One of the most common dairy foods that a lot of people like to eat is yoghurt. Even if they have eliminated a lot of dairy from their diet in the way of milk, cheese and ice-cream - yoghurt still has the perception of being a “health” food.

If you are sensitive to dairy then it doesn’t make sense to eat it, and with most yoghurt’s being made from pasteurised milk, with sugar, colours and flavours added, it is far from being “healthy”. There is often little to no good bacteria to speak of in many common supermarket yoghurts, in direct contrast to their marketing pitch.

Just recently I found out how to make a superb alternative to yoghurt that took about 1 minute in my blender - and is so healthy you can eat as much of it as you like!

There were three ingredients in my fruit “yoghurt” and that was paw paw, banana and handful of frozen raspberries, with a small amount of water so that it blended together into a creamy mousse like texture.

I poured mine over some strawberries and it was absolutely delightful!

Of course this type of yoghurt is not fermented and doesn’t contain any good bacteria - so we would need to look to other fermented products for that - such as sauerkraut or non-dairy kefir - but more about those another day!

In my theme of discussing foods starting with each letter of the alphabet, I had trouble with the letter “E” - if I have trouble with “E” then who knows what will happen when I get to X!!!

I thought about eggs, but I mainly talk about raw food here, and even though I have gone through stages of having raw eggs in my smoothies, it’s not for everyone.

Then I thought about Eggplants - but I’ve got to admit I’ve never actually used them in a raw food recipe, so I gave them a miss.  Same with Endive… and Eshallots are not very exciting…

So then I did a google search for foods starting with “E” - and except for those listed above, the only other food listed was Enchilada!  And I thought Enchilada was a dish, not a food in itself

But that got me thinking and I remembered in Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Food book, that there was a recipe for raw enchilada’s - so that is going to be our food of choice for the letter “E”.  

Tortilla:
4 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup orange juice
1 clove of garlic
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Spread on a teflex sheet about 1/8 of an inch thick and dehydrate at 105 degrees. When solid enough to turn (3 hours) flip onto mesh screen and dehydrate until the other side is solid (1-2 hours)

Filling:
4 cups mixed veggies, diced finely - red pepper, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Dash cumin
Dash chili powder

In a bowl, combine the filling ingredients and let sit for at least 1/2 an hour.

To assemble:
Slice the sheet of tortilla in half so you have two large pieces. Place the mixed vegetables down the centre of each tortilla in a long strip and roll the tortilla up, sealing the edge with a little water if needed. Place the rolls back into the dehydrator for 1/2 an hour to warm.

E is also for enjoying the extraordinarily excellent experience of exceptionally exquisite enticing enchilada’s!

Following on from my food related posts “The Amazing Apple”, “The Brilliant Blueberry” and “The Classic Chick-Pea”, comes “The Delicious Date” - one food that is a must in your household pantry.

Dates are the fruit from the Date Palm Tree and are cut from the palm and ideally sun-dried.  The palms are found in dry, tropical countries and the fruit when dried is very sweet. 

Saudi Arabia is known as the “Home of the Date Palm Tree” with the palms having a 10,000 year history in that region, and more than 300 different varieties of date grown.

Dates are little powerhouses of nutrition, being high in fibre, amino acids, minerals especially potassium, vitamins, and they are low in fat.  The carbohydrate content is high (65-85g per 100g), but the fibre assists in slowing down the absorption of the natural sugars, and often they are eaten with other foods such as nuts, which also balances the carbohydrate content.

Dates are a wonderful replacement for sugar in recipes that need some sweetness, and soaking them for a few hours softens them ready for blending. 

One of my favourite sweet recipes using dates is from Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Food book- and it literally takes 5 minutes to make!

Date Nut Torte:

Base of Tort:
2 cups raisins (or dates)
2 cups walnuts

Blend in a food processor until well blended and moist, it should be a fudgey consistency. Press into a pie plate about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Frosting:
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked
1/2 lemon, juiced

In a food processor, combine dates and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Spread frosting on top of the torte base.

For a firmer texture, refrigerate for a few hours.

Enjoy!

Now when we think of the chick pea, we don’t automatically think “yum, I’ve just got to have some of those!” 

But the humble chick pea is so full of goodness that we just can’t overlook it.

In many traditional cultures the chick pea is a staple of the diet, being ground into flour to produce the base for cous cous and as the main ingredient in falafels. 

Supplying a good amount of available protein, many people around the world rely on chick peas in combination with whole grains for their protein needs.

Chick peas contain high amounts of calcium, iron, phosphorous and potassium, as well as containing many other minerals and vitamins.

If you are including chick peas as part of a raw food diet, then you can’t go past sprouted chick peas in a salad, or hommus made from sprouted chick peas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of sea salt.

The hommus is great with dehydrated flax crackers or as a dip for carrot and celery sticks

Blueberries are one fruit that can often be found in my fridge whenever they are in season - they are tiny little round balls of goodness and like all berries, are very high in antioxidants.  My almost-4-year-old nephew Jack is also a big fan, and can sit down to a tub at a time of his favourite “blues”.

Blueberries have been shown in studies by the US Agricultural Research Service to contain chemicals that decreased the growth of cervical and breast cancer cells by a considerable percentage.  Blueberries also contain plenty of resveratrol, another potential anti-cancer nutrient.

Any fruits as high in antioxidants as Blueberries, are thought to reverse or slow down aging because of their ability to combat free radical damage.  Blueberries though have also been found to prevent urinary tract infections in a similar way to cranberry juice, and it is also claimed that eating Blueberries improves short term memory loss and enhances motor skills!  More reasons to enjoy these delicious treats.

Berry Blue Smoothie:

1 cup of fresh Blueberries
1/2 cup frozen Blueberries
2 bananas
250ml of coconut water

Blend and enjoy!