In celebration of National Nutrition Month, we are kicking off with Nutrition Tip #1: Up the raw! Instead of eating cooked veggies with your lunches and dinners, try focusing more on raw salads, raw soups, and raw vegetable medleys. There’s no reason to go 100% raw—we all love cooked food—but there’s no reason not to challenge yourself to find fun and interesting ways of preparing raw veggie sides and salads.

Kale and White Bean Salad with Raw Caesar Dressing

(serves 1 hungry person, or 2 people as an appetizer)

1 small or 1/2 medium head dinosaur (lacinato) kale, sliced into thin ribbons
6 sundried tomatoes, sliced into narrow strips (if using dried tomatoes, you may want to soak them in warm water for 15 minutes before using)
1/2 cup white beans
3 tbsp raw, vegan Caesar salad dressing (below)

Directions:

1) Pour dressing over the kale and “massage” it with your hands, until the kale has gotten a bit soft and wilted in texture.
2) Add tomatoes and beans, and give the salad another quick toss with your hands, so that everything is coated in dressing.3) Serve!

Raw, Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
(makes about 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 c cashews
1/4 c hemp (if you can’t afford or don’t have hemp seeds, all cashews is fine, too)
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
2 lemons juice
black pepper
3 pitted dates
1 tsp kelp granules (optional, but good for recreating the anchovy taste)
3/4 c water
2 large stalks celery

Directions: Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender, or, if you haven’t got one, soak the nuts first and put it all in a regular blender.

About: Gena Hamshaw, C.C.N., is the author of Choosing Raw, an online space devoted to conversations about nutrition, body image, and balance. In her work as a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, Gena works with clients of all different backgrounds to achieve optimal health and wellness through wholesome eating.

In addition to her work as a nutritionist, Gena is a premed student at Columbia University, and will begin medical school in 2013. She plans on bringing her passion for plant-based nutrition and compassionate living to the medical community.