Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes
by Ani Phyo
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ani PhyoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-07
ISBN: 1600940005
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Reviews of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes
Book Review: Disappointing, expensive foods, and impractical (UPDATE)
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm new to veganism, (a little over a year at this), and Phyo's book seemed like a good foray into vegan rawism. Now, several months later, I'm scratching my head why I bought into this book. My complaints with Phyo's book are outlined below.
I've reviewed several vegetarian cookbooks before, and the one thing that always garners praises in my review, is the accessibility of foods for the recipes. I hate cookbooks in which a recipe lists a single ingredient that is very costly, is only sold in larger quantities, and it only use 1-2 Tbs of it.
This is essentially the first problem with Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. The author promotes the values of the raw food diet so convincingly, that I bought the ingredients she lists, including raw maca, raw spirulina, and many types of nuts. The maca, itself, cost over $20, as well as the spirulina. So far, I've only found one recipe for each, each calling for 1 Tbs of the ingredient. Foolishly, I thought the lemon pudding sounded good, and went out of my way to buy the psyllium husks required. Again, I had to buy quite a large amount, and the recipe calls for a tiny amount. All the raw nuts I bought went rancid before I could use them all.
The second problem my family had with this cookbook, is that none of us could seem to digest raw products very well. My husband couldn't take the bloating and cramps the raw diet caused and abandoned it after a week. I lasted two weeks before the cramps and diarrhea got to me as well. Meanwhile, I had invested all that money into my raw food kitchen.
Finally, I did like some of the mylks, and had the idea of actually saving money by making my own non-dairy mylks. However, this plan turned out badly, as, without cooking, the mylks spoiled far too quickly, and ended up being wasted. This spoiling happened with many recipes. I attempted to cut down the amount (most of her recipes make 4 servings), but found it difficult to cut the recipes when such small quantities of things were used. That, and when I calculated it, the mylks were not money savers compared to the soy and rice milk products I've purchased.
I'm glad I didn't invest in the "uncooking equipment", recommended, like the spiral slicer for making zucchini "pasta". Once again, it's a one-purpose, expensive device.
Overall, I'm disappointed with this book, and would not recommend it. I'm going back to "Vegan with a Vengeance".
UPDATE:
I'm updating this review to respond to the comments suggesting that you shouldn't transition to raw food overnight, and that, had I purchased the foods in a bulk food department, I could have cut down the cost, and wasted less food.
I'll begin with the second assertion, that you can buy many of these foods in bulk health food sections. That may be true for some things, like the raw groats for the "Buckwheat Crispies", but it really doesn't hold up for other foods. I'm thinking specifically of the Phyo's use of "Super foods", like raw maca, raw hemp seeds, spirulina, (and, in her blog, she also advocates raw mesquite, and others).
I searched on the internet, I went to three different stores, one of which is a health-food store, and was only able to find these "super foods" in one pound quantities, except the spirulina, which was 1/2 lb. I live in a relatively small city, and searched out my options, but couldn't purchase smaller quantities.
As far as keeping the cost down by buying in bulk, and buying only what you need, well, let me put it this way, $14.95 a pound for raw organic cashew nuts is expensive, whether you buy one pound, or one cup. It is a fact that Phyo herself addresses, that the raw food diet is not a cheap one.
I believe I mentioned that my daughter, nor husband followed the raw food diet. I was preparing raw food for myself alone. Her recipes make enough for 4 servings, and I found them difficult to cut down to one serving. Therefore, I had my choice of either eating the same food over four meals, or throwing a lot of food away. Cooking food -- heating it up -- kills bacteria and delays food spoilage. As I mentioned, the raw food did not keep very long. She does suggest how long it will keep (averaging 3-4 days), but in all honesty, I found it only lasted 2-3 days. I got tired of eating the same foods meal after meal, preferring variety. Had I "transitioned" into the raw diet, I could only imagine all the more waste, as I would be eating fewer meals with raw foods, and trying to stretch the leftovers to last before they spoiled.
I did not find raw foods to create a greater feeling of overall well-being than the vegan diet.
Summary of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes
This is the ultimate gourmet, living foods "uncookbook" for busy people. You don't have to sacrifice taste or style to reap the benefits of raw foods. These delectable, easy recipes emphasize fresh, animal-free ingredients and how to include more organics into your daily diet. Chef Ani offers delicious raw, animal-free versions of: breakfast scrambles, pancakes, chowders, bisques, and other soups, cheezes, mylks, lasagna, burgers, cobblers, pies, and cakes, and more. Included are recipes for dishes such as Stuffed Anaheim Chili with Mole Sauce, Ginger Almond Nori Roll, Coconut Kreme Pie with Carob Fudge on Brownie Crust, Mediterranean Dolmas, and Chicken-Friendly Spanish Scramble. Make your own kitchen more living-foods friendly with Chef Ani's tips on Essential tools, Key ingredients, Stocking your pantry, and How-to kitchen skills.
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