Simply Raw Kitchen by Natasha Kyssa offers great insights into a new healthy lifestyle. The recipes are tasty and have a great punch for only a few calories. So in that respect, this cookbook introduces us to the positives of the “raw food” world. I admit I began as a skeptic about the possibility of cauliflower soup tasting halfway decent, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. So in terms of taste, I was impressed with the “raw food” option.

However, I wish I could say that the taste outweighed the work, but unfortunately I’d be lying. The only way I could describe the work that goes into preparing these dishes is extremely cumbersome. Every recipe requires shopping for obscure ingredients and then TONS of chopping. I have to say that in terms of practicality on a day to day level, I just can’t find myself realistically fitting these recipes into my busy schedule.

I think this cookbook limits itself by catering to a small audience. If one is already practicing a “raw food” lifestyle then this cookbook is for you. You hopefully already have some of the more obscure ingredients stocked in your pantry and would be more willing to invest the time in preparation. However, if you are like me, someone who was only intrigued by the lifestyle and looking to try it out, I caution you. Be prepared to be spending A LOT of time in the kitchen. The time calculations on the top of the page only calculate the time after chopping. So unless you are insanely fast with a knife, plan on adding on at least a half hour or more. We made the Rad Pad Thai dish one night for dinner. It was delicious, but the chopping of the cabbage alone took us almost forty-five minutes.

There are also a few recipes that completely fell flat. I was intrigued by the Austrian Linzer Squares and followed the recipe directions exactly. However, mine ended up having to be tossed because it was just a tray full of “sand” aka, a mixture of flours with blobs of jam.

So my overall grade? I’d have to unfortunately say only a C+. The taste was mostly good (aside from the Linzer Square disaster), but I just can’t talk myself into the sacrifice of time the recipes demand.

-JPM (Joyana)