Apparently I’ve been living under a rock for the last 13 years, because I had no idea raw-foodism was thriving in the filet-and-roasted-new-potatoes western suburbs. My discovery led me to Oasis Living Café, a no-cook café and retail market peddling fresh, innovative fare and raw-foods products. A lifestyle as much as a culinary preference, raw-foodism shuns high-temperature cooking (116 degrees-plus), which potentially destroys essential digestion- and absorption-aiding enzymes and diminishes nutritional value.
Unprocessed and uncooked plant foods—fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed—are the diet’s foundation. Most followers adhere to a 75/25 ratio of raw/cooked foods, with the rewards being increased energy, improved skin appearance and digestion, enhanced weight loss, and reduced risk of heart disease.
A satisfying combination of textures and attractive presentation jettisons Oasis’ healthy cuisine out of the realm of rabbit food. For beginners, there’s an assortment of wraps—all handmade. How about avocado, hummus and shredded vegetables rolled in a collard leaf, or a flax wrap with avocado, veggies and spicy cashew crème? Another robust combo is the Taco Salad Bowl: lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red pepper, pumpkin seeds and avocado tossed in a spicy cashew dressing and served in a flax-seed salad bowl. For the more adventurous, the living pizza has a crunchy buckwheat crust “cooked” in a dehydrator, with cashew and marinara sauces and a colorful spread of veggies.
134 W. Lancaster Ave., Frazer, (610) 647-9797.
