I know you asked about raw vegetables, but have you considered lacto-fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut? From what I understand they are very good for replenishing gut flora. See: http://huntgatherlove.com/content/wild-fermentation

Cucumber slices with goat cheese and lemon zest

Cucumber raita with any curried meat

Radishes with butter

Cauliflower dipped in homemade bacon-naise

Grated carrot w/ a little olive oil and vinegar as a side with anything

Jicama and cabbage coleslaw (finely chop and add homemade mayo or oil/vinegar + seasonings)

Salsa w/ tomatoes, peppers, carrot and onion

Shrimp salad: shrimp+jerusalem artichoke+ mayo+ seasonings (chop jerusalem artichoke into very small pieces)

These are the veggies I enjoy eating raw. I included ones you don't have to peel to eat raw and are most likely to have had a lot of soil contact ('cept the tomatoes) so you can hopefully ingest some of those micro-organisms. However, unless you can grow these or buy them at the farmers market I would question how much soil bacteria is left on them.

Sounds like an interesting experiment. The vegetables are not trying to kill you :P Most commonly grown vegetables are perfectly safe to eat small amounts of raw if you want some bacteria. I can only think of potatos and beans as accually containing toxins that require cooking to prevent poisoning.

If you want bacteria most will be on the surface not inside and if bacteria is there you will only need a small amount of food. Maybe peel a bit from each vegetable you eat? This obviously does not include things that have tough or indegestable skins.

Go by taste and common sense. I wouldn't suggest eating avocado skin or raw turnip. If it tastes bad don't eat it. Also alot of commercial produce in supermarkets is washed or treated in some way to prevent spoilage. Maybe find local sources like a farmers market or garden or if possible find some safe wild foods in your area.

There are many choices of vegetable, any of these you eat a small amount of raw:

Asparagus. Bell peppers. Broccoli. Carrots. Cabbage. Carrots. Cauliflower. Celery. Chicory. Cucumbers. Fennel. Garlic. Jerusalem artichoke. Kale. Leeks. Onions. Lettuce. Radishes. Spinach. Swiss chard. Tomatoes. Turnip greens. Some seaweeds. And many more.

Don't forget many fresh fruits and also fresh herbs like:

Basil. Dill. Oregano. Parsley. Peppermint. Rosemary. Sage.

Edit: A small amount of any of these will not poison you. However there are good reasons for cooking many vegetables including breaking down any antinutrients present and also making them more digestable. I generally prefer mine cooked.

Seems to me, you might need home garden grown veggies with no pesticides in order to get the full benefit. The stuff at the store is sprayed to death and you will want to wash it good before eating. Even so called 'organic' veggies are allowed to have so called 'natural' poisons added to kill pests. Natural poisons are sometimes even less safe than unnatural poisons and more of it often needs to be applied to get the same results. If it were me, I'd pick veggies my friends and I were able to grow. YOu can grow em and then go out in the garden and snack on em as you water them! ;-) Many veggies and lettuces will even grow well in pots.

I'm going to have to look into the science on that blog though. If he suggests eating 'muddy' veggies raw to repair the gut flora, aren't raw veggies kinda hard on the digestion in the first place? Might want to blend them in a blender first to help predigest. The blender should not harm tiny bacteria. But if he wants you to eat muddy veggies, why not just eat a few teaspoons of dirt instead? ;-P I know that sounds kind dumb but if you are only eating the veggies for the mud, then ? Or is there special bacteria that only adhere to veggies? DO we know what specific bacteria he is trying to get into you and that they are to be found on the skins of veggies?

I'm not totally against this idea, but I think I need to look more into the science behind it. Bacteria are everywhere. How do we know the ones good for the intestines are the ones adhering to the outside of dirty veggies? -Eva

You can make paleo pasta with raw zucchini :)

I haven't tried it yet, but it looks amazing.

Why not just eat a little good quality dirt from time to time? Kids love it.

Try Sallon Fallons Cookbook, Nourishing Traditions

Most vegetables are not defenseless when dead, squash, zucchini and other vegfruits want to be eaten, but are high starch.

The ease of cooking improved flavor and reduction in antinutrients means no raw for me

Sorry I've read far to much that wholly disagrees with most of these being safe raw. Apparently we need to do more to bring that to the rest of the community. Don't get me wrong, love veggies, tons of good stuff in them, but tons of bad too. Luckily were human, have fire, can cook them... In many cases making vitamins More bioavailable and making the antinutrients, goitrogens etc less available/harmful.

I eat meat raw-medium rare, it's defenseless when dead.

Lactofermentation wins on both counts, eliminating anti-nutrients and providing tons of probiotics.

Look at prebiotics too, big ones are inulin(onion) and pectin(apples)(I like sour apples personally)

Should also be noted that fermentation has not been found to work on goitrogens very well, so cook your crucifers