Catching sight of the plain, perfectly ordinary manila envelope that arrived in the mail, I immediately grabbed the parcel out from under the stack of letters and magazines, and headed straight downtown. This one would take a big matcha latte and plenty of uninterrupted alone time to properly digest.
That’s because it’s nearly impossible to believe that I truly had a hand in creating this beautiful new cookbook, Choosing Raw by Gena Hamshaw. Of course I remember playing in the kitchen, creating these bright and cheerful compositions, and enjoying every single dish on deck, but it’s hard to connect that job with the brilliant end results. If my name hadn’t been printed right on the cover, bold and unmistakable, I would wonder if all those photo assignments had possibly been an incredible dream.
I’m not a raw foodist by any stretch of the imagination, but the beauty of Choosing Raw is that you don’t need to be. Gena makes these low- to no-cooking techniques accessible to eaters of all sorts, adding in cooked variations, demonstrating how truly flexible her fool-proof formulas are, time and again. Perhaps I’m biased, but all I can say is that my palate doesn’t lie, and I enjoyed every single thing pictured in this creative ode to healthy vegan eats. Flip through the glossy pages briefly and you’ll see that that’s quite a large, diverse cross section of the book.
I can’t even begin to describe how inspiring, mouth-watering, and well-written this cookbook is, and quite frankly, I don’t want you to just take my word for it either. I want you to taste it for your self! That’s why I’m thrilled to share a copy of Choosing Raw with one lucky reader. Hop on over to the Rafflecopter entry form to enter!
In case you’re still not convinced, Gena has a ton of recipes to sample on her blog. I do especially recommend the walnut and lentil tacos, which are especially well suited to these sultry last days of summer, but you can’t go wrong with any of Gena’s creations. From soup to nuts, quite literally, Choosing Raw offers healthy vegan cuisine made for mass appeal.
It is inspiring to see such a beautiful cookbook, foiled with delicious recipes.
Shared to Facebook.
These recipes look so incredible!!!! I’m not a raw foodist, but have been watching countless videos on Youtube and looked up info about the 80 10 10 diet and raw food recipes and followers and have come to the conclusion that that’s something I want to include in my every day diet. There’s no way someone can’t feel completely rejuvenated and refreshed after eating raw meals. :)) This recipe book looks awesome so thanks so much for posting it!
http://prettyloved.wordpress.com
I try to include a raw meal in my daily diet. Usually it is very simple, such as a smoothie or salad. I would love to be more creative with raw foods. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of Gena’s book!
There was no option to “like” you on Facebook. I sent you a friend request. I hope that’s okay!
Yes, that’s perfect! Sorry the instructions are a bit confusing; the free version of Rafflecopter isn’t incredibly flexible when it comes to slight variations on the limited possible tasks.
I was trying to say “filled” with delicious recipes. Auto-correct strikes again.
Ah, no worries! It happens to the best of us. ;)
It is much easier to goof this way than I gave it credit for before I started using a tablet.
Beautiful:) I used to be a raw foodist,for 6 months about 6½ years ago,and still do a lot of raw things;the raw cakes for example are so yummy:)
One of the bonuses to being someone “in the wings” of a cookbook is that there tends to be a lot of food left over ;). Love the look of this book and am thinking of moving to the U.S. just so I can enter these draws! ;)
You’re right on both counts there! And, if you moved close enough, I would be more than happy to share the wealth after a successful photo shoot, you know. ;)
;) I love your images by the way, gorgeousness personified. Makes me want to dive right into the food and swim…probably not the intended response but whatchagonnadoeh? ;)
Au contraire, that’s exactly the goal! As long as you find the depicted edibles irresistible, then I’d consider my job complete. ;)
Consider your job complete Ms Hannah. Your gorgeous images always make me want to race out and buy the book and make everything inside :)
It looks like a great book. This may be a stupid question, but I don’t really know a thing about raw food…what exactly does a raw diet entail? I mean, is it just eating fruits and veggies without cooking them or is there more to it than that? It may be a stupid question, but I am actually interested in the topic.
A raw food diet is typically defined as unprocessed, whole foods that are never heated above 115 degrees. That’s why dehydrating is okay- The food gets warm, but not so hot that the nutrition is cooked out of it, or so the theory goes. I like to treat it as more of a cuisine, rather than a whole lifestyle choice. If you want more information, Gena’s cookbook and blog are both great resources! Hint hint… ;)
PS, no stupid questions here! I’m glad you asked because I totally glossed over that here and it really deserves a more in-depth explanation.
That all looks fantastic, especially the tacos!
I LOVE this book and all of your gorgeous photos!
I was going to say how I would love to “COOK through this book” but that doesn’t really apply-lol! Anyway, I recently discovered zucchini noodles and love them, so would love to learn more.
You make raw foods look a thousand times better through your beautiful photographs :D
Delicious, especially that cheesecake!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Congratulations on bringing a new focus to healthy food! Brava!
That book looks so good…I love making raw brownies; they’re very easy, and the children always like them too.
What a gorgeous looking book! And amazingly gorgeous photography! I hope you are super-proud of yourself! You should be. Truly stunning. Want it all… but never turn down raw cake or tacos ;)
Well done, you talented woman!
I am back to my corporate AD job in one week so trying to push on and complete all my personal projects before then (inc. yours) will be in touch over the next few days if all goes well! :) xxx
My favorite raw food is homemade nut butter.
Congrats on a fantastic job!
This cookbook looks awesome. Thanks for sharing the lurv.
My favorite raw food/recipe would definitely be raw cheesecake; and it looks like the one in the Choosing Raw cookbook will be a fabulous recipe to make!
I love you’re blog, it’s so lovely :) I would like to nominate you for the Liebster award! Head on over to the following link if you’re interested! http://wp.me/p4ZsRs-17
I love all of Gena’s recipes, and I’m sure her cookbook is even more amazing than her blog!
I have been experimenting some with sprouted beans but I would really like to add some depth of knowledge to cooking raw.
I’m definitely more of a cooked food than a raw food kind of person, but those pictures sure do look lovely :)
Chocolate peanut butter balls are my fave! Thanks for the chance to win!
I want those tacos! Such beautiful photos, as always, Hannah.
Beautiful photos, I am looking forward to trying the rdcipes
Gena is amazing and so is her cookbook! I mentioned you in my review earlier and I love your photography, it’s so beautiful! I have yet to try her cheesecake…should I make this now?! hehe!
Oh yes, that cheesecake is a must-make! I remember bringing it to a family gathering (all omnivores) and they couldn’t even wrap their minds around the fact that it was entirely raw, let alone vegan.
I love the photography in the book. I think the photographs got me to try out more recipes than I normally would!