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A Winner! Oct 13, 2009 (96 of 105 found this helpful)
The title: The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet, by Alicia Silverstone, says it all. The plant-based diet, according to Silverstone (and a few doctors quoted) will improve your health, help prevent disease, improve the environment and help you lose weight.
The book begins with Silverstone's personal story. It includes her early attempts at not eating meat, and an unhealthy period when she ate only raw foods.
Then the book discusses the "nasty foods"--meat, dairy, white sugar and processed foods. We learn the many reasons these foods are unhealthy, bad for the planet and bad for animal's welfare.
Next, we learn what the "kind foos" are--notably, whole grains, new proteins, veggies and healthy desserts.
There is a chapter on nutritional FAQ's.
Silverstone gets we are not all ready for a vegan diet, especially if we are used to a diet heavy in meats, dairy and processed foods. So, she presents three levels: flirting, vegan and superhero.
In flirting, she makes recommendations like: go to a vegetarian restaurant and order a dish, buy some vegan products from her "Transitional food chart", and simply recommends we start adding vegan meals into our diets.
In vegan, she presents a plan on how to build a meal and a vegan meal plan.
Finally, the superhero level is loosely based on the macrobiotic diet (minus fish,) and features fresh, local and seasonal fare.
Silverstone adds helpful tips, like chew your food really well, what to do about detoxing and cravings and more.
There is a chapter on tips when away from home.
Lifestyle tips is a very short chapter, mentioning things like the importance of reusing and buying secondhand. I would recommend HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT: BEAUTIFY, DETOXIFY & ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE, YOUR HOME & YOUR PLANET to learn how to make your entire home green and beautiful for optimal health.
The book concludes with fantastic looking recipes (I'm a pretty good cook, I can always tell.) They recipes are divided into vegan and superhero.
Even if you are not committed to a full time vegan diet, I highly recommend this book--just start with the flirting and see where it takes you.
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Flirting with veganism, totally turned on by macrobiotics! Oct 15, 2009 (50 of 55 found this helpful)
Ok, so I've been flirting with vegetarianism/veganism for a while and now have been gathering a rather extensive vegan cookbook library (it's become a bit of a compulsion)... and have been waiting with baited breath for this book to get to my door.
It came yesterday while I was home sick, and I read the entire book in one sitting.
I'm in love. While this book is simply based on Alicia's life experiences and observations, for the most part (with facts backed up by research sprinkled about)... something about she says speaks to me.
All the veg cookbooks I've been getting still had so many processed food items in them... I didn't know that what I was really craving was macrobiotics. I've always believed that eating foods in a more natural, whole state were better for you, but didn't realize it was an actual named practice... I thought regular ol' veganism was the way to go, but it didn't quite speak to me the way this book did.
The part I really enjoyed was the discussion about exercise, and her assertation that she wants EVERYTHING she does in life to be enjoyable. Amen, sister. We only go round in this body once, why not make it as enjoyable as possible... not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.
I'd suggest reading this book along with Yoga & Vegetarianism by Sharon Gannon. While you may not be into yoga, there are some interesing points of view to consider about the animal industries, if you are still on the fence about your eating choices...
I'd recommend this book to anyone who just wants to take a look at their life, consider the alternatives and figure out how to make life simpler... simple= less stress, and who couldn't use less of that?
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Good for some, not practical for me Oct 19, 2009 (145 of 178 found this helpful)
I was excited to get this book, but when I started looking at the ingredients in the recipes, I decided it was NOT the book for me.
lotus root rounds
daikon rounds
shoyu
unflavored mochi
jijiki
mirin
burdock
hemp seeds
umeboshi vinegar
dandelion
brown rice mochi
mellow white miso
dried wakame
fennel bulb
umeboshi plum paste
I could go on and on........I just pulled those from random recipes.
If you want to constantly be buying rare ingredients, it might be worth it for you...but I think it would not be very practical for me because I live in a remote area and my local stores do not carry these things.
People who love this book may disagree, but for my family and the practicality of our limited grocery selections, I am returning this book.
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Inspiring Vegan Recipes Oct 16, 2009 (31 of 37 found this helpful)
I am not a vegan/vegetarian, as I do eat meat (free range, organic) and dairy sparingly. However, I do eat lots of vegan and vegetarian foods and am always on the lookout for good recipes.
The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet, by Alicia Silverstone, is filled with many great looking recipes. While I have not tried them yet, as a former professional chef, it is obvious to me when I look at a recipe what will taste good.
The book is more than a collection of recipes, however. Silverstone shares her story with food. The book describes what is "nasty" about dairy and meat; what is "kind" about plant based foods.
There are three meal plans--for those "flirting," "vegans," and "superheroes." Silverstone claims to eat 80% of the time her superhero foods, 20% vegan.
I find her passion for vegan food to be inspiring. While I am not ready to embrace it--I am flirting--I am thrilled to have so many delicious-sounding recipes to try.
Highly recommend.
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I applaud her efforts, but there are some problems here Oct 25, 2009 (30 of 36 found this helpful)
I was thrilled when I got the book and read it in one sitting. I made a list of recipes I wanted to try, and made three this morning. Here's my review of them: the whole wheat biscuits were dry and crumbly, they fell apart when they were cut in half. The "egg" salad was good, but too much onion, which I think is the case with a few other recipes. That is easy to adjust based on personal taste, though. There were HUGH problems with the corn bread recipe. First off, a cup of maple syrup, are you kidding? That plus 1 1/4 cups of soy mild was WAY too much liquid compared to the flour; even a novice baker could see that. However I followed the recipe at first so I could accurately review it. Also called for baking soda, but then in the notes to the recipe she said make sure your baking powder is fresh, here's how to test your baking powder...so which is it, soda or powder. (I used powder, and did not get fluffy muffins, which may be ok...I also used corn flour instead of meal which does give a lighter product then corn meal). Anyway, once I added the flour I had soup, which I knew I would based on all the liquid, so I doubled the amount of flour, keeping the baking powder the same, and got batter the consistency I expected).
I also have to sort agree with part of the snarky negative review below, about the contradiction in her idea of eating what is grown in your area, and then filling her recipes with daikon, umebosi plum and other things like that. She could have worded it a little better to avoid sounding contradictory.
Some people may disagree with her views or think the animal rights and environmental issues are propaganda (I am not one of them), but if you are printing recipes they should be accurate, especially for baking. If they are not to someone's taste that, of course, is not a fault of the recipe. I will try many more, though.
However I liked that the book touched on so many reasons to eat a plant based diet; it reinforced what I already knew, and made me want to leave it open in the kitchen in my office in case anyone wanted to be enlightened :)
I'd be interested to know if anyone else has found any problems with the recipes themselves.
Update: a day after making the cornbread muffins I have a dozen little doorstops. The whole wheat biscuits are dry, crumbly and not delicious, although my dog loves them as a "treat".