When was the last time you felt like a whole new world was opening up in front of you? Hmm?

The last time was six years ago when I gulped and went to Mexico to be with my Mexican girlfriend for a year not knowing what I was getting myself into. Before that was learning to meditate 13 years ago. Right around then, I also was introduced to salsa dancing, which excited me because of my comparatively passionless family. And then before that was when I learned the precise mathematical formula to make a 3-D cube appear on my computer screen. That one little formula was the seed for my next business, a computer animation programed called Animasia 3-D.

I remember when I was a monk in training and there was this handsome guy from Switzerland who always raved about how good his homeland’s food was and how much he missed it and how he’d be sneaking bites of Lindt chocolate every day and I how much of an addict I thought he was. I never understood that. But now I do. I’m realizing that I’m having another one of these openings where possibilities seem limitless and I get a prickly excitement on my skin when my mind edges toward… food!

A Swanson TV DinnerRaw food in particular, which I’m finding I can make some intensely tasty foods in ways that I never thought about before. I get so excited planning my next meal. This is significant. Why? Because growing up on TV Dinners created a condition in my mind where I wished there was an equivalent to rabbit pellets (“Human Pellet Food”) that you could just pop into your mouth to get the ordeal over with. Food was a chore, not a delight.

My new favorite kitchen gadget is my $10 dehydrator that I bought off Craigslist. I never realized that 85% of fruits and vegetables are water and if you dehydrate them, their true taste comes out in bold letters upon your tongue. Even better is that the nutrients aren’t destroyed when the heat is kept below 118°F. The food is still alive even though it’s taste and texture have been transformed into something new.

Experiment #1: blueberry bliss

My first recipe out of my dehydrator came from a YouTube video of this strange girl demonstrating how to make raw blueberry pancakes in her dehydrator. When I tried it, I couldn’t believe how every bite was exquisite–the flavors were so intense, and as a bonus, I got energy from it, unlike the up/down energy spike from a traditional pancake.

From an engineering perspective, what was more thrilling to me was that the ingredients and the process were simple to understand. It all just made sense. Nothing about the food’s nutritional profile was being destroyed, only preserved. The geek in me loved that.

Apple pie eureka!

Lately, I’ve been having some smashing successes in the kitchen. The first was figuring out on my own how to make raw apple pie. The trick was to dehydrate two sliced apples, sprinkled generously with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. This reduces the apples, giving them a nice solid bite, and also brings out their natural sweetness too. Then blending them up slightly with a banana to create the filling and adding that to a crust of mashed dates with shredded coconut was all that was left. To firm it up, I chilled it to make it stand at attention, and man oh man, was it bright and tasty. I thought of photographing it, but… uh… it didn’t last that long. (I didn’t mind that it didn’t have a flaky crust. That wasn’t my goal. I could always bake one with vegan butter some other time.)

Edible air

The next hit was kale chips. These were simplicity itself to make and yet the payoff was big fun. I just tossed in some ripped-up bits of kale into my $10 dehydrator, sprinkled in some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Several hours later, I had a killer treat. Imagine that you are eating air that had magically become crispy, and at the same time taste like the thinnest, lightest potato chips you’ve ever had, except for being exceptionally nutrient dense. Incredible. And to think I’d have to pay a premium for something so trivial to make.

Best transformation of a watermelon, ever

The last creation I have to mention is not raw, but it is unique. Google could only find a few mentions of it, which says something. Awhile back, I read that eating nothing but watermelon for one day is an excellent natural cleanser for the kidneys. So I tried it. But after trying to chow through just a quarter of a watermelon, I thought I would never finish my formidable green and pink opponent before me in one day. So I juiced ‘er, and thought to save the pulp. Yet for the next few months, every time I’d open the freezer door, I’d see that pulp and think, “what the bleep am I gonna do with watermelon pulp?” And then I’d close the door and forget about it.

But now with berry season upon us, and me needing more freezer space, I pulled it out and plopped the pink ice cube into a nearby pot and slowly started to simmer it. Many hours later, I had this bright red, thick, sweet-but-not-cloyingly decadent goo. This time I took a photo (yay, me!), but gobbled it up while trying to think of where it fit on the sweet/sticky spectrum and what kinds of neat things I could do with it. Maybe use it as a unique vegan cupcake frosting? I knew I’d have to try this watermelon reduction (or watermelon molasses) again, as it was simple and yet so rewarding.

What’s next?

As you can tell, I’m super fired up about experimenting with food, especially raw, finding how tasty it is, and how much energy it gives me. There’s more discoveries I could share, but when was the last time you felt like a whole new world was opening up for you?