SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

BEVERLY - Imagine life without potato chips and candy bars. Imagine eating all your vegetables. Imagine never using your stove again.

That's the basis of a raw food diet, which seems to be gaining popularity around the world and on Cabot Street, home to one of New England's only restaurant that serves predominately raw food.

Organic Garden is a destination for raw foodies, as they're called, who drive hours to eat out in the only place where they can order something they can't make themselves, and go home inspired. It's appealing to locals, as well.

Swampscott resident Deb Fox has been on the diet for about six years. It's more of a lifestyle, she said, one that grows on you by the meal. In the last year, she made the jump from eating about 50 percent raw to 90 percent.

"The more I did it, the more I noticed how good I felt," she said.

The diet consists of fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, beans and everything from hazelnut cheese to corn taco shells to zucchini spaghetti with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce.

It involves the use of a blender, food processor and dehydrator and contains more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and less fat than what is usually consumed by the average American, said Judy Consolante, a dietitian for the Lifestyle Management Institute at Beverly Hospital.

The point of eating raw food is that the nutrients are not cooked out, so every bite is healthier. Raw foodies tend to start out as vegans and gravitate toward organic, but because it's also a gradual diet with many different degrees, that's not always the case.

"Keep eating your steak, that's fine," Fox said. "But think about what else you're eating."

Since she started making raw food her staple, Fox said she's lost weight, has more energy, less arthritis, better digestion, and she definitely doesn't feel like she's 50. Her mind is clearer, she no longer gets headaches, mood swings or 3 p.m. slumps at work, and she has a greater awareness of her taste buds and her body.

"We're being held down by packaged and processed foods," she said. "When you stop eating them, things wake up."

At Organic Garden, owner Robert Reid began eating raw foods 15 years ago when his sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had only a couple of months to live, and chemotherapy and radiation provided little hope. Reid began looking into holistic healing methods and alternative cancer therapy.

"I really became convinced that eating a high amount of raw foods is critical to good health because they're in a state where the nutrients aren't destroyed by high heat," he said.

Dose of skepticism

It makes sense the diet would appeal to cancer patients, Consolante said, because raw foods contain a high level of antioxidants, which may protect cells from potentially cancer-causing molecules, known as free radicals, that are found in environmental agents such as lead, radiation, alcohol and cigarette smoke.

However, she remains skeptical that raw food is the best diet for everyone and recommends taking a B12 vitamin supplement, which is found in meat, and eating a lot of dark greens and beans to get enough protein and calcium.

"Any diet that omits a food group is a red flag," she said. "One of the other red flags is any diet that says it can cure you of a certain disease."

She also questioned whether eating raw vegetables makes that much of a difference from eating cooked vegetables, especially when most people don't eat enough vegetables, period.

"However you get it in, get it in," she said.

At the Lifestyle Management Institute, where most patients are trying to be healthier, she doesn't know of anyone interested in a raw food diet. Yet the lifestyle, which is more popular on the West Coast, is making its way to New England.

Jocelyn Clark of Concord has been eating raw food for three years. On a recent Saturday, she was at Organic Garden. It's a treat to go out to eat and not order a salad, she said.

"I'm willing to drive this far a couple times a month, specifically for this restaurant," she said. "I make some desserts at home, but it's nothing like the Black Forest cake."

As the movement grows, she hopes more raw food restaurants will start popping up. Some, like Chianti's on Cabot Street, offer a variety of raw food dishes, and there are rumors that a raw food restaurant will open soon in Boston's North End.

Such restaurants have already sprouted in cities like New York and Los Angeles, and locally there is a growing number of raw food organizations and potlucks.

"It's no longer a very small group of people that have to find each other," Clark said.

Eating raw foods also requires a commitment, and there's a learning curve when it comes to preparing meals. Unlike Atkins, for instance, it's more than simply a trend diet for people who want to lose weight, Fox said.

"I see more people coming to it who have really gotten serious about making a lifestyle change," she said.

What's on the menu

The Organic Garden on Cabot Street shared a few "raw food" recipes:

Lunch idea

While the Goddess Dressing stands on its own as a salad dressing, it goes great with the Rosemary Almond Pecan Pate. You may put them together in a wrap or on a salad.

Creamy Goddess Dressing

3/4 to 1 cup water

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup tamari

3 tablespoons cider vinegar (or sub more lemon)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

3/4 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

After blended creamy, pulse in remaining ingredients

2 tablespoons or more dried parsley flake or fresh parsley



Rosemary Almond Pecan Pate

Blend semi-creamy:

1/2 cup soaked almonds

1/2 cup pecans or cashews

2 cups soaked sunflower seeds

1 to 2 sticks de-stemmed rosemary

2 tablespoons herbamare (or sea salt)

1/4 to 1/2 cup dates

3/4 cup distilled water

1 apple (optional)



Dinner ideas

Put these items together as courses if you desire. Combine the pesto with the alfredo dinner if you wish.

Fresh Tomato Herb Soup

4 cups tomato

1 to 2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup (loose) cilantro

1/4 cup (loose) oregano and/or basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt or herbamare

1/2 to 1 cup pure water

Blend half of the tomato with garlic and seasonings. Then add remaining tomato and herbs and blend just a little more, leaving chunky.



Portobello & Red Pepper Garnish: Marinate diced red/yellow pepper and portobello in tamari and olive oil and top soup just before serving.

Spinach and Mesclun Salad

Serve with simple vinaigrette:

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup tamari or shoyu

1/2cup apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

A great spinach salad also includes crushed walnut, marinated sun-dried tomato, olives and red onion slivers.

Marinated Sun-dried Tomato

Soak for 2 to 3 hours in water. Marinate in olive oil with sea salt and Italian seasoning to taste.

Add ground flaxseed or combination of ground flax, sesame and sunflower. Use a small coffee grinder to grind. Sprinkle on salads for a wonderful nutty flavor.



Presto Pesto

Serves 1 or 2, or double this.

Pick a handful of fresh basil (about a half-cup or more)

Approximately 12 Brazil nuts,

2 teaspoons olive oil (optional as Brazil nut is so oily anyway)

1/8 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)

Blend in a coffee grinder while shaking the grinder to move the nuts around.



Cashew Basil "Alfredo" (white sauce)

This sauce can be used over shredded, thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash. You can use a vegetable peeler to make thin, pasta-like strips. Or you may use this sauce with traditional wheat or rice pasta.

1 cup raw cashew (or soaked almonds or macadamia nuts)

3/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon herbamare seasoning salt or sea salt

2 to 4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil leaf

1 tablespoons lemon juice, optional

1 ounce white wine

1 to 11/2 cups pure water (distilled for maximum life of recipe)

Blend creamy in a blender.

Dessert idea

Pecan Date Dessert Balls

1 part medoul (or other pitted date), 2 parts pecan. Grind nuts first in food processor, then add broken-up date. Optional: cinnamon to taste, roll in carob powder and/or coconut flakes. Place a raisin or cranberry in the center if you desire.