Ode to Cruciferous Vegetables

If it's all about texture, then who can hate cruciferous vegetables? I mean, who hate crunch? I hear a lot about how people loathe broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, bok choy. Poor brussel sprouts is a particular target for haters. If you don't have teeth, I get it. But most of us love something crunchy. Here are a few recipes to help self-proclaimed raw vegetable haters to come to the light side.

Chop Chop Cruciferous Slaw

Use all or some of the following:
cabbage
Red cabbage
broccoli
cauliflower
radishes
carrots
cucumbers
red and green bell peppers
celery
carrots
jicama
turnip

The trick is to chop the veggies up into very small, not quite minced, pieces, so that whomever is eating it can't distinguish the different vegetables--almost like a colesalaw. The add some or all of the following:

sunflower seeds
glazed nuts of any kind
raisins
grape tomatoes (sliced)
grapes (sliced)

Mix with your favorite coleslaw dressing. Or try Bobby Flay's recipe.

Broccoli Zucchini Hummus
(Thanks to

1 1/2 cups raw broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups raw zucchini, chopped
1/3 cup raw sesame tahini
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp organic mustard (totally optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tbsp lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper

Place the veggies into your processor and process till finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients, and blend till smooth. This will mean stopping a few times to scrape If the mix is too thick add a thin stream of water or more lemon juice to thin it out.

Don't be scared by live food

Living raw--as in what we eat, not what we wear--has been a continual experiment in our kitchen. So much so that it is becoming a preferred way of life because it fits into our belief that we should live as close to the earth as possible. Simply. In other words, more is too much.
   We launched into a mostly raw diet last September, but thanks to this hard, long winter, a sad lack of commitment and a dearth of fresh and tasty vegetables, we fell back into old habits. As a rule, we don't eat meat, but we did eat a lot of cooked foods--hearty soups and vegetable bakes, all natural and gf (gluten free) but not raw.
   Even though the outdoor climate isn't cooperating, it's clear that the climate somewhere else is. Lots of organic, tempting-looking vegetables and fruits have magically appeared at the co-op and grocery stores. I say magically because I know damn well that they aren't what an environmentally-conscious person such as myself should be buying. They are "oily foods." (Because they have to be transported here either by truck, train, plane or cargo ship, their travel costs, both environmentally and economically, are exorbitant.)
   In fact, Barbara Kingsolver writes in her book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," that "a quick way to improve food-related fuel economy would be to buy a quart of motor oil and drink it." Her point is that "Americans consume so much oil, that if every American are just one meal of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels (not gallons) every week." In order to appease my guilty conscience that I am buying out of season produce from places thousands of miles away, I tell myself they appear by magic. (More on this later, but suffice to say, we as a household make it point to purchase all our edibles from local sources, including dairy for my son when he is home from college.)
   Back to lunch. Since I wrote my initial article in Lake Erie Lifestyle March issue (click here and go to pages 12-13) about our foray into raw veganism, my husband has been fielding a lot of questions about it, since many of those at his workplace are fascinated but somewhat trepidatious. The photo above shows how easy it can be. You don't have to cook vegetables for them to be delicious, as any crudite tray will tell you.
   I marinated the raw veggies above in simple cold-pressed EVOO, added seasonings like fresh oregano, basil and parsley, some Himalayan crystal salt, and let set overnight. They soak up the marinade and create a nice, tender yet crisp snap when eaten. The dehydrated tomatoes were easier than that. Adding some apple cider vinegar to the leftover marinade, I sliced the tomatoes into thin slices, let them soak in the marinade for 10 minutes, then placed them in the dehydrator over night. The result is an amazingly delicious, crunchy-chewy burst of zesty tomato. Mix all the ingredients together with baby spinach, fresh romaine, some nuts and dried fruit if you like and you don't even need a dressing. We added them with homemade pesto and raw tomato sauce to some raw veggie rounds I made for some living pizzas.
   Eating live food doesn't have to frighten you. Just think of it as eating your vegetables and liking it.