tear vs cut vs pulverize

[Guest guest]

Tommie wrote:

> I'm sure that everyone on here knows to tear greens, don't cut

> them. Cutting bruises them and makes them limp and they can turn

> brown.

 

What are we doing? Storing, or serving?

 

I do not " process " my vegetables in any way before I store them, i.e.,

I do not wash them, I do not cut them)

 

For preparing, yes, they say that you should only tear leaves, but, as

a chewing-challenged person (I am too lazy to do it well, and there

are other issues), I enjoy my salad greens chopped to bits, one way or

another. (I have shared this proclivity with potential raw foodists

and found favor -- many people notice that all that chewing does not

necessarily mean that whole zucchini slices won't show up in the morning!)

 

When I first moved in with my room-mate, she always loved to make

salads that included humongous leaves. Bless her, she is Japanese,

and they don't do salads like we do, but she liked the concept of our

salads, and she only had what she had seen in restaurants to go on

(picture a hamburger with an entire Romaine leaf sticking out all over

the place). She would give me chopsticks to gnaw at the leaves with

and she would grab up a leaf with anything that stuck to it with her

chopsticks and chomp away at it bite by bite (YUCK!!!!!! --I taught

her about forks and knives!!!). She always used to look at me funny

because it seemed that I was recreating the salad entirely with all my

cutting the pieces to shreds.

One day, I got the same ingredients, and, while she was watching, I

prepared a salad... cutting the spinach leaves to skinny ribbons.

She said it tasted different, and she LIKED the taste.

Enter a new era.

When I got my first food processor, I started throwing stuff in there

for the salads, too, but it was a really tiny thing, so I did not get

really creative.

with the new food processor, I am back to my old college-days antics

of throwing just about any vegetable in and processing it to

smithereens.

Yesterday, Tomoko (that's my room-mate's name) commented on the fact

that she didn't know you could eat so many vegetables raw (and she

didn't even know there were so many vegetables-- the Japanese tend to

cook their vegetables into submission, just like our grandmothers did

-- and they like their root vegetables, which are unlike ours, VERY SOFT)

So, what am I saying?

 

If you food-process " hard " greens (like beet, kale, collards, mustard,

etc.), you can include them in salads or other concoctions without

marinating them. I guess the " bruising " that happens brings out the

flavor and also makes them soft enough to enjoy. Of course, what you

gain in ease of preparing and chewing you lose in bulk (you'll need

more leaves to make what *looks like* a filling meal -- although

you'll find you end up eating less " volume-wise " in the end!)

 

I pulverize (food process) any " hard " greens (cabbage, beet, kale,

collards, mustard, dandelion, mystery, etc.) and I also pulverize just

about everything else I include in a salad or meal, for that matter.

Yeah, it's bruised, but..... it sure is easy to chew... you take a

bite, and you can answer someone's question in a reasonable amount of

time (uh... I *am* Southern... I was taught to chew and swallow BEFORE

I talk, i.e., not talk with my mouth full! Raw food does not change

that at my table)

Margaret

[Guest guest]

Serving--I don't fix my salads ahead. I tear the greens just before I

eat them. It's personal preference, just like a lot of things are. If

you like to pulverize them, I say go ahead! I have been blending all

of mine for the Green Cleanse this week. I tried a smoothie with kale

and it was only too awful. I drank maybe a cup and tossed the rest. I

tend to use tender greens which are also milder than the

more " cruciferous " types.

 

It's good that you are educating your roommate. The people around the

lunch table at work have been amazed at the different kinds of fruit

I bring. Several have said they didn't know there were that many. And

that's not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg!

 

Tommie

http://www.rawburchard.blogspot.com

 

rawfood , " Margaret Gamez " <mgamez1 wrote:

>

> Tommie wrote:

> > I'm sure that everyone on here knows to tear greens, don't cut

> > them. Cutting bruises them and makes them limp and they can turn

> > brown.

>

> What are we doing? Storing, or serving?

>

> I do not " process " my vegetables in any way before I store them,

i.e.,

> I do not wash them, I do not cut them)

>

> For preparing, yes, they say that you should only tear leaves, but,

as

> a chewing-challenged person (I am too lazy to do it well, and there

> are other issues), I enjoy my salad greens chopped to bits, one way

or

> another. (I have shared this proclivity with potential raw foodists

> and found favor -- many people notice that all that chewing does not

> necessarily mean that whole zucchini slices won't show up in the

morning!)

>

> When I first moved in with my room-mate, she always loved to make

> salads that included humongous leaves. Bless her, she is Japanese,

> and they don't do salads like we do, but she liked the concept of

our

> salads, and she only had what she had seen in restaurants to go on

> (picture a hamburger with an entire Romaine leaf sticking out all

over

> the place). She would give me chopsticks to gnaw at the leaves with

> and she would grab up a leaf with anything that stuck to it with her

> chopsticks and chomp away at it bite by bite (YUCK!!!!!! --I taught

> her about forks and knives!!!). She always used to look at me funny

> because it seemed that I was recreating the salad entirely with all

my

> cutting the pieces to shreds.

> One day, I got the same ingredients, and, while she was watching, I

> prepared a salad... cutting the spinach leaves to skinny ribbons.

> She said it tasted different, and she LIKED the taste.

> Enter a new era.

> When I got my first food processor, I started throwing stuff in

there

> for the salads, too, but it was a really tiny thing, so I did not

get

> really creative.

> with the new food processor, I am back to my old college-days antics

> of throwing just about any vegetable in and processing it to

> smithereens.

> Yesterday, Tomoko (that's my room-mate's name) commented on the fact

> that she didn't know you could eat so many vegetables raw (and she

> didn't even know there were so many vegetables-- the Japanese tend

to

> cook their vegetables into submission, just like our grandmothers

did

> -- and they like their root vegetables, which are unlike ours, VERY

SOFT)

> So, what am I saying?

>

> If you food-process " hard " greens (like beet, kale, collards,

mustard,

> etc.), you can include them in salads or other concoctions without

> marinating them. I guess the " bruising " that happens brings out the

> flavor and also makes them soft enough to enjoy. Of course, what

you

> gain in ease of preparing and chewing you lose in bulk (you'll need

> more leaves to make what *looks like* a filling meal -- although

> you'll find you end up eating less " volume-wise " in the end!)

>

> I pulverize (food process) any " hard " greens (cabbage, beet, kale,

> collards, mustard, dandelion, mystery, etc.) and I also pulverize

just

> about everything else I include in a salad or meal, for that matter.

> Yeah, it's bruised, but..... it sure is easy to chew... you take a

> bite, and you can answer someone's question in a reasonable amount

of

> time (uh... I *am* Southern... I was taught to chew and swallow

BEFORE

> I talk, i.e., not talk with my mouth full! Raw food does not change

> that at my table)

> Margaret

>