Perhaps many of you have already heard the benefits of living a vegan raw lifestyle. After all, it is no surprise that limiting yourself only to non-animal, uncooked and fresh plant-based food can tremendously increase your physical and mental energy, decrease your chances of disease, keep your weight at a healthy level and boost your overall sense of health. 
And yet… most of us balk at the idea of making the big leap. After all, when most of us consider the idea of going vegan raw, we immediately begin thinking of all the comfort foods we would have to give up, such as: cooked pasta, cheese, bread, cooked vegetables, eggs, meat, rice, cooked beans–you name it.
What if you are not completely ready to make the permanent transition but you can at least promise yourself that you would try going vegan raw for a single day? Or even a single meal?
It may take a few tries, but you just might be surprised by how good your body feels after eating a completely vegan raw meal. You just might try going vegan raw for several times a week. As a matter of fact, you just might get so hooked to being raw that it will end up becoming a lifestyle transition–at least most of the times when you can manage to avoid succumbing to the temptation of sauteed mushrooms or steamed baby carrots. Which is better than nothing, right?
Here are a few super-easy recipe ideas to get your feet wet in the raw vegan lifestyle:
Breakfast Options:
- Carrot Juice: Put carrots and some lemon in a juicer.
- Apple "cereal": sliced apples, bananas, soaked almonds, sunflower sprouts and shredded raw coconut mixed in a bowl.
- Soymilk fruit blend: blend soymilk, blueberries, bananas.
Lunch and Dinner Options:
- Gazpacho Soup: Place diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemon juice and cucumber in a blender for a cold summer soup.
- Asian Slaw Cabbage Salad: Garnish finely shredded cabbage with chopped cilantro, finely grated ginger, some lime juice and a sprinkle of paprika.
- Beets and Carrot Salad: Grate carrot and beets into bowl, grate ginger over the mixture, and squeeze some orange juice on top.
- Lettuce Wraps: Wrap spinach, finely shredded carrots and other raw vegetables in lettuce leaves. Make sure to garnish with lemon juice, soy sauce, chili and other seasonings of preference.
- Zucchini "Spaghetti": Use a spiral slicer to make "noodles" out of zuchini. Serve with tomato sauce.
In-Between Meal Snack Options:
- Apple slices; any fruit slices, period!
- Homemade guacamole with flax seed crackers
- Any vegetable or fruit juice: the fresher the better.
- Raw nuts with any seasoning of your choice (soy sauce, cinnamon, garlic powder, basil, thyme, etc…)
Intrigued by the possibility of trying more raw foods? For further reading on raw vegan eating, visit Living and Raw Foods Community
Related content on Intent:
- How to Eat Healthier. A weekly round-up of the best healthy eating articles on Intent.
- Sweetness Without Sugar-Spikes: Low-Glycemic Raw Foods by Angela Stokes
- What Exactly Are Raw Foods? by Mark Reinfeld
great article. one thing – isn't honey a no-no for vegans? maybe some vegan folks can weigh in on that.
thanks for these recipies, yumi. my partner and i recently committed to 1 raw day each week, and i'm going 50% raw on all other days, so this is perfect timing. you have saved us from repeating the same meals over and over again! hallelujah!
much appreciated.
great stuff.
I thank you, as well, and I look forward to trying these recipes!
I also thought honey was something vegans avoid, but maybe it depends on the person…
Good point, both of you. I forgot about the honey thing!
Agave nectar would be a good sub for the honey. It's not as strongly flavored as maple syrup.
I have been raw for 17 days now. I feel absolutely wonderful mentally and physically. I have also lost ten pounds, that is a perk.
I use Agave nectar as a sub, it is delecious.
Thanks for the tips!
I have a friend who went Raw. She is glowing and has lost weight. This lifestyle has given her a new sense of confidence, a new support system, and new volunteer opportunities. She introduced me to a local Raw restaurant….wow…the food was alive and so very delicious! She is a good influence.
I am a vegetarian but at first I went vegan and mostly RAW. LOVED IT! It was hard to keep up with some traveling we planned and with kids, etc. but I loved it. Thanks so much for these ideas, Yumi. It is a nice reminder to go back to that great feeling element of raw! Thanks,Allison
I eat like this most of the time, it effects every single aspect of your being including how spiritually receptive you are, how much physical and mental energy you have. The Enzymes in the raw food are essential to aiding digestion and the absorption of nutrients. I occasionally will go out for a meal with friends and eat a cooked vegetarian meal and might have a Coffee instead of green tea which is what I drink mostly. As soon as I begin to eat and drink in this way, I can feel my body begin to wilt like a flower. Nuts are also good foods to have Raw especially coconut. I weight train five times a week at the gym so I include plenty nuts in my diet as a protein source. But essentially everything the body needs to be healthy is found in fresh fruit and fresh vegetables I know that experientialy.
Thank you
Love xx
I am your reflection as you are mine
you can find raw honey in some places at health food or natureal food stores also you can buy it online at some of the new raw food suppliers there are people who raise bees and will give you their unheated honey for a few dollars or I have found it at farmer's markets raw agave nectar is really good too
In some spiritual Circles there are mixed views about the eating of Honey…
The reason that was given in one such circle I was involved with a few years ago which was the Ching Hai people. They talk about not only the nutritional value of foods but also the Karmic energy that surrounds certain types of food. Plants rely on animals to exist and so they are entered into a bargain of evolution where by plants actually produce food to nourish animals so that they themselves can exist. The production of Honey like eggs from birds is not really for that purpose. Like an egg honey is food for the offspring of that particular creature like in mammals it is milk and therefore can be looked upon as an imbalance within nature if the food source is removed from its natural intent and consumed by us.
What do you think?
Love xx
I am your reflection as you are mine
THANKS FOR INFORMATION
http://liujiaoourhealth.blogspot.com
has become a popular alternative to other sweeteners, particularly artificial sweeteners, in many recipes. It is popular with diabetics because it has a low glycemic level, and it's also popular with those who eat raw foods because it cooks at low temperatures.
Agave nectar sometimes called Organic Agave, you want to use in the recipe. Darker varieties will have a stronger taste, while lighter ones will taste similar to sugar or a light honey. Choose an agave nectar that has been made from the Blue Agave plant.