You are what you eat, and Mimi Kirk is as vibrant and full of life as the raw veggies that fill her fridge. This wellness wonder may be approaching 80-years-young, but her enduring health (slash stunning skin) have us feeling good about growing up — and it has everything to do with how she fuels up.
Mimi’s raw food diet is largely to blame for the age-defying vitality we’re so in awe of. We’ve loved learning all about it from her over the years, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to peek through her fridge first-hand.
Get a glimpse of all the wholesome goodness, including recipes for raw seed cheese and a simple zucchini noodle salad we love from Mimi’s cookbook, Raw-Vitalize. Enter to win a copy of it below!
ALWAYS IN MY FRIDGE:
Celery and cucumber, lots of veggies, greens and raw olives.
RECIPE STAPLES ALWAYS ON HAND:
Coconut oil, cacao powder, raw nuts and seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, spices, nori sheets and Medjool dates.
MUST-HAVE MUNCHIES:
Flax crackers, hummus, raw veggies, raw chocolate almond/peanut butter cups, raw chip cookies.
INGREDIENT THAT MAKES EVERYTHING TASTE BETTER:
Love!
GO-TO PROTEINS:
Sunflower, pumpkin and hemp seeds, flax, nuts, dark leafy greens and sprouts.
FAVE CONDIMENTS:
Gluten-free tamari, tahini, raw cashew mayo.
DAIRY OR NON-DAIRY FAVES:
Raw nut cheeses, coconut yogurt.
SWEETS + OTHER INDULGENCES:
Raw chocolate, Raw-Vitalize recipe for chocolate almond/peanut butter cups (coming soon to TCM!). Frozen banana cashew milk smoothie with Medjool dates and cacao powder. Matcha latte.
FAVE VEGGIE + WHAT YOU MAKE WITH IT:
I’m addicted to kale. I love kale shreds with ranch dressing from Raw-Vitalize.
BEST SHOPPING TIPS:
Shop at farmers markets and buy organic. Make a list, but be flexible. If fresh produce is in abundance and in season, buy it. Remember, hard avocados take about three days to ripen. Bring your own bags.
BEST LABEL-READING TIP:
Read them, always! Stay away from GMO and processed foods. You can save a lot of time not reading labels by shopping in the produce department. Look for organic produce, if the PLU sticker starts with a 9 then it’s organic. Don’t be fooled by the words ‘natural,’ or ‘gluten-free’ without reading the ingredient label. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t buy it. If it has a list of more than five ingredients, don’t buy it.
FAVORITE PLACES TO SHOP:
Farmers markets first, health food stores second. I also buy products online.
BEST BARGAIN:
Buying in bulk. If you look at a box of packaged dates or nuts in your health-food produce department, then look at those same dates or other products in the bulk bin — you will see how much extra they charge for packaging them for you.
CRAZIEST THING I BUY:
Kimchi and spicy fermented foods and any fruit I’m not familiar with.
WHAT'S IN MY SHOPPING BAG:
If you’ve read this far, I imagine you can guess what I always have in my shopping bag. I should say bags as I always need more than one. I fill my bags with fresh organic produce and maybe a kombucha and a raw treat. I might have spent a little more on organic, but this is the only body I get so I plan to take care of it so it’ll last longer. Health is wealth!
FOR LAST MINUTE ENTERTAINING:
Arrange nuts and seeds, Medjool dates and thinly sliced apples on a beautiful plate or board. Mix dates, water and cinnamon in blender for apple dipping. Nut butter may be added to the blend. For a savory snack, add olives and seed cheese.
To make seed cheese: 1 cup each sunflower and pumpkin seeds ground to a flour/ paste. If you have a sweet red pepper, add ½ or more, and blend all together in a food processor. Add tons of seasonings to taste, salt and black pepper and roll into a ball, then roll in smoked paprika. Flatten bottom by pushing down on chopping board. Serve with vegetable sticks or flax crackers.
SIMPLE GO-TO RECIPE:
Zucchini ribbons for one. Get the recipe below!
Simple Zucchini Noodles
serves 1
Ingredients:
1 large zucchini, sliced into ribbons using a wide-edge peeler. (Save seeded part for other use).
¼ cup sliced raw black olives or regular black olives of choice
¼ cup pine nuts
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt and black pepper
Directions:
Place zucchini strips, olives and pine nuts into a mixing bowl and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and place in a large serving bowl.
