Raw food diets eliminate cheese and other dairy products. This tasty salad recipe will help to satisfy that craving.
This recipe, called “Aladdin’s Salad,” will make you believe you’re eating real feta cheese with a rich, creamy salad dressing. It tastes like an almost exact imitation of a favorite salad served in Aladdin’s Natural Eatery in Rochester, NY, without the cheese.
Aladdin’s Salad has unique flavors—salty, nutty and minty—and the resulting combination manages to satisfy almost every craving.
Raw Food 101
For pure raw foodists, dairy products are a no-no. The main reason that raw or live foodists don’t eat cheese is because it’s made from animal products, but another reason is because cheese has been cooked. Raw foodists believe that food loses its essential enzymes once it’s been heated past a certain temperature.
The focus of the live food movement is on consuming fresh fruits and vegetables (raw or juiced), nuts and seeds. All of these may also be dehydrated, as long as they’re not “cooked” at a temperature above 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
Equipment
Aladdin’s Salad uses only raw vegetables and nuts, a knife, blender and grater, so you can whip it up in less than 15 minutes for a quick and satisfying lunch or dinner entree.
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 large hearts of romaine salad, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 11/2 cups chopped red cabbage
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1-2 cups cauliflower, finely grated (should look like finely grated feta cheese)
- 1 tsp. salt
- Grated pepper (optional)
- Drizzled olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)
Salad dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1-2 tsp. mint (preferably fresh ground)
- 1 cup pine nuts (reserve small handful for garnish)
- ¼ cup water
Directions
- Chop romaine lettuce into bite-sizes pieces, drizzle with olive oil, toss, and set aside.
- Finely grate red cabbage, set aside.
- Peel and slice cucumber, set aside
- Using a hand grater or food processor, finely chop cauliflower until it looks like grated feta cheese (crumbly consistency).
- Drizzle cauliflower with a small amount of olive oil and toss liberally with salt so that the salt sticks. The cauliflower should have a very salty taste, like feta cheese.
- In a food processor or Vitamix, combine all salad dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Add water very slowly until the mixture can be poured like dressing. Add more mint or other herbs if you like the taste—this is a very personal preference. The traditional version is very “herb-y.”
- Place romaine lettuce on 2 large plates and top with grated cabbage and cucumber slices. Sprinkle with “feta cheese” (cauliflower) and remaining pine nuts.
- Drizzle pine nut dressing over the entire salad and top with a sprig of fresh mint.
The first time you make this dish for friends, they'll be convinced that you're serving them a salad heaped with feta cheese...delicious!
Aladdin’s Salad goes nicely with Putomayo’s Arabic Groove or Saharan Lounge. Complete the meal with a hot cup of spearmint tea with honey and dried Medjool dates for dessert, and you’ll dream happy, healthy dreams.
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