meldster reviewed on 10/26/2013

Helpful Score: 3

Ah, Kris Carr. I've heard her speak, her interviews and was super curious about her new book.

First off, the photos are gorgeous in the book. Gorgeous! Everything looks so appetizing! She talks about her relationship with food growing up and how it's changed over the years, especially living with cancer. She shares her opinions about inflammation which is such as huge issue so many folks are living with as a result of processed foods we have been eating along with the consumption of dairy, animal products, wheat and sugar. She also suggests that we increase our consumption of raw foods and juicing to up our veggie/fruit intake that we tend to lack so much in today's diet.

There's also an FAQ section about meat, proteins, dairy, calcium, fats, plant based diet (which is what this books is about) and cheese which is helpful. She also lays out what you should shop for and have in your kitchen to make these recipes and shift more to a plant based diet. And if you're new to cooking she also gives a list of equipment to have in your kitchen (food processor, juicer, knives, cutting board, etc.). Lastly, how to plan for these meals, that is planning your meals ahead, shopping at farmer's markets and batch cooking. Sometimes we get so ambitious that having those basic tips is a good reminder. She educates you on cooking grains, cooking lingo (what's dicing??), knife 101, and tips on how to enjoy the process (don't eat when upset, chew, eat outside, be thankful, etc.).

As for the recipes, there's a symbol legend so you know how difficult a recipe is, if it's a quick recipe (er, 45 mins or less, not sure I consider that short!), and whether it's gluten free, raw, soy free and kid friendly. One pet-peeve about this book as with most cookbooks is there's not nutritional breakdown. That is, all you know is how many servings it is, but of course, that doesn't help too much because it doesn't say if a serving is a cup, 2 cups, etc.

A number of the recipes here you'll find contain nuts so if you have a nut allergy, you might want to steer clear from this book. The recipes too are pretty involved and the ingredients can get pretty lengthly so FYI. You'll find recipes that call for coconut butter, dates, coconut meat, cacao powder, nutritional yeast, fakin' bacon, spelt flour, vegan butter, gluten free baking mix, agave, coconut oil, guar gum, xanthan gum, chickpea flour, buckwheat groats, hemp seeds, coconut sugar, ground seitan, kelp granules, flax oil, tamari, arrowroot, cashew cream cheese, date paste, kombu just to name a few. Not everyone has these ingredients or has access to these items so if this scares you, you may want to pass on this book. You may need a juicer, vitamix blender, dehydrator and an ice cream maker to make several of these recipes.

I made note of some of the recipes in this book that sounded interesting and that I could probably make like the basic asian marinade, shredded kale and carrots with almond butter dressing, teriyaki tofu with mushrooms and soba noodles, warm kale and quinoa salad, tuna salad, cornmeal banana walnut pancakes and tofu country scramble.

Overall, this isn't a book for a bigger cook because the recipes can seem daunting in regards to getting all the ingredients, That is, unless you live near a health food store that sells some of the items I listed above. She uses a fair amount of tofu and temph for the recipes, but I'm concerned about how high in fat the recipes can be because of all the nuts and seeds. But if you're adventurous and want to step out of your comfort zone, this might be a good book, if anything to get ideas on how to add more veggies into your diet or just to try out the juices and smoothies.

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