Vegetarian recipes & information to help you eat healthier

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You may have noticed that many of my recipes are raw food recipes. If you’re really serious about eating healthy, I believe this is the way to go. I notice the tremendous difference in my own body when I’m eating healthy raw and living foods compared to when I’m eating healthy cooked food.

Back in the 1980s I went raw. I was hired as a chef in a vegetarian restaurant that also featured raw food. It was my first introduction to raw and living food, and it was great being able to try everything. But because I was also making cooked food, and I’m good with creating new recipes, but I have to try it as I go along I was also eating cooked food.

Later, after I left that job and was working to set up a deli in a large health food shop, I ended up going raw without even realizing it at first. I was living in Florida at the time. I had a champion juicer, which I loved and I made fresh fruit and vegetable juice and fruit ice creams daily. At work I’d have a huge heaping plate of raw salads from the deli, usually with a big piece of marinated tempeh. Of course, Florida has just great fruit, and young coconuts were easy to find and inexpensive. So most of what I ate in a day was raw. And an amazing thing happened. Read more »

Raw Vegan Miso Vegetable Soup with Zucchini and Pumpkin Noodles

As winter time approaches here in New Zealand I’ve been thinking about a strategy for stay raw throughout the winter. I know from past experience that while it’s easy and quite natural for me to eat raw during warm weather, when it starts getting cold it’s harder for me to stay raw naturally, and I especially love soups in the winter months.

Today I think I found a solution, and I’d just like to take a moment to express my gratitude for miso. I have loved miso since I first tasted it. But to make things even better, it’s a fermented food. Which means that even though the ingredients are cooked (and not raw), the fermentation process turns it back into a living food, full of enzymes and friendly bacteria that help to promote healthy digestion.

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Blueberry Coconut Smoothie

Today I decided to take a break from my usual green smoothie for breakfast and go with an all-fruit smoothie.

I recently cracked open a couple of fresh coconuts, and I still had some coconut water left, so I decided to use that, as well as some of the coconut flesh. The result was a beautiful, creamy, fruity smoothie with a hint of vanilla.

Blueberries and coconuts are both superfoods. Blueberries are considered one of the best foods for fighting free-radicals and repairing cell damage thanks to the anthocyanins they contain, which also give them their blue color. They also have anti-inflammatory properties, protect against dementia and are great for the eyes and memory, especially as we get older. They also contain resveratrol which protects us against cancer and heart disease. Coconuts contain the most heart-healthy oils of any food. Prunes are good for the digestion, they help nourish the friendly bacteria in your gut. They also contain lots of beta-carotene, and lower cholesterol. Cinnamon helps to even out blood-sugar levels and prevent mood swings. So this smoothie is not only delicious, but awesomely good for you.

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How To Make Raw Tahini

Tahini is a ground paste, like a nut butter, made from sesame seeds. It’s popular in Middle Eastern dishes, and it’s one of the ingredients in many hummus recipes. It’s also great in salad dressings, especially if you like rich, creamy dressings but want to avoid mayonnaise.

It’s delicious, nutritious, and often expensive. But usually when you find it in the stores it’s made from toasted sesame seeds. I use tahini in so many things I wanted to make my own to save money, and to make sure it was raw. Fortunately it turns out to be both easy and inexpensive. Read more »

New Solutions to Old Problems – An interview with the producers of Food Matters

Sometimes I feel that it would be infinitely easier to pretend that our world’s healthcare problems do not exist. It would be bliss to trust that our food industry operates with the public’s best interests at heart and that the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry are committed to human health. I suspect however that you already realize that this is currently a fairy tale dream. Or perhaps you’re like many others and understandably feel confronted by criticism of these paradigms. Whatever the case may be, James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch have learnt the hard way.

In 2003, James’ father experienced a severe health crisis. After decades of working in stressful conditions and consuming a typical western diet, Roy Colquhoun’s body completely shut down. Bedridden for months with depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety and severe flu-like symptoms, Roy sought the best medical care available. Psychiatrists and medical specialists recommended a myriad of drugs that did nothing to alleviate Roy’s physical ailments and, Roy asserts, actually worsened his mental condition. Read more »

What Are Green Smoothies?

Green smoothies are a delicious blended drink made from fruit and leafy greens.

We all know if we want to be healthy we should eat more greens. But many people don’t like greens. Even if you’re one of the people who does like greens, the secret to getting even greater nutritional and health benefits from them is to eat them raw, leaving all the nutrients intact, and to chew them very thoroughly to rupture the cell walls and expose the nutrients within. But the amount of chewing required makes it difficult. Green smoothies are a perfect solution in both cases.

I must admit that when I first heard about green smoothies I thought, yuck! It took me a while to get to the point of trying one. Now, I’m a convert. Not only do they taste great (if you follow my tips for making them), but the benefits are amazing. One of the most noticeable benefits for me has been vision. I’ve been nearsighted (myopic) since I was 12 years old. When I’m drinking green smoothies every day I definitely notice an improvement in my vision.

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Raw Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream

Blueberries are a superfruit. They are extremely high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which combat oxidative stress and inflammation that many experts believe are involved in all the major killer diseases as well as age-related conditions like arthritis and memory loss. In fact, blueberries are considered the ultimate memory food. Bananas contain potassium and fiber. Avocados are high in good heart-healthy fats, and lutein, an antioxidant that’s great for your eyes and skin.

All tremendously healthy foods to eat. Blend them together and you’ve got one of the most delicious and satisfying desserts ever. Well I think so anyway. I ate the whole lot of this myself for dinner. Isn’t it every child’s dream to eat dessert for dinner? As adults we can do whatever we want, but usually don’t because we know it’s not healthy for us. Well, go ahead, now you can live the dream and know you’re still eating healthy!

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Strawberry Superherb Green Smoothie

There are some tasty foods that just don’t look that appetizing, and certainly are not photogenic. This is one of them. We stopped by our local orchard yesterday and were lucky enough to score some strawberries “for jam” at half price. So this morning’s smoothie featured… you guessed it, strawberries!

I’m also getting a bit more daring on the wild edibles front, and this was the biggest handful of weeds I’ve put in yet. I managed to find really young dandelions and plantain. I was also especially lucky to find young dock leaves. I took a nibble from one just to see and was surprised to find they have quite a pleasant taste. No bitterness at all, they have an almost nutty taste. I’d like to try them in a salad too. All the wild edibles are highly nutritious, and so is oregano I have recently discovered. It’s definitely a superherb, so I snipped a bit of that from the garden to put in too. I’ve been using oregano in my green smoothies since I first started having them, it doesn’t impart the strong flavor that’s so nice in Italian foods. It adds a really nice, fresh taste to the smoothies. And now that I know just how awesome it is, I’m making it a point to add some oregano as much as possible.
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Kombucha Culture Sale

I’m overstocked on kombucha cultures! So I’m having a clearance sale until I get down to a more manageable number. You can get $5 off when you buy now using the discount code: 5OFF (Sale is now finished)

So if you’re in New Zealand and want to brew your own healthy kombucha, just click here to visit the kombucha starter kit page in the store, click the “Add to Cart” button. Your shopping cart will pop up on the right hand side of the page. Paste the discount code above in the box that says “Enter Coupon Code” and then click on the “Apply” button next to it to update the price. Read more »

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