Tag Archives: raw

Picture of a kaki cocoa pudding

Kaki cocoa pudding

nutrition, , ,

Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

One plus one equals two for once

I have yet to come across a dessert that is easier to make than this chocolate-flavoured pudding. It is 100 % plant-based, consists of just two ingredients and also fits into a completely raw diet.
Kaki fruit or persimmons appear in our shops around the end-of-year festivities. They look like large, bulbous orange tomatoes and also feel completely like tomatoes, both on the inside and outside. You can also find them in organic shops.

What ingredients do you need?

Could it be any simpler?

  • 7 ripe persimmons
  • 7 tablespoons of cocoa powder, unsweetened

For each kaki fruit, use one leveled tablespoon of cocoa.
I personally prefer raw cocoa powder.
Seven persimmons will yield a total volume of one litre of pudding. So depending on how much you want to prepare, you can adjust the number of kakis and spoonfuls of cocoa.
Picture of three kakis and cocoa

This is how to prepare them

  • Peel the kaki fruits
  • Cut them into chunks
  • Place them in the bowl of a food processor with an S-shaped blade and grind them into a syrupy liquid
  • Add the cocoa and blend some more

Then pour the mixture into the mould or moulds of your choice. Wet the mould before filling, that way you can easily release the pudding from the mould after it has set.
Let the pudding set in the fridge for 2-3 hours before serving. It’s almost unbelievable: you don’t need any binding agent to give this pudding its firmness. Magical!
All done!

You can decorate the pudding with a variety of toppings. Here are a few ideas:

  • grated coconut
  • almond paste or peanut butter
  • fresh or thawed berries
  • raw cocoa nibs

Here’s another idea for a sauce based on cashews and chopped hazelnuts.
Additional tip: You can also use this pudding as a filling for a no-bake cake base made with ground nuts and dry fruits. This way you get a very original and light chocolate cake.

The taste test and health verdict

This chocolate pudding is very much to everyone’s liking and is super easy to digest.
You have the enjoyment of chocolate flavour without the drawbacks of classic chocolate preparations that often require additional sugar or sweeteners, and you also don’t get the fats so typical of chocolate.
Tell me: is our society now collectively caught in a trip of chocolate addiction or not? I think so. Chocolate has evolved from a luxury product to something that is considered normal to be available daily. While cocoa undoubtedly contains interesting minerals, chocolate, especially black chocolate, enjoys an exaggerated status in terms of health it doesn’t really deserve at all. Best only to consume it with caution and in limited quantities.

Kaki Cocoa Pudding, per 100 g product

Energy Carboh. Sugars Fat Sat. Fat Protein Fibre Salt
344,6 kJ/82,3 kcal 21,7 g 12,6 g 0,9 g 0,5 g 1,6 g 5,6 g 0,002 g

Participate in our cooking classes:

Cooking Workshops

Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:

Read more about plant-based food

Find out about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:

Check out our yoga classes here:

View our full range of yoga classes

Image of raw vegan carrot balls

Surprising Carrot balls

nutrition, , ,

Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Light and healthy

These carrot balls have a very surprising composition. Usually, these kinds of sweet snacks make use of nuts. But here, no nuts at all! That makes these balls very light.
Moreover, they are completely raw and you are able to prepare them very quickly.

What ingredients do you need?

This will be it for about twenty to twenty-four pieces. All depends on how big you make them.

  • ca 80 grams of pitted fleshy, soft dates (Medjoul or Mazafati)
  • 120 grams grated carrot
  • 75 grams of sultanas, which you can pre-soak in warm water if necessary
  • A little sea salt
  • 75 grams of oatmeal
  • two teaspoons of an allspice mixture
  • about 20 grams of grated coconut for the finishing touch

This is how to prepare them

  • First cut the dates into small pieces
  • Mix all the ingredients excepot for the grated coconut in a bowl and knead intensely until everything sticks together well
  • Roll balls of the mixture
  • Pour the grated coconut into a plate and roll each ball in it to coat the outside

And there you are. When I weighed out the 20 grams of coconut according to the original recipe, at first I didn’t believe that amount would be sufficient. But it was right as pie!
These balls store well in the fridge.

Is it preferable to eat raw or cooked food?

There are views on food that assume it is best to eat everything raw, and as little cooked as possible. And there are views to the contrary: that it is best to eat cooked food as much as possible, and avoid raw.
There is no doubt that cooked food is easier to digest than raw food. Raw food costs our intestinal system more energy to digest, leaving relatively less energy available to meet our energy needs. On the other hand, some nutritional value is lost in the cooking process. After all, many essential vitamins and interesting enzymes break down during cooking. In any case, all the more reason to prefer gentle, short cooking processes for vegetables that retain as much nutritional value as possible. Grains and legumes, on the other hand, should be cooked long enough. After all, you don’t eat them primarily for the vitamins, but for the energy, the proteins and minerals.
Personally, I believe the middle ground is golden. Healthy plant-based food can consist of both cooked and raw dishes. And depending on the seasons and your personal energy needs, you can vary the ratio between the two. In the colder winter months, it is best to eat a bit more cooked, and in the warmer period of the year, a bit more raw.

Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:

Read more articles about nutrition, health and plant-based foods:

Learn more about plant-based food

Read more about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:

Check out our yoga classes here:

View our full range of yoga classes

Picture of red beet root smoothie in a glass

Heartwarmingly raw

nutrition, , , ,

Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

A warming and invigorating smoothie

Some people enter the new year with a headache, indigestion and a hangover.
I chose to enter the freshly new year on January 1st 2023 already very sober and healthy. In the name of my decades-old habit of eating as healthy as possible, I prepared this wonderfully simple raw smoothie with a generous add-on of fresh ginger. And I then slowly spooned it out, savouring each and every bite. And immediately the tone was set!

This is what you need:

The quantities below are meant for one serving.

  • A juicy, ripe pear. The juicier, the better.
  • One quarter of a big raw red beetroot.
  • The juice of half a lemon.
  • Approximately half a centimetre of a toe of fresh ginger.

Picture of a pear, beet root, lemon and ginger

Ready in the blink of an eye

  • Peel the pear, remove the seeds and core and cut into pieces.
  • Wash the piece of beetroot thoroughly. You can also peel the beetroot thinly if necessary. Next, cut it into pieces.
  • Press the lemon to extract the juice.
  • Remove the peel from piece of ginger.
  • Bring everything into the cup of a strong blender and blend until you get a homogeneous texture.

Done! Pour into a large glass or bowl and enjoy it, slowly and mindfully.

More than just macro and micronutrients

Raw fruits and vegetables are foods with low energy density and high density of nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and all kinds of secondary plant substances.
We in the West have a tendency to stare ourselves completely blind at the chemical composition of food products. Food certainly and surely acts on our bodies in a much more sophisticated and subtle way than you can tell just from the amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins alone. Other, older food teachings do take into account these subtle effects, which can affect our organs and our whole body system very differently. I am referring here especially to Ayurveda, traditional Chinese nutrition and macrobiotics.
For example, red beetroot is said to have a strengthening effect on the heart and a relaxing effect on the liver. It improves blood quality.
The pear belongs to foods of a sweet-sour earth-wood type. It stimulates blood circulation and has a moistening effect, including on the lungs and throat.
Fresh ginger root is strongly warming, helping us in winter to ward off the cold.
And finally, the strongly sour-tasting lemon juice not only provides precious vitamin C, but also has a cooling effect.
Pictore of red beet root smoothie with garnish

Does modern science contradict traditional nutritional teachings?

Each of the traditional dietary teachings does have its incomprehensible, probably historically and culturally determined, sometimes somewhat warped taboos. For instance, eating raw vegetables is strongly discouraged in Ayurveda. With what we know today about the thermal sensitivity of vitamins and other secondary plant substances, this taboo appears a bit incomprehensible. However, we don’t have to dismiss everything just like that. It is better to look at what findings contemporary nutritional science comes to and whether they can also be compatible with ancient wisdom. Modern food science has the merit of unravelling the material chemical, biochemical and bacteriological phenomena of digestion and absorption and providing keys to optimise them.
The findings of traditional dietary teachings often look at food through an energetic lens. This way, they consider its direct effects on fluid and heat balance of the body. They provide surprising insights and tools to promote the proper functioning of our bodies throughout the seasons in a way that modern science sometimes overlooks.

Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:

Have a look at more articles about nutrition, health and plant-based foods:

Read more about plant-based food

Read more about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:

Check out our yoga classes here:

View our full range of yoga classes

A mixed fruit salad

Fresh fruit in moderation

nutrition, , ,

Optimize your fruit consumption

There was a time when I ate fresh fruit almost non-stop, all day long, whenever I felt “hungry” for something.
Not coincidentally, this was also the period when I suffered from very irregular digestion and bowel movements.
Is fruit healthy? Yes, undeniably. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants.
The average western citizen probably doesn’t eat enough fresh fruit in general.
But there are a number of conditions for fully enjoying those gifts of fruit.
Fruit is not a miracle cure for weight or health problems.

What are the best moments to enjoy fruit?

Fruit is rich in sugars and also contains fructose, a sugar molecule the body has a hard time digesting as it seems.

Fruit is relatively rare in nature compared to vegetables, so it is best to eat in moderation. It is mainly available in nature at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. In Mediterranean, subtropical and tropical areas, fruit is more abundantly available, but still always seasonal.

Here are three golden rules and a few more tips:

  • Eat fruit separately from other meals. Allow at least 30 minutes or an hour break. If you do eat fruit with other food, or immediately afterwards, it can lead to all sorts of nasty fermentation processes and gas.
  • The best times: at breakfast and in the late afternoon as a snack. Do not eat fruit late at night before bedtime.
  • Preferably eat fresh, local, organic and seasonal fruit.

How can I improve my digestion of fruit?

  • Do you have difficulty digesting raw fruit? Boil or fry it gently and add some spices, such as cinnamon, aniseed, nutmeg or even a pinch of black pepper. Warm apple, pear, banana or berries are delicious!
  • Drink (fresh) fruit juice sparsely. It is better to consume the whole fruit, including the fibres. Industrial “fruit juice” and fruit drinks or so-called nectars have a very low nutritional value and the cheaper types often have loads of extra sugar added.
  • The combination of fruit with milk products is absolutely not done. It is also better not to eat fruit with cereals (for example: avoid mixing fresh fruit in muesli).
  • Melons are best eaten separately, not even in combination with other fruit.
In mainstream health belief, fruit enjoys an exaggerated status. It is wrongly regarded as an easy way to lose weight. But in reality, you can easily get fat on fruit.
It contains very little protein and very little fat. So fruit is absolutely not a full-fledged nutrition source in itself.
Ceramics: @iittala

Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:

Read more articles about nutrition, health and plant-based foods:

Read more about plant-based food

Read more about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:

Check out our yoga classes here:

View our full range of yoga classes