What Am I Eating in Aotearoa

Here i am, back in the home country, Aotearoa NZ - land of the long white cloud. So my raw vegan friends who live in sub-tropical climes are always interested in what there is to eat in a temperate climate. Lots! But it helps if you can grow it yourself, as prices are high and this is a small country. Organic food and locally grown food is not always readily available in the quantities and variety that we are used to in Australia.

Fruit from Pikos Wholefoods in Christchurch

My first day here and i head down to Pikos Wholefoods to find out what fruit they have on offer. Fairtrade bananas from Ecuador at $5 kg, dates from Tunisia at $17 kg and locally grown heirloom tomatoes & courgettes (zucchinis). The apricots and avocado are also local, though from further afield.
This is my food supply for the next two days. Fortunately Elvi has lettuce growing in her garden, so this afternoon I whipped up a delicious salad with freshly picked cos and fancy lettuce from the garden. I included the courgettes, tomato, kiwifruit and a little avocado which i bought from Pikos.

heirloom tomatoes grown locally

Courgette, tomato, avo, kiwifruit & lettuce

Raw Vegan Potluck - Uki

Amidst the rain and thunder last night, 20 of us gathered at Avi and Mehavit's organic farm in Byangum. December 2010 and the eighth Raw Vegan Pot Luck at Uki. It is inspiring to see such a beautiful group of people and the wonderful food they've brought to share along with stories, songs and laughter.

As Menkit points out, eating a raw vegan diet contributes not only to personal health and well-being but also to the sustainability of mother earth. Eating less meat and dairy helps reduce the impact that animal agriculture has on our soils and waterways. Eating fresh, local produce straight from nature (no cooking, processing, packaging) reduces the impact on the environment and climate change. It's all good.

And as we can see from the sumptious spread, eating raw food need not be boring. My preference is to eat mainly fruit and to keep meals simple. No need to add salt, condiments, spices as the food itself has it's own splendid and delicate flavours. The meal i prepared was a simple recipe; in-season local organic produce all purchased from the New Brighton Farmers' Market on tuesday (except for the mangoes). Zucchini fettucine with a mango and tomato sauce and finely chopped parsley for garnish.

The most elaborate meal was Tess' Mock Turkey Pate with fresh cranberries. Nice idea and definitely in keeping with the christmas tradition, but won't it be good when we can shift our minds away from trying to mimic the animal-based food we used to eat. Having said that, i can say it was a delicious combination of flavours.

The entire spread

Tess's Mock Turkey Pate with Cranberry Sauce

Zucchini Fettucine with mango and tomato sauce

The most popular dessert was Mark's classic banana and strawberry icecream, made fresh on the spot with the champion juicer. Was it really just frozen bananas and strawberry? How can that taste so good!

the raw food meal plan

it is always challenging when starting out on raw and live food to work out how to eat. changing the way you eat, or preparing interesting and varied meals for the whole family can be a challenge until one gets into the swing of it. my main tips are:

1. eat seasonally
2. eat locally

Most often we are not tuned in to the seasons and the enormous variety of fresh vegetables and fruit that are available in season in our local area. Buying in season means you are also spending less. Buying locally means you are getting the food fresher and in it's most live state. It hasn't had to travel so far.


This means that when preparing a meal plan for eating raw, there is no one plan that will work. It will depend on the time of year, the stage of eating raw that you're at, and your personal type. For example, a meal plan that includes a lot of stone fruit and berries during the winter time is not necessarily optimal eating.


General guidelines to make meal preparation easy and interesting is to keep it simple and be consistent. Matt Monarch recommends consistency as the key. I tend to follow that approach too. Even though it may seem boring at first, sticking to a consistent pattern of eating (with small variations) is better healthwise in the long term. So his example meal plan consists of a couple of apples with a couple of tablespoons of nut butter, with a SMALL handful of dried fruit as lunch each day. Salad later in the day is generally 1/2 an avocado, but of nut butter with a certain amount of vegetables.

We all eat differently and a long-time raw foodist such as Matt is likely to be eating a LOT less quantity of food than most people who are maybe still high raw or eating a transitional diet.


This article, by Esme Stevens is a great place to start for pointers on putting together a raw food meal plan.
My own personal meal plan loosely follows this pattern: start in the morning with lemon juice and warm water. Then, a green juice. I then don't usually eat anything until about 11am at which point i might have something like chia, goji and bee pollen with fruit (whatever is in season). I will then have a main meal at about 2pm comprising a mixed green salad. Usually an avocado dressing (this is where i get my oils/fats) or just lemon juice. then i'll usually have a light snack around 6pm, either another green juice or small salad.

carmella's sunny raw kitchen

i've had a lot of friends ask about raw food recipes recently, and i am continually lending out my recipe books. i have a small stable of favourites, even though most often they serve to inspire me rather than being something i follow religiously.
so, here is a great blog - the Sunny Raw Kitchen - from a Canadian woman, carmella, who has posted some wonderful recipes and absolutely mouth-watering photos.
And for Amanda, who makes (i'm told) the most delicious vegan cakes in the Blue Mountains, here is a raw cake recipe for chocolate and cream charlotte. i haven't dared to make it yet, but it looks good.

eat your heart out nori rolls

inspiration from the i am grateful recipe book. last night i prepared nori rolls, my very first, using raw nori sheets - thank you julie from conscious choice in sydney - and making raw "rice". i was pleasantly surprised to find that, though it seems like they might require elaborate preparation, nori rolls are quite easy to make, and fun.

they look really sexy and were so filling we couldn't get through them all. i'll make these again. yummy.

i am grateful

i have just bought myself the most wonderful rawfood recipe book called "i am grateful". it is based on a rawfood restaurant by the same name in california (where else!). the recipes are so inspiring. "i am divine fiery avocado carrot soup" "i am rapture strawberry shortcake" "i am sensational pesto pizza". apparently, in the restaurant the staff serve the dishes to you by presenting them and saying "you are sensational . . ."
From what i can glean, this restaurant is based on the new paradigm of business, which is not based on worrying about the bottom line. Instead the founders (and workers) are about keeping attention focused on positive affirmations, and creating the business model they want, with love. They also keep the work place clear by working with the employees to be present to their day.
Terce Engelhart's own story brought tears to my eyes. I realise that this is the heart of where my dreams for a cafe are.

green smoothies

in honour of the anniversary of my mother's passing, i dedicate this post to her. three years ago today, the first blooms of the lilac bush in her front garden were showing themselves. and at the same time that buds where opening to spring, my mother was closing a chapter on this life.
i know mum would never have gone within 50 feet of a green smoothie. or maybe she would. whatever, i'm linking to John Palmer's fabulous green smoothie recipe from last month's potluck meal at Donna's place. this one is legend. we all loved it.
then the month before that, Kristen wowed us with one of her concoctions using fresh young coconut. she has devised an entire repertoire of green smoothies on squidoo. and not content with just providing the recipes, this is the green smoothie encyclopaedia. Green smoothie facts and figures, why green smoothies, and the principles of green smoothie making. in summary though, i'm not entirely convinced that mixing fruits with vegetables is necessarily the best thing for the body. having said that i do enjoy the occasional green smoothie, but remain a juice girl. i wish to keep my fruits and my vegetables firmly segregated. they even go in different bowls in the kitchen.

bursting the chocolate bubble

thanks donna for bringing me down to earth on the matter of cacao. here's an excerpt from the email penned by raw foodist Paul Nison:
One of the biggest deceptions in the raw food movement is that cacao is a healthy food. It is very addicting and toxic to the body. I have written two articles on the subject that you can view by clicking here. Don’t feel bad, I myself was once deceived by it as well, but after conducting my own research, I found the truth. It is not needed in the diet and I suggest avoiding it. Brian Clement of Hippocrates Health Institute has also confirmed it is a very toxic food. Also another thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as truly Raw Cacao. Once it is processed, it is cooked. Only the beans by themselves are raw. Eating these beans raw is just as crazy as eating raw coffee beans. Many of the people who sell cacao are good hearted people who are just not aware of the harm it does. However, there are a few people who are very aware of the issue with cacao but make so much money selling it, that they continue to promote it as a super food. Some of these people even make a religion out of it, calling themselves cacao gods. I would definitely avoid anything these people promote, especially cacao. I understand many people have cravings for chocolate and I would suggest carob as a healthy alternative.
Okay, i have tried carob and although i know it is supposed to be much healthier, i just don't like the taste. i also have to disagree with Paul's claim that there is no truly raw cacao. Scott Fry of Loving Earth is working with communities in South America to produce cacao that is processed using no heating method whatever.