51. MAKE-AHEAD SALADS

Before Shannon married, she ate a vegan diet with much raw food. Now her husband Gordon eats the plant food she prepares, but he doesn’t show interest in raw food—he wants cooked, satisfying meals. Since they are both busy with school and work, they mostly cook in the crockpot.

The best time to encourage a husband to eat healthy is when he and his wife are newly married. If Shannon cooks to please Gordon, he could turn into a potatoes and gravy man who doesn’t eat raw vegetables and fruit. Now in the early stages of marriage, she can use her feminine charm to incorporate healthy food into their diet. 

Raw food should be incorporated into the diet because it contains the full vitamin and mineral content of the food. These nutrients are destroyed or greatly reduced by cooking.

Perhaps the most important reason to eat raw food is because of the enzymes. Our bodies manufacture their own bank of enzymes, which perform just about every function needed to build and maintain life and health. Cooking destroys 100 percent of the enzymes in food, which means the body must call on its own supply to digest cooked food. Perhaps that is the reason for the aging process.

Raw food helps to keep weight under control. It is easier to digest which gives more energy. Many cancer victims have healed or at least prolonged their lives by eating raw food.

I suggest Shannon plan for a daily salad or raw veggies and dip when she makes her weekly menu. As she and Gordon clean the kitchen after their evening meal, perhaps she can entice him to help her prepare the next day’s main course in the crockpot and cut up a salad. She can plan ahead to make the raw hummus or make regular cooked hummus or other dips, which is both a tasty and easy way to eat raw veggies.   

How fortunate for Gordon to have a wife interested in health! As she influences him they will help us spread the message of the plant-food diet: GOOD FOR THE HEALTH< GOOD FOR THE ANIMALS AND GOOD FOR THE LAND!

Chop the salad ingredients of the following recipes, make the dressing and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. 

ITALIAN SALAD
3 c fresh tomatoes cubed
2-3 c English cucumbers peeled and sliced
1/2 sweet onion diced small
1 1/2 c broccoli flowerettes
Dressing:
1/4 c cold water
1/4 c  olive oil
1 t onion powder
1 clove garlic
2-3 dates soaked
sea salt/tamari to taste
3 T nutritional yeast flakes
Blend the dressing, pour over vegetables and marinate one hour:
Final Ingredients:
1 1/2 large avocados cubed
1 t herb seasoning such as Herbamare
1/8 c fresh lemon juice
1/2 T basil
1 T oregano
1/2 t sea salt
Add to the salad and serve.

SPRING THAI SALAD
2 c spiralyzed or thinly sliced cucumbers
1 red bell pepper cut into matchsticks
2 c grated carrot
1 c pea shoots
3 c chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 c finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro
Dressing:
1/2 avocado
1/2 c water
3 T lime juice
2 T fresh cilantro
2 T fresh basil
2 pitted dates
1/2-inch peeled ginger root
1/4 t salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
Blend the dressing ingredients and pour over the
salad vegetables.

ZUCCHINI SALAD
1 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 t sea salt
2 c cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 c fresh chopped basil
3 zucchini grated lengthwise
Mix olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt in dish
and set aside. Place tomatoes and chopped basil
in bowl. Add olive oil mixture. Mix and
refrigerate one hour. Toss grated zucchini with
the chilled tomato mixture.

RAW VEGAN HUMMUS
1 1/2 c dry garbanzo beans
2 T tahini
1 t sea salt
2 lemons juiced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 c water
1 pinch paprika
Soak beans 24 hours then let set 2-3 days until sprouts
are about 1/2-inch. Rinse beans two times a day.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and
let stand one minute. Place sprouted beans in hot water
and let set for one minute. Drain. This is a necessary
step. Place beans in a food processor. Add tahini, lemon
juice and garlic and process until smooth. Let set 5
minutes then blend again adding water if mixture is
too thick.