Rawsome Recipes: Mostly Raw With Some Cooked…Whole Foods For Vital Nutrition!

by Robyn Boyd

Dishes awesome to taste - RawSome because most of the ingredients are Raw, complemented by Some organic and whole cooked foods. Whether you are a pure raw vegan or lacto-vegetarian or merely a curious explorer seeking to transition to a healthier way of eating, you are sure to find exciting palate tasting recipes in this book. A variety of original recipes make up the bulk of RawSome Recipes, almost all of which can be prepares without expensive or complicated kitchen equipment and utensils. Readers will also find a wealth of valuable information, * A look at the choices and pitfalls our food presents today * How to recognize the dangers in our diet, and steps we can take toward living wholly * How to make the transition to eating healthier * The benefits of eating raw, and of using foods in their whole form * How and why to include green foods on a daily basis * How to raise RawSome kids * What tools to use and where to get them. The book also includes information on planning meals ahead, all-raw dinner menus fit for serving to company, a treasury of healthy snacks kids will love, and a RawSome holiday menu. RawSome Recipes is the simple. whole, healthy cookbook for people who do not want to make food their religion, just their wisdom. It's packed with information, inspiration and, most of all, mouth-watering recipes. --- from book's back cover

190 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Robyn Boyd at the International Festival of Raw Foods in Portland, OR last summer (2004) and was impressed by her immediately. She gave me a copy of her book to review and stressed her daughter's help in assisting to develop the recipes. That caught me right there! Any cookbook author whose child has a major say in the recipe tasting and selection gets points in my book. You may wonder why I didn't say "un-cookbook" or "recipe book" ... that's because Boyd advocates eating "simply, purely, wholly, and 75-80% raw." Whether or not you're into raw foods doesn't matter; this book is for all families wanting to transition to a healthier eating. That's why she calls it RawSome Recipes - 75 percent are raw recipes, while 93 percent are vegan.

First, her recipes are fabulous! My family and I tried many of them, some cooked, some not, and they were all easy to prepare and delicious. The ones especially endorsed by Boyd's daughter Molly and her friends aged 4-14 are marked "RawSome Kid Recipe!" There is also lots of information for families in this book. She includes sections called "RawSome Kids," "Great After-School Snacks and Grazing Food for Play Dates," "Tips for Healthy Traveling," and "What to Pack in the School Lunch Box." For entertaining I was happy to see "Fit for Company...Four All-Raw Dinner Menus" and a "RawSome Holiday Menu," from which I will plan my Thanksgiving and Christmas menus.

Another thing I really like about this book is that it is full of beautiful color photos, a selection of which you can see here. And some of the more complicated recipes (not that any of them are truly complicated) include not only a photo of the finished product but pictures of steps along the way. In addition, Boyd includes a wealth of information on various aspects of a healthy lifestyle, including some basic nutrition information, for example, the value of sea vegetables and a list of recommended whole food supplements, like barley grass and spirulina.

While most of her recipes include readily recognizable food items, for those of you wondering just what the heck kombu is exactly, or why some of her recipes call for coconut oil, you can flip to the glossary in the back. This list of resources for buying many of these items, if you can't find them in your local health food store or Whole Foods, will also come in handy. In this book I found the answer to integrating my family's cooked vegan diet and my raw vegan diet. It's absolutely the best one I've come across for those desiring to incorporate more raw and vegan foods into their families' diets but aren't sure about going all vegan or all raw - or just plain don't want to.

Boyd writes from a Christian perspective, but you mustn't think her book is exclusively for Christians. While she includes interesting and thought-provoking sections entitled "Whole Foods the Way God Intended" and "Eating Vegetables Worked for Daniel" (Daniel 1:3-20, a story which is great to share with children!), there is an abundance of nutritional information and resources that anyone will appreciate. I very highly recommend this book!