 mg; magnesium: 676 mg; potassium: 7087 mg; sodium: 262 mg; zinc: 11 mg; thiamin: 3.3 mg; riboflavin: 2.0 mg; niacin: 32 mg; folate: 1108 mcg; vitamin B12: 0 mcg; vitamin A: 1874 mcg; vitamin C: 838 mg; omega-3 fatty acids: 4.3 g.
Percentage of calories from protein 11%; from fat 25%; from carbohydrate 64%.
For a 1600-1700-calorie menu, omit the currants, one banana and one cob of corn.
For a 2500-calorie menu, increase fruits, nuts and veggies throughout the day by 25 percent according to your preferences.

Lemon tahini dressing
1/2 cupv sesame tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp tamari
1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/2 cup water (or less for a dip)
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Sunday June 5: Learn more about raw food and nutrition at a raw food event in the Fraser Valley. “Raw Food Diets: What’s True, What’s Not?”
Can we survive–and thrive on a raw food diet? Do our bodies need the enzymes from plant foods? Are cooked foods toxic? Is food combining important for optimal digestion and health? For maximum benefit, must our diet be 100 percent raw? What does a nutritionally adequate raw food diet look like?

Raw dinner 6pm. Vesanto Melina’s presentation 7-8:30pm. 
Trinity Memorial United Church, 33737 George Ferguson Way, Abbotsford. (See www.meetup.com/Raw-in-Abbotsford). $5 per person if you bring food to share (raw, vegan, preferably organic and enough for 8 people). Guests may come without a dish and pay $10 per person, but they must let hosts know they are coming. Call Monika at            604.853.7328       or email monikaserwa@shaw.ca

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Vesanto Melina is a dietitian and co-author of nutrition classics Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, Becoming Raw, Raising Vegetarian Children, the Food Allergy Survival Guide and the Raw Food Revolution Diet. For personal consultations, phone             604-882-6782       or visitwww.camd58.sg-host.com