Nourishing Meals: A Review

Y'all know I love looking at new cookbooks, right?  Yeah.  I do.  I recently received Nourishing Meals: 365 Whole Foods, Allergy-Free Recipes for Healing Your Family One Meal at a Time by Alissa Segersten & Tom Malterre.  

The book is a thick paperback, containing recipes in thirteen categories, including breads and muffins, whole grains and noodles, and wraps and rolls.  The introductory sections include "Foundations of Health," which talks about why eating whole foods is important and why food allergies and sensitivities are on the rise, and "Raising Healthy Children."  There are two sections containing beautiful full color photos of completed recipes, but there are no pictures for most of the recipes in the book.  Each recipe is marked with icons showing which allergens are avoided in that recipe.  The book also contains a "Resources and Recommendations" section and a full index of recipes.

I chose this cookbook because it contains 365 nourishing, whole food recipes.  I figured I could try one each day and not repeat for a whole year.  As is my practice when looking at a new cookbook, I got out a piece of paper, which I tore into smaller pieces to mark recipes that caught my eye.  In this cookbook, I only marked three.  I think I was mostly turned off by the lack of photos (and when there was a photo available for a recipe, it was not located adjacent to the recipe), and the inclusion of lots of what I consider to be special ingredients, like arrowroot powder and psyllium husks.  Perhaps if my family had to eat gluten-free or allergen-free for medical reasons, I would be more willing to obtain some of the more obscure ingredients (admittedly, these types of ingredients are becoming more readily available).

I decided to make the mint chocolate chip ice cream from page 398.  Well, actually, first I tried to convince my nephew to make it.  He was skeptical of the coconut milk, but I lost him completely when I told him the recipe included avocados. :)

The recipe was straightforward and easy to follow, and all of the ingredients: coconut milk, avocados, honey, peppermint flavoring, and dark chocolate chips, were easy to find in my regular grocery store.

It was very creamy, and while it didn't taste exactly like mint chocolate chip ice cream made with traditional ingredients, it was pretty darn tasty (and no, it didn't taste like coconut or avocado).

Bottom line: The recipes in this book are straight-forward and easy to follow, although the lack of photos, and the need for special ingredients is disappointing.  This would be an excellent resource for individuals who need to eat a diet free from gluten and other allergens.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.