12 Steps to Whole Foods

Creating Delicious Whole-Food Treats
Making these simple changes to your favorite recipes improves nutrition and decreases disease risk in half a
dozen important ways! Do take caution, however, to limit concentrated sweeteners in the diet, even less refined
ones like raw coconut sugar or Sucanat. They are still acidic and should be minimized.
The recipes in this chapter take treats to the next level of nutrition: all raw, sometimes even sprouted,
ingredients!
One of the best ingredients for desserts that is both delicious and very good for you is the meat of young
coconuts (page 339). Don’t confuse the hairy, brown coconuts sold in most regular grocery stores with young
coconuts. The brown ones are older and contain hard meat that will not work in raw dessert recipes. The
smooth meat of young coconuts makes a creamy base for frostings, puddings, ice creams, and more. The liquid
inside the coconut (averaging about 1¾ C per coconut), according to my friend and raw food researcher/author
David Wolfe, is possibly the best source of electrolytes on the planet—sodium and potassium in suspension. He
says that a drink of 45% coconut liquid and 55% wheat grass juice is a “blood transfusion” because of its
perfect nutritional parallels with regeneration of the human blood supply. Most health food stores, in fact, now
carry serving-sized boxes of coconut liquid in the refrigerator with the sports drinks!
Another common ingredient in raw desserts is nuts, especially cashews, which have a smooth consistency
when blended in sauces and take on other flavors and sweeteners well.
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw 12 Steps to Whole Foods 301