Live Raw

May 1, 2011
Ready your dehydrator, get set with a food processor, and proceed to first-time author Kirks more than 120 recipes for raw food and healthy eating. This trendy concept demands some explanation. After all, many Americans still wince at the terms uncooked, unprocessed, and organic as well as the notion of never (okay, rarely) using an oven or eating meat products again. Kirk does so with relish, spending much of her text on numbered lists, like 10 steps for maintaining memory, mobility, independence, and beauty, and 29 tips for staying young at any age. Although the two major pieces of equipment may be readily available in kitchens or through retailers, many ingredients require some searching; raw agave nectar and seaweed, for instance, arent necessarily on major groceries shelves. Some recipes, such as granola cereal and gazpacho, resemble familiar comfort foods; othersupscale kale and chia pudding, to name twomandate major palate transitions. Interesting theories and practices, though the rants about American eating habits and raw-food attitudes should have been moderated.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)