Eat Raw, Stay Toasty: How to Stay Warm with A Raw Plant-Based Diet This Winter
When the temperature drops, it's common to crave warm, comforting meals. But you don't need to compromise your raw plant-based lifestyle to stay warm this winter - in fact, you can stick to your raw lifestyle and still feel cozy and satisfied.
Here are some simple, warming raw food tips and recipes to keep you energized throughout the chilly season.
1. Start Your Day with a Hot Herbal Tea: Begin your day by brewing a hot herbal tea. This could be a simple ginger tea, which you make by pouring jus boiled water over fresh ginger slices and adding a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for vitamin C. The natural heat from the ginger will warm you up from the inside out.
2. Drink Warm Apple Cider Vinegar: Start your morning or even end your day with a cup of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar. This elixir is great for digestion and offers a gentle, internal warmth.
3. Spice Up Your Dishes: Make your raw meals warmer by adding spices. Grate some fresh ginger into your smoothies or salads. Toss your raw nuts in cayenne and dehydrate for a spicy snack. A sprinkle of turmeric and black pepper on avocado toast can provide a powerful health boost.
4. Infuse Your Water with Warming Spices: Make your drinking water more interesting and warming by adding 2-3 slices of fresh ginger or a cinnamon stick with a slice of orange. Allow it to infuse overnight for maximum flavour.
5. Eat Larger Quantities: Since raw plant foods can be lower in calories, it's okay to eat larger amounts. This will help keep you satiated and provide your body with the energy it needs to stay warm.
6. Include Nutrient-Dense Foods: Avocados, nuts, and seeds are high in healthy fats and calories, keeping your body well-fuelled and better equipped to withstand the cold. Make cashew cheeses as spreads for crackers or use avocados in a chocolate mousse.
7. Make Heartier Salads: Use a base of wilted massaged kale or spinach rather than lighter summery lettuce. Savour a raw kale salad topped with sliced avocado, grated carrots, sprinkled with a handful of soaked pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds with a delicious creamy cashew dressing. Add some parsnip crisps for added crunch.
8. Blend a Breakfast Porridge: Soak a mix of nuts, seeds, and dates overnight and blend them in the morning with a bit of plant-milk. Add in your favourite warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger for a creamy and warming raw breakfast porridge.
9. Try Raw Buckwheat Porridge: Soak buckwheat groats overnight and in the morning, rinse them off and blend them with a ripe banana and some dates. Enjoy this warming, raw porridge as is, or with whatever fresh fruits and nuts you have on hand.
10. Explore Raw Warm Drinks: Raw ‘hot’ chocolate and golden chai latte can be gently warmed on the stovetop - just make sure it doesn’t surpass body temperature to remain raw – and remember to warm the mug too.
11. Whizz up a super soup: Soups can be straight forward to enjoy raw. Check out some of these raw soups on my website.
Raw red pepper and tomato soup. Photography: Dawn Langley
12. Try Warm Vegetable Platters: Slice a variety of your favourite colourful veggies, like courgettes, bell peppers, and tomatoes, arrange them on a teflex sheet, and sprinkle them with a little olive oil, your favourite herbs and spices. Allow them to sit in a dehydrator for a couple of hours at 115F until the vegetables are warm and slightly softened. Then add them to a platter, or add them to your favourite salad.
13. Indulge in Raw Desserts: Who said desserts can't be raw and warming? Try a raw apple crumble made from a mix of dates, almonds and dehydrated apple seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg.
14. Warm Fruits in the Dehydrator: Dehydrate slices of apple or pear until they are warm and serve them on top of your raw breakfasts or desserts.
15. Warm your crockery: Pour boiling water into a mug/bowl and let it stand for a moment to absorb the heat. Then you can discard the water and pour your raw drink/soup into a warmed bowl. Alternatively, warm your crockery in the airing cupboard or dehydrator before use.
These simple tips and recipes are designed to make your raw food diet more cold weather-friendly. Invigorating, energizing, and warming, this raw approach to winter eating might just make you look forward to the cold months.
Raw ‘Hot’ Chocolate Photography: Dawn Langley