As I have stated before, the warmer weather inspires me to re-explore raw foods. Fruits and vegetables in their raw state are the most nutrient dense, easy to digest and have powerful healing properties for the body. As far as alkalinity goes, it has been proven that cooking food reduces the alkaline footprint in the body, in order to combat this food really should never be heated above 180 degrees.

This is where a dehydrator comes in handy. Now I know that dehydrating can seems scary and of course there are some draw backs involved. The first being that you do need to plan ahead, it takes a few hours to 'cook' food in a dehydrator and it does take time to prepare the food for dehydrating - there is a lot of thinly slicing involved.

Once you have all of that slicing finished and you have set aside the time to dehydrate it is really quite simple and much healthier than other forms of preservation. When dehydrating you do not have to add any chemicals, salts, sugars, or oils. You simply place the food in the dehydrator and let the magic happen. A squirt of lemon juice will keep the color bright but other than that there is no need for additional preparations.

Dehydrating is an efficient way of preserving food. Lets say you head to your local farm market or grocery and they have a case of peaches reduced as they are on the brink of spoiling. A lot of people would can those peaches or slice and freeze them, both of which takes up significant space. Dehydrating takes up minimal space and allows for you to keep food fresh for long periods of time especially when bought in bulk at peak season.

In your dehydrator you can dehydrate fruits, vegetable, make fruit leathers, crackers, veggie burgers, cookies, and even warm soups if you so desire. You can utilize the dehydrated food in other recipes enjoy it on its own and pack it up as a healthy snack while on the go.

This past week I bought a bunch of fruit that was on the brink, my local farm store had papayas, mangos, and bananas that were all starting to turn so I bought up a bunch and decided to whip out my trusty dehydrator. I had also juiced earlier in the week and had a good quantity of pulp left so I decided to make a batch of juice pulp crackers and juice pulp veggie balls (simply mix the pulp with a little water and flax meal and whatever spices you want and tada - delicious).

Tips:

Slice thinly for the least amount of time

Sprinkle with lemon juice to preserve color

Dehydrate until very dry if you are going to be storing for a long period of time. Placing in a sealed plastic bag for a few hours before vacuum sealing stabilizes the moisture content.

To rehydrate, simply soak in warm water

The best tip of all is to experiment, some of my favorite dehydrated foods are okra and asparagus, they taste awesome without being fried like those versions sold in the supermarket!

As you all know, I LOVE beets! They are so versatile, can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted, or grilled any time of year and are healthy to boot! I usually can't get enough of them but lately I have been slacking on my beet consumption and decided that that needed to change.

One of my favorite books, Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, mentions beets throughout, proclaiming they can help you live forever, I am in agreement, they are rich in vitamin C, boost immunity and are loaded with vitamins and minerals.

This salad is so easy to make and is not only delicious but filling as well, simply combine orange slices with roasted beets, onions, spinach and feta then drizzle with a dill, dijon and citrus dressing and enjoy!

Roasted Beet, Orange, and Spinach Salad with Dijon Citrus Dressing

Serves 2

3 small Beets

1 Orange, peeled and segmented

2 cups Baby Spinach

1/2 Onion, sliced

1 tbs Chia Seeds

1/4 cup Feta or Goat Cheese

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1/2 of an Orange, juiced

2 tsp Dried Dill

1 tbs Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Parsley

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat the beets with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and wrap in foil. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until a knife slides easily into them. Remove from the foil and let cool to the touch, peel and quarter.

Remove the skin and pith of an orange, using a knife, slice along the membranes in order to remove the orange pieces. Slice the onion. Set both aside.

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, dijon, dill, parsley, and orange juice. Add salt to taste.

In a serving dish, place the spinach and top with the beets, onion, orange segments, a sprinkle of chia seeds and feta or goat cheese. drizzle the dressing over top and enjoy!