If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of trying a raw diet, books like “Eat Raw, Eat Well: 400 Raw, Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes” by Douglas McNish (Robert Rose, $24.95) can help you get a taste of what a raw diet is like.

McNish is a certified professional vegan chef, a cooking teacher and a raw food consultant who gained 40 pounds on a vegan diet, then lost it – plus 60 more pounds – eating only raw foods. His cookbook explains the benefits of a raw foods diet, and offers a profile of a well-equipped raw foods kitchen. But most of it is made up of recipes such as pear and pumpkin porridge, red beet ravioli and sunflower date Salisbury steak, which uses sunflower seeds as a meat substitute.

There’s such a wide variety of recipes here catering to all levels of taste and skill, you shouldn’t have trouble finding something that will satisfy your palate.