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Raw Food Cleanse
I have quite a few posts on the site about raw food cleanses. Basically, when I feel I need to fast or cleanse my body of accumulated toxins, I eat raw, unprocessed foods - no meat, no dairy, no gluten. Sometimes I do this for 1 month, sometimes 1 week and occasionally, just for a day.
Summer, in particular, can be a very difficult time to manage your food intake for long stretches. It's a social time of the year and you may find yourselves eating at people's houses, eating at restaurants, going on vacation, etc. So it may be a lot easier to squeeze in a "raw day" here and there than to go on a longer cleanse.
Many of the recipes for the raw food cleanses that I've recommended in the past involve using a powerful, high speed blender, a food processor, a dehydrator - even an ice cream machine. For those of you who may not have any of these tools, you can enjoy a "raw day" by just owning a knife. And, as you start to accumulate some kitchen tools, you can make smoothies and raw soups, raw walnut meatballs, raw crackers, etc., But today, let's just do a simple menu of things we can easily throw together.
Breakfast
Nothing is simpler or more delicious than a breakfast salad of ripe, seasonal, raw fruits.
Select whatever fruits are in season, such as:
* Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and others)
* Apples, pears, persimmons
* Citrus (oranges, grapefruit)
* Melons (cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew)
* Grapes
* Sweet fruits (mango, papaya, peaches, plums, banana, figs)
Besides fruit, add some avocado, nuts and seeds to provide "good fats" and some staying power. If you just eat fruit you'll be hungry in 30 minutes. Hemp seeds are the perfect topping as they are high in protein as well as omega-3 fatty acids.
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| Fruit salad with mango, apple, grapes, avocado, walnuts and hemp seeds. |
Lunch
Nothing is more filling and satisfying than a big, monster salad in the middle of the day. I like to fill a huge bowl with greens and add whatever veggies I'm in the mood for.
For the salad, choose from:
* Darker green or red leaf lettuce
* Red or green, thinly sliced cabbage
* Thinly sliced kale or chard
* Radishes
* Cucumber
* Onions
* Sprouts
* Carrots
* Broccoli
* Jicama
* Peppers
* Fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, basil and others
* Dried fruits such as raisins or cranberries
* Avocado
* Seeds such as pumpkin, sesame, sunflower
Toss with a dressing of freshly squeezed lemon juice and cold-pressed hemp oil (2 parts lemon juice to one part hemp oil) seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and a clove of minced garlic. Or use Karina's Garlic Vinaigrette or any of your favorite raw salad dressings.
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| Make a monster salad for lunch! |
Mid-day Snacks
For a simple mid-day snack, make a trail mix of dried fruit, nuts and coconut. For 2 cups (8 servings) of trail mix, combine:
1/2 cup raw English walnuts
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw Brazil nuts
1/4 cup dried raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
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| Make your own trail mix with nuts, dried fruit and coconut. |
Or enjoy a piece of fruit and/or veggie slices (carrots, peppers, celery, radishes, jicama, etc.)
Dinner
Some examples of raw dinners that don't require food processors, blenders or dehydrators are:
Chopped salads, Veggie sushi, and Veggie Wraps. The Ginger Tahini Dipping Sauce is perfect for both the veggie wraps and for a dipping sauce for the veggie sushi. For the chopped salad, use any of the raw dressings listed above or look through the salad dressing section of the blog for the ones that use mostly raw ingredients and that don't require equipment that you may not have.
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| This chopped salad features avocado, corn, bell pepper, two types of squash, red onion, asparagus, English walnuts and raisins. |
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| Roll your favorite vegetables and sprouts in nori for a quick and easy meal. |
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| Wrap your favorite fruits and veggies in a leaf of butter lettuce or cabbage and dip in this ginger tahini dipping sauce. |
Desserts
Sometimes the simplest desserts are the best ones. Since this is a short one day cleanse, you can pass up the fancy raw desserts and just have a few slices of ripe melon or a bowl of fresh berries. One of my favorite desserts is a small bowl of frozen grapes!
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| Frozen grapes make a surprisingly satisfying dessert! |
So pick a day and give this a try. You'll be surprised how good you'll feel after just one day of eating pure, unprocessed, raw foods! You may decide to try it for a week or longer!
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