Cooking Class

At the urging of a friend, I went to a cooking class yesterday. Or, actually, umm, more of an UN-cooking class! I've never taken any kind of cooking class before and this one was a lot of fun, even if it was a cuisine I was almost completely unfamiliar with prior to walking in the door. The cuisine in question is raw food. WHAT? RAW FOOD? What in the world? You mean like salads and fruit, right? Well, as I learned, not exactly. There are real recipes involved and you can make a lot more than just salads. The only thing different from, say, vegan cooking is that the food isn't heated above 112 degrees. (I think 112 is the magic number.) Other than that, the sky is the limit and the creativity is endless. I was amazed at what we made during the course of the 4 hour class! I didn't like everything, I have to admit. I'm not a fan of the two "green smoothies" we made; blech. I loved, however, Mock Salmon Pate, Broccoli Soup, and the Date/Nut Torte. Broccoli Soup! You'd never know it wasn't loaded with cream and all sorts of unhealthy ingredients, and it was served slightly warm since the friction of the blender blades provided a small amount of heat. The creaminess was courtesy of almonds and avocado, which you couldn't taste in the finished soup, and a variety of seasonings. I'm not posting the recipe (sorry) since I don't want to violate any copyright laws, (the class recipes are from Alissa Cohen) but if you click on the link for the "Homemade" blog on my "blogs I like" list, Shira has some raw food recipes on there. (I found Shira's blog before I took the class but didn't pay much attention to her recipes- sorry, Shira!!- until my eyes were opened to the possibilities of this type of food in the class. Tasting is believing!)

This doesn't mean I'm going raw or even vegetarian, but it does mean I have a wider variety of healthy recipes to choose from when I'm writing out our weekly menu plan. (And just because I'm not posting my plans doesn't mean I'm not still planning; I am! It's an essential component to maintaining my weight loss.) So, if someone mentions a raw food diet, don't roll your eyes like I used to do, ask for recipes!!!