As the popularity of raw vegetarian cuisine continues to soar, so does the mounting scientific evidence that uncooked food is amazingly good for you. From healing diseases to detoxifying your body, from lowering cholesterol to eliminating excess weight, the many important health benefits of such a diet are too important to ignore. However, now there is another compelling reason to go raw--taste! In her new book "Eat Smart, Eat Raw, cook and health writer Kate Wood not only explains how to get started, but also provides delicious kitchen-tested recipes guaranteed to surprise and delight even the fussiest of eaters. "Eat Smart, Eat Raw begins by explaining the basics of cooking without heat, from choosing the best equipment to stocking your pantry. This is followed by twelve chapters of recipes for truly exceptional dishes, including hearty breakfasts, savory soups, satisfying entries, and luscious desserts. There's even a recipe chapter on the "almost raw" for those who are a bit harder to please. Included are lists of groups, stores, and related websites that provide the information you need to begin enjoying raw vegetarian cuisine. Whether you are an ardent vegetarian, a health-conscious consumer, or just someone in search of a wonderful meal, "Eat Smart, Eat Raw offers over 150 delightful recipes that may forever change the way you look at an oven.

"Wood, who says she eats raw food 90% of the time, presents raw recipes in a less demanding, more welcoming manner than purist devotees of the diet might. Many of the recipes require special ingredients and equipment such as a juicer or dehydrator, but Wood often tries to provide alternative options, even if they're not raw. The recipes are categorized by chapter in a way that would be familiar to anyone, running from breakfasts through desserts with a predictable emphasis on salads and dips, but the recipes themselves are a different story. Even when they are supposed to evoke a classic nonraw recipe like Pizza or Pad Thai, the result will taste foreign to anyone used to cooked dishes. Vegans and raw dieters, however, will be thrilled by Wood's ingenious approximations of cooked favorites such as Apple Crumble and 'Cheesy' Stuffed Peppers, as well as unique concoctions like Carrot Cake Salad and Avocado Pudding. An opening section on raw food basics discusses nutrition and how to buy and prepare ingredients. Buoyed by Wood's enthusiastic tone and instructions that are easy to follow given the right tools, this book will cheer the hearts and expand the culinary repertoire of vegans and raw dieters." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)