Reviewed By Susan Schenck

Who doesn’t love Indian food? To show you how much I love Indian food, I even married an Indian man—my first husband—who was a great Indian cuisine chef on the side. He taught me how to make aloo gobi and matar paneer. (Isn’t it really the case that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach? Isn’t she the one that is wined and dined?) When I went raw 7.5 years ago, Indian fare is what I missed the most. So I finally figured out a few simple tricks to make raw versions of my favorite ethnic food.

Spice Up Your Life's diet is based on flexitarianism, which the author explains “is a primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits, which also occasionally includes protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or diary. This diet is low in saturated fat and high in fiber…Studies show that people using this approach generally weigh less and reduce their risk of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and prostate and breast cancer.”

The recipes are whole-food, made the traditional way from scratch, using light olive oil, fresh produce and Indian spices. Modern research has shown the benefits of turmeric, which is found in curry and garam masala. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and has been shown to reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s, cancer, arthritis, and many other diseases.

The chapters are divided as follows: appetizers, side dishes, and chutneys, sauces, dips and raitas; breads; vegetarian dishes; chicken dishes; seafood dishes; drinks; and desserts.

Some of the dishes I look forward to making raw versions of include the lassi drinks, chai, smoothies, cauliflower and brussels sprout curry, broccoli and carrots with coconut, chickpeas and spinach, mint chutney, seasoned kale, pumpkin soup, broccoli soup, spiced carrot and sweet onion, cashew curry sauce, coleslaw tempered with coconut, and many, many more!

Bindu Grandhi developed a passion for flavorful flexitarian cooking in her early 20s. Her knowledge of good health and nutrition comes from her mother, Vasantha Prasad, author of Indian Vegetarian Cooking from an American Kitchen (Random House) and her father, Balasa L. Prasad, a physician and author of Stop Overeating For Good (Avery). You'll find Bindu Grandhi online at www.theflexcook.com

Spice Up Your Life: The Flexitarian Way (Cedar Fort Inc./ 2009) by Bindu Grandhi

Susan Schenck is author of The Live Food Factor

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