Have you got a list of foods that are raw?
I get this question a lot, so I’ve decided to give you a list of foods that you can play with to create some gorgeous dishes.
First of all there’s a question I simply HAVE to address, because it’s an issue that comes up in a lot of raw food recipe books and it drives me crazy!
Do I need to buy exotic ingredients?
No, no and no! With good, simple recipes (like mine, ahem), you won’t have to trek to absurdly overpriced specialist stores (or worse: other countries) to find the ingredients. The vast majority of my recipes contain ingredients that can all be found in your local supermarket.
I do NOT provide recipes that call for a young Thai coconut, fresh banana leaves, or the essence of an oh-so-expensive tropical plant that you’d never find in a million years unless you went to the Amazon (and I’m talking the rainforest, not the online resource).
Some of my recipes have an extra superfood thrown in on occasion, but the superfoods are always optional and are included for fun – in case you want to experiment.
Here’s a list of foods that are in a lot of supermarkets
- Fresh fruit (apples, pears…)
- Dried fruit (prunes, raisins, etc. – just try to avoid the ones that have been prepared with vegetable oil – which you’ll find with many brands of dried cranberries, for example)
- Fresh vegetables (carrots and all other root veggies apart from white potatoes, plus all kinds of salad veggies, bok choy, tomatoes…)
- Dehydrated vegetables (such as dried mushrooms, chilis…)
- Windowsill or indoor greens (you can grow these yourself or buy them: cress, wheatgrass, sunflower greens…)
- Fresh or dried herbs (parsley, basil…)
- Nuts (unroasted, unsalted almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts…)
- Seeds (sesame seeds, poppy seeds…)
- Sprouted nuts, seeds, beans, or grains (sprouted quinoa, alfalfa sprouts, sprouted chickpeas, sprouted wheat, soaked almonds…)
- Oils (olive oil, avocado oil, hemp oil, sesame oil, flax oil…)
- Spices (cayenne pepper, chili powder, turmeric, garlic…)
- Any prepackaged raw foods (nut butters, readymade dehydrated crackers…)
As you can see, that’s a lot to choose from!
Here’s a list of foods that are readily available elsewhere
- Edible weeds! Did you know you can eat dandelion? And you can probably find it for free right outside your door! Read more about wild foods here.
- Seaweeds (dried or fresh dulse, nori, etc…many different kinds; there’s even “sea spaghetti”!) – found in the Asian section of the supermarket, or in any health food store
Here’s a list of foods that are less common, for the adventurous
There are some very good ones, and the best place to get them without paying a fortune is… you guessed it, on Amazon (the resource, NOT the forest this time!)
- Algaes (spirulina, chlorella, etc.) – available in health food stores. The best is in powder form to add to smoothies, soups, and sauces (read more about superfoods here)
- Edible flowers (zucchini blossoms, lavender flowers, etc…plus they’re gorgeous!) – get them here
- Other superfoods such as maca, barley grass powder, and bee pollen (see my articles here and here)
- Natural sweeteners (see my article here)