At the end of 2017, the promise I made to myself was to make Christmas and, in actual fact, the whole of December a time of the year for real rest!

So, happily I took the time to head off to Bali, where I took the opportunity to join Ben and his passionate team at the Seeds of Life, raw food cafe & tonic bar in Ubud. When they told me they were conducting raw food training over the Christmas and New Year period, I couldn’t resist. What better way to unwind over the festive period whilst keeping my monkey brain content with a deeper dive into what was always an interesting topic in my earlier studies….the raw food diet!

The diet consists of lots of fruits (no, they are not particularly concerned about the sugar levels) veggies, nuts & seeds. Familiar comfort dishes can be creatively made by soaking, fermenting or lightly heating the ingredients using the dehydrator. So also expect to see plenty of raw lasagne, dips & crackers, vegan cheeses (cashews) and of course raw desserts! I’ve never eaten so much cashews & fruit.

Here’s a recipe that was inspired by the raw and vegan diet that you can try out.

Fresh Papaya Spring Rolls

Prep Time: 10 minutes. serves 2

Prep Notes:

Blend all the flesh of your papaya with the kefir lime leaves
Chop all your veggies into julienne cut (thick sticks)

Cooking Time: 10 minutes + 4 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 small papaya
2 kefir lime leaves
1/4 cucumber
1/2 carrot
1/2 red pepper
1/2 mango
1/2 bunch of coriander

Directions:

Place the blended papaya & lime leaves on a dehydrator sheet & spread to 2 cm thick (any excess can be used in smoothies)
Score sheet lightly into quarters, so you will have 4 squares of papaya sheets
Place inside dehydrator at 45°C
Turn papaya sheets over after 2 hours
Finely chop all veggies and mango and keep the coriander bunch whole
Once papaya sheets are ready, peel from dehydrator sheet and cut into 4 pieces using the pre-marked lines
Turn each sheet in front of you to make a diamond shape
Place the chopped veggies, sliced mango and a few sprigs of the coriander into the closest corner to you
Roll the sheet keeping your bottom right corner smaller and the top left wider, creating a cone shape

Tips:

Go wild on any of your favourite dipping sauces, personally, I like a combination of a spice & nutty dipping sauce
Serve on their own as a light snack or with a zoodle salad as a main

My diet is pretty clear of any highly processed foods but there was still a noticeable improvement in my digestion after this raw and vegan diet. My overeating of all the yummy foods confirmed that bloating is still something to watch when your stomach is the size of your fist. Most of all, it confirmed to me the importance to know your body and understand what it wants and doesn’t want.

With my cravings for the raw-granola, I quickly connected to my body needing something solid to bind all the fresh tropical fruits & flavoursome dips we ate. We are all so uniquely different and we must understand how our mind, body & environment are all connected, one thing for sure is raw food definitely brings you closer to your environment!

Photo Credits: Elika