Clean Food A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You
October 26, 2009 by Healthy Vegetarian Recipes
Filed under Vegetarian | Vegan Books
More than a cookbook, Clean Food is a feast for the senses that will nourish mind, body, soul…and the planet, too. With more than 200 fresh, seasonal, and tempting vegan recipes, it will help everyone eat the way the want: close to the source.
From the White House kitchen to fast food restaurants, everyone’s discussing “the sustainable diet.” But what exactly does that mean? Terry Walters explains it all, and shows us how to eat seasonal, unprocessed, and locally-grown foods that are good for us and the environment.
Walters’s emphasizes tastes as much as ingredients in delicious recipes that include whole grains, vegetables, legumes, sea vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and range from Crispy Chickpea Fritters to Spicy Thai Tempeh with Cashews to a vegan and sugar-free Chocolate Lover’s Tart that’s absolutely luscious! Since they’re arranged from spring to winter (with a chapter for “anytime at all”), it’s easy to find the right meals for every season of the year.
Terry’s dynamic personality shines through on every page, particularly in her extensive introduction to the world of whole foods (which includes a glossary of ingredients). This is certain to be the cookbook of this and every season—the one that will help us make positive, sustainable, and yet delicious changes to the way we eat every day.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Fabulous Reference Work!
In a world full of processed and “fake” foods, this is a great resource for people who are concerned about their health and the health of our planet. The recipes are clearly written and easy to prepare. I look forward to working my way through the seasons with this cookbook.
4 Stars Excellent Vegan Recipes Using Local Staple Ingredients
My shelves are full of cookbooks and there’s one or two I reach for all the time (Simply in Season). This one will be another must have simply because of the way its organized — by food. You wanna know what to do with all your spinach? Look up spinach, and shazam, there’s a list of recipes to make with spinach. I reach for this one before Alice Water’s cookbook (she uses too much meat and cheese). The only minor fault I found was the author isn’t completely local. She’ll use a local main ingredient, but many of the secondary ingredients are not. Certainly no fault of hers because its very difficult to eat completely local and vegan (in my area, there’s no local tofu), so it’s really not a fault at all. I’d recommend this to any vegan looking for recipes to use local, seasonal foods.
1 Star this is not me!
I cannot recall now what enticed me into purchasing this book — but it did not meet my expectations in the least — it is not me at all! I am all for a healthy, living close-to-the-land, seasonally- conscious lifestyle, but not with these foods! This was one of only 2-3 books I have ever returned for a refund — anywhere!
4 Stars Vegan Ease
The overall layout and look of this book is nicely done. Recipes are simple and tend toward lighter fair; not intended for use by the “hungry man” male population. Though I found little culinary excitment, there is a “warm” flow and feeling that emanates from the book.
Future author considerations:
1.) When making health or harm statements, provide research links, because otherwise, we’re just taking your word things are true. Think “The China Study”.
2.) Well over 50% of the recipes call for ingrediants difficult, if not impossible to find in moderate to small towns in the Midwest. Potential listing of substitute processes or ingrediants would be helpful.
2 Stars Asparagus and fennel are in season in the fall?
For a book that is strongly rooted in eating “clean foods” that are fresh and in season (this book is organized according to the four seasons, after all), I would not expect to see a recipe like, “Roasted Squash with Fennel and Asparagus” in the Fall season. Yes, I do buy produce when it’s out of season, but I purchased this book specifically to eat more local, fresh produce.
Also, like another reviewer mentioned, the bulk of the protein sources use in this book are tofu, tempeh, etc. She doesn’t work a lot with lentils, beans, or other more unprocessed forms of protein. That was a personal downfall for me since I don’t like to get all of my protein from soy.
For me, this felt like a book that was very strong in soups and side dishes but terribly weak for main course recipes. It’s a book that will inevitably collect dust on the bookshelf. I could see where others with a strong interest in new vegan side dishes and/or cooking with sea vegetables might have a special place for this though.
