Easy ways to include raw food

Including some raw food at every meal is a worthwhile practice for your child (and yourself!). Cooking foods can destroy valuable nutrients and enzymes and eating them in their raw form will give your child access to a higher dosage of essential vitamins and minerals from their food. For example, Vitamin A and carotenoids can be completely destroyed by heat; Vitamin E is completely lost when heated; and Vitamin C is also sensitive to heat and C-rich foods lose more and more of their vitamin content the longer they are cooked. This is not to say that your child isn't getting any nutrition from their cooked food, it only shows that a diet that includes raw food could be beneficial to your child.

These are some quick and easy ways to include raw food in your child's diet:

Finger foods: Carrot, cucumber, destringed celery or bell pepper sticks; raw sweet peas; chunks of avocado; fruit chunks or fruit salad; cherry tomatoes; broccoli and cauliflower florets; slices of mushrooms and radishes.

Juices: Raw fruit and vegetable juices - on their own or mixed together - make a great treat. Try mixing carrot and apple, tomato and cucumber, watermelon and beet, or pear and celery.

Raw soups: Gazpacho; raw cucumber soup; raw tomato soup; borscht

Finely chopped salads: Tabbouleh; tomato and onion salad; coleslaw; grated vegetable salad (carrot, cabbage, beet, cucumber...)

Hummus: Try making it with sprouted chickpeas rather than cooked ones.

Smoothies and shakes: Mango, peach, papaya, pineapple, banana, or raspberry are good choices. Make the shakes with soya, rice or oat milk if you want to avoid dairy - or try making smoothies with yoghurt for dairy eaters.

Ground fresh seeds and nuts: Pumpkin and sunflower seeds can be sprinkled on anything from vegetables to soups to salads. Nut and seed butters are also a great option.

Grated fruits and vegetables: Up the raw food content of a meal by adding grated carrot, apple, cucumber or green onion.

Fresh herbs: Try adding parsley, chives, dill, mint, basil, coriander, tarragon, thyme and oregano.

Grated rainbow salad
Serve this on the side of a protein and grain-rich meal as your little one's dose of raw food. This is also great for the whole family!

2 large carrots
1/2 small head of cabbage
2 beets, peeled

Grate all of the above in a food processor and toss with lemon juice and olive oil (try walnut oil if there is no risk of an allergy).

Mix it up by adding raw squash, jicama, bell peppers, cucumber, sprouts, or snow peas.