Day 23 - McNathan

As you can imagine, raw foodists take St. Patty's Day very seriously. Why? There is green literally everywhere. Basically, the rule as I understand it is this: If it's green, you can eat it. Of course, this rule isn't usually applied to things like Leprechauns.

This evening, I'll be testing my theory that beer becomes raw when you dye it green. I'll also follow up on a hunch that Jameson is a naturally-occurring vegetable product.

In honor of the holiday, I'm eating a delightful salad today:

NATHAN'S SHAMROCK SALAD

Ingredients:

- Four handfulls of freshly picked clover, preferably from a field, whilst the wind is blowing softly at your back.

Important note:

Take care to discard any of the four-leaf variety. Interestingly, the Irish used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. Four leaf clovers are likely to confuse people. If a spiritual crisis sounds appetizing, carry on. But four-leafed abominations have no place in my salad.

Instructions:

- Put the clover in a bowl or pot (preferably a gold one)

- Go to the Over the Rainbow bar in St. Paul

- If you intersect with a parade route on the way, participate

- When you arrive at the bar, expect to be mistaken for a wealthy and potentially eligible leprechaun. It's likely that someone will try to catch you. Just go with it.

But seriously:

I'm not eating clover. I've even tried researching whether clover is edible, but e-quarterback answers to posts like "My girlfriend told me you could eat the little white 'flowers' that grow in a clover patch" aren't inspiring my confidence. Consider this informed response: "Well, you ate two and you're still alive. I guess it's safe. Moron."

I'm not even wearing green today (making it very likely that I'll be pinched soon).

Last night, Kelly made this very intriguing curry dish using, in part, dates and cauliflower. I'll be eating that for lunch. Breakfast was an orange and banana smoothie.

Energy:

I will say this: A noticible benefit of this diet is my mornings alertness. I play lots of poker, and I was up doing it till 2 a.m. last night because I'd napped earlier and couldn't sleep. Even on a handful of sleeping hours, I'm surprised at how good I feel, sans caffeine. I've been caffeine-free for a few weeks now and I'm stunned at how much MORE alert I feel now.

-Nathan