I’ve been a vegetarian since I was sixteen. In the late eighties, that was rough- even more difficult than being a vegan now. In the last year, I made the transition to vegan, but thanks to the work of innovative cooks like Isa Chandra Moskowitz, that just isn’t hard anymore. The next challenge? Going raw- very difficult because apparently you need a Vita-Mix, a dehydrator (I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one of those), a food processor, a grinder, and a bunch of other esoteric equipment I’ve never even heard of- right? Ani Phyo earned four stars right off the bat by making almost every one of her recipes doable with a blender or, in many cases, a knife. There are maybe three recipes that absolutely require a dehydrator- and even that can be gotten around. For this reason alone, if you’ve been thinking about raw but you’ve been intimidated by all of the required equipment, check this out.
The recipes that I’ve tried- and I’ve gone a little crazy in the last few days- have been not only simple but really, really good. So far I have made her Miso Soup, Almond Yogurt, Black Pepper Cheeze, Nori Rolls, Coco Kream Pie (oh wow- so good), a bunch of her shakes and my version of her Sunflower Bread (hmm- how did I do that without a dehydrator?). Almost all of this has been accomplished with a blender, and I don’t even own the legendary Vita-Mix. In other words, the majority of households can do this.
I can not emphasize how greatfull I am for having read this book. Before I read it I was trying every stupid diet in the world, diet pills, and even considered things that were probably illegal to lose weight. I was completely addicted to junk food and didn’t even know it until I read this book!!! I was depressed most of the time, had no energy, felt hopeless that I’d ever be thin and feeling so completely despirate it was really sad.
I picked up the book because I liked the title. I was 100 lbs overweight and many times thought of skinny women as ’skinny bitches’…And I so wanted to be like them! So, I read the book and it totally changed my life. I saw the truth for the first time as to how the food industries will market complete garbage to humans for consumption because they can make a fast buck. I saw how cruel and deplorable the meat industry is in the name of greed. I realised that I was not helping myself by drinking diet soda (with all its poisonous artificial sweeteners) and eating milk and meat and eggs