Nutrition-Dense Meals: An Example
As raw foodist, we are often asked questions along the line: "Where do you get you protein? And your calcium, if you eat no dairy products? Aren't you susceptible to anemia?" So on and so forth.
After watching one of Kevin Gianni's videos this morning, I decided to put his idea to the test, using vegetables from my garden. He asked whether it is possible to obtain all the calcium and iron required from raw foods, or should we supplement.
This is what I came up with: a salad and dressing (inspired strongly by that of Dr. Karin Dina's typical daily salad recipe she volunteered on the video). In fact, it's just about the same, except for a few ingredients: I didn't feel like soaking almonds and had no bok choy. This is delicious, simple and provides an astonishing amount of nutrients, all in one meal! Okay, one LARGE meal!!! It seems a lot just like that, but if you actually make it, you'll see it's not that bad. When all is said and done, and you've polished off this wonderful salad, you'll have consumed 83% of your RDA in calcium and 79% of that of iron, not to mention 1317% of you RDA of vitamin A, 858% of that of vitamin C in a 534 calorie meal!!! Can't beat those numbers! Wow!
Add a green smoothie (or green juice) for breakfast, and you are sure to cover all your nutritional needs. And we haven't had lunch yet! Raw and living foods are so awesome, aren't they?
Salad recipe
4 cups chopped kale
4 cups chopped lettuce (I used romaine)
1 cucumber, cubed
1 large carrot, shredded
2 cubed tomatoes
5 large leaves of basil, chiffonnade
Arrange in a big bowl.
Dressing:
3 Tbsp. soaked sesame seeds
Juice of ½ of a lemon
1/2 Tbsp flax seeds
1 cup chopped zucchini
Purée everything in a blender until smooth. Add water if you wish. Pour over salad.
Nutrient Information:
The salad on its own (no dressing) provides:
1312% of RDA of vitamin A
805% of RDA of vitamin C
53% each of RDA of calcium and of iron
324 calories
4g of fat
17g of protein
The dressing on its own provides:
5% of RDA of vitamin A
53% of RDA of vitamin C
30% of RDA of calcium
26% of RDA of iron
210 calories
16 g of fat
8 g of protein
