Preparing raw food can be as quick and simple as eating a piece of fruit whole, grabbing a chopping board and knife to serve up an amazing salad, blending up a few ingredients to make a fabulous soup, dip or sauce, or dehydrating a pizza base, kale chips or granola over several hours, or even days.

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Put simply, saw food can be as quick or as long-winded as you have time for, but the point is that ANYONE can make delicious raw meals without any special skills or expensive equipment. 

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WHERE TO START

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There are various pieces of equipment that are not your typical everyday kitchen appliances, but that could really help to make your journey with raw foods more delicious and interesting. 

 

 

Before you go spending money on things you may not necessarily use, I recommend that you start by having a look online, or through some colourful cook books, at raw food recipes to see what inspires you the most and you think would fit into your lifestyle with ease.

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For example, if you want to start eating a raw breakfast, and I suggest you do for SO many reasons, you might want to make smoothies or nut milks, in which case a high speed blender would be a fantastic purchase.   

 

However, if you've read about the incredible benefits of juicing and want to heal your body, then a slow masticating juicer would be the best investment for your health right now.

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Neither of these have to be expensive and are widely available these days.

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Below are several pieces of equipment and basic techniques that can be used to make your raw food lifestyle varied and delicious!

 

BLENDING

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Blending is a great place to start.  In raw food we use blender, or a personal blender like a Nutribullet, to blend together the whole fruit or vegetable, therefore keeping both the fibre and juice.  A liquid is usually added to help it blend.

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One of the quickest and easiest ways to get more of your raw 5-a-day is to make a delicious green smoothie, consisting of a couple of your favourite fruits blended together with some leafy greens like spinach or kale, and a liquid base such as water, nut milk, coconut water or fresh juice.

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With a high speed blender you can make great smoothies, nut and seed milks, soups, sauces, dips and more.  Basically anything that you need to liquidise, or add liquid to, can be blended up.  

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The more powerful the blender you use, the better and smoother results you'll achieve.  Some brands, such as Vitamix or Blendec, come with tamper sticks which can help you to blend thicker textures really well, such as making "ice-cream" with frozen fruits, without damaging the blades.

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JUICING

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Sometimes confused with smoothies, a juice is actually what is extracted from a fruit or vegetable, after the pulp is removed and discarded using a masticating or centrifugal juicer. 

 

A slow masticating juicer (pictured) will yield a higher quantity and better quality juice than a high speed centrifugal juicer, and can juice most fruits, veggies and leafy greens.

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The main benefit of juicing over blending is that a juice contains more enzymes and nutrients that are easily and quickly digested and absorbed into the blood stream, and delivered directly to the cells of the body, thus aiding the healing process.   

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Juicing takes a little more time and dedication than blending, but is incredible for cleansing and detoxing the body to aid the healing process.  It's important to choose the right juicer for your lifestyle otherwise you could end up wasting money and giving up juicing. 

 

If you really want to improve your health or recover from illness, juicing using a masticating juicer is essential.

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FOOD PROCESSING

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A food processor is the next kitchen appliance I recommend you get because it will make your raw food lifestyle so much more interesting and diverse, and save you a ton of time in the kitchen! 

 

With a food processor you can grind up dry nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies to make amazing pates, spreads, energy balls and bars, ice-cream, cheesecakes, salsas, pies, cakes, puddings and lots more.  Honestly, the list is endless.  

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If you're making food for just one or two people, you really don't need a big machine.  And mostly I just use the 'S' blade for pretty much everything, so I don't recommend you buy one with all the bells and whistles.  However, some of the chopping blades can save you time if you want to slice or shred a lot of veggies.

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SPIRALISING

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A spiraliser is a great buy and will enable you to make healthier veggie noodles as an alternative to wheat pasta, and also great looking salads or noodles for soup. 

 

You can spiralise lots of raw veggies, the most common ones being courgette/zucchini, root veggies such as beets and carrots, sweet potatoes, red or white cabbage, bell peppers, broccoli stems, cucumbers, onions, butternut squash and some firmer fruits like apples and pears.  

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Spiralising is quick and easy and most machines come with a choice of 2 sizes of noodles and an attachment for making ribbons.  

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You can also use a hand-held veggie peeler to make tagliatelle-like noodles for veggie pasta.  It takes a bit more time, but is a simple way to start.

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OTHER RAW FOOD TECHNIQUES

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Sprouting Nuts & Seeds - You can purchase special sprouting jars or containers, or simply start with a jar covered in a muslin cloth secured with an elastic band!

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Dehydrating - for when you are more advanced with raw food and are totally committed to it being a big part of your lifestyle.  Dehydrating takes more time and effort, however, can be fantastic if you would like more dry, crunchy textures in your diet, such as crackers, breads, wraps, granola, activated nuts and seeds.  You can also preserve fruits, veggies and make fruit leathers as sweets.

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Growing Microgreens - such as wheatgrass for juicing, or pea shoots and sunflower greens to add a delicious and nutritious crunch to your salads.  These are very easily sprouted and grown indoors, and take just around 10

days to grow from seed.

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USEFUL EVERYDAY ITEMS

 

Mandolin - for slicing thin and fast

Hand-held veggie peeler 

Measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Silicone spatulas

Garlic press

Manual juice press for citrus fruits

Mason jars with lids for carrying smoothies and juices on-the-go

Glass storage jars and bottles for dried goods and nut milks

Sieve and Collander

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