My list of raw food recipe books is growing but I must say that one of my favorites is Ani’s Raw Food Essentials (Da Capo Press, 2012).
Ani Phyo has such an extensive selection of varied delicious nutritional raw food recipes in this book of hers that it will inspire anyone wanting to ‘go raw’.
Ani’s resourcefulness breathes life into every page of her 320 page book.
Every recipe segment begins with basic ingredients which have then been utilized to make each varying recipe come alive throughout each chapter.
I love the way Ani effortlessly transforms raw food into satisfying meals. She makes it look so easy.
Some of her recipes do require a dehydrator (which I’ve yet to buy) but this will not deter me from trying my hand at her other tasty dishes.
“Ani’s Raw Food Essentials” Discusses & Teaches You How to Make:
- Non-dairy flatbreads: without using an oven (p. 21)
- Chocolate crispies for breakfast (p. 63)
- Pancakes without baking them (p. 73)
- Dairy free butters and extracts (p.97- 99)
- Chipotle-Kale Chips and Non-baked vegetarian style Nachos (p. 109)
- Pickled vegetables and why they are good for you (p. 121)
- Dairy Free Corn Chowder Soup (p. 135)
- Noodles from Fresh Vegetables (p. 221)
- Flourless Cake Mix Made with your Favourite Nut and “Wheat Free and Dairy Free Fruit & Nut Cake” (p. 268)
- “Wheat Free and Dairy Free Ice Cream (p. 274-275)
‘Fried Onion Rings’ using buckwheat to form batter, on page 116, made my mouth water. Having a dehydrator comes in handy as these fried onion rings of Ani’s have been under cooked on very low heat.
This is a better healthier option because vital nutrition is not lost as what happens to pre-packaged battered onion rings and fish fingers which are required to be cooked on very high heat.
Ani’s Raw Food Essentials can be purchased from these online stores:
- Amazon (U.S.): Available as a paperback, hardcover or Kindle Edition.
- Amazon (U.K.): You can order a copy of this book in one of the following formats: paperback, hardcover or as a Kindle Edition.
- Barnes & Noble: Sold as a paperback, hardcover or in digital format (NOOK book).
Additional Thoughts
All you need to know about ‘not cooking’ with raw food and which kitchen tools to use for food preparation, I found in Ani’s Raw Food Essentials.
The recipe instructions are easy to follow and in the mid section of Ani’s book are colorful tantalizing photos of some of her recipes to tempt your taste buds.
Ani Phyo, a certified raw food chef, caters for people with food allergies. She suggests some alternatives which can be substituted in her recipes.
I decided to buy Japanese ‘Matcha’ Green Tea Shake which Ani mentioned because it is a non-caffeine version of other green teas. The taste needs to be acquired but if drinking it in warm filtered water is not to your liking then it can be added to ‘green smoothies’.
There are many health benefits of drinking ‘Matcha’ and Ani discusses this on page 43 of her book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials.
Featuring on Eco Beauty Reviews is “Ani’s 15 Day Fat Blast” (Da Capo Press, May 2012) by Ani Phyo.