There are few things I enjoy more than incredible food and quality time with a like-minded individual – and it only gets better when the food is gourmet organic raw cuisine and that individual is an amazing chef, foodie, and author. Such was my splendid March afternoon in the Santa Monica sunshine with Meredith Baird.
Over a phenomenal four-course meal at M.A.K.E., the Los Angeles hotspot she co-opened with famed raw food pioneer and leader Matthew Kenney this fall, we chatted about everything from zip cars to trekking Machu Picchu, Congolese orchestras to juice cleanses, and much much more. But the centerpiece of our conversation was Meredith’s just-released book, Everyday Raw Detox.
I heart cookbooks. I love flipping though pages of deliciousness, marveling at food photography, learning new culinary techniques, getting a glimpse into a culture through its unique gastronomy. But rarely (I could probably even say never!) has one so thoroughly captured me. I can honestly say that I would make every recipe in Meredith’s delight of a book.
This is quality food and drink that I want to make, eat, and share. It is teeming with dishes I can prepare without fuss, yet still find exciting, enjoyable, and highly nourishing. Real food, done right – that is how I see it. It’s modern and innovative without being pretentious or complex; classic and pure without being bland or boring; insanely healthy without being rigid or diet-obsessed. From juices to smoothies, breakfast to dessert, wraps to grains, salads to soups, and even skin and body tonics, Meredith’s masterful recipes are precisely what my body and kitchen crave.
Nothing has too many ingredients or extensive prep time – and as the cuisine is raw, there is no cooking required. Gather some fresh produce at a local farm stand and work wonders with a few kitchen gadgets! I have only had this book in my hands for a matter of hours and already whipped up some of Meredith’s blended green tonics (to rave reviews)… and the ingredients for the Asian Pear and Avocado Salad are standing by on my kitchen counter.
Meredith envisions food in a new light – and she outlines her inspiring philosophy (NOT dogma!) at the start of the book. Perfection isn’t possible. Savor the experience. Live your lifestyle. Design your detox. She offers useful tips on the benefits of raw foods and detoxing, defines forbidden fruits and golden ticket foods, and shares her very own Ten Commandments.
“I do not believe that there is one answer for everyone. I do believe that introducing more whole fruits and vegetables into your diet is healthy… Finding pleasurable ways to incorporate healthy food into your diet is what this book is about. Design your detox and learn to savor the moments when you nourish yourself the best.”
That makes absolute sense to me! Meredith’s writing style is informative, approachable, and fun – and the photographs are stunning and oh so inviting – just like her Instagram, which captures this twenty-eight-year-old’s journey as a raw food and wine enthusiast and luxury design lover, among the many hats the certified raw food chef and instructor wears.
If Meredith’s glowing skin, bright spirit, and endless energy are any indication, the Everyday Raw Detox approach to life does a body and mind good. She is the Creative Director of Matthew Kenney Lifestyle (a team she joined in 2008), keeps the Los Angeles restaurant and culinary academy running smoothly, shoots demo videos overnight, manages the M.A.K.E. Cleanse delivery, is opening M.A.K.E. Out to-go as we speak (next door to the third-story Santa Monica promenade restaurant), blogs for Pure Mamas, promotes her book, and explores her new hometown of Venice Beach on two wheels. The South Carolina native is certainly taking the food and health worlds by storm!
Here are the highlights from my lunch with Meredith at M.A.K.E (you really must visit this restaurant if you find yourself in Southern 
California), as well as a few of my favorite snapshots and a recipe from Meredith’s must-have cookbook… or non-cookbook, as the case may be… with the offering of over one hundred tantalizing raw, vegan plant-based recipes. I consider it a healthy lifestyle, foodie heaven in 144 brilliantly crafted pages!
