The Raw Food Gourmet ─ Going Raw for Total Well-being

WARNING: The raw food recipes in this book are so delicious they may change your life!

The phrase 'raw foods' conjures up images of food as punishment—think uncooked carrots and celery, with perhaps a spinach juice cocktail as a chaser. However, uncooked doesn’t have to mean unappetizing, as this combination cookbook and guide to the raw foods lifestyle shows. Gabrielle Chavez explains how to use the wide range of fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables, spices, and seasonings for delicious, healthful—and healing—dishes. Anytime entrees from Stuffed Portabellos with Mushroom Gravy to Thai Hazelnut Pesto are here, along with seasonal treats like Halloween Soup and basics such as Simple Sweet Bread, with ingredients expressed in both metric and American measurements. In addition to current information on raw foods’ nutritional value and success as an alternative for people with food allergies and disorders, The Raw Food Gourmet takes readers on Chavez’s personal journey as she discovers the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of this diet.

Gabrielle Fackre Chavez began her professional healing journey in the 1970's through a study of the connections between nutrition and health. A degree in biology and religion at Yale University provided the foundation for a career in practical healing arts and spirituality. She is an accomplished herbalist, gardener, flower essence practitioner, Reiki master, and founding pastor of Christ the Healer United Church of Christ, an interfaith spiritual community in Portland, Oregon. In 2001, after embracing a raw and living foods diet for its spiritual value as well as increased vitality, she trained as a raw food chef, hosted a weekly gourmet raw potluck, and founded Share the Love Catering to feed a growing network of persons searching for food that nourishes the soul as well as the body.