With the announcement that Steve Jobs died today at 58 of cancer, I had to ask myself why people are resigning themselves to death when they are so intelligent in other areas. I too believed there was no cure for cancer until I found out that most cancer is preventable and reversable. (see Forks over Knives and Max Gersons book). But, I have to admit, despite all this knowledge, in the rainy chill, my raw food soul craved soups comforting warmth.
When I first started learning about raw food last year, I thought I would never eat anything warm again. I took a raw food class where salad was converted to soup. The broth was hot and when it cooled down enough that you could touch it, we added the veggies. But I am a soup connoisseur and I have to say, I felt I was settling, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make for nutritions sake. A year later and many hundreds of raw recipes under my belt, I awoke at 5:30 a.m. having listened to the rain fall all night whilst dreaming up raw food soup recipes that would satisfy.
Two of my favorite soups are a coconut milk Thai soup and a tomato minestrone. My mission today was to make a raw version just as good as the cooked version. I started off with 9 large fresh young thai coconuts. I carefully scraped the meat from each one and blended it with the coconut water until I had over a gallon of coconut milk. But this milk did not a broth make. We used fresh ginger and garlic and vitamixed it with a bit of the milk until we had a fragrant broth. I then used soaked sesame seeds and sunflower seeds with coconut milk and vitamixed it until it was a thick creamy rue, like the one I used to make with butter and flour. I folded my rue and seasoned broth into the coconut milk. I grated cauliflower and carrots into short strands and added them to my broth so I had a creamy, hearty soup. I chopped Portabello mushrooms and massaged them with salt and then I diced red bell peppers very finely. I kept these garnishes separate. I added berbere seasoning, grated lemon rind and salt to the soup until it was perfectly seasoned. A slight warm spice with a cool sweet taste from the coconut. Topped with the mushrooms and bell peppers, my Thai soup was beautiful and tasty. Everything my cooked soup used to be, except not warm.
On to the tomato minestrone. Rachel was in charge of this one. We used fresh tomatoes from Smith Family Farms and made a tomato sauce. She blended parsley in with a portion of the tomato sauce. She made her rue with almonds, lemon juice, chick pea miso, garlic, salt, black pepper and basil. We folded this into the sauce and it made a hearty broth. We added finely minced leeks and grated cauliflower to the soup. Next, we diced fresh green beans into small pieces and massaged them thoroughly with a touch of salt and folded them in. Lastly, we added some hot water to our tomato soup, making sure we could still touch it with our hands. Our heavenly tomato minestrone was complete.
Dehydrated veggie bread strips were our crackers. We also cooked some potatoes and quinoa for anyone who wanted them added to the soup. Many customers chose not to eat the soup because I think they felt it was commonplace. The connoisseur in me wanted to say "but this is soup, liquid libation to quench your soul." I refrained and secretly delighted in combining the two soups together for a blush soup that peaked at perfection. As each customer ordered, we warmed the soup so we could touch the bowl and the soup reached a cozy 110 to 115 degrees. Warm soup on a cold rainy day. Could there be anything better? No, not if with every bite your food whispers nutrition and keeps cancer and other disease causing free radicals at bay.
I must live well past 58 to see my two babies grow up. How fortunate I am that we run a raw vegan cafe and my lifes work is creating nutritious, delicious food. I think sadly of the visionaries like Steve Jobs whom we've lost to cancer -- but thank God that I left the corporate train behind to care for what matters most in life; my health and the health of those around me.
Encouraging you not to be such a visionary that you lose sight of the basic things in life: health, love and family,
I remain your fellow passenger on the SOL (Simple Organic Living) Train.
Ta-Raw Hamilton
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