Garlic Lover's "Pasta"

Wayne is out of town this week so I figured what the heck, I am going to eat all of the onions and garlic I want! LOL! Dinner tonight was so easy and so good! It also shows you that you do not need a million dollar kitchen to prepare raw meals. Here is what I did:

I peeled a zucchini squash and then used my julienne tool to make long spaghetti noodles. My julienne tool came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and was about $4. I topped that with some fresh diced heirloom tomatoes and some fresh basil. Next I used my magic bullet to whip up a sauce to go on top of the "noodles." It had 4 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 cup EV olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt and a couple of grinds of pepper, Italian seasoning to taste (I used dry seasoning, but fresh would also be good), and 1 pitted medjool date. I pulsed it in the bullet until it was creamy -- about 10 seconds. I dabbed it over the "noodles," tomatoes, and basil. It smelled delicious! I have been eating raw long enough to not care if it looks like real noodles, but this dish looked and smelled like the cooked version.

When I first started eating raw I was scared to venture off of a recipe page, afraid I would mess something up. The Boutenko's numerous books gave me the courage to experiment a little. They talk about the five flavors and different things you can add to any dish to make it taste sweeter, more sour, bitter, etc. I highly recommend reading all of the Boutenko books because they have helped me so much! I checked a couple of them out from the library -- you can't get any cheaper than that.

The other thing that strikes me as I write this recipe now is that I would never have had medjool dates in my house before I started eating raw. Now medjool dates are always in my house -- a true staple. I have a tendency to throw one in a smoothie every now and then and they make great brownies, cookies, and crusts. My grocery shopping habits have definitely changed.

My old staples used to be cereal, milk, eggs, turkey (deli meat), lean ground beef, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and bread. My new staples (I am talking things I buy or make sure I have EVERY time I go to the grocery) are medjool dates, almonds, a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables (this is the bulk of my food), lemons, dried fruit, and olive oil. That is a big shift from four months ago! If you calculate the cost of what I was eating and compare it to what I eat now the are almost equal. Yet, I look and feel so much better!

I hope you enjoy the recipe. It was DELICIOUS!