Raw Vegan Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Toss fruit with date/peach mixture and produce protector.

"Fruit-Fresh" produce protector prevents browning.

Peaches and Blueberries - A Delicious Pair

The trees are ripe with peaches and the local markets are selling them by the basket. Blueberries are also plentiful right now so I thought I'd make a nice crisp blending their wonderful flavors. I've spoken quite often about the health benefits of blueberries so let's talk about peaches.

Peaches are low in calories and rich in flavonoids and carotenoids - plant chemicals that serve as powerful antioxidants. According to nutritiondata.com (a terrific website for nutrition information), a large peach has 68 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 11.6 mg of vitamin C, 570 IU of vitamin A and 333 mg of potassium.

What's a "Raw Crisp"

You are all familiar with the baked crisps that fill the house with a lovely aroma (and I'll have some healthy recipes for those in the future also). But as I mentioned before, in the middle of the summer I don't want to heat the house so raw food recipes become very desirable. Also, raw food always provides you with the advantage of living enzymes so your body will have to expend less energy in the process of digestion. Vitamin C is extremely fragile and is destroyed easily by heat. Even though peaches are rich in vitamin C, much of it can be lost in the cooking process. A raw crisp will deliver a much higher concentration of vitamin C than one that is cooked. You will get an added boost of vitamin C in this recipe by tossing the cut peaches in "Fruit-Fresh"produce protector.

Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector by Ball

I discovered this product when I was dehydrating fruit. It's a mixture of dextrose, ascorbic acid (which is vitamin C) and citric acid (naturally found in fruits, like lemons) and is used to prevent cut fruit from turning brown. Raw crisp recipes generally use lemon juice to prevent the fruit from discoloring. Unlike cooked crisps, excess moisture is not absorbed in the cooking process so if you add liquids, the crisp will get watery. I was excited to try using this product in crisps as it does what the lemon juice does without making the dish soggy. It has the added advantage of providing extra vitamin C.

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Raw Vegan Peach and Blueberry Crisp [serves 8]

For the Crisp

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/2 cup raw walnuts

1/4 cup raw, unsweetened coconut

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large medjool dates,unsoaked

1/4 cup raisins

For the Filling

4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 teaspoons Fruit-Fresh produce protector

1 cup fresh peaches, peeled and chopped

4 large medjool dates, pitted and soaked 1 hour

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

To make the crisp, place almonds, walnuts, coconut, cinnamon and salt in a food processor with an S blade and process until course. Add the dates and raisins and process until the mixture starts to stick together. Remove mixture and set aside. Don't wash the food processor, you'll be using it again.

To make the filling, place the sliced peaches and blueberries in a large bowl and toss together with the Fruit-Fresh produce protector. Place the chopped peaches, soaked dates and nutmeg in the food processor and process until smooth. Mix in with the sliced peaches and blueberries.

Spread 1/3 of the crisp on the bottom of an 8" by 8" pan. Place all of the filling on top of it. Sprinkle the remaining crisp over the filling. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Per serving: 221 calories, 10 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, .6 g cholesterol, 4 g protein, 32.9 g carbohydrates and 5.2 g fiber.

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