Raw – Day 1

For the next 7 days I will be eating exclusively raw food, sharing my menu and a bit about this dietary style.

I was first introduced to raw cuisine at The Farm at San Benito, a stunning health retreat in the Philippines. The restaurant serves raw vegan meals, with a small selection of cooked vegan dishes. On my first visit more than 10 years ago I thought I’d be eating nothing but salads but by using a range of preparation techniques, the talented chefs in their heat-free kitchen achieve diverse flavors and textures. I had never even tried vegan dining before, let alone raw, and it was eye opening – each day’s meals were an absolute delight.

From a raw food perspective, if you think about a tomato and its taste and texture, it’s completely different when sundried, and a sundried tomato that is reconstituted in water or another liquid, has an even different taste and texture.

To kick off my 7 days, I started with a green smoothie with veg and coconut milk.

Lunch (pictured) was a raw burger (nuts, seeds and veg processed into a patty and dried in the dehydrator). I served it on thyme “bread” (seed based, dehydrated) with cashew “cheeze” spread, raw ketchup, sunflower pâté and salad with vinaigrette.

Dinner was zucchini “noodles” (spiralized and lightly warmed) with a creamy avocado dressing stirred through, topped with “parmesan” made from pine nuts that were germinated, dried and ground. Also accompanied by a side salad – I’ve made a few tasty vinaigrettes and dressings to keep it interesting.

#raw #rawfood #rawburger #vegan #rawburger