A crisp apple, a green salad or, if we're really being fancy, a bowl of gazpacho is what most of us consider food in the raw. For SaBoora Yusef, however, eating raw has been a life-changing commitment, one that she approaches each day with dedication and creativity.

Yusef, 62, is a raw-food vegetarian. She prepares her morning cereal by soaking oatmeal and barley in water overnight. She makes apple pie without turning on the oven. She whirls frozen bananas in the food processor for ``ice cream.''

She makes ''pasta'' out of thin strips of zucchini and serves it with an uncooked ''marinara'' topped with ''meatballs'' -- ground nuts and veggies rolled together and put in a hydrator for a bit.

Health is Yusef's motivation. The Lauderdale Lakes resident has considered herself a vegetarian for 35 years, but early on, ''I was also eating chicken and fish,'' she says. She was having trouble with digestion and wanted to avoid the rheumatoid arthritis that runs in her family, so on the advice of a holistic health practitioner, she eliminated animal products from her diet.

Abotu 10 years ago, she went further.

''I went to the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego for three months. I was a missionary volunteer worker,'' Yusef says. ``I went there to work on health issues, but also gave 18 hours of time as a volunteer in exchange for attending classes, learning how to prepare raw foods and room and board.

''I left about 50 pounds out there,'' she says, along with aches, pains and worries about her future health.

When she returned to South Florida, Yusef founded Divine Clarity Foods, which gives hands-on help to people interested in adopting raw-food vegetarianism.

Some of her dishes require special equipment, like the machine she uses to make ''spaghetti'' strands out of zucchini. Sometimes a blender and a knife will do.

Yusef's apple pie is an imaginative favorite. The crust is made from nuts that have been soaked and sprouted. (Such ''living'' food ''helps promote easier digestion,'' she says.) The nuts are ground with raisins and pressed into a pie pan.

Apples are peeled and sliced. Some of them are puréed with a banana, dates and orange juice. The rest go into the pie pan, and the purée is poured on top. The whole thing sets up in the fridge.

''When you venture into a raw-food diet, it's not an overnight process, especially if you've been eating the standard American diet,'' Yusef says. ``But people don't realize that the possibilities are endless.''

Divine Clarity Foods is at 954-805-5267. Nancy Ancrum writes biweekly about the culinary legacy of the African diaspora.

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