Clean Food, Revised Edition: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source

I purchased this cook book because a very good friend of mine and I were talking, and she referenced it, had purchased a copy of it for herself, and thought it would be worth my checking into. I have *enormous* amounts of respect for this person, and I love trying new recipes, so I ordered myself a used copy. So, I've read through this cook book, and I've tried 7 different recipes from it at this point, and I do indeed have some thoughts on it I'd like to pass on. I'd also like to say my feelings about the book fall into two categories: Overall I've enjoyed all of the recipes I've tried and plan on using more, but I'd urge a dose of caution when it comes to her informational section at the beginning.Once upon a time, before I became the fabulous stay at home mom I am today, I used to work in health care, and there are a host of things claimed in the informational section that unfortunately don't have solid science to back them up at this time. I'm just going to mention three, because I'm also a crazy busy mama, point you to my sources so you can verify this yourself, and recommend that you double check any claims given in her book or elsewhere that you are not familiar with. In general, Mayo Clinic, National Institutes for Health, Pubmed, CDC, webmd are great places to check up on claims in cookbooks that you're not sure about.So, she talks a lot about the importance of blood-alkalinizing effects of food. WebMd has a great break down on this, and I'm just going to quote a portion of it: “In fact, nothing you eat is going to substantially change the pH of your blood. Your body works to keep that level constant.” She also mentions that “raw fruits and vegetables cleanse away excess fat.” I'm again going to reference WebMd for you: they say there is no proof that by itself will help you burn fat. Is it healthy for you? Yes. Will it preserve more of certain nutrients? Yes, and that ultimately can have some great benefits for your body, but you can still overeat a whole bunch of healthy foods and your body will still store that excess energy as fat.The last thing I'm going to go over is her take on phytic acid. I am going to reference the National Institute of Health's library, PubMed, on this one. So, the science supports some of what she's saying, but there are a couple of catches that she doesn't mention. According to the article I am referencing, phytic acid can bind with things like zinc, calcium, and iron to form salts that can irritate your GI tract (that's the bit of support). But the other side of that coin is that phytic acid can also have protective effects against colon cancer and can lower blood cholesterol levels, neither of which are bad things. However, this article notes that this information comes from animal studies, there is insufficient studies on how this would work in humans.So, there are some points she mentions in her intro section that I can get behind, like making changes slowly, listening to your body and how it responds to different foods, and I love that she mentions to feel free to make changes to her recipes if you think something might taste better. I made changes to nearly every single one of the ones I used ;) because I need a lower fat content in some cases, or I substituted for things I didn't have, like summer savory. And I do want to mention that her cooking instructions section included only instructions for the more common grains, all of which have those instructions on the package. If your looking for instructions on Job's tears for example, which she mentions in her grain section, you'll need to look for the bag. I was super curious because I'd never even heard of that one, so I ordered some and have it on the way, and can only hope there are instructions on the bag, as there are none in that particular instructional page.But for me, I think the recipe section is the best part of this book. That being said, this book is set up by seasons for produce. Now, there are a couple of issues that can be found with that. One, in different places, different things may be in season based on the climate, etc. I live in the desert, so our growing seasons look a bit different, and I imagine it could in other places as well. And two, I think it's so much easier when cookbooks separate things out by meal category, because usually when I'm looking for a recipe, I'm searching for one for a particular meal time. In this book, you have to flip through 4 different sections (one for each season) to get a gander at all of the recipes for any one meal category, so I personally would have liked at the very least an index that had them listed by meal time category.When it comes to the 7 recipes I used, mostly I did things to lower fat content (because I have some fat restrictions that need to be in place on my diet for medical reasons), every now and then I substituted out a comparable grain if I was out of it, or didn't have it. I personally liked all of them, my husband really liked a couple of them, hated one of them, and was lukewarm on the rest. My daughter only liked one of them. My son, who has Autism among other things, wouldn't touch any of them, but that's no surprise. He likes what he likes ;) I personally think eating healthier, more natural foods can take an adjustment of the palate, and if you are used to the typical American or western diet, I'd recommend you give yourself a few tries on these before you pass judgment, because it can take a while to get used to less processed foods if you're not used to eating them regularly. I personally enjoyed all of them and would have no problem repeating use of some of them and continuing to reference it for other recipes to try and enjoy. I'd just recommend however, that you keep the other points I mentioned in mind as you go about using this book.

Great book! Buy it!

I'm a vegan for health reasons-nothing against those who choose this for other reasons, but I didn't come to this for the ethics of it. So, I sometimes feel cheated with the whole food thing. I mean, I can't find a nice cookie- well, couldn't find a nice cookie.Now, I feel like the Martha Stewart of vegans! I just made banana coconut chocolate chip cookies! I've only read through "spring" and I stopped reading when I found this one.I changed the recipe by switching puffed quinoa for the oats (nuts online rocks that stuff), and they turned out great. My daughter, an avowed hater of all things vegan, gave them a solid seven out of ten noms. I give them ten out of ten because I'm so desperate for cookies.I look forward to making more stuff, but if I don't, this evening of cookies and tea has been well worth the cost of the book.

I don't think that Terry Walters gets the recognition she deserves. Her books are head and shoulders above many of the other vegan cookbooks out there. I received Clean Start as a gift, and liked it so much that I purchased Clean Food. Both books have many easy and appealing recipes, and Terry's warmth and enthusiasm comes through on every page. In fact, although I recognized that there was no meat involved, it took me a while to realize that the recipes were vegan - I just saw delicious, family-friendly food made with seasonal ingredients!

I really like this book. It has a lot of recipes with ingredients I had never even heard of, but the food is really tasty. I was surprised at how good clean food tasted! The only little complaint I have is I wish the book was organized into categories like, breakfast, lunch, dinner ect. I found it difficult to tell if the recipes would be enough for a side or a whole meal until I had already made them. Since the ingredients are mostly items I had never cooked with, I was a little lost trying to figure out which recipe I should make for dinner and which one should accompany my dinner.

My favorite thing about the book is the seasonality of the recipes. I love that I can learn what fruits and vegetables are in season and how to cook them in one recipe. The recipes are well formatted and easy to follow. The main reason I knocked this down the three stars is, the recipes are so hit or miss. Some of the meals blow me away with how well the flavors blend to create a whole entirely better than any of the parts. Other recipes are completely disappointing, as if the author just needed to add in a few more recipes and thought "this will be good enough".

This recipe book has changed the way I eat & feel for the better. The recipes are easy to follow, don't take too long to make and taste INCREDIBLE. It is filled with beautiful images that inspire you to cook, and the hardcover format & glossy pages make it a pleasure to use in the kitchen. I also love that the recipes are organized by season. I am a super beginner cook - but these recipes make me look & feel like a pro.

Absolutely love this cookbook! I've always wanted to incorporate more vegetables and healthy ingredients in my cooking, but when you go to the store and see such a variety of things you've never heard of, it can be a bit overwhelming. Now I have tons of recipes and ideas for what to do with all of those vegetables I've always wanted to try and incorporate into our routine. I love the way she organizes everything by seasons, which makes it easier to shop intelligently. Overall, an absolute great buy! You don't have to be vegan or vegetarian to enjoy this - this cookbook has great ideas for everyone to incorporate into their lifestyle.

I was looking for something I could create entire meals out of, an at-a-glance recipe book to dip into and grab a recipe from. The layout though is somewhat more complicated - recipes are organised firstly by season, then by meal type/size - but rather than giving a whole meal, it's a "make this and put it with the recipe on page 333", which means that when you make a shopping list you're constantly flicking around the book, then you're doing the whole thing again when it comes to making the food. And finally, it's an American book so there are ingredients in there you'll never ever find, and a lot of stuff you'll need to get from specialist food stores. If I was looking for again for a book like this, I probably wouldn't consider this one.

This book came highly recommended from the book club foodie clan, so we started making some of the recipes and we are unable to stop going from one to the next. One recipe after another is a unique experience. She presents unique recipes that are culinary delights, big hits with guests, easy to make (a little searching for the ingredients though), and easy to clean (because there is no fatty burnt flesh to scrape off your pans). We are generally carnivores, and next thing you know, we are almost vegan, because we love the taste and we feel great after the meals. Good on you Terry, you are making the world a much better place, with no downside whatsoever!

I've made about 6 recipes so far from the cook cook and every single one has blown me away! the book has a great 40 page or so intro to explain a little about her style of healthy eating- she has an index in the front of many of the commonly used foods and what they are as some may be unfamiliar to you. i live in a very far northern remote place in Canada, so i don't have as many food options as most, but i have been able to find most ingredients i've looked for so far. and she uses them over and over, so yo won't buy a bottle of tamari and use it once and have it go to waste. she uses healthy and surprisingly delicious ingredients and i feel amazing after each meal i've cooked knowing how good it is for me! i love that she breaks it down into seasons so you can eat food more suitable to each season. can't recommend this book enough, and can't wait to make more and more of the recipes!!

Ok