• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs
  • About
    • Press
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Review: 6 healthy cookbooks

June 1, 2014 2 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

I’m no health nut but my recent work on a vegan book, due next year, led me to take an interest in vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and raw cookery plus the use of coconut, so useful in the vegan repertoire. I think, even if we do not adopt alternative diets on a full-time basis, we can learn lessons and tricks from all of them.  



The Homemade Flour cookbook (Fair Winds Press) by Erin Anderson £16.99p
Content: how to grind your own flour. This might seem to be an unneccessary pfaff partly because we have lost the notion of ‘fresh’ grains, habituated, as we are, to the supermarket providing bags of milled flour. In the old days, you’d grow the wheat, take it to the local mill, and ta da!, ‘fresh’ flour without preservatives. This is also a handy book if you are interested in ancient grains such as Kamut, Emmer or Einkorn; if you want to make flour from grains other than wheat such as Amaranth, Teff, Sorghum, Flaxseeds, information that is useful for bakers and gluten-free cooks.
You need either a flour mill or a powerful blender such as a Vitamix (a machine which is a must for vegans).
Design and photography: softback but exudes class and style.  Photographs are taken by Erin herself.
Recipe I’d like to try: Pita bread with Emmer flour

Divine Vegan Desserts (Grub St) by Lisa Fabry £10.99p list price, £9.12p current Amazon price
Content: Knowledgeable and well written by ex-pat Londoner Lisa Fabry, now residing in Australia. Good technical information on thickeners, binders, sweeteners and whether a recipe is low G.I.
Design and photography: Softback and sadly a bit cheap looking. This book deserved more money spent on reproduction. Photographs and styling ok, but let down by poor reproduction.
Recipes: excellent. Real knowledge of vegan food and ingredients. Creative workarounds in this most difficult of vegan subjects, how to make good desserts without resorting to eggs and dairy.
I’d like to try: vegan panforte and eccles cakes

Vegan Finger Foods (Fair winds Press) by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes £14.99p list price, £12. 84p current Amazon price.
Content: both authors have worked extensively in vegan cookery, blogging, writing and testing vegan recipes. If you are a vegan who entertains or an entertainer (host) who has vegan guests, this is a great book for vegan canapés. The amount of events I go to where there is nothing for a non-meat eater to eat, this would be an essential book for caterers.
Design and photography: softback cover; clear, bright photography, for virtually every recipe.
Recipes I’d like to try: spinach swirls, hot pepper toastwiches

Raw Food, French Style (Frances Lincoln Ltd) by Delphine de Montalier £20.00p list price, £13.40p current Amazon price
Content: the author, the rather grand sounding Delphine de Montalier (anyone French with a ‘de’ in their name is aristocratic) is a food stylist and cookery book author. We don’t associate French food with healthiness, rather heavy cream sauces and plenty of butter (which is not unhealthy in moderation, hence the French paradox), but this book gathers recipes from both De Montalier and a “new generation” of French chefs who are less classic, more international and open-minded towards a modern approach to food. Raw food sounds a bit grim, but naturellement the French can ace this subject with customary panache. This is not a vegan book, although there are plenty of plant-food recipes, it includes meat, fish and dairy, but obviously all raw. There is the ‘barely cooked’ chapter, but the raw food diet permits anything that has not been heated above 48 ºc. This book is also useful for paleo diet enthusiasts, who imagine they are eating in the style of hunter gatherers. I agree with Michael Pollan, who says that rawfoodists (and paleos) are ignoring the health benefits of cooking, which allows more access to the nutrients in food, and indulging in a fantasy idea of what cavemen ate.
Design and photography: a thick expensive looking hardback, smart design, nice food styling by Delphine and photographs of every recipe by David Japhy. (I do like a photo of each recipe. I know in the old days people made do with engravings or, god forbid, just a written description of each recipe but I like to know what the dish should look like). This is great value for money, a coffee table book for a bargain price when compared to the other books (but short runs of specialist books do cost more).
Recipes: colourful, vibrant, imaginative.
I’d like to try: Page 238: Lemon Tart, completely raw, using nuts, dates, vanilla powder and lemon zest.

Fusion food in the vegan kitchen (Fair winds Press) by Joni Marie Newman £14.99 list price,  £11.37 current Amazon price
Content: European cuisine is particularly dependent upon and centred around meat, fish and animal protein. European chefs hardly know how to cook without the easy umami boost of charred flesh. While ‘fusion’ food may have fallen out of favour, the plant-based food lover neccessarily looks to other cultures, Indian and Asian in particular, for tasty food. Joni Marie Newman delivers: ideas are culled from El Salvadorean, Korean, Japanese, Californian, Peruvian, Italian, Greek and Filippino cuisine.
Design and photography: a bit cheap looking. Softback. Ok photography and styling.
Recipes: some creative fusion recipes here. Hot, Sweet and Sour Seitan Ribs with Lemongrass ‘Bones’ sounds imaginative, the picture really does look like ribs. But I’ve tried seitan a few times now and can’t make myself like it.
I’d like to try: Churros with sweet coconut cream filling. Faux Pho broth.

Superfoods for life, coconut (Fair Winds Press) by Megan Roosevelt £12.99 list price, £8.96 current Amazon price
Content: I’m now ordering kilo tubs of coconut oil in bulk. This is the saturated fat that is ok to eat, in fact Lauric acid from this ‘monkey face’ nut is very good for you, treating Alzheimers (now known as Diabetes III) for instance. Every part of the coconut tree can be utilised, and it can be turned into coconut sugar, flour, butter, milk or oil while coconut water can even replace an IV drip. This book contains good advice on fats (fat doesn’t make you fat you know) and cholesterol.
Design and photography: Softback. Good functional design and photos but a handy small reference book rather than a coffee table jobbie.
Recipes I’d like to try: basic recipes for home-made coconut milk and cream. 

Recent posts

Japanese sweet potatoes

February 28, 2021

kosho pic: Kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

New citrus recipes: using bergamot, blood orange, yuzu and pomelo

February 6, 2021

Psychic pizza, a true story

January 24, 2021

Previous Post: « Recipe: Poires Belle Helene with vanilla and creme fraiche ice cream
Next Post: May bites: Polish food, Dabbous, Fermentation with Sandorkraut, and wine studies »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dariana Martinovic

    March 3, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    Brilliant article. More and more people ate following vegan diet. Especially since Monsanto vampires destroying this planet xx

    Reply
  2. justlearningtodanceintherain

    May 31, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    It worries me that many of these books contain information that has no real scientific/evidence based medical research to prove that the new and trendy substitutes are better for health – and coconut oil falls in to that bracket. Coconut oil is being hailed as a food supplement and that will no doubt have people thinking that they can consume it in quantity without consequence. I myself was fooled by this when the hype started some years ago, but I have yet to find any medical/scientific research-proven data to prove that it does everything it is hyped up to do.

    It's the same with the trend for replacing sugar with various so called 'natural syrups'. Take agave as an example, which actually produces fructose in the liver and goes on to do just as much damage as sugar. People still seem unaware that fructose is responsible for heart disease and diabetes and all these young, skinny, 'clean cake' and 'clean eating' advocates who have no nutritional qualifications and are simply leading the public into believing they can eat these things and still be 'healthy'.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
I had one leek, one potato, but that’s enough to I had one leek, one potato, but that’s enough to make a leek & potato soup. I added garlic, rosé & Parmesan. I made a storecupboard salad from a cucumber & a tin of sweet corn. (Always have sweet corn in your pantry- it makes a tomato/sweet corn salad, or a tuna sweet corn salad or Thai style corn fritters) which I dressed with lemon juice & avocado oil. I also made garlic bread: a tiger loaf sliced almost to the bottom- room temp butter mixed with salt & minced garlic- wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. A simple leftovers lunch.  #leftovers #lockdownlunch #london #pantryessentials #soup #sweetcorn #garlicbread #supperclub #covidcooking #bubblelunch
Couscous and bulghur wheat are so brilliant when i Couscous and bulghur wheat are so brilliant when it comes to quick lunches. Especially if you bung them in the rice steamer. They take literally minutes to cook and are fluffy and perfectly done. I mixed in a tin of tuna and some preserved lemon, a few spring onions and a little tahini dressing. Served with a carrot and mandarin salad. I’m trying to use up the bottom drawer of my fridge and dried goods in my pantry before I do more shopping. Preserved lemons are one of my pantry essentials.  #pescetarian #couscous #ricesteamer #lockdownlarder #supperclub #lunchformybubble #londonlockdown
Baked cauliflower ‘wings’ for lunch. Easy. Bre Baked cauliflower ‘wings’ for lunch. Easy. Break into florets. Dip into batter of flour and fizzy water with sweet smoked paprika and salt. Lay on oven tray ( covered with parchment or silpat) and bake for 30 mins in hot oven. Then brush with butter and bake for another 5 mins or so. I served with a dipping sauce of yoghurt and lime marinade from @granluchito and more salt. #vegan #vegetarian #cauliflower #supperclubchef #recipe #5aday #lockdownlunch #baked #cauliflowerwings
Today I made tofish and chips for my bubble. My da Today I made tofish and chips for my bubble. My daughter and her boyfriend are working here everyday while their new flat upstairs is having the builders in. I like it because I have someone to cook for and I get a bit of company. Although in reality it’s 3 people sitting silently at their laptops all day. Today I did hear the high court session where a woman has sued Labour to find out the names of people who leaked a report. Anyway tofish is marinated firm tofu with one side covered with nori kelp and deep fried in batter. It really does taste fishy, and the nori looks like fish skin. Will do again. #supperclubchef #londonlunch #vegan #tofishandchips #tofurecipes #deepfried #handcutchips #homecooked #recipeoftheday
Another #lockdownlife activity, learning to darn. Another #lockdownlife activity, learning to darn. This red wool cardigan was shredded by moths. I’m trying both visible and invisible mending. The sleeve I darned in the traditional way. The holes I edged with embroidery cotton, making a feature of ‘moth lace’. All v Prince Charles don’t you think? He’s into patching and saving old clothes.  #visiblemending #darning #moths #longlonelynights #covid #lockdown #recycling #upcycling #ecofashion #redcardigan
Did that internet recipe doing the rounds- baked f Did that internet recipe doing the rounds- baked feta with tomatoes. I added red peppers, olive oil, garlic. Bake for 20 minutes then mix together - the feta forks a creamy sauce. Stir in freshly cooked pasta. Basta! #easyovenrecipes #bakedfetaandtomatoes #bakedfetapasta #supperclub #londonlockdown #coronacooking #vegetarian #justaddpasta #bakedfetacheese
Making thin crepes with lemon and sugar and banana Making thin crepes with lemon and sugar and banana and maple syrup. Using a cast iron crêpière I bought in a french supermarket years ago. For lunch we had savoury crepes with cheese and garlic. Apparently savoury crepes are ‘ middle class’! Who knew? #pancakes #pancakeday #shrovetuesday #crepes #bananapancakes🍌 #supperclub #londonlockdown #eatingwithmybubble
I’m cooking a lot of Asian food right now. It’ I’m cooking a lot of Asian food right now. It’s quick, hearty, tasty and healthy at the same time. Here I cubed leftover firm tofu, the whites of spring onions, mushroom stems, red pepper fried in groundnut oil, a little garlic, run out of ginger, some chilli bean sauce leftover from a jar, some soy sauce, a little teriyaki sauce from @misotasty . Then I boiled black soba noodles for 5 minutes, rinsed them in cold water, slung them back in the stir fry pan al dente. Another 5 minutes on the stovetop, I served them with the green parts of the spring onion, and a squirt of Yuzu paste from @misotasty. Served as a quick office lunch to my ‘son-in-law’ @jamescalmus who is here working while builders make an unholy noise in the flat above. My daughter and he will be moving in above when the work is done at the end of March. It’s scary buying a place for the first time- and dealing with builders- and blowing the last of your money. I remember when I bought my second flat, I was so broke I couldn’t afford a bed, and slept on the carpet for 3 months. #moving #firsthome #london #supperclub #mybubble #asianfusion #sobanoodles #tofurecipes #homecooked #lockdownlife
Heart shaped pasta parcels stuffed with cheese fro Heart shaped pasta parcels stuffed with cheese from @latuapasta one of the meal kits I’ve been trying recently. It comes with a jar of tomato sauce. The perfect dish for a nervous cook trying to impress a love. Myself I’m a corona loner as per usual. It’s ok, I’m used to it. Post- menopause I don’t have the longing I used to experience which made me needy and desperate with regards to ‘having a relationship’. Yes it does get lonely but actually I also feel a kind of relief. Happy Valentine’s Day to those who have romantic love and an even happier v day to those who don’t...
#valentines #valentinesday #vday #mealkits #foodoflove #freshpasta #valentinesdinnerathome #london #supperclub
Another Facebook marketplace find- this gorgeous g Another Facebook marketplace find- this gorgeous green velvet armchair which is also very comfortable-£50. The fire is lit 🔥 my broken ankle is propped up and I’ve a lovely cup of tea. #facebookmarketplace #recycling #upcycle #interiors #edwardianflat #londoninteriors #cosyhome #supperclub #greenvelvet #velvetarmchair #interiorsonthecheap
Pomelo candied peel is so fragrant. Instructions: Pomelo candied peel is so fragrant. Instructions: pare off the zest in longish strips, making sure there is no white pith. Then cover the peel with cold water, bring to the boil, then drain. Repeat this step twice more. This gets rid of the bitterness.  Then add 200g caster sugar and 400ml water to the peel. Simmer until the peel has absorbed all of the syrup. Then pour granulated sugar into a bowl; prepare a rack with parchment paper underneath to catch drips. Carefully extract each strand of peel and dip it into the sugar, then lay on the rack to dry out. Leave the peel 24 hours. Keep any sugar left over from the pan, and bowl, which will be lemon/pomelo scented, to use in baking. #supperclub #citrus #pomelo #candiedpeel #recipe #baking #lockdownlife #covidcooking #slowcooking #londonlife
My lady cave, my she shed, my recycled summerhouse My lady cave, my she shed, my recycled summerhouse. I’m going in for #shedoftheyear !
Everything made from stuff found in skips. #london #shed #shedlife #lockdown2021 #woodburner #bedinshed #throughtheroundwindow #supperclub #recycled #dumpsterdiver #ecobuilding
Black pepper firm tofu from @misotasty who are now Black pepper firm tofu from @misotasty who are now doing craft tofu. You fry the tofu cubes in cornflour then make a rich sauce with red pepper and black pepper, garnish with spring onions. Yet another fab thing to do with tofu! #tofurevangelist #tofurecipes #supperclub #blackpeppertofu #chinesenewyear #yearoftheox #chinesefood #covidcooking #lockdownlarder #vegetarian
Hot and sour soup with soft tofu from @misotasty j Hot and sour soup with soft tofu from @misotasty just the thing for a snowy day. Ate this on Sunday with my bubble. Persuading people that tofu is good to eat one meal at a time!  #tofu #tofurecipes #hotandsoursoup #soup #winterfood #supperclub #londonchef #homemade #recipes #vegan #vegetarian link to recipe: http://secret-garden-club.blogspot.com/2013/02/herbs-jackie-magazine-and-hot-and-sour.html?m=1
Japanese sweet potatoes from Miyazaki. They are th Japanese sweet potatoes from Miyazaki. They are the best I’ve ever had- small, dense, fluffy silky and sweet. I baked them in the oven and served with smoked trout and creme fraiche from @natoora “ Sweet potato is highly nutritious. It is high in fiber and will activate your intestinal system, and a white sticky substance “jalapin” that can be found when sliced, will help with digestion and help regulate your intestinal environment. Since its antioxidative vitamin C and antioxidative carotenoid are not lost by heating the sweet potato, experts say it is good for health and beauty. “ #sundaylunch #supperclub #sweetpotatoes #smokedtrout #pescetarian #japaneseingredients #oyatsuimo #miyazaki #yaki-Imo
Pomelo, cucumber and gadogado peanut dressing. So Pomelo, cucumber and gadogado peanut dressing. So refreshing! Pomelo is, along with mandarins and Citron, one of the original citrus fruit from which many others were bred. It’s rather like a grapefruit ( which bred with bitter orange, is a descendant) but sweeter, firmer, drier and more meaty in texture. It’s quite a pfaff to prepare as you have to take all the membrane and pith off- that’s the bitter bit. The pith can be turned into a poor mans cutlet, a Cuban steak, when times are tough. The peel can be candied. this citrus lasts a long time in the fruit bowl. #citrus #citrusrecipes #pomelo #wintersalads #gadogado #peanutdressing #supperclub #lockdownrecipes  #saturdaylunch #februaryfood #vegetarian #vegetarianrecipes
Flammkuche is a kind of German or alsacien pizza- Flammkuche is a kind of German or alsacien pizza- very thin. I got this flammkuche with a topping of nutmeggy bechamel, mushrooms, mozzarella & pesto as a #mealkit from @amelie_restaurants. Even the keenest cooks get sick of their own food! It’s really delicious and quick to prepare. #flammkuchen #pizza #vegetarian #lockdown2021 #lockdownfood #foodsolutions #covid_19 #newnormal #dinnerin10minutes #londonlife
Blood orange, fennel and dill salad with mustard d Blood orange, fennel and dill salad with mustard dressing. Easy peasy winter citrus salad. Best to use a mandolin to shave the fennel. #supperclub #covidmenu #citrus #bloodorange #wintersalad #lockdownlarder #valentinesday❤️ 💛💚🧡
Tarte au bergamote 💛done with puff pastry rathe Tarte au bergamote 💛done with puff pastry rather than shortcrust because that’s what I had ready made and hurty ankle meant I didn’t have wherewithal to make own pastry. I used zest and juice of a bergamot and zest and juice of 2 lemons 🍋. This bergamot I actually grew! #bergamot #citrus #tarte #tarteaucitron #supperclub #winterdesserts #sour #sharp #sweet #lockdownfood #covidcookery 💛💛💛
Made kosho with my incredibly expensive @natoora Y Made kosho with my incredibly expensive @natoora Yuzu (£12.80!) using the zest, 1 deseeded green chilli and some @maldonsalt in the pestle and mortar. It’s good to sprinkle on rice, noodles, soup. #condiments #citrus #yuzu #japanesefood #londonchef #supperclub #yellowfood #winterfood #seasonal #chilli #msmarmitelover
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2021 msmarmitelover