What do you eat? (Raw Vegan Edition)

Well, when I first began my veganity, I got a lot of that question. "What do you eat, anyways?" And I would need to have a list on hand, simply because there was so much I ate and still do eat. But that list has changed some from the past now that I'm edging into being raw. So this list concerns raw vegans.

Now, let's get one thing straight: There are raw vegetarians (omnivores - milk and/or eggs and/or honey) and raw carnists (omnivores - all animal products) and raw vegans (herbivores - no animal products). I'm a raw vegan, and hoo boy, if you come up to me and tell me you're a vegan, you had best not be eatin' honey if you want your ovaries/nads to stay away from your nose. But I'll leave the "why not honey?" question for someone else. :)

So, to start this list off, this is what I had today:

Breakfast - Raw cashews; an apple; a grapefruit; green tea.
Lunch - Arame pasta with miso-(raw) tahini sauce and leek, zucchini, and anaheim pepper; kale salad with a similar miso-tahini dressing; strawberries; an apple; "wakame" (what Toshki, one of our Japanese exchange students, says is actually called "kom"); green tea.
Afternoon snack: Raw hummus with red bell pepper sticks; coffee with raw agave nectar.
Dinner: More kom with some apples; a chard/leek/cabbage/zucchini/carrot salad with raw tahini-dill-sage dressing; green tea; and whatever else that I feel like eating (hint: it's not gonna be non-vegan).

See? Looks pretty filling, and I mean "lyk woah" kind of filling. Extrapolating from this, raw vegans can eat everything that non-raw vegans do (yes, the hummus was made with garbanzos!), just prepared differently. So, raw vegans (and vegans!) eat:

Fruits: Lychees, bell peppers, habanero peppers, anaheim peppers, serrano peppers, chile peppers, more peppers!, apples of all kinds, pears of all kinds, oranges of all kinds, plums of all kinds, lemons, limes, butternut squash, carnival squash, acorn squash, buttercup squash, more squash!, cherries of all kinds, pineapples, mangoes of all kinds, kiwis, bananas, apricots, nectarines, peaches, grapefruits of all kinds, zucchini, watermelons of all kinds, summer squash, avocados, dates (yes please!), cherimoyas, tamarind, citron, guavas, passionfruit, figs, currants, blackberries, raspberries, marionberries, gooseberries, coconuts, raisins, olives, acai, papayas, grapes, eggplants of all kinds, tomatoes, cantaloupe, muskmelon, dragonfruit, and all other fruit from every other place on the globe.

Vegetables: Potatoes of all kinds, lettuce of all kinds, leeks, carrots of all kinds, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, Brussels sprouts, fennel, watercress, onions of all kinds, garlic of all kinds, rhubarb, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, beets of all kinds, radishes of all kinds, yams, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, capers, asparagus, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, okra, pickles, cucumbers, saurkraut, weisskraut, mushrooms of all kinds (I know they're not vegetables, I didn't want to make another category!).

Dark Leafy Green Vegetables: Chard of all kinds, kale of all kinds, spinach of all kinds, mustard greens (I consider this a DLG because of its extremely high nutrient content), collard greens.

Nuts & Seeds: Pistachios, Brazil nuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts (filberts), sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, carob, chestnuts, pine nuts.

Grains (raw vegans can eat these sprouted): Corn (raw already), barley, rye, spelt, wheat (and wheatberries), quinoa, oats, kamut wheat, rice of all kinds, millet.

Legumes (again, raw if they're sprouted): Chickpeas (garbanzos), kidney beans, green beans, wax beans, peanuts, black beans, pinto beans, canellini beans, peas of all kinds, red beans, more beans!, cacao beans, lentils of all kinds.

Spices & Herbs: Black pepper, pink pepper, white pepper, basil, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, dillweed, dillseed, chamomile, lavender, cumin, turmeric, fennelseed, fenugreek, marjoram, tarragon, sage, thyme, cayenne pepper, rosemary, oregano, anise, Chinese star anise, allspice, vanilla beans, cloves, orange peel, applewood, lemongrass, savory, peppermint, spearmint, saffron, paprika, horseradish, asafoetida, wasabi, soy sauce.

Sweeteners: Agave nectar, raw/unrefined sugar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, blackstrap molasses, stevia, xylitol.

To drink: Water, white tea, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal tea, juices (as long as they're not animal tested or have fish in them - yeah, I know), smoothies (dairy-free), vegan wine and beer and other liquors, (sorry Dino!) vegan hazelnut milk, etc.

Now, I've missed more than a few things on this list, but it's long enough that it'll let the curious know exactly - what does a vegan eat? And it would be cool if vegans could just point to this list and say, "this!" Just remember that, in reality, a vegan eating cooked food eats far more than this - wheat and non-wheat pasta, grain breads, and so on. (Yes, some of these can be imitated, but not replicated, by raw foods - but I prefer not to go to that.)

So the next time someone asks you, "What does a vegan eat, anyways?", you have somewhere to go!