Living Cuisine

Eating raw isn't just for naturalists anymore. Today, health-conscious eaters are filling their plates with the foods nature has already prepared. And these foods go well beyond the sprouts, carrots, and celery typically associated with this type of diet.

In Living Cuisine, celebrated raw chef Renée Underkoffler shows how varied, exciting, and healthy raw-foods cuisine can be. She introduces the many benefits of eating raw and offers guidelines for incorporating this healthier regimen into one's lifestyle. She provides clear, step-by-step instructions for raw-foods processing techniques-juicing, sprouting, culturing and fermenting, dehydrating, and even blanching.

At the heart of Living Cuisine are the more than 300 tantalizing recipes inspired by a wide range of ethnic and regional foods. These beverages, soups, salads, appetizers, side dishes, sushi, entrees, and desserts are all delicious and simple to prepare. This unique resource includes thorough information necessary for a foray into raw-foods livingRenée Loux Underkoffler is a raw-foods chef and former co-owner of the Raw Experience restaurant in Maui. She facilitates health retreats and workshops worldwide, which incorporate yoga and living foods into a balanced lifestyle.Perfect Chocolate Mousse

• ½ cup pitted soft dates
• 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon cold-pressed coconut butter (optional)
• 1 ½ tablespoons non-alcohol vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups mashed avocado (about 3 medium avocados)
• 3/4 cup raw carob powder
• 4-6 tablespoons cocoa powder (or additional carob powder)

Soak the dates in ½ cup fresh water for 5-10 minutes to soften. Drain the soak water and set aside. In a food processor, blend dates, maple syrup, coconut butter (if desired), and vanilla until smooth. Spoon in avocado and blend until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of date soak water if necessary to aid in blending. Spoon in carob and cocoa powder and blend until smooth.

Spoon mousse into parfait or wineglasses. Keeps fresh for several days.

Variation: Try freezing for a decadent ice cream.

Makes 4 cups