It's so easy to eat raw food when the sun is out, isn't it? (Or at least that's what I keep hearing from you all winter long.) But I'll tell you what's not easy... that's rollerblading backwards!



Honestly I don't even remember the last time I rollerbladed forwards, before last Friday. Was it five years ago? Six? Seven? Times flies. Luckily for me, it's been just as long for Britney, in case you haven't guessed it yet by our intense safety gear!



We discovered a Skate Hire shop near Marble Arch tube and flew through hours of Hyde Park thrills. What a way to spend a Friday afternoon! Triple recommend to all!


Britney was also on my Acid Alkaline Breakthrough program with me, so we finished the day off with a pH balanced salad.


Recipe below:





For the salad
2 Large carrots
Big handful snow peas
1 Courgette/Zucchini
1 Sweet potato
1 Avocado
1 Mango
1 Kiwi fruit
1/2 Cucumber
Salad greens

For the dressing
1 Cup Brazil nut milk (made the same as Almond milk)
3 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
1 Lemon, juiced
1 Garlic clove
1/2 Red onion
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/3 tsp Himalayan salt

For the optional topping
My pesto (I made this one with soaked sunflower seeds instead of nuts)
Basil leaves

-Chop, slice, dice or spiral the salad ingredients any way you like to eat them (Hint: I make mine all kinds of shapes and sizes for more excitement- I spiralised the zucchini and sweet potato, thinly diced the carrots and snow peas into strips, and chopped the rest of ingredients into cubes).

-Blend all the dressing ingredients and pour them over salad in a large bowl. Mix.

-Serve with a side of fresh green leaves and top with optional pesto.

See you lat-ER, dehydrate-OR!...
I have a new favourite recipe that doesn't require all that waiting around :)

Don't you just love it when you come up with a recipe by total chance? Not any recipe either, but one you are totally surprised about and super pleased with?

This raw food burger was a complete chance for me, as I usually use a whole variation of vegetables, seeds, spices, planning and not to mention time to dehydrate a meal- none of which I had available this day!

I was due for a grocery shop to get some fresh produce and just threw some sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds in warm water to soak quickly so I could have them for lunch, next thing I was doing is eating a delicious and hearty burger patty that didn't even make it to the dehydrator. Here's the recipe...


For the burger
2 Cups sundried tomatoes, soaked*
1,5 Cups sunflower seeds, soaked*
3 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp to sprinkle  chia seeds
1 Tbsp hot madras curry powder (mine is a mix of coriander, turmeric, mustard, chilli, bengal gram (black chickpea), cumin, fenugreek, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, fennel)

For the extras
Cashew soured cream (blend of soaked cashews, water and lemon juice)
Avocado
Cucumbers
Lettuce leaves

*Note #1: soak in pure cold water for 2-8 hours or for just 1-2 hours in warmed water
*Note #2: this recipe is for dry salted sun dried tomatoes, if using sun dried tomatoes preserved in oil, drain the oil well and add Himalayan sea salt to the recipe
-Drain the water from sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds
-Process all the burger ingredients in your food processor until desired consistency ( I like a few chunks to chew on, so I only processed enough to mix the ingredients, you may prefer a smoother paste like patty instead).
-Roll the whole mixture into a tube and cut into equal sized slices.
-Smooth out each slice into a perfect patty using your hands and coat the tops in chia seeds by sprinkling or dabbing into a plate full of chia.
-Serve as is with the extras, dehydrate for 5 hours for a dense patty or serve warmed up in the oven (heated, but turned off).

Last weekend I was very blessed to have been invited for a very special day of meditation at The Nutri Centre in Regent's Park. This gorgeous centre is one of the world's largest suppliers of nutritional products and my favourite wellbeing book store in London. They even stock my DVD Raw Food 101!

The day was lead by a wonderful spiritual guru Andrew Smith, who is the author of The Revolution of 2012- The Preparation and The Revolution of 2012- The Challenge.



We all brought with us a healthy treat for a shared lunch. I must admit I didn't even stop to contemplate on what my contribution was going to be. This recipe has been a hit in all of my Beginners to Raw Food Workshops, Retreats, and more recently on so many blogs across the internet raving about it after watching the DVD. The only regret I had was not being prepared enough to take a better picture of the salad to show to you guys here. The photo really does it no justice at all :)



For the Dressing/Dip
1 cup cashews, soaked 2-8 hours
1/2 cup pure water
1/2 red bell pepper/ capsicum, de-seeded and chopped
1/8 red onion (small slice)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp tahini
1 tsp himalayan salt
1 clove garlic

For the Salad
5 large carrots, shredded
optional: sundried tomatoes, adzuki bean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, lentil sprouts

-Blend cashews with water first
-Add the rest of ingredients and pulse until creamy (use the tamper of your Vitamix blender)
-Add a little more water if needed
-Put all the grated carrots into a large bowl, pour the sauce on top and mix it all in
-Transfer into a nice serving dish and sprinkle with the optional extras
-Nom nom nom


If you like this recipe, watch me demonstrate the making of it step-by-step, as well as another 19 super scrumptious recipes on my DVD Raw Food 101- Your first steps to the healthiest lifestyle ever. The DVD is divided into there chapters: Intro, Equipment, Smoothies vs Juices, Milks and Calcium, Superfoods, Sprouting, Fermenting, Dehydrating, Sauces and Flavours, Quick Meals, and Sweets. The recipes are of course all deliciously raw and include nut cheese, superfood shake, 'meat' balls and spaghetti bolognaise, crunchy granola, chia crackers, raw chocolate and many more!

First come Christmas festivities, then New Year's Eve celebrations, now what? We are well and truly into January, and if you are like many people I know- you are either on a Detox right now or are planning one for ASAP.

Swimming and jumping at Zamora falls, Ecuador with Alissa and Elliot

I keep getting asked whether there's any point for myself to do a detox when I eat so well all the time and whether I allowed myself to be naughty during the holidays. Well, I'll put your curious fairies to rest...

No, I did not have any turkey, I don't eat meat.
Yes, I've just been on a vacation with my family (photos here) and ate aeroplane food.
No, I don't consider it slipping up at Christmas when you eat Nutella that one time a year ("my guilt is more toxic than my food").
Yes, I prefer to eat raw and do the majority of the time.
No, I didn't start off loving it straight away and it took a good amount of time to detoxify the system, change my cravings, and discover a new appreciating for what real food is.
Yes, I believe Detox if for everyone, no matter what your diet is. A body needs a 'shake me up' and 'flush me out'.
No, I am not too cool to follow my own Detox program, in fact I am having this very recipe (below) for dinner tonight as I type this sentence!

in Vilcabamba with sister Alissa, mum Elena and dad Vladimir

Taken right out of the Luxury Section of 'Purified', this is the DAY FOUR Dinner Recipe...
[Purified is a 7 Day Detox Program which contains two menu plans- one for a Budget Detoxer and one for a Luxury Detoxer]
Zucchini (courgette) used here as spaghetti will surprise some of you, when you taste how satisfying it is eaten raw and not too different in taste to the actual processed wheat pasta variety, since it doesn’t have a strong taste. But it really is an amazing vegetable with anti-cancerous properties and high water content, making it an ideal detoxifier. The flaxseed oil is the richest source of Omega 3 fatty acids, that are vital for preventing many degenerative conditions, such as heart disease, but it also plays a big role in strengthening immunity. The addition of lime in this meal is not only for taste, but to improve metabolism and speed up the detox effect.

For the Pesto
1 Cup Basil, packed tightly
½ Cup Sundried tomatoes, soaked 1-4 hours
½ Cup Pine nuts
½ Cup Macadamia nuts
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Lime, juiced
2 Tbsp Flaxseed Oil

For the Pasta
1 Large Zucchini/ courgette

For the side
1 Cup Sauerkraut
1 Cup Spinach, packed

-Process all the Pesto ingredients in a food processor (Tip: stop to scrape down the sides of bowl often to make sure there are always ingredients covering the blade)
-Dice thinly or grate the zucchini, to make them as long as possible and resemble noodles (Tip: use a spiralizer if you have one)
-Assemble the spinach leaves first, then sauerkraut, then pasta and pesto on top


Do you like this recipe? How would you LOVE another 45? My downloadable eBook 'Purified- Your Complete 7 Days Detox Program' contains two menu plans- one for the Budget Detoxer and one for the Luxury Detoxer, a complete shopping list for each, a recipe for every meal (even snacks) and a little information (just as above) about the benefits in every meal you'll enjoy.