Going Raw for the Fun of It

Many of us think of eating raw vegetables as a punishment meted out to those who must diet. Or, we have visions of the obligatory sticks of dried-out carrots and stringy celery languishing in school lunch bags. Too often, raw vegetables are served without giving them the care and attention they deserve.

Nothing looks quite so inviting or smells so sweetly fragrant as the season’s freshest vegetables arranged in a small basket that has been lined with a coarse white cloth napkin. It’s one of my favorite ways to begin a meal.

One of the simplest and best combinations is little red radishes topped with tender spring-green leaves; slender strips of carrots; stalks of celery from the heart with their pale green, leafy plumes; and a bunch of skinny green onions (thick ones are too pungent). In their season you can add other vegetables--thin wedges of fennel with a bit of feathery greenery still attached, or baby artichokes, trimmed, just the heart of which is eaten raw.

I love to serve the vegetables just as they are, without any further embellishment, but I might accompany them with a small dish of extra-virgin olive oil, mixed with red wine vinegar or lemon juice and seasoned with fine sea salt, to be used as a dipping sauce for the vegetables. This is called pinzimonio , and it is how Italians celebrate the young and tender new vegetables of the season.

Any of these vegetables can also be served singly with great effect. I sometimes follow the French custom of serving crisp radishes with good bread and a little unsalted butter--the butter serves to tame the peppery bite of the radishes. Or I serve them with bocconcini , miniature snowy-white balls of fresh mozzarella.

Large radishes tend to have spongy flesh and a hollow center. For crisp, juicy radishes, select small ones that feel firm to the touch, crowned with very fresh green leaves. Serve them soon after buying so you can present them with the leaves on, which gives the radishes a fresh-from-the-garden look.

Spring brings delightful peas and fava beans to eat raw. When the first peas appear in the market, place a bowl of the unshelled peas on the table, and each person can shell the peas and eat them along with good bread.

Raw fava beans are one of the great delicacies favored by Mediterranean people. When favas are in season, restaurants in Italy feature the whole pods piled high in baskets. To begin the meal, you are served a dish of unshelled pods, which you then shell yourself. Raw favas are delicious accompanied by sheep’s milk cheese or real Italian prosciutto, and coarse country bread. Shelling the beans at the table is not only a wonderful ritual--a relaxed and sociable beginning to a meal--but it also preserves the delicate juices of the young beans, which might dry out if shelled in advance. Select pods containing small peas and favas--they will have superior texture and flavor.

Fennel is extraordinary eaten raw. It has a surprising light licorice flavor and is full of sweet juices. In Italy, it is served raw before the meal, or afterward as a digestivo , an aid to digestion. This was the custom in Sicily, where my mother grew up. In her grandmother’s elegant dining room in Palermo, with its high, airy ceilings, shuttered French doors opening out to large balconies, and carved, dark mahogany furniture, her grandmother and my mother would be served a small platter of sliced raw fennel without dressing, eaten to cleanse the palate as well as to promote digestion. The juiciest fennel has an almost pearly sheen to it and fine, white coloring; look for these qualities when shopping for it.

Raw artichokes, perfectly trimmed so that only the tender heart remains, are a wonderful treat and will be a revelation to those who love the special flavor of cooked artichokes. The heart, eaten raw, has the same slightly bitter, nutty flavor of cooked artichokes, only more pronounced, and it leaves the same clean and refreshed taste in the mouth. One way I enjoy serving raw artichokes is thinly sliced with Parmesan cheese. Artichokes served this way must be impeccably fresh. To test for freshness, bend back a leaf--if it is flabby and does not snap off crisply, the artichoke is old and the heart will not be crisp and juicy.

In fall, there are peppers--the red and yellow ones are especially sweet--to dip in a little bath of warm anchovies and olive oil.

And, of course, there is the full complement of vegetables traditionally served raw in salads. These deserve to be appreciated outside the salad bowl too.

Serve beautiful strips of ice-green cucumber--the English variety, which has tender green skin, fine-textured crisp flesh and barely developed seeds--along with a bowl of fruity, sweet red and yellow cherry tomatoes, to snack on a hot afternoon.

For an impromptu picnic, take along a lunch of radicchio leaves and hard-cooked eggs. At dinner, after the main course, serve a plate of tender romaine leaves, another wonderful custom from my mother’s childhood, eaten to promote digestion and to cool and refresh the body.

And finally come those underappreciated raw carrots and celery. Carrots have a pure, sugary sweetness that is unrivaled. And tender celery stalks have a bracing, herbal quality that I find absolutely delicious.

The best carrots have bright orange moist flesh with sprays of fresh greenery--a sign that they were recently harvested. Large carrots can turn bitter and develop a woody core, so select those that are medium-sized; very small carrots do not have time to develop sweetness, unless they are specifically miniature varieties.

When selecting celery, look for fresh leaves and check to make sure the stalks are crisp and firm and that the flesh is not spongy. Use the pale-yellow and light-green innermost stalks to eat raw, and save the outer stalks for cooking.

RAW VEGETABLES WITH OLIVE OIL DIPPING SAUCE

Inner stalks of 1 bunch celery, with leaves

1 bunch small red radishes with green leaves

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into thin wedges

Several young carrots, peeled and cut lengthwise in halves or squares, depending on size

Several thin green onions, with bit of green cut off top

Cruet of extra-virgin olive oil

Cruet of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, or dish of thick lemon wedges

Sea salt

Black peppercorns

Line basket with white cloth napkin. Arrange celery, radishes, fennel, carrots and green onions in basket. Place cruets of olive oil and vinegar or lemons at table along with dish of salt and pepper mill. Set each place with plate and small bowl. Each person flavors olive oil according to taste and stirs mixture with vegetables as they dip in oil.

If preparing vegetables in advance, wrap in damp dish towel and keep refrigerated until needed.

An earthy yet elegant antipasto. Paper-thin slices of raw vegetables are tossed in a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and mustard, then topped with capers and shavings of Parmesan cheese. Slicing the vegetables very thin allows more of the dressing to be absorbed, which enriches the flavor and also slightly softens the texture of the raw vegetables.

VEGETABLE CARPACCIO

1 medium artichoke

1/2 lemon

4 to 5 small, firm red radishes, trimmed and sliced paper-thin

1 small carrot, peeled and thinly sliced on diagonal

1 tender leek, small portion of white base cut into thin rings

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced into paper-thin julienne

Dressing

1 heaping tablespoon capers

1 (1-ounce) piece Parmesan cheese, thinly shaved

Freshly ground black pepper

Completely trim artichoke, snapping off all leaves and cutting away dark green portions around heart. Cut away choke. Rub cut portions of artichoke with lemon half to prevent flesh from darkening. Very thinly slice artichoke heart.

Combine artichoke, radishes, carrot, leek and fennel in large serving platter. Toss immediately with Dressing. Adjust seasonings, adding more oil, lemon juice, salt, or pepper as needed to taste.

Spread vegetables out so that they form thin layer over platter. Sprinkle with capers. Cover top of vegetables with cheese and season to taste with pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

174 calories; 245 mg sodium; 5 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.06 grams fiber; 64% calories from fat.

Dressing

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon imported prepared mustard

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper to taste in small bowl. Beat with fork to blend.

Freshly picked garden zucchini no more than five inches long would be ideal. If they are any larger, the squash lose their special delicate flavor and release too much moisture into the salad. And zucchini that isn’t absolutely fresh runs the risk of being bitter. If you do not have a source for garden zucchini, careful selection in the market can yield excellent results. Look for firm zucchini with an even color and glossy skin.

RAW ZUCCHINI WITH LEMON

1 1/2 pounds tender zucchini

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Juice 1 small lemon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano leaves

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Few small lettuce leaves

Wash zucchini well under cold running water until skin feels smooth and free of grit. Trim ends. Cut zucchini into very thin rounds.

Place zucchini in bowl and add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Marinate 1 hour and toss occasionally.

To serve, arrange lettuce leaves on serving plate. Lift zucchini out of marinade, using slotted spoon. Mound zucchini in center of platter. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

250 calories; 76 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.24 gram fiber; 97% calories from fat.

A study in white from a 19th Century Italian menu. Thinly sliced mozzarella, moist and tasting of fresh milk, is topped with slivers of crisp fennel and celery heart, then dressed with a little extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Accompany this simple, exquisite antipasto with a fine chilled white wine and long, thin bread sticks.

DAMA BIANCA (LADY IN WHITE)

1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese

1 fennel bulb

1 celery heart, white stalks only

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

If mozzarella is packed in water, drain well. Place mozzarella on paper towels to absorb excess water.

Cut off feathery stalks of fennel and trim away bruised areas. Cut bulb in half and remove core. Slice fennel into julienne. Cut leafy tops off celery. Trim base. Cut celery crosswise into thin slices.

Cut mozzarella into thin slices and arrange on platter. Scatter fennel and celery over top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

567 calories; 529 mg sodium; 88 mg cholesterol; 51 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 22 grams protein; 0.24 gram fiber; 81% calories from fat.