I have been veg for so long now I sometimes scoff when people say to me, “but being vegan must be so hard!” That’s before I remember that I’ve been doing this for close to 20 years, so of course it’s not hard – for me. But when I think about raw food, that’s exactly what I think: “That must be so hard!”.
Even to some of us longtime vegans who love food and cooking, RAW dishes – and I mean truly RAW dishes, not just salads and things that would normally be uncooked – can seem a little daunting.
Needless to say I was excited when Gena Hamshaw’s colorful, friendly-looking new cookbook crossed my desk, and that at a first glance it looked intriguing rather than scary!
After spending some time with Choosing Raw: Making Raw Foods Part of the Way You Eat I realized this may just be the book I’ve been waiting for to get more raw foods into my diet. I think one of the first things that put me at ease was Gena’s introduction and description of her own journey and her assurance that you don’t have to be 100{d40e1b40433db95421a8b5aadd100e7f694441d0272a9a10d9a0152d7f29a731} raw to enjoy the benefits of raw foods. I love how she normalizes raw and makes it less intimidating:
“One way to begin your exploration of raw food is to remember that you’re probably eating quite a few of them already, even if you’re not thinking of them that way.” This whole book is geared toward easing you into raw foods, so that you can make them a bigger part of your life, and help to inspire the creative and experimental cook in you. It is not 100{d40e1b40433db95421a8b5aadd100e7f694441d0272a9a10d9a0152d7f29a731} raw, but shows you how you can incorporate some lightly cooked foods into lots of raw ones, with delicious results.
I love the way this book is organized! It includes four parts, and the first three introduce the reader into the whys, wherefores and hows of raw vegan food and nutrition. This information will be key in helping anyone who is just getting started – with veganism and/or including more raw foods. In part 4 you get into the recipes and they are broken into useful categories, such as Essentials, Juices, and Snacks, as well as 3 levels of breakfasts, lunches and dinners – easing readers into the transition. The recipes are easy to follow and accompanied by beautiful (and some great instructional) photos that really help to get that inspiration flowing.
This week on the Vegan Mainstream Cookbook Club we are featuring this book and three of Gena’s recipes. We will share the first one below. To see the others, and join in the conversation, join the cookbook club here.
HEAT-FREE LENTIL AND WALNUT TACOS
To me, this dish embodies flexible, high raw cuisine at its finest. Using romaine leaves as a “taco” and walnut as part of the taco “meat” are standard raw foodie tricks, but the addition of cooked lentils adds extra protein, iron, and healthy complex carbs. This is a stress-free meal, easy to whip up at a moment’s notice if you have some lentils in the freezer, and you can top it however you like!
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Taco Filling Ingredients:
1 ½ cups raw walnuts
½ teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
10 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup cooked brown or green lentils
Serving Ingredients:
8 large romaine leaves (cabbage, radicchio, and butter lettuce leaves also work well)
1 cup salsa of choice
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
1. Place the walnuts and sea salt in a food processor and pulse to break the nuts down until crumbly.
2. Add the tomatoes, spices, and lentils to the processor. Pulse until the mixture is well incorporated. Check for seasoning, and add additional salt, cumin, or chili as needed. Add a few tablespoons of water, if needed, to bind the mixture together.
3. Divide the filling into the romaine leaves. Top each with 2 tablespoons of salsa and a few avocado slices. Serve.
From Choosing Raw by Gena Hamshaw. Reprinted with permission from Da Capo Lifelong, © 2014