sharing raw, vegan recipes and advice

To me, the best part about fall is the persimmon. How i've long awaited it's sweet return! Appropriately called 'fruit of the gods' by ancient Greeks, these little fruits are rich in antioxidants like catechins and gallocatechins (which you always hear about when reading about health benefits of green tea) and betulinic acid (an anti-tumor compound). They also have a good amount of the antioxidants lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which is a carotenoid known to help prevent age related macular degeneration, as well as the minerals potassium and manganese. The American variety of this fruit is only edible once it's ripe...which means holding out until fall each year, and then basking in the goodness of these fabulous little orange delights for as long as you can. The shorter squat ones (shaped more like a tomato) are called Fuyu. They tend to have less of an astringent quality so can be eaten while still firm. It will have the crunch and texture of an apple. You can also wait for softer fuyus which will be juicy like a nectarine. Persimmons are great eaten alone, or can be added to salads, entrees, desserts, and breads. If you've never had a persimmon, i would encourage you to scout some out at your local farmers market, and make sure to pick the fuyus which you can bite right into. I've had some not so hot experiences with the hachiya's (a larger acorn shaped persimmon) which are so astringent when under ripe that your mouth drys up and shrivels around the fruit. Hachiyas can only be eaten when very soft and ripe. You'll want to remove the outer tannic skin, remove the seeds, and scoop the fruit out of the flesh.

For more recipes and entries like this, visit my blog: "A Grateful Life" at www.meredithgnau.blogspot.com

I created this recipe the other day because I have been craving pumpkin pie flavor non stop and I figured why not incorporate the seasonal flavor into my post-workout protein shake. It tastes so yummy by the way!

This is a delicious warming smoothie for the colder months.

I just concocted this all by myself recently (1st time so of course I'm excited) and it's evidence that I'm getting NICE with the raw food thing because it turned out great!

A dense, heavy dehydrated bagel based on Allissa Cohen's "Rye Bagels."