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The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made with Living Foods
The secret to preparing delicious vegetarian cuisine is revealed here, with step-by-step instructions for preparing more than 350 recipes that emphasize the preparation of raw foods and range from Walnut Burgers and Thai Coconut Curry Soup to Raw Apple Pie. Reprint. 12,000 first printing.
448 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2003
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191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 9, 2008
This book would make the perfect gift for your raw foodist friends. This fantastic collection of over 350 recipes by 49 of the world's most reknowned raw chefs will have any uncooked enthusiast flipping madly through the pages looking for their favorite names. You'll find recipes from Stephen Arlin, The Boutenko Family, Juliano, Dave Klein, Viktoras Kulvinskas, Paul Nison, Rhio, Chad Sarno, Nomi Shannon, Shazzie, Cherie Soria, Jinjee & Storm Taliafero, David Wolfe, and many more. The book also includes recipes from the Quintessence raw restaurant.
For the few names you might not recognize, you can flip to the "Meet Our Chefs" section in the back for a short bio on each one. You'll also find sections on "The Right Ingredients," "Essential Tools," "Juicers & Juicing," "Sprouting and Greening," "Dehydrating," and "Advice From the Pros," as well as a helpful glossary of ingredients, suggested readings, and an extensive list of resources.
The recipe section of the book contains everything from specialty dishes to create a gourmet, 5-course dinner to recipes for simple soups or salads. There are a few full-color photos interspersed throughout. My only complaint is that I wish there were more - but I'm sure they would have raised the price of the book. Each recipe lists serving size information and special equipment needed and often include variations and/or contributors' notes.
I disagree with other reviewers who've said the recipes all require too much time; that simply isn't true. I randomly flipped to five different pages, and each had at least one recipe that would take 10 minutes or less to prepare. Certainly, some do require dehydrating, but in my experience, once you get the recipe together quickly, you can leave it to dehydrate and forget about it till it's done; the time it takes is really deceptive.
What makes this book truly different from most of the other raw recipe books out there is that this one was written to appeal to raw foodists, vegetarians, and cooked omnivores alike! Beyond the 2-page "Why Raw?" introduction, there's no overt promotion of the lifestyle. The book aims to reach everyone and encourage them all to eat more healthful raw foods by providing a huge selection of mouthwatering recipes. "Do you have to be a vegan to eat raw food? Of course not! Many people who consider themselves 'raw fooders' eat a diet comprised of 50 to 100 percent raw food. [This book] is for anyone who wants to eat more fruits and vegetables and prepare them in exciting new ways."
For the few names you might not recognize, you can flip to the "Meet Our Chefs" section in the back for a short bio on each one. You'll also find sections on "The Right Ingredients," "Essential Tools," "Juicers & Juicing," "Sprouting and Greening," "Dehydrating," and "Advice From the Pros," as well as a helpful glossary of ingredients, suggested readings, and an extensive list of resources.
The recipe section of the book contains everything from specialty dishes to create a gourmet, 5-course dinner to recipes for simple soups or salads. There are a few full-color photos interspersed throughout. My only complaint is that I wish there were more - but I'm sure they would have raised the price of the book. Each recipe lists serving size information and special equipment needed and often include variations and/or contributors' notes.
I disagree with other reviewers who've said the recipes all require too much time; that simply isn't true. I randomly flipped to five different pages, and each had at least one recipe that would take 10 minutes or less to prepare. Certainly, some do require dehydrating, but in my experience, once you get the recipe together quickly, you can leave it to dehydrate and forget about it till it's done; the time it takes is really deceptive.
What makes this book truly different from most of the other raw recipe books out there is that this one was written to appeal to raw foodists, vegetarians, and cooked omnivores alike! Beyond the 2-page "Why Raw?" introduction, there's no overt promotion of the lifestyle. The book aims to reach everyone and encourage them all to eat more healthful raw foods by providing a huge selection of mouthwatering recipes. "Do you have to be a vegan to eat raw food? Of course not! Many people who consider themselves 'raw fooders' eat a diet comprised of 50 to 100 percent raw food. [This book] is for anyone who wants to eat more fruits and vegetables and prepare them in exciting new ways."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2012
I approached this book as a low-fat vegan looking for recipes I could whip up in the heat of summer without needing to turn on a stove or oven. Between the special equipment needed (ie. dehydrator), advanced prep time (ie. sprouting), and copious amounts of oil or other fats, I found very few recipes that suited me. But, to be honest, I didn't make it very far through the book because I was discouraged after browsing several sections and finding nothing new and exciting that fit my parameters. If you've got the equipment, can plan your meals ahead of time, and do not share my desire for low-fat food, I'm sure you'll like this cookbook. I wish there were more pictures!
September 21, 2009
As I'm more into researching why people choose a raw food diet, than turning into a raw foodist, this was helpful. I got a glimpse into the variety of foods that can be prepared and the methods used to prepare them.
I appreciated the appendix where small bios were provided on each of the contributors, including how they got into eating raw and why, as well as discoveries they made on the way.
If I were ever to turn to a raw food lifestyle, this would be my cookbook of choice. Heaven knows I'd need all the ideas I could get.
I appreciated the appendix where small bios were provided on each of the contributors, including how they got into eating raw and why, as well as discoveries they made on the way.
If I were ever to turn to a raw food lifestyle, this would be my cookbook of choice. Heaven knows I'd need all the ideas I could get.
November 18, 2008
Still just starting my adventure into the world of Raw Foodists, but am enjoying it. So far, the half-dozen recipes we have used from this book are pretty good to even better, including a strawberry "pie" that I am eating right this moment. And I tell you what: I have never had better macaroons than the raw ones that Andrea gave me a few months back. They were awesome.
More to come, including: what you need to even use this book, and how you might incorporate it without going all raw.
More to come, including: what you need to even use this book, and how you might incorporate it without going all raw.
April 17, 2012
This book is actually mostly a cookbook. The first 50 pages are dedicated to teaching you about raw eating, and it does a good job providing a basic, yet thorough, and understandable description. After that it gives tons of recipes from well-known raw people. Lots of the recipes had ingredients I didn't recognize, which isn't as helpful for someone trying raw for the first time. I did find a few recipes to try, but I can't give feedback on them since I haven't tried them yet.
October 13, 2012
Picked a couple recipes to try out this week. Really easy to follow, recipes are very simple. I only wish they had more pics, I love a pic heavy cookbook. Each recipe tells you what equipment you would need such as a blender, food processor, dehydrator or none. Note that although vegetarian is in the title the recipes do not require cooking, with the exception of dehydrating.
March 22, 2010
I like the wide variety, and sheer bulk of recipes in this book. Some are ones I've seen before in other books (since this is a collection from a variety of raw foodists, many of whom have their own cookbooks.) There are only a handful of pictures, but that's ok for me.
December 26, 2011
There were a lot of new interesting things that I've never heard of before with other diet vegan books. The bad thing is how long it takes to make some of these recipes! Almost up to 12 HRS!
Overall though it's very informational and a good read.
Overall though it's very informational and a good read.
February 25, 2015
I like the concept of maximizing the nutrients in your food by eating raw. I don't see myself ever becoming a raw foodist, but I would like to try some of the recipes and try to incorporate raw foods into my diet more often.
July 20, 2007
the recipes are hit or miss. most are pretty easy. good ideas to create your own
August 26, 2008
A very good recipe book for Raw foodists. Buy online.
February 24, 2009
This is my Bible on Raw/Living foods. It has step by step what one needs to prepare the live foods and the recipes and helpful hints from many raw foodists!
April 13, 2009
Taking down some of the recipes now.
April 26, 2010
Some really good recipes even for people who are not into raw food.
July 18, 2010
A non-threatning way to introduce vegetables into your life without any confusion. List equipment you need and the brand they use. Useful information that will go a long way.
December 3, 2010
Some really good recipes in this one. Found it at the library, but considering getting my own copy.
Want to read
July 5, 2013epub tuebl
December 8, 2014
A lot of this requires a dehydrator, etc, which most people who are new to raw don't have. A lot of the recipes also had a lot of fat. I was really disappointed with this book.
February 3, 2016
Big and rather intimidating. Some good recipes in here, but I would suggest starting a bit smaller.
May 7, 2016
Disclaimer: I read the explanation part of the book, but I didn't do anything more than skim the recipes.
A good introduction to some of the tools used in a Raw Food Kitchen.
A good introduction to some of the tools used in a Raw Food Kitchen.
July 21, 2021
Definitely want this book
Recipes sound easy and yum 😋
Recipes sound easy and yum 😋
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews