Ani's Raw Food Essentials - Ani Phyo [10]
I start out each chapter or section with a series of “basic” recipes that are pared down to the fewest ingredients possible. Next, I include “basic plus” recipes by adding ingredients to a “basic” recipe, to show you how easy it is to create new flavors and variations. I also provide other recipes designed to help inspire you to explore and experiment, to create your own personalized recipes. Look for my SmartMonkey to point out my simple basic recipes.
I will show you that you don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to prepare sophisticated, delicious, healthy food. It can be done quickly and easily.
NUT ALLERGIES
This book uses nuts and seeds extensively, though there are some nut-free recipes. If you’re allergic to nuts, this may not be the best book for you.
IN LOVE AND COMMITTED
Once you’ve fallen in love with making and eating raw foods, you may want to venture deeper and deeper into the world of dehydration and fermentation. I’ve included a dehydration chapter full of easy-to-make foods that require several hours of patience as they dry, before you can eat them. But still, the prep time remains short and fast. Recipes that require dehydration include breads, pizza crust, chips, vegetables, wraps, pancakes, and jerky.
Cultured foods are extremely beneficial for any diet. I include pickled vegetable recipes for making sauerkraut, cucumber pickles, and Korean-inspired kimchi, and also a cultured drinks chapter where I’ll show you how to make probiotic drinks such as kefir and kombucha. These recipes are easy to make but require time to brew and ferment.
RESOURCES
At the end of this book, I provide additional resources for green living, my recipes and online uncooking videos, ingredients, and kitchen tools.
TRANSITIONING TO AND FROM COOKED FOOD
All natural food starts out raw, whether eaten immediately or cooked and eaten later. When you make my food, you can enjoy it right away without having to cook it. However, if you are just starting with raw foods or maybe it’s a chilly day and you want something that’s warm, you may decide you want to cook or heat my recipes, such as a soup, burger, sauce, or pizza, after it’s been prepared. Feel free to change my recipes to suit your liking, even if it means heating or cooking them. At least the ingredients started with all fresh, whole food, and preferably organic ingredients. So, it’s still a very healthy option free of fillers, chemical flavors, or artificial colors snuck in along the way.
You’ll see places throughout this book with a cooked-food icon. This is where I recommend transitional ways of enjoying more raw foods. For example, eat my Sun Burgers on a sprouted whole-grain bun, roll up my wraps in a spelt or whole-grain tortilla on the outside, or toss a raw sauce or cheeze over cooked rice noodles.
If adding a bit of cooked food to my recipes helps you to enjoy more raw foods, then I think that’s great! Remember to have gratitude, be happy, and celebrate life.
AT A GLANCE
SPIRALIZER
MANDOLINE SLICER
CITRUS JUICER
VEGETABLE JUICER
WHISK
ICE CREAM SCOOPER
GRINDER
SIEVE
FOOD PROCESSOR
LEMON ZESTER
COOKIE CUTTER
COCKTAIL SHAKER
MASON JAR
BAKING TRAY, PIE, OR TARTLET PAN
CHOCOLATE MOULD TRAY
GLOVES
TRANSITIONAL COOKED FOOD
TIP ICONS
Throughout this book, I’ve included tips to help make things easier while inspiring you to live life greener and happier.
WELL-BEING TIP
GREEN LIVING TIP
GENERAL TIP
BASIC RECIPE
2
RAW BASICS AND TECHNIQUES
Dehydrating, Soaking and Sprouting, Fermentation and Pickling, and Substitutions
The essential information in this chapter will have you quickly on your way toward dehydrating, to make delicious flatbreads to use in the same way as you woould any toast. I’ll show you how easy it is to soak and sprout nuts and seeds, too.
I’ll help you start making your own fermented vegetables, using cucumbers