Raw spaghetti and meatballs?

What if you could enjoy some of your favorite dishes — even dessert — but be confident they were a superior choice for your health? Tastes great and totally healthy is a darn winning combination, in my opinion.

My most recent investigation into this has involved raw meals. Yes, I know – probably you’re thinking a raw meal equals attempting to crunch happily away on a carrot and call it dinner! Or, worse, ingesting some hunk of raw protein. It’s neither.

While, of course, you could eat a bunch of raw veggies or fruit and call it a meal, there’s so much more you can do. Since I got curious about what a raw diet for humans involves, (I already feed my pets raw, but, no, I really don’t want a raw chicken quarter for dinner!), I’ve had some incredible meals.

My first official raw meal was raw spaghetti and meatballs my daughter made. She, her boyfriend and I sat down at the table and just looked at our plates awhile. It looked great, especially since my daughter is a whiz at presentation. But raw spaghetti and meatballs?? Finally, I took a deep breath, announced: “I’m going in” and took a bite. Almost reminiscent of the old Life cereal commercials with Mikey (okay, now you know how old I am), I said, in delight, “Wow, this is really good!” It was like the others said: “Hey, she likes it!” And then – only then – did they dive in!

What’s raw spaghetti and meatballs? The spaghetti is finely-shredded zucchini; the sauce was sun-dried tomatoes and more; the meatballs were made out of walnuts and mushrooms. It was excellent, let me tell you. And satisfying.

Another of my favorites is raw pad thai. It’s healthy, delicious and really fast to make. (If you want to experiment, here’s the recipe I used and can highly recommend: >http://vegetarian.about.com/od/rawfoodsrecipes/r/padthaisalad.htm).

An amazing dessert is a key lime pie that my daughter makes. Yes, raw — nothing cooked, including the crust, and with all natural sweeteners, too. I don’t care much for regular key lime pie, but I love this one.

In the morning, raw pancakes are my current favorite breakfast. All you have to do is mash up some ripe bananas, stir in some unsweetened coconut and sprinkle in a little cinnamon. Spread this mix as small circles on Teflex sheets and dehydrate at around 105 degrees overnight. (You apparently also can just let them sit in the sun a few hours.) Top with some fresh fruit in the morning, and it’s amazing!

As mentioned a few posts ago, I also have been making my own fresh almond milk. Just soak raw almonds overnight, then rinse them, and blend with approximately 4 cups of water. Use more or less to your taste. I like to sweeten mine with some dates I soak overnight (plus I use the water from those) or honey. Add some cinnamon, and this makes a filling, delicious drink. It’s great on my oatmeal as well. And this tastes TONS better than any  packaged almond milk I’ve purchased.

Why eat raw? In short, raw foodists say raw preserves the living enzymes in our foods, which helps our bodies stay healthier and fight off disease. Many people who have gone to a raw diet claim they’ve lost pounds easily, reversed disease, eliminated aches and pains, and even just feel calmer and happier. Their skin glows; they look younger; they have more energy.

So, all of that made me curious. While I’m pretty sure I’d never go 100 percent raw, it’s nice to gain some extra choices of meals, snacks and desserts that I love the taste of and know are good for my health. It always helps to try new ideas because you will find things you like that easily replace other, unhealthier habits. Being open to change helps you create the small steps that will move you forward in your quest to regain great health.

And, as a bonus, with warmer weather upon lots of us, making a raw meal doesn’t heat up the kitchen or you. The cooler temperature dishes make a perfect summer night meal when heavier, warmer things don’t seem appealing.

If you already eat raw, I’d love to hear what you enjoy, what your experience has been and anything else you care to share. If you don’t, but decide to try it out, let me know what you think!

(And, yes, you even can enjoy the delicious Caprese Salad pictured as a raw dish, too. Simply layer tomatoes, fresh basil, cold-pressed olive oil and raw cheese you can buy or even easily make from cashews. Yum!)