Raw Food Cookbook

There are hundreds of raw food cookbook and recipe resources available online. Which is the best raw food cookbook? That really depends on where you are and where you want to go in terms of your raw food training.
Rather than writing detailed raw food cookbook reviews here, I thought I'd just give some general ideas about how to narrow down your choices and then point out a few that I personally use and like.

For example, it is best for those just starting out to learn the basics of eating raw and the benefits of eating raw. It is also helpful introduce yourself to the standard raw food products that make this lifestyle easier to maintain. Raw living is fairly simple once you get the hang of it, but it can be a little overwhelming at first simply because it is a complete departure from what the average beginner has been used to for their entire life.

That's why I like Yuri Elkaim’s 350+ page encyclopedic ebook, “Eating For Energy”: It has a fairly extensive recipe section that includes over 100 dishes that are simple to make and that I think represent the building blocks of raw living. Recipes aside, this book is an excellent overall raw food diet how to guide, with introduction to and explanation of raw living, raw food detox and raw organic food. If you are just starting out and interested in raw food diet weight loss and overall raw food health benefits, this is the one I'd go with.

You may also want to consider the Sunfood diet system by David Wolfe. He's supposed to be the guru of raw foods and this book is a very good introduction, although I think "Eating for Energy" is actually better because of the recipes, the 12 week eating plan, and his realistic but effective approach to the subject of raw food detox.

Another great resouce is Fresh The Ultimate Live Food Cookbook by Sergei and Valya Boutenko. It contains over 250 recipes covering all courses and the raw food recipies in this book are almost all ridiculously simple to make, won't have you out searching for obscure and expensive ingredients and are very tasty.

Those who already eat or wish to eat strictly vegetarian food and/or vegan food and want to move toward a more raw vegan meal plan should understand that not all raw food cookbooks are automatically vegan cookbooks. While practically all raw food books eliminate meat, fish, dairy and eggs, some do contain ingredients which the raw foods vegan may find objectionale, like honey for example. Most recipes are adaptable (i.e. agave nectar as a replacement for honey), there are books that specifically cater to the raw food vegan. There are plenty of choices full of raw vegan food recipes. Check out "Kristen's Raw: The Easy Way to Get Started & Succeed at the Raw Food Vegan Diet & Lifestyle", by Kristen Suzanne, or "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes", by Ani Phyo. Both are very good.

For raw food snack and raw food dessert recipes, I really like the "100 Healthy Raw Snacks and Treats" ebook by Carolyn Hansen. It has 100 recipes and is very versatile. Raw food snacks are important because they can provide something quick that travels easily when you are on the go. When I first started out learning to become a raw foodist I was primarily interested in raw food weight loss. This was the first raw food diet cookbook I purchased because I figured it would keep me from cheating and making bad food choices. That strategy proved to work well and I still refer back to this resource frequently.