I was recruited to teach vegetarian cooking at my church, but I can't get myself to teach anything that's cooked. I know too much now to do that. Plus, I've been raw for 3 years and don't want to prepare anything I wouldn't eat. This morning people were asking me about it and they're looking forward to learning so they can loose weight.

I'm looking for your favorite recipes that I might use. I don't usually use recipes myself which is why the plea for help. I don't have a dehydrator and some ingrediants are hard to get, like kale, because I live in Panama. Most of my food preparation involves mono meals and salads of what ever I have in the house. But I can't teach that for 6 classes.

The other thing about my students is they eat a Panamanian/West Indian diet which consists mainly of rice, beans, fried meat or fish and a little salad and platano. Most of them have high blood pressure, diabetes and other health issues. So some of my classes will be about the raw food diet and health. Maybe I should ask on the main form about that. I know a lot, but want to be sure what I know is right.

Please help. Classes begin in three weeks.

Thanks,

Mona

Mona,
While you may want to teach a 100% raw food class, when dealing with the public who lives on traditional foods and never was introduced to the ideas, you may want to consider teaching transitional raw menus instead. Include some cooked and lots of raw items to eat. I would teach about the value of a high raw diet and how to incorporate raw food into every day vegetarian dishes or meals.

You can spend a class teaching about sprouting and demonstrate easy sprouting methods ( I teach using a big bowl) using dried lentils, garbanzos and/or mung beans. If you have alfalfa seeds they are always fun to demo. Make a prepared batch of all your sprouts at home ahead of time so you can have your students taste the flavors of sprouted legumes and the green sprouts that you are teaching about.

Find out what local salad vegetables are in abundance in Panama and easy and cheap to purchase. Create an interesting main course salad with the ingredients with an added a cooked sprouted bean to the dish. My favorite bean to use when preparing food for non raw eaters is sprouted garbanzos. I sprout them for 2-3 days till they have tails and then I lightly steam them so they no longer taste "raw". Most people love the fresh taste and they are much more highly enzymatic than regular boiled garbanzos. You could also throw in some nuts or seeds that are easy to find, and even fruits or chopped dried fruits if they go well with the dish.
Create a salad dressing that would blend well with the flavors of the garbanzos and veggies you are using and introduce it all as an almost 100% raw salad dish that's super healthy for a lite dinner or lunch. I trust if you are being asked to teach cooking classes you can design a salad dressing.

I would also teach a class on nut and seed pates. You can find a gazillion recipes for interesting ones in almost every raw recipe book you out there. One of my transitional favorites to make is raw "pizza" using cooked eggplant or zucchini slices. I slice them thinly or in rounds and drizzle with olive oil and Italian spices and bake till soft in my oven. I cool slightly then top the cooked vegetables with my raw almond pate that's been seasoned to taste like pizza. I use sun dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, oregano and put in fresh basil leaf sometimes . You can't really go wrong with pizza anywhere. But if you are feelng creative, I'm sure you can create a Panamanian/ West Indian flavored almond pate using the flavors of the community and top off the eggplant and zucchini the same way.

Another class that you definately ought to teach is a raw /transitional dessert class. Pick your favorites. Easy to make nuts and dried fruit balls are great, and you could add cocoa powder and dried coconut to the mix for a treat that would delight anyone. You could also use raw honey instead of the dried fruits. I personally love teaching a raw apple pie, but as I live in the U.S. where apple pie is a real favorite, that makes sense here. You may want to make a raw Panamanian fruit pie... You can start by putting together a raw nut and dried fruit pie crust, create a raw nut cream with raw cashews or macadamia nuts and sweeten with dates/honey/agave. Pour cream into the crust and top with local Panama favorite fruits all chopped and arranged beautifully inside.
I would bring a prepared one into the class for all to taste and teach step by step how to make one in the class for all to see.

I would also definately order a raw cookbook or two if you haven't already. You have enough time to get one within the next three weeks before your class starts... Every teacher needs at least one good one for inspiration. My all round personal favorite is Nomi Shannon's The Raw Gourmet. She has her own web site as well.

For your other remaining classes I would veganize a few local West Indian /Panama favorites and kick up the health benefits as best as you could.

peace
joy
best wishes
i breathe in
i breathe out
Bikini

Hi - my first post woohoo!
I have been moving toward raw eating and I feel so much better!

One of my favs is sort of a gaspacho (i had this tonight for dinner):

2 Ears of corn - cut off the cob
1 avocado, cubed
3 tomatos, diced
1 tomato, strained (i squish mine thru a cheese grater! minus the skin)
cucumber, cubed optional
big handful of cilantro
1/2 lemon or more to taste

EXCELLENT!!!

Also a tabouli would be yummy! if you can get the ingredients. Soak 3/4 cup bulgar wheat grain (other grains would work too) for 20 minutes in water, then gently squeeze out the excess water. Add 4-8 cups of chopped parsley, 1 cup of chopped mint, 1 clove garlic, juice from 3 large lemons, 1 chopped tomato, olive oil & salt. Some people also add scallions or cucumber. Play with the quantities-it is not set in stone.
Fabulous with flat bread, also good wrapped in lettuce or just eaten out of the bowl.

Hope this helps
-Melanie

Thanks for the great ideas, Joy. I love the idea of sprouts. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that sprouts don't do well in the tropics. Sprouting was easy for me when I lived in the States, but I can't sprout much of anything here. Shame because I miss it. Thanks for suggesting it.

I also love the idea of dessert class. I've never made a pie, but I'm in the process of testing recipes so I'll try it. I have an Ice Cream recipe that I plan on using, so far. I would love to get 5 more easy dessert recipes, at the very least. What's your apple pie recipe? They love apple pie.

My husband thinks I should do transitional cooked veggies, too. I figured none of these women will become raw as a result of what I teach, but they may include some of the recipes with their cooked meals and eat better as a result. That's the most I can hope for.

Melanie, your gaspacho looks great! I'll try it this week. Thanks. Also, Mediterranean food is among my favorite. Definitely want that.

Thanks,

Mona

How about teaching them to make coleslaw, here's 2 ideas:
1. cabbage grated, yellow pepper if you like or finely chopped celery & fresh pineapple chopped - mix together

2. red cabbage with tomatoes and oranges

Another idea is a healthy pasta dish - if you have a spiral slicer take that & show them how to use and expect them to want to buy one. or peel w/veggie peeler and slice with knives (now NON-rawbies may want to steam thiers, my daughter did at first)
Simple pasta sauce - go for tomatoes, chives, basil etc in blender (they can warm if they must) OR a pesto sauce (personally I wouldn't want the oil - but it's probly more healthy than some stuff) look around for a good raw pesto sauce, sorry I don't have one.

Desserts: Teach them how to make an display a lovely fruit salad bowl OR teach them to make blended 'ice cream' from frozen bananas & fruit, they can mold the creation in custard cups and make a fig/carob sauce to drizzle on at serving time!

Hope it helps,
Simply,
Lesa