After one week of juicing and two weeks of eating raw, I seem to have found a system that works long-term. During the raw weeks, I discovered just how much I genuinely loved eating and preparing raw food at home, so I’ve stuck with it. This, however, did not stop me on Sunday, when I sunk my teeth into some of the world’s finest BBQ.

Since embarking on this food reboot almost a month ago, I have noticed some major changes. For instance, I can hardly drink anymore, because I’m hyper-aware of the exact effects of alcohol on my liver, energy, and mood. This makes the occasional drink even more of a decadent experience. One cup of white tea has me bouncing off the walls now. Eating heavy stuff like red meat has to be in moderation, too. In short, I’m becoming a lot more in tune with my body, and enjoying it immensely.

My so-called system consists of eating primarily raw at home, and not when I’m out – if I feel like it. This is all still very much in line with the idea of eating what I want, actually, because the raw menu I’m slowly compiling is so very good. I’ve been using this site for food preparation ideas. It has quite a few delicious recipes, along with raw shopping lists. Here are some of the dishes I’ve tried so far,  in a succession from lightning-fast to somewhat time-consuming:

I’ve been having this almost every day. Just slice a banana and throw it in a bowl with fresh blueberries, a pinch of flax seeds and some almond milk. To die for, every time.

  • Tomato
  • 1-2 leaves of basil
  • Smoked salmon
  • A small dollop of mustard or pesto
  • Lettuce [not iceberg]

Stack, wrap, eat!

  • Lemon or lime juice
  • 2 large, ripe avocados
  • white onion to taste
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 pinch of sea salt [do not skip this]
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • black pepper

The photo lies! You don’t actually want to put avocados into the food processor. Technically, you could, but the consistency will be super-smooth. I prefer my guacamole chunky! If you do, too, blend everything besides avocados into small chunks, then add to a large bowl of half-squashed avocados and mash together. Great on carrots, peeled cucumber wedges, or these.

  • Dark green lettuce
  • Purple cabbage
  • Carrot
  • Dried cranberries
  • Cashews
  • Raw ginger
  • Soy Sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • Olive oil
  • A few drops of chili oil

Combine ginger, sesame oil, chili oil and olive oil in a food processor, then blend. This is your dressing. Chop the lettuce and cabbage, shave the carrot, combine in a bowl with cashews and cranberries, then toss with the dressing. Ta-da! This salad is delicious, crunchy, and filling.

This takes the longest to prepare, but is still super easy and INCREDIBLE. You will need:

  • Purple cabbage, chopped
  • Shaved carrots
  • Alfalfa sprouts
  • Fresh basil, ripped
  • Cilantro leaves, torn
  • Mango, peeled and sliced
  • Fresh ginger
  • Lemon juice
  • Almond butter
  • Chili or Siracha sauce
  • Soy sauce
  • Honey

These wraps are, basically, this recipe, but I’ll copy + paste it here for you, with a few of my own changes. The only real difference is that I used lettuce to wrap instead of spinach leaves, and skipped the hemp seed and sea salt because the soy sauce was salty enough.

In a high-speed blender, puree the honey, lemon juice, ginger, red chili, and soy sauce. Add the almond butter and blend at low speed to combine.

In a bowl, mix the almond butter dressing with the cabbage. The best and easiest way is to do this with you hands or a large wooden spoon.

Place the lettuce leaf on a cutting board with the underside facing up. Then, put some of the cabbage mix on the leaf. Add a few shavings of carrot, some sprouts, a few pieces of mango, a few leaves of cilantro and basil.

Roll up or fold the lettuce leaf – you might need a cocktail stick for it to hold. Personally, I don’t let it get that far, because this recipe is actually ideal for preparing as you eat, which helps to gauge how full you’re actually getting. Ales and I even took all the separate, prepared ingredients with us on a picnic last week, and made these wraps by the ocean. Mmmf!