Yes, giddy. And it’s been coming on for a while now, I think.

Have I ever mentioned THE most amazing food experience I ever had. It was with my sister, Melissa, in New York City. We met there one very cold February for three nights of sisterly and city fun! Previously, she had heard of and even bought a cookbook from a very unique restaurant there. She even brought the cookbook with her full of its beautiful photos of food, and health information, so that we could peruse it in our hotel room before we visited the place.

The thing that was unique about it was that the food they serve there is all raw, all vegan, no flour, and no refined sweeteners, etc. Not like carrot and celery stick raw and vegan, but raw in that the food never reaches a temperature above 118 degrees. All I could imagine was cold veggies and fruit until I saw the cookbook and then arrived at the restaurant and was handed a menu.

Oh my.

The place is called Pure Food and Wine and I cannot recommend it highly enough. (Well, unless you refuse to eat anything but chicken fried steak and Mexican food. You know who you are.)

We had three courses – a salad, a main dish, and a dessert. (All for the NOT low, low, price of about …. $150. Pricey, yes. But definitely an experience.) My salad was of beautiful field greens among other fresh veggies. For the main course, Melissa ordered ravioli, and my dish was stuffed portabella mushroom. Dessert? Tiramisu!

I couldn’t believe that they could make a “stuffing” for my portabella out of veggies, nuts and herbs, and that the ravioli was also made of alternative doughs – more nuts, and the cream sauce to cover was of nut milks and cheeses. Same with the tiramisu – nut milks and cheeses, agave, raw cacao nibs. Wow. It was truly amazing and delicious.

Melissa ended up giving me her “cook”book, since I was so fascinated with it, and kept asking to borrow it when I was in town. (Sneaky, huh?) Evidently they came out with another cookbook in 2009. I know this only because it jumped off the shelf at me while browsing the non-fiction section of my local library. I was so excited! (It’s called Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis – founder and CEO of One Lucky Duck, and co-founder of Pure Food and Wine.)

And it was perfect timing. I keep hearing all about green smoothies. My friend Lori, who drinks one every day was just at my house for a visit and has been explaining how to make them, and I am getting LOADS of greens in our farm share.

The first one I made was the Cilantro – Pineapple one. Many of the shake and smoothie recipes come from a juice and snack bar that the restaurant also runs nearby called One Lucky Duck. Admittedly, It can be a little intimidating to drink something that looks like liquefied moss, but trust me; this is a delicious way to “eat” lots of greens. And surely by now you know just how good eating green stuff is for your health. Cilantro is one that I was unaware had so many amazing health benefits. Not only does it contain just about every vitamin and mineral you’ve ever heard of, but it is also a chelator, meaning that it has a property which causes it to bind to heavy metals and other toxins, molds, and yeasts in your body pulling them out in a wonderfully natural detoxification process. (Anti-diabetic and anti-free radicals also!)

Here’s the recipe for the Cilantro shake/smoothie, but I have tried 2 others from the book that are equally delicious, so I will try and post a few others soon. And it may be somewhat placebo induced, but I promise I’m feeling an extra boost of energy, and more spring in my step this week. Healthy, detoxified and happy? I’ll take it!
(Even though I may now officially qualify as a health nut.?!)

Cilantro – Pineapple Shake