Now that you've decided to eat a primarily raw-vegan food based diet, you may wonder how you can dine out at regular food restaurants. Of course you want to maintain and even grow your social life, right?
Right. Well you have good reason to be thinking ahead about this because dining out at restaurants and in other people's homes is definitely going to happen. In fact, dining out is our culture's most popular social activity.
Rest assured, it is possible eat a healthy, raw, satiating meal while out with friends or family. The key here, as with maintaining a raw lifestyle while traveling, is planning and packing.
Most likely you're going to be ordering a salad. It can be a chicken salad without the chicken, a shrimp salad without the shrimp, or an order or two of the simple garden salad. If the restaurant offers an organic or local salad--even better!
Never be afraid to ask your server to "customize" a salad for you. What I usually do is create my own salad by looking at the menu and seeing what ingredients they have on hand (including vegetables used in entrée sides). I think this leads to the most gorgeous and most colorful salads. Ask for a big salad with greens, other than iceberg, as the base and lots of different chopped raw vegetables on it. Ask for as many different colors as possible. If the restaurant has any guacamole or avocado anywhere on the menu--great! Now you know they have avocados back there and can ask for avocado to be put on your salad as well if you want to.
For dressing you could choose the restaurant's vinaigrette, lemon juice, or oil and vinegar on the side. I usually don't worry about the house vinaigrette being entirely raw. After all, that's what detoxing is for!
Your salad is most likely going to have people turning their heads in your direction asking "where was that on the menu? That looks great!"
Now, you may not get enough protein, fat, carbs, or calories from this salad and this is where a bit of planning comes in handy. In your purse or pocket, I recommend bringing a handful of nuts or seeds, dried fruit (can be your dessert!), flax crackers, or a raw food bar. Whatever it takes for you to feel full and happy with your dinner. You could also supplement your salad with hemp seeds and sea veggies but be prepared, as this will definitely turn some heads. It depends on how comfortable you are around the party you're with. I know someone who does this to salads at regular restaurants and sticks with it. She wants to raise the vibration of the food before it reaches her mouth.
More tips for the raw foodist dining out at a non-raw restaurant: • Nuts and seeds on salads are usually toasted or candied. • Make sure to ask to hold the cheese or dairy-based dressings on your salad. • Bringing some sort of sweet with you is a great idea if you're going to be tempted to eat a cooked/baked dessert that others will be eating (I used to bring a date rolled in cacao nibs and that would completely satisfy my chocolate cake desires) • If you're not entirely "raw", you can ask for plain steamed vegetables as an entrée.
Others in your party may or may not notice what you're doing. If you're comfortable, confident, and nonchalant about what you're doing, they probably won't notice. They're more likely to notice and focus on you if you feel uncomfortable and embarrassed about it yourself. I've found that others are usually really interested in what I'm eating and will even comment on how good my salads look! If people ask about your diet, have a simple definition planned and memorized that you can give them. If you don't want the entire dinner conversation to focus on raw foods, just say it's how you prefer to eat right now or you're trying something new out for a while. In a nutshell, choose your line and deliver it in a positive and confident way.
If you're not comfortable dining out with others on the raw food diet and lifestyle, you can always eat beforehand and let others know you had a late lunch or breakfast. Just make sure to bring a snack in your purse or pocket just in case you'll be out for a while.
In time, you will definitely get used to how to eat out on a raw food diet. Dining at fine restaurants may not be as fun as it used to be, but that's because you know you can eat a much healthier and more satisfying meal at home for pennies on the dollar now. Propose a night out for your non-raw friends at your favorite raw restaurant. This is a great way to introduce them to raw foods and all they have to offer.
Soon we'll need an article of tips to help cooked food eaters survive in the raw-vegan world!
About the Author
Lenette Nakauchi is a raw foodist who is passionate about teaching, coaching and demonstrating to others how to go and stay "raw" in a fun, healthy, sustainable way. Learn more about the raw food lifestyle and about superfoods by visiting her websites www.gorawhavefun.com and www.eatsuperfoods.com.
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