About The Rawtarian

My name is Laura-Jane The Rawtarian, and I first began eating raw vegan food in August 2009. It changed my life, and I created this website to share the easiest, most delicious raw vegan recipes with the world.

Since then, I've had the privilege of authoring a cookbook entitled Cook Lively (May 2017), teaching in-person and online classes, creating recipe apps, curating one of the most popular raw vegan recipe websites, hosting The Raw Food Podcast, and speaking at national food blogging conferences across North America--from Miami to Vancouver.

It is an honor to spend my days changing the way the world eats, and I am humbled every day by you.

My "before" story

Although I was a long-time vegetarian, my diet was unhealthy. I knew it, and my weight fluctuated up and up.

I was often snacking on pizza, chips, and lots of processed fruit juices. I didn't feel good. I was often moody and depressed.

I wasn't much of a cook, and the food I ate was simple, quick and unhealthy. For example, breakfast was sweetened soy milk with mini wheats or another processed cereal. Meals were vegetarian burritos or pasta with pesto sauce--with no salad or veggies. 

I barely bought or ate any unprocessed vegetables. In fact, I  didn't even know what to do with them if I did buy them! And fresh fruit tasted sour to me.

Every year I gained five more pounds. 

In the back of my mind I realized that if my five-pound-a-year-weight-gain continued, by the time I was forty I'd be at least fifty pounds overweight. I looked around. Many women at forty seemed to be fifty pounds overweight, so I accepted that this was the way it would be for me, too.

But enter raw food...

After the first two months of being a 100% raw vegan I reached my natural body weight. I looked great and I felt even better.

I've found preparing delicious raw foods to be so simple. Inspirationally simple.

Before I began my raw food journey, I was not comfortable in the kitchen. I had absolutely no confidence and no idea how to cook. I just made pasta and sandwiches and ate frozen pizza.

Learning how to prepare raw food using a food processor and a blender has been an amazing and empowering experience for me. I started very rigidly following raw recipes, but after just two months I was creating some of my own raw vegan recipes. With a limited number of ingredients--fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds--I now understand more about how to combine food. I experiment so much more than I ever did before. That's what happens with a limited number of ingredients! You can quickly become an expert in the kitchen.

About this website

Of course, in 2009, www.therawtarian.com began as nothing more than a little food blog where I sporadically posted my favorite raw recipes. But the site has slowly grown from a personal weblog into one of the most popular raw vegan recipe websites on the internet. I am honored to get to create excellent recipes and resources to help you eat more fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds every day.

My purpose is to inspire you to try this amazing lifestyle, one bite at a time. It is an honor and a privilege to live my life's purpose. Thank you for being here and for sharing your journey with me.

I am just a normal person who literally trained myself to love to eat healthy food. If I can do it, then I know you can too. Welcome to the world of raw food, and I can't wait to help you be an even healthier, happier more vibrant you.

Your friend,

Official Bio: Laura-Jane The Rawtarian

Laura-Jane The Rawtarian is a leading creator of simple, satisfying raw vegan recipes. She is the author of Cook Lively, the host of The Raw Food Podcast and a featured speaker at BlogHer Food in Miami, FL and the Canadian Food Bloggers conference in Vancouver, BC. Her recipes and photography have been featured in The Huffington Post, The National Post and Vegan Life magazine. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She shares 100+ free simple, satiating raw food recipes at www.therawtarian.com.

Big list of raw food recipes here.