Take a walk down the vegetable rack in your organic market and you may notice some rather bizarre looking roots and shoots. One of the most important aspects of a raw food based diet is branching out and including lots of variety, even if the variety is a bit intimidating at first. Most people simply do not eat enough variety of food in general, and raw foodists are no exception. Those who claim a raw food diet is restrictive simply haven’t opened their minds to all the different plant food available for the eating. I bring up the veggie rack as a good place to start because a huge part of a healthy diet is getting plenty of vegetables.

As we know greens and herbs hold miraculous benefits and are alkalinizing and contain the minerals we need for healthy blood and body function. But there is a whole world beyond just lettuce and kale. I love purchasing lesser known veggies like celeriac, dandelion, endive, burdock, jerusalem artichokes, chicory radicchio, frisee, edible flowers, and wild harvested foods like fiddle heads, stinging nettles and even seasonal mushrooms like maitake and chanterelle. They make exciting additions to salads and other raw food creations! A few years ago when I went to reach for my usual handful of ginger from the produce rack I noticed fresh tumeric root sitting right next to it. I had read about the amazing benefits of tumeric but had only experienced it in a dried form or mixed with other spices. I had never thought to try it as I wasn’t even sure what it was or how to use it but i am so glad i’ve educated myself. It is amazing from both a culinary and health benefits perspective.

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