VegetablesWhen my kids think of vegetables they make a funny face and say yuck! But there are a wide variety available and the more fresh they are the more tasty they will be. So be patient with your family if they are like mine. We’ve finally found a few that we can all enjoy and not make threats to get the kids to eat. It is a journey, but it is worth it. They are a critical part of the raw diet (and hopefully any diet). They provide the “meat” of the diet, a lot of the fiber, and of course living enzymes and nutrients. About Veggies
Generally the edible part of a plant is referred to as the vegetable. The definition is traditional rather than scientific. It is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of cooking and food preparation.
Normally, any herbaceous plant or plant part which is regularly eaten as food by humans would be considered to be a veggie. I was always taught growing up that if it had seeds inside it, it was a fruit. With the exception being a couple things classified as fruit-vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado (but I’m sure you can think of a few more). Mushrooms, though belonging to the biological kingdom Fungi, are also generally considered veggies in the retail industry. Nuts, seeds, grains, herbs, spices and culinary fruits, are not normally considered to be veggies, even though they are all parts of plants. So it gets kind of tricky. I am not going to try to argue over the classification of veggies, fruits, fungi, etc. I am simply going to list foods in generally accepted ways that make sense to me. So my apologizes if my classification is strange to you.
Dips and SaucesDips and Sauces are one of the easiest ways to sneak veggies into your families diet. You can take a bottle of marinara sauce and blend it with fresh tomatoes, spinach and/or zucchini. You can make raw dips for vegetables. Or you can make some of my favorite raw food recipes! Salsa Guac LiveSteamed VeggiesAre steamed veggies raw? Most raw foodists would say no, but I guess it depends on a few things:How long you steam them The temperature you steam them at The process you steam them -stove top, steamer, microwave Anything heated pasted 120 degrees is considered a dead food, so if you choose to steam, keep the temperature low. And steam them for a short period of time. Just a few minutes will soften the texture and change the flavor. And please do not use a microwave! If you are going to steam, use the stove top or an electric steamer. Microwaving food kills it, so avoid using it. Some people steam veggies out of habit, they just don't know other ways to prepare them. Learn about asparagus and how to serve it raw. Olive oil is a great topping to raw vegetables and salads.
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