A Rawsome Book Review and Recipe! Plus, Going Raw at Fridays.

I am finally ready to post my first book review!   I want to do my best to help you guys find the best raw resources out there.  I'm going to be looking through all the raw-related books I can find, give you some info about them, and let you decide if they are worth picking up for yourself!

The first book that I wanted to let you know about is Rawsome by Brigette Mars.  Brigette has a light-hearted, honest and good-humored approach to presenting raw food information.  This book is super informative if you are interested in the ins and outs of raw foods.  There are sections that cover the basics such as why raw is best, weight loss, getting started, stocking a raw food kitchen, and recipes.  But this book goes above and beyond by providing relatively detailed information about enzyme activity, research studies, sprouting, dehydrating, and fermenting.  It also has a Raw Foods Encyclopedia that takes up almost 100 pages of the book describing and giving the nutritional benefits of foods you will be consuming on a raw food diet.  

Although the bulk of this book is comprised of information for you to read, it also includes over 200 recipes.  Some are simple, I recommend trying the salads and dressings.  There are lots of creative beverage ideas and fun sauces including barbeque sauce and ketchup!  Unfortunately, however, many of the recipes require soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating.  Also, many of the entrees and other recipes are nut-based and relatively heavy as far as raw foods go.  

Basically, I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it for anyone who is ready to delve head first into the raw food lifestyle.  If you are just starting out and you want to keep things simple, I might not start with this one but it is definitely worth adding to any raw food library!

Last night I made the Russian Dressing Recipe that Brigitte has in Rawsome and topped a simple salad with it for my mother and me.  We both decided the color and flavor were great!  I wouldn't necessarily say it tastes much like commercial russian dressing but it did have that characteristic sweetness and color.  Regardless, its really yummy no matter what you call it.  

Raw Russian Dressing

(From Rawsome by Brigitte Mars)

3 dates, pitted,soaked for 20 minutes (as long as your dates are soft you do not need to soak them)

1 cup chopped tomato

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (cold-pressed)

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Celtic salt (I used Himalayan sea salt)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 clove garlic

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Note:  I actually added 2 extra dates to mine and was very happy with the result!

Hope that's helpful!  If you would like to buy Rawsome you can do so right HERE!

Preparing that recipe for dinner was part of my 2nd all raw day!  I was totally successful until my friends showed up unannounced at my door and took me to Fridays.  Holy raw challenge nightmare!  Late night Fridays usually equals brownie sundaes for me, I was certainly facing a big obstacle.  I decided to stick to my guns, and order a salad.  Even though I wasn't hungry, I knew if I didn't have something I would munch on my friends' fries and that would totally defeat the anti-brownie mission's purpose.  So I did what I never, ever thought I would do, I wrote a note for the chef!  I took a look at all the salads, wrote down the raw stuff that I would want and included a little note being as cute and gracious as I could be.  According to my waitress the chef replied with "Really!?  A note!?" (with exasperation)  and then, after reading it, "Okay, is she hot?"  When I got my salad, which was a delightful, that's right, delightful, combination of romaine lettuce, tomato, cilantro, red and green onion, red pepper, and carrot, my chef, Tony, had written me a little note back.  Tony told me he took extra special care in making my salad, and hoped I enjoyed it.  I did have some Asian ginger dressing on my salad, which I'm sure was not as healthy as I would have made for myself at home but it beats a brownie sundae, right?  So, my first ever written request to the chef went great!  Thanks so much to Tony for making my raw challenge doable, even at Fridays!  My server was super helpful too and made the experience much less annoying than I thought it would be.  The point is, if you are gracious and friendly about your special requests people won't have a problem with accommodating them!  Be polite, respectful, and willing to answer questions graciously about your lifestyle and no one will spit in your food! : )

Music Fix: You're So Damn Hot-Okay Go!

Eat Happy, Punks. : )