I was.

For months I walked by the raw food restaurant in my neighborhood and studied the menu. Dumplings and nachos as appetizers and burritos and lasagna as entrees? How was this possible? Raw food means exactly that. It is a diet based around fruits, vegetables and grains that are served as is — nothing is heated above 118 degrees.

Several dinners later, I had a better sense of what it means to be raw. Raw food chefs use live food in pretty ingenious ways. Thinly sliced radish forms the outer layer of a dumpling, ground nuts and pumpkin seeds are the filling. Lettuce leaves stand in for a burrito’s tortilla.

Raw foodies believe that eating food that is “alive” maintains the natural enzymes that are required to repair and renew cells. A long-term raw foods diet is said to lead to a stronger immune system, improved mental abilities, and more energy. Switching to raw foods also helps control digestion, slowing it down so food is absorbed more efficiently and blood sugar levels remain steady. Supposedly cravings begin to subside and excess weight is lost.

While there are obvious benefits to eating a vegetable-based raw foods diet — it’s also undeniably low in fat and full of vitamins and antioxidants — I won’t be turning my oven into a file cabinet anytime soon. I find raw food to be extremely hard on the stomach — ingesting pounds of nuts and raw broccoli and kale give the digestive system a serious workout — and I admit that I enjoy warm foods in the winter.

You don’t have to commit to a lifetime of raw to taste an uncooked meal. Raw food restaurants can be found in most metropolitan areas and the raw food experience can be quite an elegant affair. In LA, Juliano’s is the place to go raw. NYC has several Quintessence outposts as well as the gourmet Pure Food and Wine.

You can also stay at home and concoct your own raw foods dinner. Juliano’s book Raw: The Uncook Book has recipes for nine varieties of “pizza” and a cashew “gelato.” You just have to get used to putting your food in quotations.

[via Living Foods]

Image: Planetraw.com