"Live Raw" by Mimi Kirk Cookbook Review

Mimi Kirk's "Live Raw"

http://youngonrawfood.com/category/raw-food-recipes/

Is there an index?

Yes, 2 pages of mostly recipe titles, not the ingredients index I prefer.  However, the recipes are well titled (straightforward) to indicate major ingredients.

Is there a Contents/Chapter section?

Yes, 4 excellent pages.

What is the “Beginner’s Intro” volume?

Comprises 27% of the book, including some preachy bits.  Yikes, I'd rather have more recipes.

But, there are 165 pages of recipes.

What is the presentation like?

There is not a great deal of empty space in this book, notetaking will be restricted. On the other hand, the space is taken up with a bunch of recipes, none of this "each recipe gets 2 or 3 pages."  Indeed, such as with the smoothie section, she may have 2 or 3 recipes per page.

The recipes are presented on one of two colored and textured pages: light green or yellow.  This is fairly easy on my eyes.

Mimi Kirk includes rather delectable photographs of at least 1/3 of the recipes ... she does not highlight each smoothie recipe with a photo, but all the entree recipes are represented.  A good mix of knowing the audience and what we want to see, in my opinion.

If your library were wiped out tomorrow, would this make your cannot live without immediate re-buy list?

Maybe, I want to compare it to her International title, and will probably buy one or the other.

Comments -

I suppose this is the first raw cookbook I can see myself buying; I do think it is a bit preachy in the beginning, but 3 out of 3 recipes has us off to a good start.

Recipes -

Mango Smoothie pg 71

Oh, this was a good smoothie; a bright olived lime green.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, even with the sweetener I did not add.  :)  I have a green themed party coming up, and I can see serving this as the "opener."

Ms. Kirk has a couple unusual additions to the smoothie recipe than what I typically see, and this makes me want to try out more of her offerings.

I will add this into regular rotation.  Yum.

Upscale Kale Salad and Dressing pg 131

Besides cutting the oil and sugar by more than half, I made this according to the book. It is a citrus delight, and we made use of home grown greens.  There's an interesting combination of dried and fresh fruit, as well as a sprinkling of nuts.

The ingredient combo was delicious and enjoyed by both family members.

Himself said, "I like it.  Put it on the re-make list."  He is very salad and dressing picky, preferring balsamic vinegar usually.  This is quite the recommendation. 

Banana Pudding pg 207

Tasty and good, I made half a recipe for dessert and find this a more acceptable "regular" dessert than the highly over-the-top desserts I've seen in other cookbooks ... not that she is deficient in this realm (Mike's Birthday BRAWnie on page 218 looks sinful), just that variety is offered.

I did cut down the sweetener by half.


Conclusion - 
Yes, it is in my Amazon cart.  I'm not ready to buy just yet, because I want to check out two other titles: "Live Raw Around the World" by Mimi Kirk and "Raw & Simple" by Judita Wignall.  Both were requested from the library, and I'm simply playing the waiting game until they arrive from far flung parts of the US.