BOOK REVIEW – Rawesomely Vegan

Rawesomely Vegan by Mike Snyder is a behemoth cook, er “un”cookbook. One looks at the table of contents tells you that it definitely covers all of the raw bases:

• Stocking Your Raw Kitchen
• Raw Kitchen Equipment
• Strategies for Success
• Juices
• Smoothies
• Breaking the Fast
• Step Into Salads
• Soups for All Seasons
• Dressings, Sauces, and Condiments
• Dips, Spreads, and Sides
• Sandwiches, Wraps, and Rolls
• Mix and Match for the Main Event
• Crackers, Breads, and Other Snacks
• Drinks and Dessert

I have to admit that when I first saw an entire chapter on juices I didn’t expect it to be worthwhile. Boy was I wrong! My mouth began watering just reading the recipes. Mike’s juice recipes are genius and simple. My favorite new juice is called “Drinking Dessert” and consists of apple, sweet potato, cinnamon and nutmeg. Why didn’t I ever think to juice sweet potatoes??? In addition to wonderful juice recipes, Mike prefaces each juice recipe with a quick explanation of the nutritional benefits of that particular juice.

With over 300 recipes in the book, I have flagged many to try, however seeing as I am not a fan of agave, I will need to make some substitutions since agave nectar is used prevalently in the book.  One other point to keep in mind when perusing raw cuisine is that the use of nuts and seeds (along with coconut oil) tends to be very high and this cookbook is no exception.  While those types of recipes are fine on occasion, I don’t believe nuts and seeds should make-up such a large percentage of one’s diet.

I am excited to try making Mike’s recipes for yogurt (either seed or coconut based) and his “Ginger-Spiked Raw-ldorf” salad is such a fresh take on the classic. Here are a few more that are calling me:

• Fearsome Fiery Red Hot “Rooster” Sauce
• Topaz Ginger Dressing
• Bountiful Baba Ganoush
• Cactus in the Raw (I want to learn how to use cactus)
• You Won’t Believe How Simple Sauerkraut
• Crunchy Cultured Dill Pickles
• Spiked Citrus Curried Quinoa Salad
• Sweet Honey Melon with Heat (Soup)
• Secret Success Zucchini Hummus
• Go-Go Granola Bars
• Chewy Chocolate Nib Cookies
• Orange and Almond Macaroons
• Ooey-Gooey Chunky Chewy Raw Fudge

As I mentioned earlier, I did not expect to be as impressed with this raw recipe book as I am. If you or someone you love is a raw foodie or dabbles in it, this will be a wonderful addition to their library…I just wish there were more photographs!