This book may sound a bit too hardcore vegan--until you actually read it. The author has practiced what she preaches and her well-written, well-organized guide, with science gently applied, may convince you to take the raw food path or at least to put a toe on it.

Raw foods, in case you wondered (I did) are those that have never been "cooked" at over 115 degrees yet surprisingly, this does not greatly limit the variety of ways that vegetation can be prepared to suit both health needs and palate. You can even have chips (dehydrated), and the desserts are totally, by their descriptions, scrummy.

Along with recipes and a 21-day meal plan, Hamshaw includes explanations of all the necessary ingredients to make your raw experimentations successful: kambu, lucuma, faro (who knew?). She takes care to dispel myths about raw food regimens. No, you won't perish for lack of meat or dairy on a raw food diet, but you must pay attention to protein and calcium found naturally in many foods Mother Nature has provided for herbivores (proteins include “quinoa, soy, hemp, amaranth, buckwheat, and chia seeds” while calcium can be found in almond milk, sesame seeds, tahini, blackstrap molasses, and that good old favorite of southern cookery, collard greens). Yes, it may be good idea to avoid gluten, but that doesn't work for everyone; it's not a cure-all.

With recipes like to pore over, like Apricot Quinoa and Mint Salad, Avocado Black Bean Breakfast Scramble and Banana Almond Coconut Raw-nola, you may find your mouth watering. And while some preparations may require special equipment (processors, grinders) just as many do not. Hamshaw is a former book editor turned clinical nutritionist; her book has been widely welcomed and is one of Da Capo's Lifelong Books collection.