I have a little confession to make...
For the past three years I have been fooling myself by trying to fool you, that raw chickpea hummus can be just as delicious as the cooked one.

I tried so hard to make this a reality, but at the end of the day- everyone will try my recipe, taste it, feel glad that they now know how to do it and then go off to the supermarket to buy their cooked one in a tub again.

Do you know why that is?
Answer: When you apply heat to raw living carbohydrates in food and apply it for long enough, those carbs turn into sugars. So by cooking our nutrient packed sprouted chickpeas, we are actually destroying a heap of goodness and turning them into a sweet by-product. Sugar is of course addictive, so when you try anything else, it simply doesn't compare and the voice of our tastebuds will always be louder than the voice of our intellect.

That's exactly why I always do my best to make my raw recipes taste amazing. I've even revealed my secret of adding dates to raw foods in my Amazon #1 Bestselling DVD Raw Food 101, in order to make a tastier hummus. The result was pretty good, but even I didn't hurry to make it myself. And there is something wrong with that picture. So I went on a quest to perfect my recipe and soon discovered that the secret is not in making raw chickpeas taste better, it was in replacing them with something else altogether!

I can't tell you what a revelation this was! And honestly, I think that if you enjoy a hummus in a tub, you will looooove this one. I do! Here you go...





3 courgettes, chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
½ cup raw sesame seeds
½ cup raw tahini
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp cumin
optional: ½ tsp Himalayan salt, only if tomatoes weren’t preserved in salt

Put all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend to a rich consistency.

Doesn't it look and sound divine? It is a must-try, I tell you. Do it, do it! Everyone on my and Polly's Picnic & Punting event last weekend gave rave reviews to my hummus and all the other treats we made for the day...

Mocktails on arrival, curried flax crackers, raw sundried tomato hummus, summer guacamole, creamy cheesy dip, pizza, wraps with sunflower seed pate and fresh seasonal veggies and sprouts, marinated and pesto stuffed mushrooms, chocolate brownie bites, special indulgent cake, strawberries and cream, plus green elixirs. - See more at: http://www.betterraw.com/p/teaching.html

We were so fortunate to have the beautiful and shining Samjhana Moon of www.goddessportraiture.co.uk to capture our day! Here are just a few highlights...

It's no secret that Elliot and I are getting married next year, but we are not done with the high of being fiancés just yet! As we got engaged in the middle the coldest winter UK has experienced since well before we were even born, it only made sense to wait for the summer to celebrate outdoors.


We hired the lawn bowling club next door, ordered some props online, put together a canapés menu and recruited the best looking helpers in town...

DIY decorations in the making the night before.

The gorgeous Californian beauties and their funny mini man.

Raw pizza and salad for the helpers.

And the #1 prize goes to my #1 helper and bestie! Gina- you are a little cupcake of awesomeness!

When you are preparing raw food, it shouldn't actually take you any longer than preparing cooked food, however you must always start ahead of time to allow for the dehydration process.

The great news about dehydrating is that you literally- pop in your trays full of food and walk away for the next 12-24 hours or so. No need to check up on anything, no need to worry about anything getting burned, and no crazy energy bills either! Have you checked out what dehydrator I use and recommend? See my entire suggested equipment list here>>

Here's a sampling of what I made...

Everybody's favourite- these Marinated and Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms never stick around for long, they are the best addition to any picnic and you can even serve them as a main course with a side salad.

Dessert was surprisingly tricky to organise, as I knew it'll be sitting out in the sun, while so many raw food dishes require a fridge or a freezer. That's why I opted for Chocolate-filled Macaroons (they are usually chocolate covered and I teach the recipe in my Raw Chocolate 101 class) and Chocolate & Caramel Coated Cookies (recipe is just like these Dutch Stroopwafels, but with added cacao powder).

Raw Food Pizza- a party must-have! The base is a classic nut-free version I always make, then goes the tomato paste, then the spreadable cheese and finished with any toppings you have in mind (or in my case- something that required minimal prep time was the winner- olives!) I also teach the making of it in my Raw Food Tastes of Italy class>>

Dips and Dippers. ALWAYS have Dips & Dippers. For simple dippers- carrots, runner beans and celery sticks will do the trick if your dips are tasty enough, but it's always good to add some flaxseed crackers to the mix. For the Dips- I made extra Pesto while doing the stuffed mushrooms, extra Creamy Cheesy Sauce while making the pizza sauce and Guacamole.

These mushroom nut balls and tomato ketchup are a delicious idea, possibly best kept for a more intimate dinner occasion. They take quite a long time to first soak and marinate, then process, then roll into balls and then dehydrate, but disappear in record time. Serve them with toothpicks to pin and dip or over courgette noodles if you are having them as a main meal.

Like any host will know- there is always something to do last minute, there is always something that gets overlooked and there is usually something that doesn't get done at all. However the great thing about it all is: nobody knows, but you!

I mean, just look at these guys... does anyone look like they know I may have forgotten a thing or two?

Only four years ago, when I first moved to London, the words 'raw' and 'food' put together would do one of three things when mentioned to Brits:

1. Confuse/irritate,
2. Make you feel like an expert, because you've had sushi, then once explained that neither fish nor rice are on the menu.. confuse/irritate,
3. Make you proud for having a fruit salad that morning, then guilty for realising that is was coated in dairy yoghurt, sprinkled with processed sugar and flushed down with a milky coffee, and then... confuse/irritate.

What a difference four little years make.

Your enthusiasm for raw food these days blows my mind.
Your demand for organic produce is helping bring down prices.
Your realisation for the importance of cleansing is making the planet lighter and you healthier.
Your new wellness fuelled attitude -after seeing what raw foods can do to your entire life- is making you and everyone around you happier.
Your hunger for health, means there are now over 12 raw vegan restaurants around London and hundreds which offer raw meals on their menu.
Your thirst for energy, means there are now hundreds of juice bars too.
Your sparked curiosity to learn more, means I can no longer count the number of raw food teachers here with my two hands.

And now for the very first time...

Alternatives in London will have a presenter tell their story of a raw food journey, for the first time since they began hosting talks for the world leaders in spirituality and personal growth, all the way back in 1982.

I can't even put into words how honoured and blessed I feel to tell you, that the presenter is me.




Even if you are new to the world of conscious living, it is highly likely that you've heard of at least one of these names before:

Marianne Williamson, Tim Ferriss, Brandon Bays, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Byron Katie, Dr. John Demartini, Joseph McClendon III, Julia Cameron, Gabrielle Bernstein and Deepak Chopra.

The Alternatives have hosted all these unbelievable speakers and so many more. Can you tell just how privileged I feel right now?

It is time for our diets to take centre stage, so please join me tomorrow 7PM-9PM Thursday 18th July at Swiss Church, 79 Endell St, WC2H 9DY, London. Book your spot>>

I can't wait to meet you!

xTanya


P.S. If you can't make it tomorrow, I will be interviewed on Radio Verulam at 8:15PM tonight. West Herts peeps- tune in to 92.6FM or listen in LIVE online, here: http://www.radioverulam.com

Whether you are looking to unwind, recharge, cleanse your mind and spirit, take your soul on an adventure, breathe in the purest air, alkalise by marvelling at perfect nature, nourish your body with the most flavoursome and nutritious organic meals, learn how to prepare all the healthy raw foods or experience what the real Valley of Longevity is all about… there is no place on earth, like Vilcabamba to satisfy all of your senses and dreams.

This November, a carefully selected group of people will get an opportunity to experience the ultimate Raw Food & Soul Adventures Retreat. Read on for more details and apply at the end>>

Friends,

I've teased you with promises of a destination retreat for long enough, now I have a sneaky feeling that you'll agree: what I'm about to announce has been worth the wait...

You might have been expecting to retreat with me to Bali, and right until just last week, I was too. But expectations are toxic and I found that all the pressure I was putting on myself to fulfil this promise has been majorly taxing on my energy, creativity and productivity to make it an epic trip away.

I knew that this was not the right head space to be in during planning stages, especially since I'm well aware that my energy could contribute to your spiritual experience on a raw food healing escape. Still I just couldn't figure out what was standing in my way and why I was having obstacle after obstacle in regards to locking in Bali. So I put everything aside, lit up an incense stick, rolled out my mat, dimmed the lights and began breathing my consciousness into a deep sea of calm, until there was just you and me and the vision of the most unforgettable retreat for you.

When I opened my eyes, the clock said 1:11.

I have no idea how long my meditation went on for, but I do know two things for certain: 1). The incense stick has burned out long ago, so I would've been in deep for at least 15 minutes and 2). We are going to Vilcabamba, Ecuador!!!!




As I experienced this amazing realisation, I couldn't understand why something so obvious didn't come to me earlier. Well now that it has, it is not about to go anywhere. I've even set the date...

Mark your diary for six nights/ seven days over 19-25 November 2013.


What you may or may not know about Vilcabamba...

• It is home to my beautiful parents and their raw food restaurant Sungate 11:11.
• It is my own personal retreat destination, where I go annually to detox, reconnect and recharge.
• It is a tiny village entirely surrounded by majestic mountains.
• It is best known as the Sacred Valley of Longevity.
• It is a magnet for the most gifted, spiritual and loving people. If you don't consider yourself as such a person yet- Vilcabamba is the place where you'll discover otherwise.
• It has the purest air of any place I've ever been to on earth.
• It has uncontaminated mineral-rich earth which bears the most delicious, healing and organic produce for everyone and the majority of its inhabitants have direct access to natural spring water.
• It is the raw food capital of the world.

Now that you know our destination and the date -and before I send you an application for taking part- I want to make sure that this is a retreat which ticks off all the boxes for you.

If you can make it to Ecuador for a week starting 19th November, please tell me what your most ideal getaway will entail...