18 September, 2007

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!

15 comments:

  1. I'm wondering how you know which beers, wines, and "milks" are not heated above 110 degrees F. Is there a good "raw" resource that you go to? Thanks!

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  2. a few comments:

    1) Coffee beans are typically roasted so coffee is not considered a raw food. Caffeine is also a poisonous toxin so people that eat raw for health purposes tend to abstain. It is possible to cold brew green coffee beans but I'm not sure how satisfying it is.
    2) Maple Syrup, Molasses, Agave Nectar and Brown Rice Syrup are not raw products. To give each product its thick, syrupy consistency the water has to be cooked out of it. Even "raw" agave nectar is questionable when you research various manufacturer's processing techniques. The only truly "raw" sweetener is raw honey but apparently you are threatened enough by it to become violent! If using an animal byproduct is that much of a moral dilemma, one could always grow his/her own stevia. Just dry the leaves and grind.
    3) Red Kidney Beans should NEVER be consumed raw. The raw bean contain a toxin called Phytohaemagglutinin - Kidney Bean Lectin - that causes severe gastric distress, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

    Cheers~

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, discovered #3 on my own accidentally. Do not recommend it.

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    2. Nice! I am researching becoming a raw vegan, and this is the first blog I came to, unfortunately. Whoever wrote this blog needs to get off his or her high horse! But anyway, good for you for pointing out the mistakes and informing me of the errors made, without violence or getting on a soapbox.

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  3. HI! It's a really helpful resource for vegans who eat raw. Thank you!
    Just one question. Can i eat raw yucca? This root is sooo tasty when boiled or fried. But i've read that the raw yucca contains poison acid or something... What to do?

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  4. Can you drink wine? Wine has sugar in it which is obviously NOT raw vegan. I pretty much stay away from anything that is questionable, so I'm not really sure how they could make wine raw vegan because the it is the sugar that has to ferment via the yeast.

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    Replies
    1. Alcohol is an animal by-product (yeast). So it depends on where you draw the line. It shouldn't have processed sugar added (unless maybe it's a dessert wine).

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  5. Good article! I became vegan one year ago and a few days ago switched to raw food after reading somewhere article about how our body reacts to cooked food, that is reacts to as poison and sends out huge "armies" of white blood cells to fight this toxic food (continuation of such “war” may lead to leukemia). Of course much of the vegan non-raw food was very satisfying (I was able to become vegan in one day), but hopefully vegan raw will be OK as well.

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  6. Please
    give me more information. I love it, Thanks again.

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  7. How can you eat raw rice?

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    Replies
    1. exactly! it maybe ok for a vegan diet, but idk about raw vegan..

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  8. i wasn't sure legumes were ok for a raw food diet since lentil, beans and such have to be cooked..

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    Replies
    1. She said to eat them raw if they are sprouted.

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  9. I'm sorry, but if you're raw, then why the caffeine, eggplant, potatoes, and legumes? If you eat a potato raw wouldn't you get sick being that it's from the same family as eggplant, the nightshades?

    Also uncooked legumes don't seem very appetizing.

    Being that you are using agave nectar wouldn't you technically be a gourmet raw vegan, and not a fully raw vegan?

    Not to be rude, but just opening discussion.

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  10. Hello! Thanks for the list! I have one quick question about the sweet potatoes.. I have heard some raw foodists who (like yourself) enjoy them every so often, but others who avoid them because of the thing in them that inhibits absorption of proteins in the body... what is your take on that? Thanks again!

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