Almost Raw Pumpkin

Currently we have 2 old friends all the way from Russia visiting with us. It just happened that they are also into vegetarian and organic food. So here is the pumpkin recipe that we half-checked on the Internet and half-improvised.

We bought 4 small pie pumpkins, because they are the cutest of them all. We cut them around the stem to make lids and scraped out all the seeds from inside to make 4 little edible pots. We actually scraped some more flesh from inside to make the walls thinner. Whatever pumpkin flesh we got, was cut in smaller pieces and started our stuffing.

I think that stuffing can be made of all sorts of things (vegetables, grain, even meat). Ours included cabbage thinly sliced (arpx. 1/4 of a small head), 1 sweet pepper, 3 celery stalks, 1 large yellow onion, a cup of frozen corn, 2-3 table spoons of olive oil, 4-5 generous drops of apple cider vinegar, allspice, salt, pepper and whatever other spice you like. Our choice was a Mediterranean mix that included cumin. Oh, and we put some fennel seeds as well.

We then stirred the stuffing with our bare hands (a habit that I quite forgot lately) and then stuffed our orange jolly pots by pressing the stuffing in as hard as we could. A little-bit of stuffing that was left we just ate as it was. This gives me the right to say that it can be eaten raw. It seems that all the range of cooking fits this recipe and depends entirely on your taste and convictions.

We baked our pumpkins with lids on at 450 F (just keep in mind that my stove is old and might not heat too well). It was ready in 45 min, or we just were too curious to let it stay in the oven for more.

This is the result

It tasted great - hot, though stuffing was still crunchy. I tried it with goat yogurt and chopped dill, my friends preferred sour cream instead. I think preparation time is about 30 min. If you like to make a use of the seeds, you will need additional time to rinse them and spread on a paper towel to dry.
From our husbands we've received rave reviews.
 
And I wish all my friends to have a wonderful season!

Synthetic Vs. Real

In the Experience Life magazine I leisurely browsed through a discussion on advantages of vegan and paleo diets (Paleo Vs. Vegan). Frankly, both diets seem a bit extreme to me. When you live long enough you eventually see many fads disappoint and their enthusiasts impacted in regretful way. 

However one remark caught my attention. It was by Mark Hyman, MD, a family physician, the author of four New York Times bestsellers, and chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine,

‘I think the Paleo argument of no grains is interesting and has some merit. If you go with traditional grains, such as buckwheat, quinoa and millet, which have been around for 10,000 years, you’re better off. But gluten-containing refined grains, and modern dwarf wheat full of super-starch and super-gluten, can be problematic.’

Mentioning of dwarf wheat and its properties struck me in correlation with gluten-intolerance epidemic that I hear about all too often lately. My parents (and grandparents) had no such concept. There is another new and mysterious diagnosis out there – the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). This one becomes popular in cases when a digestion problem is not exactly understood.

Though we are fairly informed on the controversy of genetically modified (GM) grain, no one seems connecting the dots:

We are sensitive (allergic, intolerant…) not to wheat per se, but to its genetic mutants that bring havoc into our bodies.

I say ‘we’ because stats indicate 30% of gluten-related diagnoses, and they are on the rise; also because, we still recognize very few effects of GM foods besides the most immediate.

Meanwhile mainstream media is comfortably dwelling on the absence of clear evidence against GM grains – i.e., they are safe.

‘A scientist examines a GM crop’ (this is the original comment from a pro-GM article)

My first afterthought was: well, I try to protect my family by buying mostly organic wheat products. How safe are we?

To assess the level of our vulnerability, I started researching the issue and here are my findings:

First of all the impact of mutated wheat is not limited to compromised digestion. As Dr. Mark Hyman said in ‘Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat’:

…The first major difference of this dwarf wheat is that it contains very high levels of a super starch called amylopectin A…

… We know that foods with a high glycemic index make people store belly fat, trigger hidden fires of inflammation in the body, and give you a fatty liver leading the whole cascade of obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes.

…Not only does this dwarf, FrankenWheat, contain the super starch, but it also contains super gluten which is much more likely to create inflammation in the body…

… wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is the major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/02/13/three-hidden-ways-wheat-makes-you-fat/

And did you know that GM wheat already ousted the real one IN MOST PARTS OF THE WORLD?

Frankly, I didn’t.

For the vast expansion of GM wheat we have to thank, in particular, Norman Ernest Borlaug, an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate.

Borlaug received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties. Borlaug led the introduction of these high-yielding varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India.

As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India.  Later in his life, he helped apply these methods of increasing food production to Asia and Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

The scientist had great intentions to feed the starving world. It worked short-term but also contaminated farming lands making them barren; destroyed traditional agricultural communities and made people sick. 

As a result the old-fashioned –i.e. real wheat became an exotic rarity. And therefore today, many nutritionists recommend to exclude gluten-containing products altogether without even explaining to their patients  that the problem is not with the food staple but with its industrial imposter. 

This simplification agrees perfectly with GM seed producers: they are not afraid to lose customers because not too many people are capable of rejecting wheat entirely.

I looked through several discussions on going gluten-free. Among a steam of enthusiastic confessions I noticed quite a few laments on difficulty adjusting to such a diet. The reasons are objective:

The modern dwarf mutant variant of Triticum aestivum (that our USDA urges us to eat more of) contains greater proportions of gluten proteins compared to wheat pre-1970.

Glutens are the source of wheat-derived exorphins. Beyond removing an exceptionally digestible carbohydrate that yields blood sugar rises higher than nearly any other known food (due to the unique amylopectin structure of wheat-derived carbohydrate), wheat withdrawal is a form of opiate withdrawal, somewhat like stopping heroin, Oxycontin, and other opiates. Stop eating whole wheat toast for breakfast, whole grain sandwiches for lunch, or whole grain pasta for dinner, and the flow of exorphins, i.e., exogenous morphine-like compounds, stops. You experience dysphoria (sadness, unhappiness), mental "fog," inability to concentrate, fatigue, and decreased capacity to exercise.

‘Heroin, Oxycontin, and a whole wheat bagel’ By Dr. William Davis:

http://www.medpedia.com/news_analysis/68-The-Heart-Scan-Blog/entries/62642-Heroin-Oxycontin-and-a-whole-wheat-bagel

So, mutant wheat makes us specifically addictive to it, which justifies the title of the above article 100%. 

The information regarding genetic status of organic wheat that is now available on the market is quite confusing as well. Some experts say that often wheat is called organic, but it is the same mutant (because old-fashioned grain is hard to find), just grown without pesticides.

The only reassurance I found on the following site:

http://www.worc.org/userfiles/OrganicWheatProduction8-04.pdf 

They say:

In order to advertise their crops as (USDA) certified organic, farmers must show that their crops are free of chemicals and genetically modified material.

My relief was unfortunately short-lived, because they also say:

Complete segregation of GM crops from conventional and organic crops cannot be guaranteed, so the introduction of a new GM crop could contaminate the organic food supply.

So, here we are:

•     Organic farmers straggle to give us wholesome food
•     Industrial giants make it difficult in ways more than one. Even if you plant organic, your crop can be contaminated by neighboring  ‘conventional’ fields.

The entire situation reminds me of science fiction stories I read in my youth (Ray Bradbury? Isaac Asimov?) : An elite group of world rulers have captured all the real food and keep it away from the rest of the population. These less fortunate are fed artificially created synthetic products. To avoid unrest the rulers convince people that synthetic food was totally superior to the dirty, rotting and stinking natural produce.

By the way, Norman Borlaug’s contribution to the world food supply was called ‘Green Revolution’.

I wish it was fiction.

Indian Food

With people I know it is like this: one either likes Indian food right away or hates it forever!

Heading for India we were set on trying new things. It made us easy to go from ‘Oh, this is so... different’ to ‘We definitely like it’, and then - to ‘We like it a lot!’

I mean traditional Indian food, full of flavors, spicy and completely vegetarian.

My first introduction to it happened in the middle of the night in the Delhi airport, while waiting 6 long hours for our flight to Chennai.

At a pretty ordinary food stand I bought a cup of coffee with a pretty ordinary-looking pastry named ‘Samosa’. The first bite surprised me though.

‘Why is this stuff so hot? It seems unsuitable with sweet coffee’   

But after a while I forgot about spiciness and started enjoying the yummy factor. Strangely enough through all those exotic flavors I recognized bold and earthy taste of my grandma’s beef-and-potato stew. Was it caramelized onion, or beans in this pastry? I could not tell. My grandma’s stew was never vegetarian, and yet…

Learned that we liked Indian food our hosts In Chennai, where we provided seminars, started enthusiastically introducing us to it.  In the morning they offered us a really strong coffee or black tea with milk and some fragrant seeds. At first we stuck to our habits and asked for these drinks to be straight. But often we forgot to make the requests and then we just had it Indian way.

There is something special about Indian milk and cheese. Those skin-and-bones extraordinary peaceful cows that walk and lay freely in the middle of any mad urban traffic (and all the traffic in India is mad!) apparently do a very good job.

 Maybe it is a trade-off:

‘You do not eat me, and I give you a really good milk of a free-roaming, naturally fit and content creature’.  

Every lunch in India was a feast of great variety. Because the rule was followed in so many different places, not only in hotels and restaurants, but also in small offices and at huge manufacturing plants, I dare to assume that hospitality was only part of the equation; another part of it was table tradition. Lunch in India is important and good variety of dishes is expected.

Another pleasant surprise of the vegetarian - Indian style, was the feeling of satiety that usually came pretty quickly and then lasted for hours without fail. It was quite sudden, like ‘yes, I had enough’, but without a brick feeling in your stomach that is almost an eminent companion at our ‘western’ parties. Where this signal of ‘enough’ comes from at Indian meals I do not know, but it always seemed to be more of emotional rather than of physical nature.  

Every meal in India includes sweets. They do not make any break between non-sweet and sweet food, just follow one with another. Indians believe that sweets aid digestion and I shared this belief with enthusiasm.  Desserts are usually small and often honey-based.

One sweet thing called Jalebi felt like kids’ ultimate dream and had been confirmed as such by our partner in Delhi – the burly man with thick mustache. We tried it in a street eatery at the Delhi bazar.

It was a nice, breezy evening. Amazingly bright fabrics in garland-illuminated stores, and crowds of people around proved of perpetual festival.

The lace-like Jalebi came straight from iron grill; it was sizzling hot, crisp on the outside with honey liquid inside.

And yes, I could not resist another one.

Indians seem to give digestion a very thorough attention. For this purpose they like to end every meal with plain yogurt. I also often saw the sets of small boxes with various seeds in them, which people would approach after breakfast or lunch and partake liberally. These seeds were to assist digestion and to make breathe fragrant. One of the seeds I recognized – it was fennel.

Another interesting digestion/breathe remedy was a minty leaf smeared with honey and spices,  and some seeds wrapped in it. You were supposed to chew it like a gum for about 30 min. rather than eat it right away. They also clean your teeth. 

Raw food was present on many occasions but I dared not to try it particularly warned against anything uncooked in India. Even locals did not encourage us to eat raw.

 ‘You have different immune system’ they said.

It looked very good though. I gazed with envy at the sprouted beans and cabbage salad, which my husband tried without hesitation. He said it was spicy (and he was completely OK afterwards).

In the very nice hotel in Bangalore I tried passion fruit and Indian melon.

To the end of our trip I was ready to go back to our usual food and was glad when on Delta flight Amsterdam – Detroit dinner came completely ‘European’. 

But in 2 weeks afterwards I started missing Indian and looking on the Internet for a restaurant in the area.    

American Food Quiz

At the MSN site - my designated source of news, I’ve run into this title: ‘Traditional American food quiz’.

It looked really exciting to learn more about authentic American food: the old-fashioned and simple recipes of pioneers, frontiers, cowboys and Indians. Those daring and zesty people had formed close and powerful relations with nature and for sure knew a thing or two about healthy natural food. 

I was imagining something like this



The starting question in the quiz was a surprise:

-          Who first served burgers?

Overcoming my disappointment I clicked ‘McDonalds. It was the wrong answer. The right one was - ‘White Castle’.

I kind of got the idea that the quiz was not exactly what I expected but rather about processed food, so I frowned and checked the next question right. This one was ‘how much French fries are consumed in the US per year’. I just went with the most outrageous number (2 bill.) which appeared to be correct.

Inspired by the hint I hit the next question correctly too. It inquired about the kind of cheese that is put on top of cheesesteaks. Out of several options I’ve selected the most mysterious (at least for me) – ‘Cheese Whiz’.

Having a strong suspicion that it was not even cheese but rather a so-called ‘cheese product’ I checked it in Wikipedia. My suspicion was confirmed.

It made me wonder why linoleum is not called  ‘oil product’ – one of its components (according to abovementioned Wikipedia) is linseed oil.

Next several questions I missed.

I did not know that Buffalo wings should be served with blue cheese dressing and that Coca Cola had been invented in Georgia.  And out of complete frustration I checked the wrong answer to traditional Texan barbeque (I knew, it was beef! Like in the movie ‘Giant’ with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean)

Anyway, my quiz summary was:

-          4 correct answers – Just visiting?

I liked the joke.

But with the final statement in the quiz I agreed wholeheartedly and therefore decided to copy it here:

‘The origins of American cuisine are rich and varied.’

I wished though, that   publications about real (not commercial) American food were more around.



My Anti-Bucket List

For  the last several years I have been collecting information on foods with reported anti-cancer properties, especially those that are recommended against breast cancer - i.e., my personal anti-bucket list.

To have this information at hand when needed, I printed the list out and pinned it by my working desk. From time to time I browse it through to refresh my memory and to see if some of the items are lacking in my diet. When additional useful information arrives I add it to the list and reprint it.

I do realize that anti-cancer properties of certain foods can be overestimated or simply not true. Still, they may as well work and definitely will not harm anyone.

Therefore, I am sharing this list below:

1. Brassica vegetables (regulate cell growth rates, and help to change a strong and inflammatory form of estrogen (estradiol) into a safer, less aggressive form (estrone); also an antioxidant),  including:
1. Broccoli sprouts
2. Broccoli
3. Radish
4. Cabbage
5. Brussels sprouts
6. Kale,
7. Mustard greens
8. Tofu 
2. Turmeric, ginger (suppress inflammation) - 1tsp dried spice daily
3. 1%-2% organic hormone free milk (not fat-free!)
4. Kefir and other fermented milk products
5. Omega 3 fatty acids in:
1. Fatty fish –

                       i.      Salmon

                       ii.      Tuna

                       iii.      Whitefish

                       iv.      Anchovies

                       v.      Mackerel  

2. Sea vegetables
3. Walnuts  
4. Eggs
5. Olive oil
5. Lentils and other legumes   (contains Folic acid - 600 mcg or more of folic acid a day)
6. Maitake mushrooms
7. Tomatoes (Licopene)
8. Flaxseeds
9. Antioxidant and detox properties in:
1. Green and white tea (Caffeinated brands have twice as much potency as decaffeinated)
2. Garlic
3. Onions 
4. Dark chocolate
5. Citrus, peel and white membrane of oranges
6. Cranberries
7. Apples
8. Grapes (Concord)
9. Dark cherries
10. Blueberries  
10. Coffee – for Women with BRCA1 gene mutations

Eventually as you can see, the list became quite long.

It made me think that I can live entirely on these foods feeling deprived of nothing. Besides, practically every item on this list is not just a single-benefit provider, but rather a multitasker targeting also other types of cancer, arthritis, digestive problems, immune deficiency and such.

This ability of a single common produce to tackle several scary conditions is still not rivaled by modern medicine.

My doctors once assured me that drug Tamoxifen was very good because it could reduce the risk of breast cancer up to 40%. 

Meanwhile  the research from Michigan State University in East Lansing found that those who ate raw or lightly cooked cabbage and sauerkraut more than three times a week were 72 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who had 1.5 or fewer servings. Now, add to the plate some salmon with beans and onions on the side...As for dessert, chocolate, anyone? 

A dinner like that can beat Tamoxifen down any day.

And NO SIDE EFFECTS, mind you!

One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

The following string I received from my step-daughter couple of days ago. It shows how to make the banana ice cream in a blender out of 1 (?!) ingredient – banana:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/stepbystep-instructions-for-oneingredient-ice-cream-097170

We made it yesterday – on the record-hot day in Michigan; just followed the instructions. It was so good that we had no time to make a picture of it.

Well, I swear, it looked just as on the pictures provided in the recipe.

Anyway, it was too hot for photo-sessions.

We used our old blender, because my husband was concerned about possible scratches to our precious Vitamix.  I took 2 good-looking bananas (not overripe); had been thinking of adding honey or agave, but decided not to, and it was a really smart decision – the ice cream came out very sweet.

It also was creamy and felt ‘fattening’, though there is no fat in bananas, at least, not to my knowledge.  

The only recommendation – keep the working blender open and scrapе frozen banana from the sides to center (be careful not to touch working blades, though!). 

It became ready pretty fast - in 5 min, or so.  

I sprinkled mine with walnuts. My husband ate it ‘as is’.

We really liked it.

Enjoy!

Borsch - as Promised

After the success of the raw celery soup I was determined to make raw borsch from the same book (Sergey and Valya Boutenko, Fresh. The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook).

Here is the recipe:

3 cups water

3 beets

1 small gingerroot, sliced

3-4 large garlic cloves

6-7 bay leaves

2 cups water

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3 peeled oranges with seeds removed (to avoid bitterness)

1 tablespoon honey

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ cup walnuts

¼ head cabbage grated

1-2 carrots grated

½ bunch parsley chopped

The first 5 of these ingredients must be blended, others – finely chopped and it serves up to 6 people.

The celery soup had been gone so fast that my confidence in the ‘Borsch project’ grew real strong. I decided this time to make a full portion.

I cut beets into large chunks and felt already happy for not being asked to grate them. ( Raw beets are extremely good for your blood, but grating them takes some effort and is quite messy!) I also put only two oranges instead of three, because mine were large. Other than that I followed the instruction.  

Here is the result

For some reasons, though, I misjudged  the '6 people' mentioned in the recipe. I took them for rather moderate eaters, probably trying to lose weight and watching their portions.  My husband’s guess is that I was just hungry at the moment.

Well, I definitely  underestimated them!

The borsch poured out from the Vitamix filled the large salad bowl which I use for Thanksgiving dinners.  We started tasting it already anxious of not being able to eat it all. And what would I do with the rest? I cannot throw such a good thing away.

These thoughts were not exactly appetite – boosting. Still we liked it a lot!  

We ate two servings each and then I had one more out of guilty conscience.   The rest was put into the fridge to delay uncomfortable decisions.

The next day, however, I changed my mind and after warming it up a little, finished the borsch. By keeping it for so long and heating slightly, I probably lost some nutrients but still as the soup was never boiled, there must’ve been plenty of nutrients left.

And it was as good  and fresh the next day as it was the first day.

Who is Afraid of Suzanne Somers

Before we discontinued cable TV I saw her quite often, mostly on QVC or some other shopping network.  Then she was on Oprah show describing her anti-aging regimen.  The camera had shown a battery of plastic cups filled with pills that she took regularly and sworn by.  It looked slightly odd but I deeply sympathize with a cancer survivor on her journey to sustaining health. 

Suzanne Somers on the Oprah show

Lately I saw Somers again in “60 minutes” that was dedicated to her book ‘Knockout’ about doctors providing alternative cancer cures. Though being not a fan or follower, I was still struck by the attermost rejection of it by conventional medicine.

Our praised political correctness was nowhere in sight.

The representatives of the mainstream medical science interviewed in the episode explained that no success story can prove effectiveness of the treatment or approach, because all these successes are subjective, and could’ve been resulted from other factors (misdiagnosis, other treatments taken in parallel, etc.) Personal success stories are usually called anecdotes and are not admitted as scientific evidence. Only clinical studies can be admitted as such.

Not trusting my amateur understanding I checked the term in several dictionaries and on relevant Internet sites. According to them a clinical study (trial or protocol) is a thoroughly documented testing provided on a group of volunteers. The results are obtained via monitoring certain measurable parameters and comparing them to similar parameters in the group taking placebo.

It looks like such an approach excludes subjective judgment and coincidental reactions. But does it really?

Is the possibility of misdiagnosis not applicable to participants in a clinical study, or a possibility of alternative (or other) treatment taken in parallel clandestinely or unconsciously?

 We know that emotional support can be a powerful weapon against despair and thus, - a contributor to successful healing. But is it possible to make all the participants in a trial getting such support in equal (measurable) portions?  How about different lifestyles and medical history that are also difficult to reliably measure? Besides, there are multiple evidences of placebo being as effective as the tested drug.

And to make things worse we hear all too often of drugs thoroughly tested and FDA approved yet shown in years of application no sizable benefits (though caused dangerous side-effects.)

All these weaknesses of even the most unbiased medical trials are well known, still the representatives of mainstream science  demonstrate unshakable superiority. They are science. Others are charlatans.  

...The actress who usually projects a rather gregarious and flamboyant personality this time was uncommonly reserved. In response to accusations in incompetency she did not mention any of the issues above, just asked:

‘Why then so little success is gained against cancer in almost a century of research?’ 

Somers’ opponents were not intimidated by the question. They looked confident and comfortable replying that some progress had been made, in particular, not all (?!) the drugs of the 70s are still in use today. 

Indeed with no goals or timelines ever been set and no real competition to mind such a progress may qualify as totally fine.

And feeling so, the major scholarly concern is not about lack of their achievements but rather with the possibility of people being misguided by the books like Somers’. They worry that some of her readers might decide against conventional treatment and that would be detrimental to their health. 

Here I would like some help to check the logic. Please, tell me where I make a mistake:

      Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in our part of the world.

      Success of modern science against it is still modest, which means that MANY PATIENTS DIE AFTER CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS.

 Why then the decision to do something else is considered fatal?

Mrs. Somers did what all of us do when we straggled for a solution (medical, or other) for a long time, and finally found it – we rush to share the good news with our family and friends. By doing so we expect no other rewards than seeing someone else benefited from it. Today with the advantages of the Internet we can share our little victories with virtually the entire world.

There must be something good in this!

Of course, no health-related information should be trusted without questioning. And Somers’ book is no exception from this rule.  But nowadays we all need to learn processing information and taking the responsibility for our decisions.

Because, frankly, no one else would.

So here is the link to another information  regarding healing cancer naturally:

http://greensmoothiesblog.com/cancer/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenSmoothiesBlog+%28Green+Smoothies+Blog+by+Victoria+Boutenko%29

It is from the blog that I follow. Check it if you know someone who may need it.

Vitamix

Hurray, we've received the Vitamix blender!

Victoria Boutenko recommended us for the company promotion.

That's my  new blender

For those who do not know what Vitamix is, I will just say that it is a powerful blender which can do not only very creamy smoothies but much, much more. You can also check it on the Internet if you never heard of it.

And to understand why we are so lucky see “Dismissal, Introduction…”

With my old blender (the one that I kept in the garage because  of its noise) I made the same recipe again and again – put in some greens (usually one or two varieties) and two bananas for taste.  It was not bad - banana makes the drink thicker and sweeter (actually a little-bit too sweet).  My husband tried once to use oranges instead of bananas – the mixture came out watery and quite acidic.

We got discouraged and decided not to experiment with other fruits - just stick with bananas.

But no matter how I like smoothies and the way they make me feel, after a while, I’ve gotten bored with their sweet taste. On the other hand I really love creamy soups but don't have them too often, because they are usually over-processed. Chefs like to roast or bake ingredients, then cool them, then blend them together and after that heat the mixture again.

Double-cooking leaves hardly any nutrients in the final product, besides there is an opinion that it makes food carcinogenic (see “Paul Bragg and Other Gurus“). So I’ve been thinking about something raw and nutritious, yet yummy (but not sweet for a change!) 

Actually I had an idea in mind for quite a while. In S. and V. Boutenkos’ book “Fresh” I found the recipe of the raw beets soup called “borscht”. Needless to say that I made traditional borsch (that is my spelling of it!) a zillion times in my life. But since in America we somehow stopped eating soups at dinner. 
OK, I became lazy! 

Still you cannot make such a dish in a low-speed blender, for which reason my plans had to be postponed. But when the Vitamix arrived I immediately made my proud announcement.

My husband unfortunately did not share my enthusiasm:

-          Let’s first do our usual smoothie and see how the thing works.

-          But don’t you like something different now when we’ve got the means?

It turned out, he did not. In fact he liked almost nothing I suggested – no spinach soup, no humus, not even salsa. Of spinach, he was particularly apprehensive. It reminded him of something dull and dreadful from his early childhood. 

After bargaining for a while we met each other in the middle - that is, on a simpler recipe of the cream of celery soup. Here it is:

1 medium bunch celery, chopped

3 cups of water

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

Spicy pepper to taste

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 avocado, sliced

1 small sweet red pepper, chopped

The first 6 ingredients are blended until creamy; others are added to the ready soup. It serves 5.

I made it on Thursday and here is my report on the experience:

The soup was ready in 10 min. This time included washing of the blender before its first use as it is recommended by the instruction, and actual  preparation. It also included: opening and closing the door for cats who first wanted out (one after another), and the next moment, and in the same order – in.

My version  of  raw cream of celery soup - with a dash of dill

What is important - we both liked it!

I expected significant noise from this much larger and heavier appliance  but it was actually quieter than my old blender and even easy to clean.

So, raw borsch is definitely on the menu!