Customer Reviews

Kristen Suzanne's EASY Raw Vegan Sides & Snacks: Delicious & Easy Raw Food Recipes for Side Dishes, Snacks, Spreads, Dips, Sauces & Breakfast

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just about everybody familiar with the raw food books available out there knows that Kristen Suzanne is especially famous for amazing, subtle flavors and wickedly cool combinations, tasting so good in fact that many people who've previously been disappointed by raw food (because so many raw recipes fall flat, taste like mush, or at best all taste the same) end up truly embracing the lifestyle after trying Ms. Suzanne's completely unique recipes. In short, if you haven't tried her books, you haven't begun to experience all that raw food has to offer.

I'm compelled to write in response to the reviewer who called this book a "pamphlet" (despite buying Ms. Suzanne's other books?)... this is baseless. They are short only in that they cover one type of dish or topic (desserts, entrees, smoothies, etc.), but they cover that topic more completely than any book that I've come across yet. I love the format. It really lets you dive in and explore, offers something for veterans but is also 100% accessible to beginners too. Which brings me to my next point...

Pamphlet lady said that the books repeat recipes. Let me clarify: Each of Ms. Suzanne's books (so far as I know) comes with a standard intro for beginners that includes six "basic" recipes that everybody exploring raw food should have (such as rejuvalac and nut milk). If you've read this in one book, you're just supposed to skip it in her subsequent books. This isn't rocket science; it's really helpful for beginners and is spelled out really clearly in the intro, and also on Ms. Suzanne's website, which includes a list of all of the recipes in all of her books (http://kristensraw.com/recipe_lists.php#sides).

Regarding the recipes, this book has a whopping 60 recipes, broken down as follows: the 6 basics (these are the ones repeated in all her books), 24 side dishes, 18 spreads, dips, and sauces, 6 snacks, and 6 breakfasts. Trust me, there's more great sides and snacks here than I've found anywhere, which again, is the nature of Ms. Suzanne's multi-book format... tons of recipes, you just choose the books you want.

This book is 80 pages and only costs twelve dollars. So for 60 recipes, it's a great value and calling it a pamphlet is just the empty gripe of somebody who's more into bells and whistles, and big books with lots of white space and airy quotes... than super amazing recipes you won't find anywhere else. This is one of my favorites of Kristen Suzanne, along with her soup and holidays books. I've found the types of "everyday" recipes are great for adding lots of raw into your life, whereas the entrees and desserts books are great for family meals or exposing new people to raw by taking dishes to parties, etc, that everyone asks about. (I haven't tried her hemp book but I just confirmed that the Whole Foods near me carries hemp products so I plan on getting that one next.)

Highly recommended.

Kristen's Easy Raw Vegan Sides and Snacks offers easy and great tasting dishes to go with any entrée or salad, or just plain by themselves. If you're someone like me who has a hard time eating plain vegetables than this is the book for you. Her recipes are very flavorful, use a variety of spices and don't require a lot of time to prepare. She includes a wide variety of vegetables, sauces, mixes and spreads to dress up your veggies so you won't get bored. Her Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Flying Dragon Broccoli are awesome. I love to snack on the Simply Sweet Pumpkin Seeds and throw the Sweet Vanilla Rain Sunflower Seeds on my salads. She makes the most amazing Cheezy Nacho Sauce I've ever tasted. It's goes great with her South of the Border Pate (entrée's) and as a dip for her Frais Fries. It's really great to finally find a recipe book that makes veggies easier to eat and enjoy. I would highly recommend all of Kristen's books. You won't be disappointed.

People are catching on about the benefits of eating raw, but in the early years most recipes pretty much tasted like cardboard. Well, thanks to the ingenuity of many experimental raw chefs like Kristen Suzanne, now your food can taste incredible, too! I absolutely LOVE Kristen's recipes. I've been raw for 8 years and have a ton of raw books and recipes. When people new to raw ask me which book I most recommend, I always point them to Kirsten Suzanne. I use all of her books more than any other. They are my favorite and the most delicious raw recipes I have. I've taken her "Greatest Hummus in the World" to potlucks and parties and it's always a favorite. Raw garbanzos just don't taste quite right, and this one is bean-less. Non-raw people can't even tell the difference and think it's the best they've ever had! I've been extremely pleased with all of her recipes. I like that she also pays a lot of attention to the beauty of the dish as well. I think most people (certainly myself) don't realize how much presentation plays into our experience of food and our perceptions of how it tastes. I also really like her "How to Get Started and Succeed" intro to raw, as it's very concise, backed up by medical research, and pretty much to the point without any raw Nazi propaganda or unnecessary content filler. She breaks it down and gives great tips for success, some of which are in this book and all her others. Simple, to the point, inspiring and delicious! Definitely my favorite raw author! Be sure to check out her website, too! [...]

I'm not a Raw Vegan (or even a Vegan for that matter), but I love this recipe book. I've tried many of the recipes already and even my toddler loves them. If you're looking for healthy recipes that are fun to make and serve (and take to dinner parties), you'll definitely want to get a copy.

What I like most about Kristen's recipes is that they're so flavorful and easy to make. I have most of her books. This one I like, in particular, because I can turn to it when I just need a side to compliment something I've already made and need some ideas. Even though the title says "Raw", this book can be useful for anyone. If you're looking for some healthy sides or dips, this is a great place to start. My favorites are the Dirty Rice (made with squash instead of rice) and the Flying Dragon Broccoli. The dips are good too for making boring veggies come to life. And the dips can easily double for salad dressings. For the most part you can use a blender or food processor. The snacks will require a dehydrator. With what you get for the money, this book is well worth it.

The pros: tasty recipes
Easy-to-follow directions.

The cons :
NO index, so specific recipes are difficult to find.

The same first 10 pages or so are contained in each of her books, so you pay for that over and over again if you buy more than one.

Not sure if the cost-vs-benefit ratio is good. IMO, ALL her books could have been condensed into one--WITH an index!--for half the price or less than all of her books purchased separately.

I highly recommend this recipe book! I LOVE it! My boyfriend and I are new to the Raw Food lifestyle and this is one of the first recipe books I got. I must say that I am very impressed with the recipes that we tried so far. I was hoping for recipes that did not involve dehydrating or anything too involved seeing as we are newbies. We were not let down! This book is a perfect fit for us. We are slowly transitioning to Raw by incorporating raw foods a little at a time. Kristen Suzanne's Easy Raw Vegan Sides & Snacks is a great way to transition. We are impressed with how delicious the recipes have been. We are in love with the Creamy Breakfast Mousse! It is so refreshing. :-) This was the first raw recipe that my boyfriend tried and I believe it is what got him hooked! Two of our favorites are the Worldly Spiced Rice and the Flying Dragon Broccoli. We love the flavors! We double the recipe so we have leftovers. This past weekend I made the Fun Chocolate Applesauce for my little cousin and she kept going back for more! We are looking forward to trying all the dips. We made the Orange Sunset Salsa and loved it so much we made some more the same night! The best part about the sides and snacks is that they are easy to incorporate with our vegan-cooked meals as we are starting to eliminate more cooked foods. Another huge perk is that the ingredients are not hard to find! My boyfriend has been taking leftovers to work to share with all his work buddies to let them taste how delicious Raw Vegan food can be! I will be purchasing all of her books! Thanks Kristen!

I'm a snacker. But I gotta put some control in my snacking or it could get ugly. As I was converting over to a High RAW lifestyle, the first things I wanted to make was the SNACKS!! Kristen has made snacking FUN and HEALTHY!! The recipes were easy to follow, no time at all to make and my family and friends die for them when they're over. I make simple dips, sides and a ton of SNACKS and don't feel guilty doing it. Every recipe is my favorite. This is one book you want to keep on your kitchen counter :)

I was extremely excited about receiving my books since I had ordered a few of them and planned to get all.
But I was even more disappointed to learn that none of them had pictures. The website is what really sold me on getting them since it was all colourful but very disheartened when i learned they didn't have any pictures as a form of reference.
Debbi

Just like Suzanne's other books - this one is jammed packed full of Sides and Snacks! As the title says you'll have lots of QUICK and EASY recipes - great for adding to your own meals or when entertaining and you'd like to have some appetizer snackies to serve! - and best of all, you don't have to spend days in the kitchen preparing for your guests. Great job Suzanne! Thank you for sharing your creativity with us!

Also - I love that Kristen has placed an abundance of food photos on her website - I can easily print one color page (screen shot) and have photos! I have folded the one page in half and keep it in my book. I know she is trying to keep the cost of the book down. She even mentions in the recipe book that the picture is available online. What a great idea.