The Australian Vegan Magazine — May-June 2017

W

ith all of the colds, flus,

viruses, stress-induced

sleep disorders,

hormone imbalance

and low energy that

people experience this

time of year, our nutrition really matters! If

you want to stay healthy, you need to be

eating organic, plant-based, enzyme rich,

alkalising foods now more than ever. These

foods help balance our emotions and give

us a heightened sense of wellbeing.

Sounds so simple right? If you start

eating only hot, cooked foods, you will be

crowding out the healing, alkalising raw

vegetables, and you are going to miss out

on some of the most amazing foods the

planet is growing just for you, right now.

It’s important to keep getting the leafy

greens in your body.

There are lots of ways you can eat more

raw foods this winter so you can stay

healthy and get all of your nutrition and

emotional needs met. Here are some ideas

on how to eat raw and stay warm:

Warm green juice

Drink a big celery, ginger, green apple

and lemon juice in the morning on an

empty stomach. Make sure you add

plenty of ginger and sprinkle it with a little

cayenne to warm you to your toes. You

can make your juice the night before so

it’s waiting for you when you get up. If

you want it to be warm out of the fridge,

add some hot water to it so that it’s warm

enough to feel good going down. Follow

your green juice with a hot beverage like

herbal tea or a healthy hot chocolate elixir.

Steamed veggies with kale, chard or

collard salads

Winter greens can seem cooked if you

marinate and squeeze them with some

lemon and salt then mix in some tahini,

olive oil or coconut butter for creaminess.

You can sprinkle wild blueberries,

sprouted pumpkin seeds, coconut chips

and dulse flakes on top for added texture

and nutrition. On the bottom of the bowl,

add hot, steamed cubes of pumpkin, sweet

potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts or

beets. They will warm up the entire dish.

Creamy raw sauces

A great warming dish is a coconut-curry

sauce over steamed veggies. But you can

make any kind of raw sauce you want and

use it in your hot soups, over steamed

veggies and on cooked quinoa. Ideas for

sauces: Pick a nut or seed butter such as

coconut, pumpkin seed, tahini or almond

butter. Then add one or two of your favorite

spices like cumin, curry, Italian, onion

powder, fresh herbs, garlic, ginger and/or

lemon. Add a chopped tomato or bell pepper

to the sauce to sweeten it up a bit. Salt to

taste after blending, then pour this over

your hot veggies or quinoa. Keep the rest of

the sauce in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Hot bowls

A hot bowl is a base of something hot

and steamed like quinoa or brown rice with

sautéed onions and winter greens. Pour

some raw sauce over the top and finish it

off with some radish sprouts, arugula and

crunchy raw toppings (see below).

Crunchy raw toppings

Chopped crunchy veggies like carrots,

bell peppers, cucumbers and romaine

[lettuce], sprouted and dehydrated pumpkin

seeds, watermelon seeds or walnuts,

dehydrated, seasoned coconut chips and

dehydrated crackers all make flavourful,

crunchy additions to the top of your meals.

They are both warming and nutritionally

dense.

Seasonal fruits

Oranges, apples, pomegranates and

pears are wonderful foods to add to your

daily routine during the colder months.

They can be eaten as snacks to keep you

from eating too many sweets and snacks.

Superfoods to the rescue

Superfoods are nutritionally dense

foods that are small in size but make a big

impact on our health. Green powders,

ginger, garlic, hemp seeds, sun-dried

olives, spirulina, seaweed (dulse, nori,

and kelp), Ho Shou Wu, chia seeds, goji

berries, astragalus, and coconut oil are

easy to put into your morning breakfast

porridge, in your smoothie and on top of

your salads and soups. These foods will

keep your energy flying high during the

cold months and are super immune-

boosting power houses.

We need our friends, the raw, enzyme-

rich, freshly grown fruits and veggies and

their seeds to be with us all year round.

They help us balance our emotions, keep

our nervous systems calm, invite good,

friendly bacteria into our guts and help

fight off all the bad guys. Don’t leave them

out in the cold, they are the best friends

you’ve got this season.

By Elaina Love author, founder and director, Pure Joy Planet

healthOLIHVW\OH

#FBUJOHUIFnVUIJT winter