I remember back in the early days of my exploration of raw foods, I imagined that it was pretty much salads and crudités, and of course, cheesecake. I didn’t imagine I’d ever want to eat raw during winter; in fact the idea repulsed me!

Why are raw foods important in winter? Well as you know, your immune system has to step up a gear at this time of year. Extracting maximum nourishment from our food is critical. Raw foods provide enzymes to aid digestion and vitamins and minerals in the form they were meant to be eaten in.  Whole. You already know I love my smoothie, well I love it even more in winter. What a great way to pack in a load of essential nutrients of a morning! Just remember to always ALWAYS (Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall!) have it at room temperature, it’s really tough on your constitution to be dumping an iceberg in it just after you’ve woken up. In winter I add some warm water to it and loads of coconut and seed oils as well as warming spices such as ginger, cinnamon and tumeric.

Winter is a restorative time of year, it can be a hard graft, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of easy comfort food that might not nourish much more than your spirits - which is yes, very important, but what if we could satisfy ourselves on every level? 

How do you create dishes that satisfy the need to feel full and warm? The thing for me is, if I can’t replicate the experience of eating the foods I used to enjoy, I’m less inclined to stay on this path. Some people are happy to eat a bowl of raw veggies and enjoy the feeling or virtue that comes with that. But not this gal.  I LOVE food, always have, I had free reign of my Mum’s kitchen from the age of 10, I’ve eaten everything, really, probably everything. I have arrived at raw because - apart from the obvious benefits of eating LIFE, it’s creative and I get to be the artist. I love that I can combine flavours and experience their spark the first time they meet, I don’t have to wait till something is out of the oven to know how it will taste. My warmer dishes are rich with flavours from spices and herbs, combinations that really dazzle the tastebuds.  I love intensity, it’s so satisfying! So not surprisingly, my journey deeper into the Raw world has been about creating dishes that wouldn’t have me craving less nourishing foods in winter.

Raw food is defined as foods prepared under 46degC. So, if you imagine going outside on a 46deg C Day (and many of us unfortunately can!) then that’s pretty darn warm. It’s warmer than your body temperature of 37, so it figures that if you eat something warmer than your body, it’s going to have a warming effect right?

The thing about cooked foods is we often wait for them to get down to around this temperature anyway, before we can comfortably put them in our mouths. Think how much you blow on a hot veggie soup for example.

In saying all that, I do have the odd cooked meal in winter. It might be dahl or a veggie soup, some days that’s just what I crave, or maybe that’s all that’s available if I’m out, so I go with that. Certain veggies are a little easier on the system lightly cooked too such as broccoli and carrots, your digestive 'fire' is working pretty hard in winter anyway, so give it an out by all means. You simply have to be flexible in order to live don’t you?  Listen to your body, see how you feel when you try including a little more raw in winter, it may surprise you. 

So if you imagine raw foods being cold and damp, think again. You can be fully warmed up with a bowl of Macaroni ‘Cheese’ followed by ‘Apple Crumble’ for dessert. You will have no room and no desire for anything else I promise!