Hello everyone! I was just wondering about green beans...I know they can be eaten raw, but was hoping that someone could give me some preparation ideas, just to make them more interesting. Smoothies? Marinated in something?

Also...raisins. I read on a raw food webpage about adding raisins to a salad. Are raisins a raw food? I've taken to adding apple to my salads, just to keep from getting bored and was thinking that if I can use raisins as well, that would be great.

And one more question...now that winter has set in, the fruit selection is not as great as it is in the summer. Can I use frozen fruit like berries and mangos, etc..for my smoothies?

Thanks in advance!

As to raisins (which are just dehydrated grapes), it depends on how you feel about eating dehydrated foods. Some dried fruits are dehydrated at temperatures that destroy enzymes, and that's why people dehydrate their own at lower temperatures at home. Others prefer grapes in their whole, fresh, natural form and don't eat any dehydrated foods at all. Another consideration is you may have discomfort from mixing a high sugar food with vegetables that take longer to digest, but maybe it wouldn't affect you at all - you can try it and see.

Of course, fresh is best, but many foods that have been sitting in a produce section of a grocery can have been picked a while ago. It is my understanding that frozen food still has its enzymes and are still good to use. I use frozen blueberries a lot. Yum!

Good luck on green bean ideas.


My favorite raw vegan

ive made this green bean casserole not that long ago, its a bit of work, but it really did taste very yummy i wouldnt eat it very often cuz its rich and the work involved but it makes a nice treat

.Green Bean Casserole
Submitted by daniefon on October 23, 2008 - 8:56amholidaysidethanksgiving
Average:
0.I am planning a totally raw Thanksgiving and have been experimenting with recipes. I am definitely using this one. Unfortunately the day I made it my camera batteries were dead. So this is a picture of a SAD version, but the raw version looks very similar.

Ingredients:

fresh green beans
1 batch mushroom soup, water reduced by half, (recipe below)
¼ cup red onion, sliced very thin
½ cup chopped mushrooms
2 pieces of your favorite onion bread, sliced into thin strips and dehydrated until crisp

Preparation:
1. I bought very fresh thin green beans and then cut them into small strips (French cut). You can dehydrate them a bit to soften them if you wish. Or, according to the comment below, you can freeze them, I am going to try that!
2. When you make the mushroom soup, cut the water to half the amount called for in the recipe in order to make it thicker.
3. Mix green beans, onion, mushrooms and soup.
4. Then top with the strips of onion bread. It can be warmed in the dehydrator if desired.


Classic Cream of Mushroom Soup
Submitted by bronwyn on October 10, 2008 - 6:13pmappetizercreameasyentreequicksaucesimplesoupBlender
Average:
4.5.Average: 4.5 (2 votes)
Servings: Serves 1-2
This tastes just like a classic cream of mushroom soup. Thick, creamy and delicious. The real version of this soup used to be my favourite when I was young. I just made this on a whim so the measurements are from memory and may not be accurate. Taste the soup as you’re making it to be sure the measurements are to your liking. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 cup Water
½ cup Sunflower Seeds, or more for desired consistency
¼ cup White Button Mushrooms, chopped fine
2 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast, optional
½ teaspoon Garlic
½ teaspoon Salt
1 dash Black Pepper

Preparation:
Blend the sunflower seeds with the water until you get a nice creamy smooth mixture. Then add the garlic, salt, yeast and pepper. Blend for a long time until slightly warm. Then, add the mushrooms and blend for about 10 seconds, just to spread them around.

Note: When I created this for the first time today I made the mistake of blending the mushrooms for a while with the soup and the flavour was much more pungent and the colour of the soup was grey, as you can see from the photo. It was still good but I know it would have been better to add them in at the last minute. You will want it to be a nice creamy off-white colour.
.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2009 11:14PM by Jgunn.

i just made a kale/walnut/green bean mix the other day with a fresh homemade cranberry dressing. altho i steamed the green beans for a couple minutes and then sauteed everything up for a couple minutes in coconut oi. but you could still eat it raw like that.
i like eating them by themselves raw too.

Has anyone ever sun dried their own raisins?

Thanks! Great ideas! I'm going to try that mushroom soup all on its own, as it sounds utterly delicious. I also think I'll try a kale/greenbean mixture too. I like kale, especially in my morning smoothie.

As for frozen fruits, if freezing does not kill the enzymes, I think I will use them more liberally in the winter time. So I assume that it's okay to freeze fruits in the summer to sort of stock up for winter time...correct me if I'm wrong.

I've been raw for a few months now and really loving it. Sometimes I'll still occasionally have some cooked veggies (steamed mostly) for dinner, but for the majority of the day I'm totally raw. I'm feeling good, losing weight...life is great.