Last weekend I was very blessed to have been invited for a very special day of meditation at The Nutri Centre in Regent's Park. This gorgeous centre is one of the world's largest suppliers of nutritional products and my favourite wellbeing book store in London. They even stock my DVD Raw Food 101!

The day was lead by a wonderful spiritual guru Andrew Smith, who is the author of The Revolution of 2012- The Preparation and The Revolution of 2012- The Challenge.



We all brought with us a healthy treat for a shared lunch. I must admit I didn't even stop to contemplate on what my contribution was going to be. This recipe has been a hit in all of my Beginners to Raw Food Workshops, Retreats, and more recently on so many blogs across the internet raving about it after watching the DVD. The only regret I had was not being prepared enough to take a better picture of the salad to show to you guys here. The photo really does it no justice at all :)



For the Dressing/Dip
1 cup cashews, soaked 2-8 hours
1/2 cup pure water
1/2 red bell pepper/ capsicum, de-seeded and chopped
1/8 red onion (small slice)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp tahini
1 tsp himalayan salt
1 clove garlic

For the Salad
5 large carrots, shredded
optional: sundried tomatoes, adzuki bean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, lentil sprouts

-Blend cashews with water first
-Add the rest of ingredients and pulse until creamy (use the tamper of your Vitamix blender)
-Add a little more water if needed
-Put all the grated carrots into a large bowl, pour the sauce on top and mix it all in
-Transfer into a nice serving dish and sprinkle with the optional extras
-Nom nom nom


If you like this recipe, watch me demonstrate the making of it step-by-step, as well as another 19 super scrumptious recipes on my DVD Raw Food 101- Your first steps to the healthiest lifestyle ever. The DVD is divided into there chapters: Intro, Equipment, Smoothies vs Juices, Milks and Calcium, Superfoods, Sprouting, Fermenting, Dehydrating, Sauces and Flavours, Quick Meals, and Sweets. The recipes are of course all deliciously raw and include nut cheese, superfood shake, 'meat' balls and spaghetti bolognaise, crunchy granola, chia crackers, raw chocolate and many more!

Winter is literally on our door step here in UK and we've just had Halloween, but those pumpkins haven't stopped haunting me. Guilt-tripping me, as they are in season and I still haven't done anything with them.

I am pretty big on seasonal foods and I know I'd have a hard time forgiving myself for missing out on this cute and sweet immune booster, so as per usual I went a little crazy with every kind of pumpkin, squash and gourds a store has to offer. It made its way into nut loafs, crackers, sauces, pies and the iconic pumpkin soup! Recipe below, but first...


1. Low in fat. Frankly I don’t believe in counting calories and think if you are still doing so, you’ve missed the point completely. But it is always good to know that the raw pumpkin (before it’s heated and the carbs turn to addictive weight-gain promoting sugars) is indeed an excellent low fat food.

2. Masses of fibre! Fibre helps you eliminate nasties and hence lowers your risk of bowel cancer, diabetes and constipation.

3. Carotenoids rich. The exact reason why carrots, squashes and pumpkins have that beautiful orange tone, beta-carotene is automatically converted to Vitamin A in the body and acts as an important anti-aging antioxidant. Yes please.

4. Vitamin C. Another major antioxidant to slow down the aging process, and protect the body for disease, cancer and pollution. Just one cup serving of raw pumpkin provides half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C.

5. Loaded with potassium. This amazing mineral enables nutrients to move into and waste to move out of your cells. It is super for metabolism and gut movement, healthy nerve sand muscles, as well as helping secretion of insulin for blood sugar control to produce constant energy.

6. Many minerals. Butternut squash and pumpkin have an array of other minerals such as iron, calcium, copper, phosphorous and especially zinc. Zinc is vital for healthy skin and a major booster for your immune system. Mother-Nature doesn’t give us pumpkins in flu season for no reason.




3 cups butternut squash/ pumpkin
1 cup pure water
1 golden sweet apple
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp tahini
1/2 inch ginger root
1/2 red chilli, deseeded
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
pinch pepper
optional: fresh thyme, pumpkin cubes and seeds to garnish

-Roughly chop the squash, apple, chilli and ginger
-Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend
[Note: use a tamper for a high powdered blender, pulse or add more water as needed]
-The soup will be warming from the chilli, but if you like the temperature to be warm too, just leave to blend for 2-3 minutes
-Garnish with fresh herbs, small diced pumpkin cubes and pumpkin seeds





Do you like this recipe? How about another 38 warming, hearty and healthy raw food recipes for winter? In my brand new eBook 'Nourished', you will find only the healthiest, enzyme rich and nutrient dense ingredients, which I specifically combined to support you and your immune system during the cold months of the year. Check out what you will find>>

As winter creeps up... so does my appetite!

We slow down a little, get ready for 'hibernation' and begin to crave heavier , more 'comforting' foods. And believe it or not, being raw in winter time is not only possible, it's the greatest thing ever! This is such a huge topic, that my Raw Comforting Foods for Winter workshop was sold out within days and the most common question during my coaching calls is 'what do I eat when it's cold?"

I am very fortunate to be able to listen to my body and understand exactly what it wants and needs, and over the last few weeks, I've literally pretty much been living (and thriving) off berry smoothies and raw bread sandwiches.

Berries are very much a summer fruit, but I get the best of summer berries frozen and blend them up with hemp milk and manuka honey. I was so stoked hearing David Wolfe speak so much about how honey and longevity are one and excited to be reminded that my body automatically knew the anti-viral importance of this for winter months. I never crave honey in summer! Hemp milk has masses of Omega 3's and I need plenty of that right now for my creativity during DVD production, book writing and recipe development. And berries of course are potent in antioxidants, which are super for the immune system to get through the coughing and sneezing people in air-tight tubes.


with David Wolfe on his London visit


The most 'comforting' food for me however has been a beautiful warming nourishing raw food bread. We are not as active in winter as we are in the summer, so we perspire less and lose less water through sweat, which also means we don't require as much water to drink. Dehydrated foods in this case are perfect, because during the dehydration process, the controlled low temperatures assure nutrients and enzymes remain in the food, but the slowly evaporated liquids make the food more dense, hence very satisfying and filling.

This bread below is seriously good! It tastes like soft warm gourmet heaven straight out of the dehydrator and lasts for up to two months in the fridge. If you haven't got yourself a dehydrator yet, you may really consider investing in this baby. It's so much fun for cookies, crackers, breads, burger patties, nut balls, kale chips, fruit rolls and even Christmas decorations like dried lemons and oranges.



1 C Flax seeds, hulled and soaked in 1/2 Cup water
1 C Sunflower seeds, soaked 4-8 hours
1 C Walnuts, soaked 4-8 hours
1 C Celery, chopped
½ C Raisins, soaked 2-4 hours
1 Red onion
½ C Extra virgin Olive oil
1 Lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp coriander seeds/herbs
2 tsp caraway seeds, soaked
1 tsp salt

-Make sure the flax is milled. You can do so in a nut grinder or a coffee grinder. Then soak it in 1/2 cup water for half hour before preparing
-Put sunflower seeds, walnuts, celery, raisins and onion in a food processor and process until smooth
-Add the flax seeds and remaining ingredients, process until well combined
-Divide the mixture into two parts and spread each part onto a teflex sheet of your dehydrator
-Keep spreading with a spatula, until the bread is just below 1cm thick
-Dehydrate at 110degrees F for 10 hours, turn it over onto mesh sheets and return to the dehydrator for another 6-10 hours

wet mixture spread over teflex sheets ready for the dehydrator

Bread after 10 hours ready to be turned over

Bread turned over onto mesh sheet ready to go back into dehydrator

Add your favourite salad veges as sandwich fillers. I use cashew cream (blended cashews, water and lemon juice), lots of avocado, tomatoes, carrots and greens. Enjoy!

In Tanya’s 2.5 hour class you will learn all the basics, such as: ◈ Which equipment is necessary and which is just for fun. ◈ What superfoods are all about. ◈ The difference between smoothies and juices. ◈ Why dairy is not the answer to calcium. ◈ Why fermenting is so important. ◈ What on earth a dehydrator is and what you can create in it. ◈ Secrets to staying raw in winter time. ◈ Guidelines on sprouting at home. ◈ Practical tips and tricks to creating easy meals and snacks in under five minutes. ◈ How desserts can very much be a part of your diet. ◈ Hear truly inspiring success stories.