Raw Recipes

Welcome to the recipe and nutrition section of It's All Health! My name is Lea (pronounced Leah) and I am a health food 'junkie.' I have been trying to come up with the perfect name for this section; something to grab your attention and let you know what it’s all about. So far I’ve come up with 'Chia Lea' (this might get the wrong kind of attention!), 'Lea’s Light' (you might think I’m selling lamps) and a few others that just don’t quite work. Hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll find something that does. In the meantime, I will be sharing with you nutrition facts and recipes that are incredibly easy, healthy and most importantly, delicious! The fanciest kitchen equipment you’ll need are a blender, a mini food processor and occasionally a dehydrator.

After tons of reading and research and being my own guinea pig, I am very focused on a high raw vegan diet, so most of my recipes are exactly that. I have tried many raw recipes and I am going to share the best of the best with you. I focus my attention on finding only the easiest, healthiest and most satisfying recipes for me, and now for you. Each recipe is designed to serve 1. They can be easily doubled or tripled, depending on who is willing to get raw with you! If you have any questions, comments or any recipes that you might be scared to try and would like to me to test out, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Here it goes!

Fun Food Fact: Cooking food over 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroys half of its nutrients and protein and 100 percent of its enzymes. Because of this, after eating a cooked meal people often feel full but unsatisfied because our bodies need more of the good stuff, which was cooked away. Eating cooked foods can leave people feeling tired since all the enzymes are destroyed when cooking, our bodies have to use their own to digest the food, which is exhausting. So how do we avoid being unsatisfied and tired with our diet? By eating fresh, raw, living food with all the good stuff intact. When we eat food that is alive, it gives us what we need to feel our best, and we don’t waste our precious energy digesting the food, which leaves more energy for fun!

Raw food doesn’t exactly sound appetizing, but in reality, it is the most appealing food to us, visually and taste wise. Humans naturally have a sweet tooth - we are designed to eat lots of fruit - yeah! With that in mind, the first recipes I will share with you are sweetly satisfying. The first two are my favorite smoothies, one of which I have every morning! They make about 32 ounces which is a lot, but it is a complete and satisfying meal. I use about half frozen fruit (which I chop and freeze just for a day or two so it’s still fresh - it makes the smoothie smoother and thicker). Feel free to improvise/substitute with any fruit you have on hand or prefer. And remember, try to use organic whenever possible!

Sunshine Smoothie

4 fresh bananas
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1+ cups water (you may need to add a little more to keep the blender going)
Blend for 1-2 minutes
Enjoy!

Heaven in a Cup Smoothie

2-3 fresh bananas
1 ½ cups frozen mango
1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
1+ cup water (you may need to add more to keep the blender going)
Blend for 1-2 minutes
Enjoy!

Where have you been all of my Life? Salad Dressing

This is the best dressing I have ever had. It is so simple but so good!

2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp raw agave syrup
Pinch of cinnamon
Mix together and toss on your favorite salad.

Romaine Wraps with Mock Chicken Salad

¼ cup raw sunflower seeds (preferable soaked 6 hours and rinsed)
¼ cup raw almonds, pecans or walnuts (preferable soaked 6 hours and rinsed)
½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh minced parsley
2 medjool dates (pitted and soaked 15 minutes) or 1 tbsp agave

Mix all ingredients in food processor until it resembles chicken salad. Add in any fresh and dried fruit you like. I use dried cranberries, fresh grapes and apples. Spread 5-7 romaine leaves out and fill with shredded carrots, cucumbers and any other vegetables you like. Top with Mock Chicken Salad and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Goodies (high raw)

1 ¾ cup ground raw cashews
¾ cup ground raw oats
¼ cup raw agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract¼ cup coconut oil
¼-½ cup vegan chocolate chips (not raw-unless you make your own)

If needed, grind cashews and oats in food processor. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together until it forms a dough. Then fold in chocolate chips, form into cookie shapes, refrigerate for about one hour, until firm. Store in fridge for up to 5 days, if they last that long!

For those of you new to raw, here is a list of uncommon ingredients and where I have found them.

Raw Agave Syrup - a light, low glycemic sweetener. I get mine from amazon.com. Can’t beat their prices!

Raw nuts and seeds - the ones in grocery stores are usually roasted and salted and not good for you. Plain, raw nuts that are soaked are very good for you (in moderation, of course!). I get mine from nutsonline.com - they have lots of organics and reasonable prices, and fast shipping!