Mexican Seasoned Cabbage

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When you think of the Bahamas you probably would imagine sunshine, coconut trees, and an abundance of tropical fruits. For us, however, our time here has coincided with winter in the Caribbean, so we’ve experienced a fair degree of cooler weather. It has been raining all day today and this is set to continue for the rest of the week.

We were also really surprised at just how difficult it is to find good quality fruit here, and it is extremely expensive! Very little fresh produce is grown locally so just about everything is imported from the states. If we’re lucky we might find one or two fruits that give us the level of nourishment that we are accustomed to after spending most of our time as high-raw vegans in the tropics for many years.

For example, on one occasion there were fresh, juicy watermelons but never again. Last week we were fortunate enough to find some amazing papayas so we bought out the entire store! But a week later there is nothing in stock.

At times like this, it can be challenging to stay on a raw food diet. However, for those of you dealing with similar situations, it is important to realize that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing when it comes to eating raw. As long as you focus on eating a high percentage of raw food and do the best you can you will still receive a whole lot of benefits.

Personally, I am much more likely to gravitate towards warm and nourishing foods when the weather is cold and rainy outside. So depending on what my health goals are at that time, I might include cooked foods, primarily vegetables, in my diet.

This recipe is one example of how you can eat when adjusting to a higher percentage of raw foods on the level 1 detox diet menu. It can also be used to slow down a detox if you are going too fast and experiencing a high level of detox symptoms.

If you do choose to include cooked foods in your transitional raw food meal plan I generally recommend reserving this for the evening meal. This serves two purposes:

1. Eating only raw foods during the day gives your body a greater opportunity to cleanse.

2. Waiting until the last meal of the day to eat cooked foods reduces the chance of experiencing cravings that could potentially disrupt your ability to stick with your meal plan.

The foundation of this recipe is cabbage, which like the Apple Pie in a Bowl, is an example of a food that is often very difficult to digest when raw but becomes a lot easier to tolerate when cooked. I have a very sensitive digestive system so I don’t go anywhere near raw cabbage but this meal digests without any problems.

I like to serve the cabbage topped with avocado and with a generous serving of green salad on the side, simply dressed in extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and a dash of Himalayan salt. This way the meal consists of about 50 percent raw food, which helps maintain a feeling of lightness, even though you are eating cooked foods. Plus eating vegetables as the focus of the meal is much better than a starchy alternative like rice or pasta, so you can still continue to cleanse, just in a more gentle way than when you eat 100 percent raw.

In this recipe I use organic bottled salsa to keep things simple – and because that is what I had available. Cooked tomatoes can be somewhat acid-forming so if you are on a strict detox you can switch this out for Mexican fiesta seasoning plus a squeeze of lime juice.