The weather is warming up, local produce will soon be filling up vendor’s tables at my local Farmer’s Market and already the landscape of my plate is evolving from more warming meals {fall/winter} to lighter and more refreshing choices as we head into summer.
You know I love to eat raw food whenever I can and I want you to do the same so that you can up the anty on your meals providing your body and brain with living enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fiber and so much more. This will help you to thrive!
sprouted grain bread {toasted} + hummus + topped with raw cucumber, yellow bell pepper, radish, and parsley
I’m not asking you to abandon all cooked foods and become a raw foodist, but I do want you to consider some of the benefits that including more raw foods will offer you. Here are a just a few awesome reasons to start eating more raw: clearer skin, improved energy, weight loss, promote more alkalinity in the body, improved digestive health, better bowel movements, and overall decrease chance of chronic illness and disease.
quinoa bowl topped with raw zucchini noodles + parsley + cilantro
Here are five ways to include more raw food into your day….
- Add a big, bad salad. Having a big salad loaded with at least 3 different colored veggies each day ensures you are well on your way to feeling the benefits of raw food.
- Juice it or Blend it. Ahhhh yes, another reason to fill your belly with green goodness. A ratio of 3:1 {veg:fruit} is a great guideline. I like to use fruit to naturally sweeten my homemade beverages but pumping up the nutrition with dark leafy greens, cucumber, celery, and avocado {it’s a fruit, but doesn’t have the sweetness of most fruit} will take your drink and health, to the next level.
- Snack Attack. If you feel the need to snack between meals aim for at least one that has a raw component. A couple of examples would be raw veggies with hummus, homemade raw energy bar, a smoothie or chopped vegetables wrapped in a collard green leaf.
- Skip the heat: Instead of boiling, sauteing, BBQ’ing and baking your veggies add a little crunch to your meals like pasta, stir-fry’s, and wraps by forgoing the heat and keeping them raw. Play around with sizes and shapes of your veggies {ex. dicing vs. julienne or ribbons}. I really think this keeps our food fun and exciting when it is visually appealing as well.
- Add greens. I truly add greens to a meal whenever possible. I play around with the type of green {romaine, arugula, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, etc.} and chop it very finely then add to almost any meal whether it’s breakfast lunch or dinner. An example is greens in a smoothie, kale on an open faced egg sandwich or homemade pizza for lunch topped with chopped greens or a mix tossed in with your stir-fry.
Every extra bit of raw food compounds the healthy power of your meal or snack. Play around in the kitchen and try to focus on including a little bit of raw into each of your meals.
raw zucchini avocado tartare
Here are a couple fab raw recipe inspirations for you from yours truly:
- Zucchini pasta with “peanut” sauce
- Avocado spring rolls with a side salad
- Zucchini avocado tartare
- Kale, spinach and avocado salad
rice cake + hummus topped with spinach + cucumber
tomato and avocado caprese with a side of greens + sprouts topped with basil, black pepper, sea salt and some EVOO
And here are a couple fun online resources loaded with great raw recipe inspiration: Rawfoodrecipes.com and Rawmazing.com
Good luck making raw-mazing food in your spring kitchen!
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