Raw foods—and I’m not talking sushi—are starting to make appearances on gourmet menus across the country, namely owing to a tremendous amount of flavor and a wide variety of health benefits. Integral Yoga is the only spot in Charlottesville with a deli case full of prepared raw delights, including soups, salads and desserts. According to staff member Jean Majewski, raw (also called living) food has not been cooked, pasteurized, or exposed to heat over 110°, but it’s not as exclusive as you might think—the dessert list in particular is extensive, and you can feel pretty excellent about it since you’re getting goodies like antioxidants and essential fatty acids.
 There’s boring ol’ tea and then there’s Integral Yoga’s Strawberry Thyme Fudge Bars—we know where we’d prefer to get our antioxidants. |
There’s more where Majewski’s decadent Strawberry Thyme Fudge Bar recipe comes from. You might already know that you’re killing a vast percentage of the nutrients in food by sticking it in the crock pot, but she notes that cooking also destroys enzymes that help you digest, sending you straight to the couch in a post-meal stupor. “The primary benefit of a living food diet is that your body does less work to get more nutrients,” Jean adds. Ask for her at IY.
Strawberry Thyme Fudge Bars
Chocolate Fudge Layer:
1 cup dried cherries
2 cups pitted dates
1 cup raisins
1 cup cold-pressed coconut oil
2 cups raw cocoa powder or carob powder
(or a combination)
Soak the cherries, dates and raisins in fresh water until soft (about 30 minutes), blend until smooth in a food processor. Add coconut oil and blend until smooth, then add raw cocoa powder and blend until thoroughly mixed. Spread evenly in a rectangular tray lined with plastic wrap and refrigerate until solid, about 1 hour.
Walnut Crumble Layer:
2 cups raw walnuts
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. raw agave syrup or honey
Coarsely chop walnuts in food processor, then add cinnamon, nutmeg and agave syrup and grind to a fine, crumbly texture. Press evenly into the exposed surface of the fudge, then turn it out of the pan onto another tray so that the walnut crumble layer is on the bottom.
Vanilla Cream Layer:
1 cup raw cashews
4 pitted dates
1 Tbsp. cold-pressed coconut oil
1 fresh vanilla bean or
1 Tbsp. non-alcohol vanilla extract
1 quart diced strawberries
Fresh thyme leaves
Soak the cashews in 2 cups fresh water for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse. Soak the dates in enough water to cover them until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Split the vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Blend the seeds and all the other ingredients until smooth in the food processor, then spread evenly on top of the chocolate fudge. Top with diced strawberries and a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves.
Makes 16 squares.