If you are interested starting a raw food diet, you might be at a loss on just one tiny sticking point – what exactly can you eat raw?
Sure, you can eat all the fruits and veggies that you want, but is that all there is to a raw diet? Can you really just live on salads? Don’t worry, a raw food diet can include a lot more than simply spinach and strawberries.
Now, don’t fret. This isn’t just going to be a list of random ingredients with no indication on how you might use them. I mean, sure you can eat nuts and grains and sprouts, but what do you do with a sprout? Is it enough for a meal? You don’t want a shopping list here, you want to know what foods you can eat raw.
Well, how about pizza?
Yes, there are recipes galore that will allow you to eat your favorite fast food pie but in a delicious and healthy raw form. An easy variation involves blending together some buckwheat sprouts, soaked almonds, flax seeds, onion, carrot and garlic into a dough-like consistency for the crust. This crust is then spread thin on a sheet and dehydrated overnight.
Once it’s dry enough, you can cover it with a beautiful raw pizza sauce made from roma tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic. Over that, layer on the red and green peppers, mushrooms and olives.
How about some faux pepperoni on that pizza? All you need to do is thinly slice up some eggplant, and marinade it with a mixture of cold-pressed olive oil, kosher salt, chilli pepper and cayenne pepper. Once thoroughly marinated, pop them in the dehydrator for a few hours, and presto! Peppe-RAW-ni for your pizza.
If pizza is not your thing, then perhaps you would prefer some raw nachos? Instead of oily, over-salted, processed corn chips drowning in cheesy fat, you can munch on something healthy, but still utterly delicious.
Making your own chips is easy – simply blend some flax seeds, corn, sesame seeds, soaked almonds, garlic and a bit of chilli powder, adding water as needed. Spoon the mixture out onto a tray, sprinkle on a little bit of kosher salt, and dehydrate until crispy.
Of course, you can also whip up some fresh raw salsa to go with your chips – just roughly blend some tomatoes, jalapenos and a few spices – or even some fresh guacamole. Toss on a few extra jalapeno slices and some black olives, and you have a snack that can’t be beat.
With either of these recipes, you may be saying it’s pointless without the cheese. Well, you can do one of two things – either hit the local health foods supermarket and find yourself a good (but pricey) raw cheese, or you can make your own cheese substitute. There are tons of great recipes online, usually using nuts like almonds, blended down to a soft, cheese-like texture.
The point here is, learning how to eat a raw food diet means learning that there is so much more than just fruits and vegetables. With a little creativity, they can be almost any meal you desire!
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