For those just starting out on a raw food diet, the kinds of equipment some people use to prepare food can seem kind of daunting- dehydrators, juicers, special food processors, the list goes on and on. If you don’t have the budget or space for all of that, aren’t there any quick raw food recipes? Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to make food fast, while not cheating on your raw food lifestyle.  You can even check out Raw Food Restaurants if you don’t feel like preparing raw foods at home!

The simplest quick raw food recipes are, of course, slices fruits and vegetables. An apple is probably the quickest raw food there is! However, it’s also possible to find breads and similar products produced with sprouted grains, and cooked at a low temperature to minimize enzyme and vitamin loss, which are great for making sandwiches, or including in other quick raw food recipes.

Other time-consuming foods can become quick raw food recipes with a bit of forethought. Setting beans, rice, or other grains and legumes to soak overnight eliminates having to do this lengthy step during the day, so all that’s needed to do is to drain, rinse, and then use them in quick raw food recipes. Soaked chickpeas are great for preparing a fast and delicious hummus, while soaked quinoa, tossed with some fresh chopped vegetables, herbs, and a little olive oil and lemon juice, makes a fantastic salad rich in protein and fiber.

Quick raw food recipes certainly exist, and they can be every bit as satisfying as their cooked versions, while retaining all of the benefits of raw food, and being a snap to prepare.

Eating a raw food diet at home can be very easy, but not everyone has the time or energy to prepare food at home every day. Besides, who wants to be kept from ever being able to go out an enjoy themselves at a nice restaurant every again? Fortunately, there are a few raw food restaurants, and, even at those that aren’t, it’s possible for a raw foodist to find a decent meal. In fact some of my raw food influences were drawn from great restaurant food.

Raw food restaurants are easily found in big cities, but if you’re living somewhere with fewer amenities, you can still eat raw food when you’re dining out. Many other eateries that aren’t specifically raw food restaurants have a large selection of salads, or other raw dishes, and some chefs will be happy to let you order off-menu so they can show off their culinary skills. Still other places, like steak houses, can prepare meat or fish by searing it (a fast cooking method that produces a cooked crust on the outside of the meat, while leaving the inside raw and untouched), or even offer dishes tartare. Occasionally, you might come across a restaurant that is unwilling to serve raw meat or fish for health or safety reasons… in which case, it’s probably a good idea to reconsider if you’d be willing to order anything else from them, raw, cooked, or otherwise!

Despite the popularity of raw foodism, it can be hard to find a restaurant dedicated to raw food. If you’re lucky enough to find some good raw food restaurants, be sure to patronize them regularly, and recommend them to your friends.

I needed to spend much more time researching the raw food diet. Lots of things I had made time for in the past suddenly seemed meaningless and unimportant, when there was this amazing new world out there to learn about.

I started grabbing every book and course I could get my hands on about raw food, healthy living, alternative forms of healing… each new area of study lead on to something else, and I absorbed everything like a sponge.  Natalia Rose and her book The Raw Food Detox Diet, she seemed to embody the vision of healthy beauty I felt had been missing from my life before I met Aline, and her mission to make raw food an accessible lifestyle choice.

I was hugely influenced by David Wolfe, the charismatic Avocado Man – one of the world’s top authorities on natural health, beauty nutrition, herbalism, chocolate, and organic superfoods, a powerful speaker as well as writer and researcher.

I realized people were talking and investigating with serious attention and resources, ways to potentially eliminate disease, and radically extend the human lifespan.