Book Recommendations for Christmas!

[eachpeachpearplum]

I would love to tap everyones brain about recommendations for any books & video/DVD's that support the raw lifestyle and if possible why you recommen it. Also books you would'nt want anyone to waste money on! I need to give a wish list to my husband! :p

So far the books I have are:

1. Living on Live food - Alissa Cohen :D :D :D

2. Diet for a New America - John Robbins
3. The Food Revolution - John Robbins
4. Eating for Beauty - David Wolfe
5. Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine - G. Cousens
6. Raw - The Uncookbook - Juliano
7. The Raw Foods detox Diet - Natalia Rose
8. Fast Food Nation -
9. Raw Kids - Cheryl Stoycoff
10. Raw Food Real World - Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis

Thanks everyone! :p

[Rawkinlocs]

I always recommend "The Complete Book of Raw Foods" as it is a nice compilation of various recipes by various authors/chefs.

[fiddler]

I second Rawkinloc's recommendation on "The complete book of Raw".
Here's a couple other's I liked:
"12 Steps to Raw" Victoria Boutenko
"Living in the Raw" Rose Lee Calabro
"Raw Food Real World" Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis
This book has some 100 fancy recipes with good pictures.

I'll be interested in viewing this thread to learn what others suggest. Thanks for posting this thread.

[rawpriestess]

My number one favorite is

Alissa's Living on Live food for recipes and testimonials and everything else

Hooked on Raw by Rhio for recipes, excellent

anything by the Boutenkos, for information about the raw lifestyle
12 steps to raw
Eating without heating
Raw Family

For pictures,
Raw by Juliano
Raw by Charlie Trotter

[Punky]

"Raw Food Real World" Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis
I 2nd that recommendation.
this is my newest uncookbook and one of my faves already.
Lots of pretty pictures...I feel like a kid, but I really like all the color
photos in it. They have recipes ranging from simple to gourmet.
They have photos on how to open a young coconuts.
They are not raw purists though and use things like cocoa powder and maple
syrup in a few recipes, although they do give raw suggestions to replace
these if you prefer (like agave and raw carob).
I could really identify with the couple, so maybe that's why I like it so much.
They also own/run a raw restaurant in NY city called,
PURE FOOD and WINE--
looks like a very urban chic(hip) type of place from the photos.

Alissa's is my favorite though and IS A MUST to own. Love the DVD too
and it really helps a newbie see how to use raw equipment and makes it all less intimidating.
It's the book I use DAILY and recommend to my raw curious friends.
I have given it away as presents before, so that speaks in itself--
not because I am on Alissa's board ;)

[Revvell]

I third, Raw Food Real World. I just received this as a gift and it's not only beautiful, the ingredients for recipes I've looked at are ~ mostly ~ easily gotten and they give substitutes for those not easily available. This pics are beautiful also.

The other ~ Raw by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein. The biggest issue I have with that one is ~ ingredients NOT easily gotten and no substitute given. I've gotten some of my fave recipes from it though including Dragon Crackers.

R.

[jenna rose]

I've heard that Victoria Boutenko's "Green For Life" is supposed to be excellent.

[exurb]

I also have Raw by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein, as well as Raw Food Real World, and The Complete Book of Raw Foods.

Raw Food Real World is a great one to have, I wouldn't be without it, my only disappointment with it is that a few of the foods rely heavily on foods that aren't raw... for instance there is this chocolate ganache pie that blew my mind when I saw the picture and made me buy the book. Then I get it home and it is made with 2-1/4 cups maple syrup, and 2-1/4 cups cocoa, what's raw about that? (they tell you on that one it won't turn out good if you substitute). But it's filled with some good recipes, and it's a good read. The foods in it are a good balance between gourmet and things that are doable to make. Plus it's so picture oriented, which is awesome.

Trotter and Klein's Raw is sort of like the pie-in-the-sky high-end gourmet version of raw foods. I have found it useful, and looking through it is sort of like food porn (it's pretty amazing!). If you grow your own food, many of the ingredients are actually obtainable, but if you live in a simple town you're not going to have access to some things like lotus root, salsify, black truffles, microfennel, quince, etc... Everything I've made out of that book was awesome, with one exception, cauliflower soup.

The Complete Book of Raw Foods is ok, sort of like a "greatest hits" in that a whole bunch of chefs have contributed, to me the downside is that it seems to be put together or edited by someone who is not a raw foodie, and a lot of things have slipped under the radar, like recipes with rolled oats, things that aren't raw and maybe would mislead someone whe doesn't know what's raw and what isn't. Also I have found some of the recipes to be amazing and really good, but many others to be mediocre and unappealing, gave me the impression that they didn't test the recipes when putting the book together. I don't like feeling like I'm the tester, I hate to throw out food when one turns out icky, so it's not the first one I go to, but you can probably get quite a few useful recipes out of it. It's relatively inexpensive. Probably worth having, just not one of my faves, I've made too many "dogs" from it.

I would also get Living Cuisine (subtitled the Art and Spirit of Raw Foods) by Renee Loux Underkoffler. She was Woody Harrelson's raw food chef on his tour if you've seen that documentary where he toured up the West Coast promoting sustainable living, raw foods, etc... Over 300 recipes.

Any of the above would be good, though if funds are limited and you want lots of "workaday" type recipes, I would say Charlie Trotter's and Roxanne Klein's Raw is a good one to take out of the library instead of buying. Another I took out of the library was by ex supermodel Carol Alt. It doesn't have many recipes, but I found it somewhat interesting as she introduces the notion of eating raw non-vegan items, such as ceviche from fish, raw milk cheeses, etc... food for thought anyway.

Another one that's not bad is Brigitte Mars' "Rawsome." She is the mother of Juliano's significant other. It has 200 recipes, including some Indian food like samosas.

[eachpeachpearplum]

Thanks everyone. Raw Food Real World seems to be a hit but I do actually already have that one and yes it is a favorite.

Please keep the recommendations coming. Has anyone bought any of the raw videos on the market. I have Alissa's DVD and am hungry for more! Hey Alissa when is the NEXT DVD set coming?! :D

Cheers! :p

[fiddler]

Thanks everyone. Raw Food Real World seems to be a hit but I do actually already have that one and yes it is a favorite.

Please keep the recommendations coming. Has anyone bought any of the raw videos on the market. I have Alissa's DVD and am hungry for more! Hey Alissa when is the NEXT DVD set coming?! :D

Cheers! :p

DVD's:
Supersize Me:
If you haven't seen this one, the video is about a guy that documents his troubles by eating nothing but McDonald's for 30 days. Humurous and informative (at least to me).

Hallelujah Acres:
Video series -
Shows some food prep on raw foods with a few cooked meals (that program allows 15% cooked). I'd definitely skip the first one but there's some good stuff spread throughout the different series. If you get any of these you should get the "Recipes For Life" book since many of the recipes from the videos are taken from that book.
Miraculous Self-Healing Body - A quick watch. Panelist included Rev. Malkmus, McDougall, Furman, and a fifth guy whose name slips my mind right now. Most of the stuff you've probably already heard before if you've been raw for awhile and have read many books. But, I enjoyed it just the same. Plus, I loan this video out to others quite frequently. The first part of the program contains testimony from participants that cured there diseases by switching to plant-based diet.

I too would be interested in seeing some more DVD's similar to Alissa's without all the extra discussions from Alissa's guests -- just show us how to make the dish. Perhaps Alissa could have some RAW experts (i.e. Doug Graham, David Wolfe, Paul Nison or other chefs) on the show with her that could share some great insights while she and her guests trade off preparing meals. Just a thought...

If anyone has other DVD's please share so I can obtain them...