Tag Archives: fresh fruit

ok tasting, hideous looking, seriously good-for-you green smoothies

13 Jul
Looks like nuclear waste but does wonders for your system

Looks like nuclear waste but does wonders for your system

I’ve been back from Thailand for a month and I am proud to say that I’ve been drinking green smoothies for breakfast every day.  Thank you Jennifer! As exciting as this news must be to you, I have to confess that I haven’t quite figured out how to make them taste really, really delicious. I have tried numerous options and I haven’t cracked it. And when I looked at this morning’s concoction, I asked myself  ‘What the hell am I doing drinking that disgusting looking muck?’ 

These browny-green-muddy smoothies may not taste of heaven exactly, but they are definitely drinkable.  I’m sure that’s sold you!  The selling point of these is not flavour (although I will persist) – they give me all the nutrients I need for my day, a full stomach  (I make a litre at a time), and thanks to the enzymes and extra fibre; clear skin, a tougher immune system, a regular digestive system, a positive outlook (thanks B12) and more energy. 

So – I thought I would chill the perfectionist streak in me and release these recipes for your own continued exploration into the world of raw green smoothy health and happiness.

Here are my recipes for ‘ok’ tasting green smoothies:

THE BASIC:
¼ blender full of fruit
¾ blender full of dark green leaves
A plugged-in blender

THE DETAIL:
Locally produced, ripe fruit in season
1/3 bag of baby spinach
1/3 bag of water cress (this can make it spicey so be careful…)
½ a lettuce (not iceberg)
A big stack of sprouts (I go for alfalfa)
1/3 cucumber
1 x glass of water/coconut water
Juice of a lime/lemon.

HOW TO MAKE IT:
Add the fruit first, then the greens and the water and then blend.

As for fruit:
Amongst others, I tried honey dew melon, cantaloupe, strawberries, pear, pineapple and apple.  I particularly recommend a combo of 2 apples and half a punnet of strawberries or 2 apples and 1/3 of a pineapple and the flesh of a passionfruit only added after blending.

As for supplements:
I add spirulina algae (Hawaiian variety), which smells HIDEOUS, but it’s a great way to get B12;
Probiotics in powder form;
1 tbpsn of soaked flax seeds (added after blending), and
When I really don’t feel like the slightly grassy taste, I add 2 BIG tablespoons of raw cacao powder.

THE VITAMINS
A, B1, B6, B12, C, K, folate, iron, calcium and more…

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Raw Food Long Long Road Trip Tips

3 Mar
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A passenger view of French highways on Black Saturday

There are two totally different types of people on a long car trip and both require a very different menu of raw travelling delights. 

And from my recent experience, nothing fresh and raw whatsover is available from any of the highway pitstops dotted along the tarmac from London to the Alps.  So it is really, really, really worthwhile preparing ahead, particularly if you are dim enough to take that car trip through France on a February Black Saturday.


For drivers
You need lots of energy and obviously you need to be alert. 

 

1. Sugar up with lots of dried fruit, such as dates, apricots and prunes;
2. Also eat lots of fresh fruit, such as bananas and apples, cherries and grapes; and
3. Drink young coconut water and lots of H2O.  The extra water will force you to stop regularly so you can walk around, get your blood moving around your body and take in some fresh air. With the bonus electrolytes in the coconut water, your brain will also stay nice, fresh and hydrated to keep you thinking clearly.

 

For passengers
Unlike your driver, you need to stay as chilled out as possible.

 

1. Stay off sugars completely;
2. Swamp your system with magnesium and potassium to calm your nerves with vital salts. To do this, I suggest starting out with a tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses dissolved in a pint of warm water. A by-product of sugar cane production, and with more potassium than almost any other food, Black Strap Molasses is one of my absolute, all time favourite raw food superfoods. It is also a rich source of essential magnesium, iron and vitamin B;
3. Eat lots of avocado, carrots, nuts and celery to keep full. And make sure you share these with your focussed, hopefully wide-eyed driver.

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Where is the raw food in Paris?

27 Jan
Not remotely raw french onion soup

Not remotely raw french onion soup

There’s only one answer to that question. There is none. Other than, of course, the fresh market fruit and veggies on every second street corner. But who on earth would consider eating raw food in Paris anyway? Well. Me. I did. But only for a very, very brief amount of time.

I thought that, in a country famed throughout history for being the leading innovator of cuisine, surely there would be a couple of raw food restaurants, such as SAF we have here in London or RAW in New York. My research began and ended with a list from http://www.HappyCow.net of 38 Parisian vegetarian restaurants, with nothing obviously raw. Nevertheless three hours later I’d checked into my hotel in the Latin Quarter, print out and raw food intentions in hand.

I meandered around nearby Parisian cobbled rues and boulevards, salivating involuntarily. I’m sure someone with more resolve would have jogged past the many restaurants and bistros, without being tempted for a moment. That person would have ducked into a supermarche, bought a pile of seasonal organic root vegetables, julienned them with their pen knife and eaten them piously in their hotel room. But not me.

I scanned my eighteenth menu outside a small and crowded bistro on a busy square. I looked briefly at the salad option; ‘salade du chef prepare selon humeur de jour’ – roughly translated as ‘salad of the chef according to his mood of the day’. The deal was done. Raw or not, I was not going to be victim of a stereotypically moody Parisian chef. I sat down and ordered the French onion soup loaded with melted gruyere on toast. I followed it with duck confit on truffle sauce. I could easily have skipped the duck. The soup was rich, filling and more than enough. But I’m glad I didn’t. The flesh du canard melted heavenly off the bone, onto my fork, and into my hypocritical mouth. On a positive note, I ate all the lettuce, which was 100% raw.

I slept badly and felt sluggish with a sore stomach the next day. I know if I’d eaten raw I would have felt light and fresh. But, I’m sorry to say, it was worth it. Next time I visit Paris, I’ll have to psyche myself up properly, do adequate research and stay somewhere less ‘cooked-french-food’ concentrated, if that’s even remotely possible. Any ideas?

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