Review: The Clean Plates Cookbook Simple Recipes for Healthy, Sustainable, and Delicious Eating by Jared Koch with Jill Silverman Hough

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Jared Koch's first book, Clean Plates Manhattan, demystified "clean eating" and mapped out healthy restaurant options all over New York. Continuing in the extremely timely topic of eating clean, organic, and well, his second book, The Clean Plates Cookbook, offers sensible, sustainable, and healthful home cooking for anyone interested in integrating good foods into their lives. It shows readers how to shop for the best ingredients no matter what their diet (omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans can all "eat clean") and how to prepare food that's simple and delicious. Tips and inspiration from chefs and nutrition experts appear throughout the book, and the invaluable resources section breaks down the recipes by category and offers more of his clear and useful shopping guides.
Clean eating is anything but boring: recipes cover beverages, breakfasts, snacks, inventive entrées, and desserts with things like Quinoa Carrot Muffins, Cracked Wheat Sushi, Wild Mushroom Gratin, Lamb Tikka Masala, and Cocoa Cherry Brownies.
Jared Koch is a health coach, nutritional consultant, and the author and publisher of Clean Plates Manhattan, a guidebook that has sold 20,000 copies in two years. Koch and the Clean Plates web site have been featured in multiple mainstream press outlets, including ABC News, NBC New York, Good Day NY, Martha Stewart, and Good Morning America Health. Koch is also a sought-after speaker, including engagements at Google, MTV, Sony, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Wellpoint Insurance, Time Warner, and Whole Foods. Clean Plates has been endorsed by numerous well-known doctors and celebrities, including Deepak Chopra, Mark Hyman, Dean Ornish, and Mariel Hemmingway.
Jill Silverman Hough is a cookbook author, food and wine writer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor. She's written 100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You Love and 100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love. Other book projects include developing the recipes for Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, a New York Times bestseller.

MY TAKE:

There are plenty of healthy-eating cookbooks and books out there, so what makes this different from the rest?

In The Clean Plates Cookbook, we get not only recipes, but an introduction to healthy eating and healthy living.

The biggest difference that I noticed between this book and other books I've read that advocated healthy eating is the fact that the author specifically mentions that a healthy diet that works for one person might not work for another. That is, one person can go on a vegan diet but another person might not be able to go on the same diet without feeling sluggish or not at optimum condition.

Different types of healthy ingredients are also discussed so you learn more about their benefits. The recipes on the book are very creative and healthy, although I think the ingredients aren't as easy to find, especially for those in areas where there aren't any health food stores or organic markets.

Thanks to NetGalley and Running Press for the e-ARC. Publication date of The Clean Plates Cookbook is on December 25, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. A specific diet isn't forced on you.
2. You learn about a variety of healthy ingredients.
3. There are plenty of creative and yummy-looking recipes.

THE BAD:

1. Some people may have a hard time finding ingredients.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

My friends like to tease that I have a "salt tooth" in contrast to most people's "sweet tooth."

READ IT IF:

1. You believe that there isn't a particular diet that works for everyone.
2. You want to try an organic diet.
3. You want to try new and healthy recipes.

RATING:


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