Master of the Month | Cherie Soria | Vitality Soup Recipe
There is so much amazing development going on with Better Raw, it's a bit overwhelming and crazy exciting to reveal all at once, so I'm going to take it one week at a time... starting TODAY!
Master of the Month is our brand new series, where on the 1st of every month I will feature experts and pioneers in the field of wellness and raw food. I couldn't think of a better person to kick off this awesome series, than the beautiful and vibrant Cherie Soria!
You may know her as the Mother of Gourmet Raw Vegan Cuisine.
You may know her as the founder of Living Light Culinary Institute.
You may know her as the author of best selling titles like Raw Food Revolution and Raw Food for Dummies.
To me, Cherie is a true inspiration and I could go as far as calling her the real reason for getting me hooked on raw food five years ago. I was experimenting and having fun with this new way of eating at the time, but once I tried a recipe from Cherie's book Angel Foods - I knew that I've just discovered something completely revolutionary.
Meet our August's Master of the Month...
Describe your typical day of eating and drinking.
This is a pretty typical day with the addition of some cooked beans or quinoa a couple of times a week, a cooked vegan meal in a restaurant on weekends and some gourmet raw foods prepared by our students at lunch.
6am: 1 cup jasmine green tea
7am: 12 ounces warm water with lemon
8am: 3 ounces E-3 Live Brain-on
9am: 12 ounces fresh fruit smoothie (orange juice, bananas, blueberries, peaches, kale and VitaMineral Green )
10am: green juice (kale and other leafy greens, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, parsley)
1pm: full meal salad bar (spring mix, sprouts, tomatoes, shredded root vegetables, veggie kraut, 1/2 avocado, seaweed, pumpkin seeds, vegetarian support formula nutritional yeast, dressed with Liquid Gold (see page 151, The Raw Food Revolution Diet)
3pm 12 ounces water
4pm 12 ounces water
5pm: 12 ounces water
5:30pm: My favorite Vitality Soup with chopped tomatoes (see recipe below)
7pm: 12 ounces water infused with peppermint oil and or ginger juice
What (or who) inspires you to eat well and stay healthy?
I inspire myself. I want to be the best that I can be so I can set an example for others and show people what is possible if you take care of yourself.
What is your biggest weakness when it comes to food and how do you deal with that?
I don’t have any food addictions. I am addicted to feeling good. And, I am not afraid of eating cooked food when I want it and it serves me – I eat well chosen water-cooked foods like steamed broccoli, legumes, and quinoa, which are health promoting and add to my enjoyment. I do not consider it a weakness.
Complete these sentences...
Improving your diet is an ongoing journey.
Staying healthy while travelling is something that takes planning and determination.
Detoxing is important from time to time.
Immunising is not for me.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you?
“You will never know what an inspiration you have been to me.”
If you got to keep only 3 of your belongings- 1 thing from your kitchen, 1 thing from your garden, 1 thing from your bookshelf - what would they be?
My favorite chef knife. The rich soil I have spent years building. My most recent book, Raw Food For Dummies, which I coauthored with my husband, Dan Ladermann. It was a labor of love that people tell us is making healthy living easy and delicious for them! Our goal in writing it was to give people everything they need to make tasty raw food meals for themselves and their families. We included how to travel raw, how to find restaurants and other raw food enthusiasts, how to set-up your kitchen and I even created a 31-day meal plan with advanced preparation instructions, so it reminds you when to soak the oat groats to make the oatmeal in time for breakfast! It’s the compilation of my years of experience and the most complete raw food book ever written.
Why do you believe that life is Better Raw?
I advocate a whole food, plant-based diet that is fresh, ripe, organic and mostly uncooked. Some water-cooked (steamed or braised) vegetables, legumes and non-glutinous grains are more health promoting than some raw foods that contain condensed fats and sweeteners. A balanced, health-promoting diet can contain some water-cooked foods (not fried, baked, grilled or sautéed), providing that nutrient dense raw vegan foods make up the majority of the diet. Whether cooked or raw, I recommend nutrient dense foods that are delicious (or people won’t eat them). My goal is to make food that is both healthy and delicious.
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Our Master of the Month shares her favourite raw food recipe...
CHERIE SORIA'S VITALITY SOUP
Serves 2
1 cup orange juice
2 cups stemmed and chopped kale or other dark leafy greens
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped
1⁄4 cup fresh parsley, basil, or dill weed
1 tablespoon light miso
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1⁄2 teaspoon garlic, crushed (1 clove)
1⁄2 green onion, chopped
1⁄2 avocado, peeled and pitted
Filtered water as needed for desired consistency
- Combine the orange juice, kale, cucumber, herbs, miso, lemon juice, garlic, and green onion. Blend the mixture until smooth.
- Add the avocado and blend again — no more than 1 minute — until smooth.
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For more about Cherie Soria and the amazing Living Light International, take a tour around http://rawfoodchef.com.
To see Cherie LIVE in action, check out her UK event in September! I am definitely not missing this opportunity and have my ticket already! Come on by and say hi to me too...
