Importance of Vegetables

I would generally consider myself the last person on earth to advocate eating a large percentage of vegetables... I don't subscribe to vegan or vegetarian lifestyles -- bacon doesn't grow on trees -- but from what I've learned on my own about food, my own personal trial and error, and the basics of how food affects your mental and physical state that I was taught growing up, I have a lot to say when it comes to the eating of vegetables.
There are a few things that need to be said first about 'Vegetables'

1. corn is not a vegetable - it is a grain, a grass, and from what I've seen in myself and animals, causes a whole lot of avoidable digestive problems (if you've noticed it often comes out whole... this is not a good thing) because as a seed it contains toxins that are designed to keep you from digesting it
2. Tomatoes, zucchini, squash, eggplant, avocados, etc are also not vegetables. They are very good fruits, but are not to be confused with what vegetables really are
3. Legumes and lentils are additionally not really vegetables, but I'll have a separate blog on them later, cuz they're complicated in the guise of the types of toxins they produce (seeds). For my purpose here, I will concede that the pod is veggie, and unquestionable if ingested before the seeds develop (I have a life-long hatred of legumes, as well as the filthy dirt-legumes known as peanuts)
4. Vegetables are the leaves, roots, stems, and maybe even buds of plants - the following are only a few of oh, so many
• spinach, chard, arugula, cabbage, lettuce, dandelion, water cress, sprouts, herbs
• yams, tubers, carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips, potatoes, onions, garlic, shallots
• rhubarb, celery, asparagus, bamboo
• broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, capers, brussels sprouts

Veggie need-to-knows:

• 50-80% of a human daily diet should be a RAW form of fruit and vegetable -- these contain micro-nutrients that a human body needs in order to repair and defend itself, and generally be healthy

• the more ripe the fruit/vegetable the higher the glycemic index (more sugars) and the lower the nutrient and enzyme content

• simply adding dark green vegetables to any diet (eating habit) can go a long way to improving health, metabolism and weight loss - and i don't mean a little... i mean like a cup of broccoli every meal...

• pasteurizing, though a saver of many lives in the pre-refrigeration age, kills necessary enzymes and breaks down nutrients

• most grocery store (aka non-organic, commercial farm-grown) vegetables are grown with fertilizers containing mostly only potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen... at the very least you should be getting calcium, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc - not to mention the 30+ other nutrients a human body needs

• any vegetable is better than none - if you have to cook it, steam it, bake it, frappé it, juice it, and all you have is the corner grocery: take it and run with it. Getting used to eating veggies is the first hurdle, experimentation is the second

• if you can keep the temp under 120°F or better yet 105°F, that's generally considered to be raw enough to not break down vital nutrients... but it's enough to warm up a raw veggie-frappé soup

• heat destroys vitamin C -- C is one of the vitamins that do so many things to support health in the body, but is also on of the most easily deficient... IT IS READILY AVAILABLE IN RAW FRUITS & VEGGIES... GET IT IN YOU! they say too much causes kidney stones, but there is not a single medical study that proves it does; it was used extensively in studies in the early 1900's to cure viral illnesses, and is currently being used outside of English-speaking countries as a part of nutritional therapy to let the body heal itself of cancer and other ailments -- with no side-effects

 ** I am not a medical doctor, nor am I stating that vitamin C cures cancer**
*** image above obtained from wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9gumes_01.jpg***

Raw Veggies II : Zucchini

1-2 of your favorite kind of zucchini, sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Throw it all in a bowl and toss
stays fresh in the fridge, covered, for a week


Zucchini Rolls

1 zucchini
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic (or other aromatic)
fresh basil
fresh arrugula

Slice zucc lengthwise into strips, soak in lemon juice/oil/garlic.... [they say dehydrate, I think it's overrated]... just roll with basil and arugula and serve al fresco

Raw Veggies I

raw veggie dip

3 raw Brussels sprouts

3 green onions

1/2 avocado

2 garlic cloves

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp grape seed oil

1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

salt

steak seasoning



put all ingredients into food processor

[to prep avocado: slice in half around pit, twist the two halves, use spoon to remove flesh from skin]

season to taste

eat with naan, rice crackers, or celery

or leave corsely processed and serve as a slaw

Preparing Veggies I

simple salads: dark leaf base, 2+ tasty veggies, protein / starch, acid, and oil

here:
baby spinach
1/2 bell pepper-julienne
1/2 onion- sliced
toss with 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, pinch sea salt/cracked pepper
topped with roasted red potato and white cheddar wafer

to make cheddar wafers: heat small non-stick pan to low-med, lay single layer of shredded white cheddar. allow to melt, use paper towel to soak up extra oil. once it can be moved with a spatchula, flip for 10 seconds, remove from pan to paper towel, and shape quickly while warm