Resident Raw Foodie Reveals Healthiest Fruits and Vegetables

Afke Okanagan Rawsome

Afke Zonderland, Chef and Founder, Okanagan Rawsome

Resident Raw Foodie,’ Afke Zonderland shares how easy it is to live a whole-food philosophy and make the healthiest choices for yourself and your family. Her strategies and recipes are sure to provide you with plenty of food for thought. A shining star within the gluten-free and health conscious community in British Columbia and beyond, Afke is a Raw Food Chef and CEO of Okanagan Rawsome.

Join The Celiac Scene for an Okanagan Rawsome Tasting!
Saturday 12 – 2 at Planet Organic Victoria.


Good, Better, Best! “What are the best fruits and vegetables to eat or juice in order to stay healthy?”

 spraying fruitNot to get side tracked, but I have never been asked “What hamburger should I eat to stay healthy?” Although my son-in-law tells me that the burgers at The Riverfront Pub beside the Grindrod Bridge serves the very best. He obviously qualifies as a burger connoisseur – he’s a hockey player who hails from Edmonton still keeps an autographed poster of Wayne Gretzky on his office wall!

Back to fruit! 

The very best fruits and vegetables that you can buy are local and organic. Better would be to buy local from a farm that you know sprays the bare minimum to keep pests and disease away and does not spray just before his produce goes to market.

If you don’t have a budget for organic you can decrease the toxic load by soaking your produce in a vinegar and salt solution, hydrogen peroxide or a good quality store bought fruit and veg. rinse.

I do draw the line on strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, peaches and apricots. These delicious soft fruits are sprayed like crazy to avoid mould and get their final coating of fungicide just before they are shipped. Soft fruits absorb these carcinogens so rinsing or soaking is not going to make this poor quality food any safer to eat.


Types O fJuicersJuicers

The next frequent question that comes my way is; “What juicer should I buy?” The best juicer in your home is the one that does not collect dust. Some brands take too long to clean and take up too much counter space and end up in a corner base cabinet.

Masticating juicers extract juice from wheat grass, spinach and beet tops as well as beets, carrots, cucumbers and apples. Prepping your fruits and veggies for juice takes time, so most avid juicers make enough juice for two or three days to minimize clean up time.  Freezing juice in ice cube trays works well too.

Centrifugal juicers work through a bowl of fruits and veggies lickety split, and some models are easy on the eye and space on the counter.


Blenders

My personal perfect morning food is a pint or two of fruits and veggies that are blended into a smoothie. There are quite a few high speed blenders on the market to choose from. I add a teaspoon of turmeric and a ½ tsp of maca powder to any combination of frozen or fresh produce.

Late spring is the time of year when I did down to the bottom of the freezer for last year’s crop of kale, cucumbers, cilantro, arugula and apricots. The berries are gone and I am waiting for the strawberry blossoms to turn into spring’s first local super food.

Blenders


So What About Burgers?

I would suggest that we eat locally raised grass fed beef or bison burgers. I believe that putting the best food in our body will heal us. Putting better food in our body will help us and that society’s conventionally grown food choices are not what they seem and are hurting us.

“How did we ever come to believe that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?”  Jane Goodall


Apple Carrot Radish SaladApple, Carrot and Radish Salad

  • 2 carrots, julienned
  • 2 apples, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
  • Arugula
  • Raisins or cranberries
  • 1 TBSP sesame seeds

Dressing:

  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 ½ TSP grated fresh ginger
  • 2 TBSP  olive oil
  • 1 ½ TBSP rice wine vinegar
  • 1TBSP soy sauce
  • 1 TBSP honey
  • ½ TSP sesame oil
  • 1 TBSP water

Combine all dressing ingredients and blend.


Also by Afke:


Afke Zonderland and Co-Founder/daughter Anna, have turned Okanagan apples and carrots into a made-in-BC success story.  They’ve mastered mixing what farmer’s grow in the Interior with carefully sourced spices and sprouted seeds, nuts and fruit. The tincture of time + low temperature results in convenient, portable power-packed crisps in four flavors! Great gluten-free fuel for the health conscious, celiacs and athletes alike! Watch the video!

Join The Celiac Scene for an Okanagan Rawsome Tasting – this Saturday at Planet Organic Victoria. Details here!


Okanagan Rawsome

Choose from sweet, savory and even spicy crisps!

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