GORGEOUS FOODIE NUDIES

Margaret Floyd really makes us want to eat naked. Her Eat Naked blog is a beautiful place to find ideas, recipes, and information about how to bring naked food to your table. She tells you how to eat naked, cook naked, shop naked, and live naked, as does her first book, “Eat Naked: Unprocessed, Unpolluted, and Undressed Eating for a Healthier, Sexier You,” (New Harbinger Publications, 2011).

 

Photo: Courtesy of Veggie Vibes, Raw Pizza

Now she’s tempting us to cook naked some more with her latest, The Naked Foods Cookbook (New Harbinger Publications, 2012). It is full of simple, fresh, “naked” meals that maximize the nutritional value and pure whole ingredients and natural flavors of marvelously quick and easy recipes. Floyd takes “naked” a bit further, by including over 150 gluten-free recipes, as well as a few made with probiotics. It’s a diverse collection with a few beautiful surprises. Try this “naked” gluten-free version of “fried chicken.” You can adapt this easily for naked fried fish, veggies and tofu too.

 

NAKED FRIED CHICKEN

(Adapted from Naked Foods Nut Crust, by James Barry)

 

Ingredients:

 

8 chicken pieces (preferably 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs and 2 wings)

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground sage

Nut Crust (below)

 

Directions:

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a rack in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet.

 

Rinse the chicken in cold water; pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.

 

In a large bowl (big enough to dredge the chicken pieces), mix the buttermilk, mustard, cayenne pepper, paprika and sage. Coat each chicken piece with the buttermilk bath and then roll in the Nut Crust mixture.

 

Arrange the chicken pieces on the rack and place in the hot oven. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, lower the heat to 375 degrees and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes, until cooked through and crispy. The juices should run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife. (See Nut Crust below)

 

Photo: Courtesy of The Delicious Philosophy Files, Naked Almonds

 

NUT CRUST

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup almonds, ideally pre-soaked and dehydrated or slow-roasted

1 cup pumpkin seeds or pepitas, ideally pre-soaked and dehydrated or slow-roasted

1/2 cup parsley

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)

 

Directions:

 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times until nuts are chopped. Store in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to use. Yield: 2 1/2 cups

 

Watch this slightly over-the-top funny video trailer about The Naked Foods Cookbook by Margaret Floyd and James Barry.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Layers of Happiness, Raw Spring Roll

“Naked Food” means different things to different people. For some, it means food that is “pure,” devoid of artificial additives, preservatives, and flavorings. For others, it means simple food, with few ingredients and basic preparation. Some see naked food as food in its raw state.

Photo: Courtesy of Veggie Vibes, Raw Burger

Rawism might be the ultimate in food nudism. And there are a growing number of raw nudie foodies. Besides being uncooked and unprocessed, raw food is organic and sometime wild, harvested by foragers in woods, fields, oceans, and deserts. And, because it hasn’t been messed with much, raw foods includes bacteria and other micro-organisms that aid digestion, by filling your digestive tract with beneficial flora. And they boost the immune system.

 

Rawists believe that heating food above 40 degrees fahrenheit destroys many important nutrients. They want their food to be alive as possible, full of active natural enzymes. Some manage by “cooking” their food in dehydrators, using minimal heat, to concentrate flavors and textures.

 

Photo: Courtesy of The Hunger Artist, Zucchini Tartare

 

Nudie foodies can be vegan, fruitarian, juicearian, or sproutarian. But there are tartare, ceviche, and sushi lovers who can claim the title too.

 

German research in 2003 showed significant benefits in reducing breast cancer risk when large amounts of raw vegetable matter are included in the diet.

 

Raw food isn’t always beautiful. Raw meat, fish, shellfish, milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables can give you an ugly dose of food poisoning if they are not handled properly at each step of their way, from source to table. Food poisoning attributed to contaminated raw produce has risen tenfold since the 1970s.

Photo: Julie Fallone, The No Recipe Cookbook

The No Recipe Cookbook (Skyhorse Publishing, 2013), by chef and nutritionist, Susan Crowther, is kind of a teach-a-man-how-to-fish kind of book. Rather than asking you to follow or memorize a formula for good food, you’ll get a solid understanding and a common-sense picture of what food is really about, how it works and works together, so that you just “know” in your heart and your gut what to do yourself when faced with impending mealtimes. It is a holistic approach, asking you to use your intuition rather than instruction.

 

Crowther takes the basics and shows the possibilities, encouraging you to experiment and be creative. While it’s aimed at novices, experienced chefs can also benefit from this approach. It includes 100 beautiful color illustrations and photographs.

Photo: Courtesy of Scandic Hotels, Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver was the first to consider the idea and he rose to super-chef stardom with The “Naked Chef,” a BBC television program, espousing his version of culinary nakedness. His approach to food is no-nonsense, with little or no adornment, using the essential nature of simple ingredients to make your mouth sing.

 

He has carried his passion into activism, with an initiative called “Jamie’s Food Revolution,” as he has tried to bring about radical change in the way our schools feed our children, both in the UK, where he began, and the US. His foundation also supports programs that help at-risk teenagers learn and develop careers in the food industry. His efforts were so celebrated for their impact, that Oliver won the TED Prize in 2010. Watch Jamie Oliver’s moving TED Talk. You can read more about Oliver’s story in “Jamie: King of the Kitchen,” by Stafford Hildred and Tim Ewbank (John Blake, 2012).

Photo: Courtesy of the Food Network, Jamie Oliver's Humble Home-Cooked Beans

If you don’t like puttering naked around the kitchen for breakfast, you can enjoy some lovely cereals by Bear Naked and some fabulous naked juices from Innocent Drinks. They are just two of a growing number of brands who really get the beautiful naked food thing.

 

Because naked food is often more healthy, it might just help you to feel and look better naked too. “Get informed and get gorgeous,” says Margaret Floyd.

 

Check out the rest of our posts on Naked Beauty this week in Arts/Design, Food/Drink, Mind/Body, Place/Time, Nature/Science, and Soul Impact. And enter this week's photo competition. The theme: Naked Beauty (Deadline, July 28th, 2013).