This is another of those books that I stumbled across while looking for my own book on Amazon.  I have not read the “theory” book upon which this is based, but when I saw that The Naked Foods Cookbook uses whole foods and is gluten-free, I was quite intrigued.  Having read it, I am quite impressed.

The introductory section of the book talks about what to stock in your naked foods/whole foods kitchen (both ingredients and tools), and offers suggestions for making the process doable for a normal schedule.  I really appreciate that the authors are realistic, rather than militant.  They are unequivocal in their assertions that “naked foods” are healthier, but they also recognize that doing the best you can with what you have is all any of us can do.  Better to concentrate on what we can do, and not to worry too much about the rest.

Most of the recipes can be prepared in fairly short order, which is nice for those of us with busy schedules.  (And they’re marked clearly, so you know which ones take a little longer.)  Unfortunately, many of them take advance preparation, so they are only quick (sometimes, they’re only doable) if you have been consistent with these methods for a while.  I’m not always very good about planning ahead, so I find myself having to skip a number of them.

Every recipe in the book is gluten-free, so those of you who, like me, have to avoid gluten won’t have to pick through.  And the ingredients are pretty normal!  Sorghum flour is used fairly frequently, and I don’t find that to be an easy-to-find ingredient.  But other hard-to-find ingredients are pretty sparse in this book.  I think teff flour is used once, and there are a couple of ethnic recipes that call for ethnic ingredients that might be uncommon in your local stores.  Apart from that, the ingredients should be pretty accessible.

All in all, I found this to be a very down-to-earth, real-life kind of cookbook.

Disclosure: The publisher, New Harbinger Publications, provided me with a copy of the book to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.