Hints for Creating Raw Foods ‘on the fly’

Sometimes, when I haven’t made time to plan my raw food meals, make a list and shop for the ingredients, and ‘have it all together’, I find it hard to throw something together that’s quick, satisfying, and still 100% raw. I’m tired, hungry, and don’t feel like thinking, let alone, preparing a time intensive gourmet feast. Sometimes, it’s easier to just rely on the same old boring recipes we’re used to and grew up with. Do you ever feel that way? Yet, for me, I almost would rather go hungry or just have my juice instead of eating the ‘old way.’

There are so many great, yet simple, recipe ideas that make a lot of difference in helping us to stay on our raw path. I’m sure many of you have a full collection of recipe books that produce wonderful and tasty meals, but require many ingredients, days of preparation and aren’t very helpful when you want something quick and fast.

I’ve heard that most people really only use about 7 to 10 recipes on a regular basis! I raise my hand, that’s true for me. I have my favorites, like raw enchiladas, raw lasagna, raw tacos, etc.

The beauty of raw food, is that it can be as simple as it can be complex. It’s always easy to put together a few ingredients and have a lovely meal. We just need to think outside the box, and look at what’s in our vegetable/fruit bins, in our freezer and pantry to come up with quick, simple ideas and yet taste delicious and satisfying.

So here are 6 quick and easy recipe ideas that work for a snack or a meal.

Zesty Orange Smoothie

I love fresh-squeezed orange juice. Have you ever just peeled the oranges and dropped them into your blender? It makes for a delicious and very satisfying quick snack. Of course, use organic Navel oranges, they are the sweetest.
Simply peel the oranges with your knife, keeping some of the “white” pith, cut into quarters and blend them whole in your blender. If necessary, add a little water.

This drink tastes milky and sweet. And you can add other fruit too, if you want. But sometimes it’s best to just keep it ‘mono’ fruit. Orange ‘smoothies’ like this are more nutritious that way too! You get all the fiber and all the goodies in the white pith. That’s where all the calcium is. Orange juice is a joke, in comparison, in terms of taste, satisfaction, and nutrition.
Note: if this drink tastes too bitter, then it means you’ve not cut the oranges properly. Avoid any of the peel. Also, find the juiciest, sweetest seedless oranges you can find.

Frozen Berries

I always make sure that I have some frozen strawberries and blueberries. You can make any smoothie taste amazing by throwing in some berries. Especially my favorite: blueberries!

I generally use frozen berries all year round, but when seasonally available, you can use organic fresh berries, if they are not too expensive! Check out your local farmer’s market for a great deal on organic berries, you can freeze them to use in your smoothies. Or simply buy frozen berries (or even frozen wild blueberries) at your market or health food store.
Keep in mind, I recommend buying fresh organic berries, because you have to remember that berries are often the most sprayed fruits, so by buying organic frozen berries, or freezing them yourself, or buying wild berries, you avoid that pesticide exposure.

Berries are also the richest fruits in natural anti-oxidants, which are compounds that protect against cell damage inflicted by molecules called oxygen-free radicals, major causes of disease and aging. It’s been found that most berries rank higher in antioxidant activities when compared to other cultivated fruits and vegetables. The USDA Human Nutrition Center ranked blueberries the #1most antioxidant rich berry. Strawberries came second on the list. The antioxidants are usually found in the pigment that give berries their color. They help protect us from cancer naturally.

Berries also contain a higher amount of phytochemicals than most other fruits. Phytochemicals are components of plants that have been shown to help prevent certain diseases, or at least influence our health in a positive sense.

Berries are generally high in vitamin C. For example, a cup of strawberries contains as much vitamin C as a cup of orange juice. Without having to go through the list, let’s just remember that berries, especially wild ones, contain plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other phytochemicals, more than most cultivated fruits.

A quick word about freezing: although freezing is not ideal, it’s still better than cooking or drying, and preserves most nutrients. Some people experience problems when eating frozen fruits ice cold. So you may want to thaw your frozen berries before adding them to smoothies.

A Berry Good Smoothie:

1 cup water
2-3 bananas
1 1/2 cups blueberries
A big handful of greens, or 1-3 stalks of celery

Blend an enjoy!

Need a Quick Salad Dressing?

It’s easy to get stuck when trying to come up with a quick and easy salad dressing, because we grew up with making the dressings with oils or artificial ingredients.

Try this delicious salad dressing from whole foods.

Raw French Dressing:

Start with tomatoes. Take 1 - 2 tomatoes, and put them in your blender, with the juice of half a lemon or some apple cider vinegar. Add in some sort of fatty food such as avocado. Then throw in some herbs of your choice (dill, chives, etc.), and some of your favorite seasonings (if desired).

This makes for an incredibly tasty dressing that only took all of about 2-1/2 minutes to prepare!

Here’s another quick salad dressing recipe.

Mango Tango Dressing:

In your blender, blend 1 cup of tomato (in chunks), 1 cup of mango (flesh only), 1/4 cup of water, and 2-3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
Let me know how you liked it!

And I have one more dressing for you…. My favorite quick and easy salad dressing:

Avocado Dream Dressing:

I never really measure anything, just kind of ‘eyeball’ it - that’s the beauty of raw food preparations, it’s all based on taste, not exact scientific measurements!
1 – 2 avocadoes
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice or Apple cider vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
Dash of sea salt
1 2 tsp Italian Seasoning (to taste)
Enough water to smooth it out
Blend and enjoy on your salad. Keeps refrigerated for a couple days.

Most raw foodists always keep plenty of bananas on hand, and if they don’t get used up before they start turn black, peel them and freeze them for delicious smoothies. Bananas and chocolate (or cacao) are just about one of my most favorite combinations. It’s always so satisfying and very yummy!

Banana Cacao Shake

1 ripe banana, peeled
½ cup raw coconut flakes (soak until softened)
2 tsp raw chocolate powder (crushed cacao beans or nibs)
4 tsp cold-pressed hemp seeds
1 tsp of cold-pressed hemp oil or flax seed oil
1 tbsp raw honey or raw agave (I prefer honey, tastes better)
handful of ice cubes
Blend and enjoy!

In Summary
I’ve just given you some of my easiest and quickest recipe ideas. I love simple recipes because when our days get full of other obligations, sometimes there just isn’t enough time to plan ahead. Most of us are busy and having some easy recipes up your sleeve to whip up will help to us to stay on the raw path!

Look for raw food books that offer recipes that are easy to prepare, ready to eat in a few minutes, and use simple, easy to find ingredients. Steer clear of recipe books that only end up gathering dust on your top bookshelf somewhere in your home!