Empty Guacamole Bowl, Available Light

Tonight I went to Rocco's Tacos in Fort Lauderdale for some of their guacamole. They make it fresh, in front of you, when you order it! You watch them cut open fresh avocados and mash them up in a cool looking, stone bowl. Next, they add fresh cilantro, diced tomato and onion, fresh lime juice, and some spices. As many of you know, I try to make raw food a substantial part of my diet and guacamole is one of my favorite raw foods. When I order it, I always ask for extra jalapenos. The chips are certainly not raw, so I try not to eat too many of them. The staff probably thinks I'm crazy because they always return to find my guacamole bowl empty and my basket of chips still full.

After I finished eating, I was talking to my friend Thea in New York. Thea is a dedicated raw foodist who is also studying photography at Columbia. I told her the guacamole story and she prompted me for a photo. It was pretty dark but I didn't use a flash or a tripod. Thea likes taking pictures at night so I added the captions so she could see how I set my camera. I have no idea why I used that font.

Rotten Tomato 2.0

I had an organic tomato that was going bad so I thought I would put it on a plate and let it sit another week, lol. This is actually my second attempt at a rotten tomato photo. I did this one in 2008. I wonder if I should try to sell this shot to RottenTomatoes.com?

Nikon D7000 with Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens. Exposure: f/8 1/125 ISO 100. Studio strobe with 36" soft box.

Guacamole Roll at Hiro's Yakkosan

I took a break from working at Budget Video and stopped by Hiro's Yakkosan for some late night raw food. Hiro's isn't a typical sushi restaurant. It more of a Japanese tapas restaurant. I had a salad and the guacamole roll, pictured above. Notice there is no rice. Nom nom nom.

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens. Exposure: f/1.8 1/30 ISO 400

Making Raw Food while listening to Dubstep

Go ahead and laugh at my video! I know its odd to say the least. If you're wondering what I was thinking when I made it, please read on. First, I'm exploring the capabilities of my Nikon D7000 camera. It seems to be an excellent tool for making high definition, film quality videos. I have a number of super sharp, Nikkor prime lenses and I'm excited about working on some short film projects in the future. Before I can do that, I have to learn the camera. Obviously, the camera work for this video was simple. I used a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens and my exposure was f4 1/30 and ISO 800. The incandescent fixtures in my kitchen were the only light source so I set the white balance to 3000K. The camera was on a sturdy tripod and I manually focused the lens.

Second, I'm learning how to edit video. Each time I make a video, I create a homework assignment for myself. Naturally, my first few videos won't be winning any prizes. This particular video was a lesson on editing sound. I recorded the sound AFTER I shot the video and ate the sandwich. Nothing was recorded with the video. My narration consists of about 10 separate pieces of audio that I arranged to fit the action in the video. At 02:57 you can hear the grinding of my pepper mill. This was also recorded separately and added at the right moment. Finally, I added a dubstep track so it seems like I have music playing in the background while I'm making the sandwich. If you watch this video and it seems like everything was recorded at the same time, then I did a good job with my homework. =)

Finally, if you want my raw bread recipe, go to my Facebook page, open my photo albums, select the Raw Food album, and find the recipe under the photo of the raw bread.

Raw Avocado Spinach Soup Recipe

click photo for larger image.

Raw Avocado Spinach Soup v1.6
This delicious, creamy soup packs more nutrition than 10 salads! Not feeling well? Have a couple bowls of this soup and you'll feel better in no time. This is a raw soup, best enjoyed chilled. You could warm it slightly as long as it stays below 105 degrees.

Soup
- 5oz. package of organic baby spinach (I use Organic Girl brand)
- 1/2 medium sized organic cucumber
- 2 organic hass avocados, fully ripe
- 1 bunch organic cilantro (cut off the roots)
- 2 tbsp. organic sweet onion
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed, organic lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. Bragg's liquid aminos
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 tbsp. raw, organic honey (I use Really Raw brand)
- 2 cups distilled water

Garnish
- handful of organic sunflower sprouts
- fresh ground organic black pepper
- pinch of organic cayenne pepper

Mix all soup ingredients in a blender until smooth. Top with garnish. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Nikon D90 with Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens. Exposure: f/8 1/125 ISO 200. Studio strobe with softbox.

Hiro's Sashimi Salad

It was another Sunday night and I was in Miami, working on web sites like BudgetVideo.com. Around midnight, my friend David either makes some raw food or we go to Hiro's Yakko-san. Tonight, David was busy so I went to Hiro's by myself. My photo of the day is Hiro's sashimi salad, made with organic field greens, avocado, daikon radish, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, and thin slices of whatever fresh fish is available. Everything is raw of course.

Raw Chocolate

Tonight I made a batch of raw, 100% organic chocolate bars. Raw you ask? How does that work? Well, here's my recipe:

1/4 cup raw, organic agave
1/2 cup raw, organic almond butter, smooth
1 tbsp. raw, organic coconut oil
1/2 cup David Wolfe's raw, organic cacao powder (plus more as needed)

Pour the agave into a mixing bowl. Add the almond butter and the coconut oil. The raw coconut oil will be a white paste at room temperature because it hasn't been boiled and refined. Mix in 4 tablespoons of raw cacao powder. Stir until completely smooth. Keep adding more cacao until the mixture is about as thick as dough. Form the mixture into cookie size "bars" and place on a flexible tray suitable for the freezer. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn and place in the freezer for about an hour.

Once frozen, they're perfect. You can keep them in the freezer indefinitely but whenever I make them, they don't last long. Believe it or not, these chocolate bars are actually good for you! They're "choc" full of antioxidants, magnesium, and more! Watch this short video where David Wolfe talks about the nutritional benefits of the unprocessed cacao bean...

Hiro's Seaweed Salad

As usual I was in Miami working on various web sites for my friend David. Around 1am I took a break and went to my favorite Japanese restaurant, Hiro's Yakko-San. I have sushi quite often but this isn't a sushi bar. You won't find sushi rolls on the menu but you will find an amazing selection of authentic Japanese cuisine. This is the place the sushi chefs go when they get off work. I started off with the seaweed salad pictured above. I had to take a picture of it before I ate it. It comes with ponzu and spicy mustard sauces on the side.

Almost Raw Pizza

Saturday night I went to my friend's raw and vegan restaurant in Miami, Om Garden, and had an "almost" raw pizza. I say almost because its made from all raw vegetables but the crust is a pita which of course, is baked. On the menu, it is listed as "Peace Pizza" and consists of pesto, mushrooms, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, and a raw topping made from nuts and olive oil. It was absolutely delicious.

Raw Food at David's

Most Sunday nights, I visit my friend David Haylock in Miami and work on his dozen or so web sites. David is a raw foodist and I am heading in that direction. I've learned that raw food is not just salads and it can taste better than any gourmet food you've ever had. Sometimes we go out for some raw Japanese food but tonight David prepared his own dinner and shared some of it with me. The tomato and avocado probably came from Josh's Organic Market in Hollywood, while the pate' and raw lasagna came from our friend Cynthia's restaurant, the Om Garden. I'm not sure where the guacamole came from. Either David made it or he picked up some from Glaser Farms. Every bit of it was amazing.

Raw Tomato Soup

You are looking at a bowl of my raw, organic tomato soup. What do I mean by raw? Nothing is cooked. It's a cold soup, similar to Gazpacho but a little different. I put tomatoes, onions, garlic, fresh dill, fresh basil, red bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes, raisins, olive oil, and salt in a mixing bowl and puree everything until its a smooth soup. Then I add diced avocado, diced red bell pepper, and fresh kernels of corn if organic corn is available. Every ingredient is organic. Nothing is cooked. Everyone loves my soup, even people who don't like "healthy" food.

I'm slowly making the transition to raw food. Why? Nothing you eat has any nutritional value. When you heat food above 115 degrees, you alter its composition and destroy half the vitamins and enzymes that your body needs. When you go to the store and buy things that have been heated, processed, filled with chemicals, and finally sweetened with corn syrup so you won't mind the taste, you're being fooled into thinking you're eating food. You're not. There's more nutrition in my single bowl of soup than you probably get in a week!

I'm not there yet. I still eat some cooked food. I still go to Starbucks every now and then. I certainly don't want to eat salads every day. I have two friends that eat all raw- my friend David in Miami and my friend Thea in NYC. I've learned from both of them that you don't have to eat salads all the time to be raw. There are many amazing dishes you can make from raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains... and I'm learning how to make them! If you want to see what you can make using only raw ingredients, I highly recommend the book, Raw Food Real World.

Hint: Japanese restaurants have a lot of raw food. =)

Happy Birthday: Kellen