"Choosing Raw" by Gena Hamshaw Cookbook Review

Gena Hamshaw's "Choosing Raw"

http://www.choosingraw.com/recipes/

Is there an index?

Yes, by components and ingredients.

Is there a Contents/Chapter section?

There's a LOT of non-recipe pages in this cookbook.  She has a huge beginner/how-to section.

What is the “Beginner’s Intro” volume?

94 pages, or 34% of the book is the introduction, including a Q&A section.

To her credit, I did find the 21 day meal plans, starting on page 83, interesting.  For those people who are organized enough to create (or desire to start creating) and follow such, this gets you off to the right start.

What is the presentation like?

Many recipes have full page+ color photographs.  Only a few recipes cross to the next page, which indicates some careful editing.

Comments -

She does have 4 recipes listed under winter squash, but only one could be raw.

And I would guess that half the recipes have nuts or seeds as an ingredient, so it seems as (or no more) nut heavy as any other of the titles I've explored.

Ultimately, this is a transition to and learning how to cook vegetarian/vegan and incorporate raw food.  If you have other cookbooks, especially with any vegetable centric leanings, you already have many of these recipes.

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

As my goal is a completely raw cookbook, I will not be purchasing this title.  

However, if you are just starting out, and have no cookbooks, this is a starter option.

Recipes -

Raw Carrot Falafel, pg 188

Falafel is not extraordinarily tasty, and neither are these.  But they make a great addition to salad and a bit of tahini drizzled on top turns this into a flavorful and texture-ful meal.

They are easy to shape and keep in the fridge.  

Himself commented that the falafel is not to his taste and not crunchy.  Which I interpret as, "This is not a potato chip."  

Rosemary Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes, pg 198

Except for the fact that I ate this on a chilly day, and would have preferred more warmth in my mouth, I loved this recipe.  

She includes some ingredients that I rarely see in Cauly mashed recipes.  And these give the dish a creamy, more flavorful experience than is typical.

I will keep this in rotation.  I think the miniature humans in my life would like it also.  Maybe I need to test it?

Raw Vegan Blueberry Ginger Ice Cream, pg 240

A banana based ice cream, I was short a banana and chowing down before realizing I'd mishalved the recipe.

However, I do find the halved banana recipe a bit, um, banana-y.  It would be a great dessert for those who love banana flavor.  For me, it is OK.