After the holiday hiatus from eating raw, I felt anxious to return to what felt like “my” way of eating — my way of being. It seems a little odd to me that after a short time of just a few months, I should be so attached to eating raw. Yet it’s so.
For the last 5 days, I have been breakfasting on smoothies. All of my smoothies have the same base: 1/2-1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (2 valencia oranges), 1 Tbl protein powder, and 1 tsp. Kyo Supergreens. (Sometimes I’ll use 1/2 cup Kefir + 1/2 cup water + 1 tsp agave nectar in place of the almond milk.) To this base, I usually add a banana and different types of other fresh and frozen fruit, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, pineapple, etc. I think my all-out favorite, though is banana/pineapple/mango/coconut.
For lunch, I have either soup or salad with 1-2 ounces of raw cheese for quick protein. Yesterday, I made a sweet potato carrot ginger soup. It was pretty good, though I think that acorn squash would work as well or better than the potato. It’s a pretty golden color and the ginger makes it a nice, warming soup for winter.
Sweet Potato Carrot Ginger Soup
1 small sweet potato, peeled & grated
2 carrots, peeled & grated
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 clove garlic
1-2 tsp minced ginger (according to taste)
2-3 Cups hot water
1/2 rip avocado, peeled and chopped
1/8 tsp cardamom
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbl maple syrup (optional)
Place the sweet potato, carrots, onions, garlic and ginger in a blender. Bring water just to a simmer and pour over the vegetables in the blender and let sit for 2-5 minutes. Add avocado, cardamom, salt, pepper & maple syrup if desired and blend for 60 seconds.
For dinner, I have salad or soup again, depending on what I had for lunch and what I feel like eating. If that doesn’t feel like enough food, I might supplement it with a piece of Ezekial bread, toasted.
Another great staple for the every-day-raw diet is zucchini pasta. It’s so easy to make and I think much tastier than its flour predecessor. In order to make it, you need a spiralizer — this great little device that turns zucchini into something like angel hair pasta. To this, I add a marinara sauce made with sun-dried tomatoes or raw, homemade pesto sauce. (Lately, I’ve been avoiding the pesto because it’s got so much oil and nuts in it.)
Anyway, it feels like I’m back on track. For the past few days, I’ve achieved a 90-95% raw food ratio, and I feel good. My energy is returning. In fact, I feel a little like I’m returning to my self.
Tags: salad, smoothie, soup, sweet potato carrot ginger soup, warming soup, zucchini, zucchini pasta
