Eggplant, members of the illustrious nightshade family are at peak season from August to October. This beautiful purple skinned veggie is a great source of fiber, copper and vitamin B1 as well as containing phytonutrients and flavinoids. Eggplant has been proven to protect cell membranes from damage including those all important lipids present in brain cells as well as being a potent free radical scavenger.

However, personally, I don't always love eggplant. Often its bitter taste and mushy texture just does not appeal to me, not to mention its gaseous. Sure breaded and fried and covered in cheese always tastes great but there has to be another way to enjoy this healthy food without mashing it or frying it.

Lately I have been focusing my energies on raw foods once again by working on eating about 75% raw meals and 25% cooked. I find there is an innumerable way in which to prepare raw foods and it really forces you to be creative. I started thinking about raw eggplant and wondering how I could prepare it so that it still had a Mediterranean feel to it but also that freshness that comes with raw preparation.

Of course, the biggest issue with raw eggplant is its bitterness and the only way to remove it is with salting! I started out by peeling and slicing the eggplant into rounds, placing them in a colander with a dusting of salt and then letting them sit for 30 minutes before wiping them off with a paper towel and cubing the slices.

I then tossed in cherry tomatoes, mint, garlic, red onion, guava, lemon juice, olive oil and more salt and let the salad sit for another half hour before enjoying. The taste was far better than I ever thought it would be! So fresh and light and the eggplant stayed firm and when kept in the fridge it lasted for 2 weeks. So healthy and delicious, I hope that you enjoy!

Raw Eggplant Salad with Mint, Guava and Lemon

1 Eggplant, peeled and sliced into rounds

1 tbs Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

2 tbs Olive Oil

Juice from 1 Lemon

1 Guava, peeled and chopped

1 cup Grape Tomatoes

1/4 Red Onion, minced

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 handful of Mint leaves, chopped

1/2 cup of Sprouted Lentils

Peel and slice the eggplant. Place in a colander and liberally sprinkle with salt. Let sit for a half hour to remove the bitterness and extra moisture. Wipe the eggplant down with paper towel and cube and toss into a non reactive bowl. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes, guava, mint, and lentils. Drizzle with the olive oil, a dash more of salt and the juice of the lemon, stirring to combine. Let rest for a half hour before eating so that the flavors can develop. Stay covered in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy and Healthy eating!

The end of fall is always a hard time for me and this year has been no exception. Life sometimes has a way of letting you down, bringing you down, or creeping up on you. As you can tell, that is a lot of different directions to be pulled in! Often in these times when I am not feeling well emotionally I start to indulge in food and drink that does not do my body good so instantly I also do not feel well physically.

This happened in the past few weeks. I was indulging in too much whiskey, sweets, and other unsavory items. My body was feeling sluggish and I needed a reset. No one is perfect nor will they always eat perfectly but as someone who is conscious of what I am eating, I can easily recognize that it was effecting my mood and my self-esteem. Winter hadn't even started and I felt like I had packed on my winter weight.

So what do you do? You do a juice cleanse combined with raw foods, well at least that is what I do! On Sunday after gorging on pizza and cake, I came home and took our my juicer and got to work. I have a slow juicer so the juice lasts for a number of days, I made a big batch of apple and turnip green juice as well as a beet, carrot and ginger juice so that I had some variety.

Let me tell you, after the first day you feel so much lighter and remarkably better physically. This in turn provides a mental boost as well. Now, I don't want you to picture me drinking juice all day long. In the morning I have a smoothie so that I can blend in my Green Vibrance and for lunch I drink juice. Throughout the day I snack on fruit if I am still hungry and for dinner I eat a raw meal. This means that I eat vegetables uncooked and no this does not have to be boring!

The recipe here is for my Raw Collard Green Burritos that are stuffed with zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, and spices - essentially its like eating a chunky veggie filled salsa inside of your collard wrap and it is insanely delicious. The best part is that if I wanted to eat 3, I totally could! After 4 days of juicing and eating this way, I feel more like myself. I hope that you enjoy!

Raw Sprouted Lentil and Vegetable Collard Green Burritos

1 Zucchini, chopped

1/2 Onion, Chopped

1 Garlic clove, Chopped

1 Green Pepper, Chopped

1 Poblano Pepper, minced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Corn

1/2 cup Sprouted Lentils

1 tbs Cumin

1 tbs Chili Powder

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp Honey

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Large Collard Green leaves

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables, lentils and spices, stirring to combine. Taking 2 collard green leaves, remove the tough inner stem. Place them dark green side down with the stem sides overlapping in the center.

Add a heaping portion of the veggies and lentils to the center of the leaves. Tuck the short ends in and roll up burrito style. Cut in half and enjoy!