Customer Reviews

The Balanced Plate: The Essential Elements of Whole Foods and Good Health

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just discovered this book and was really excited to read it. I must say that overall I wasn't disappointed. Her explanations on how we impact our bodies and the earth by the choices we make in food and even in the products we use is truly convincing. Her enthusiasm for food is contageous. The fact that she discusses various eating plans and the philosophy behind each is really wonderful. The amount of good information presented is amazing. That said, I was a little confused about the recipes. I am of Italian heritage so I was raised on olive oil, beans, nuts, grains, etc and continue to make them my basic food choices. But just because nuts and good quality oils have health benefits doesn't mean you can use them with wild abandon. Some of the recipes in this book have way too much fat per serving. Unless you're extremely active I truly can't imagine using most of these recipes on a regular basis and being able to control your weight. For example, there is a recipe for "Massaged Greens". This veg side dish has 11 grams of fat per serving (and only 150 calories). As someone who eats alot of greens, I can say first hand that a drizzle of good quality oil is all that you really need to season greens, anything more and you drown out their flavor. The "Walnut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" are 400 calories and 21 grams of fat per cookie! To be fair, not all of the recipes are high in fat but the majority are. The other odd thing about many of these recipes are the copius amounts of sodium. Soy sauce (shoyu) seems to be the culprit here. The "Soba Noodle Salad" and the "Soba Noodle Soup" have 3,130 mg and 3,390 mg of sodium per serving respectively. And the above mentioned "Massaged Greens": 960 mg. of sodium per serving. Alot of recipes have 600 mg or higher (although not all recipes are high in sodium). So, I was baffled that Dean Ornish would write the Forward. Unless he's loosened his militant stance on the "proper" way to eat for health, he seemed like the last person who would herald most of the recipes in this tome. So maybe one should use the philosophy of this book every single day but the recipes only a few times a week.
All of this being said, I would still recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to live better and impact the environment less.

I expected this book to provide me with useful recipes and an overall healthy philosophy on food. There was some of what I expected, but far too many 'exotic' foods expected for every recipe, so that none of them looked interesting enough to try. I keep whole grains, fresh produce and herbs, and lots of basics in my pantry. What seemed to distinguish almost all of the recipes in the book were odd ingredients -- one-hit wonders, as it were -- that are expensive and ridiculous to keep around because I'll only use them once and the jar will take up refrigerator space. I didn't find it helpful, and I won't keep it.

Wow! There is so much information, love and intelligence in these pages. A book that will last a lifetime. The info and perspective is inspiring and welcoming. I appreciate the open, cross-training philosophy, and the recipes are OUTRAGEOUS! Everything I have made has been phenomenal and worth repeating. I have purchased several copies as gifts and everyone has sincerely loved it. Renee's take on the health of our home environment is priceless with so many good hints of encouragement. I loved the quotes throughout. Dr. Dean Ornish isn't the only one who is a big fan! So many goodies to treasure through and through. Bravo!

As others here have stated, the use of oils tends to be a little much on occasion, as well as her use of sodium. There is one recipe (a greens recipe) that calls for umeboshi vinegar AND shoyu, the result is too salty to even put into your mouth (in my humble opinion). Ume vinegar on its own is salty without adding Shoyu....

SO, the lesson here: as with anything in life......use you own best judgement, and don't follow anything as blind religion. The recipes, and her book is fabulous, wonderful, I LOVE it and use it often. Do not be discouraged.

Just use your best judgement for those ingredients that REALLY alter the final taste...salty, sweet, spicy, etc. I have a tendency to add those sorts of ingredients on my own schedule (rather than following exactly what the recipe dictates), so that I can use my best judgement (and my tongue) to determine the amounts that taste good or suite my family.

One thing I really like about this book is that she also includes recipes for home cleansing...glass cleaner, air freshener, etc. Including recipes for items like that if very forward thinking and deserves recognition....she has presented a well rounded book.

Great for reference and everyday use.

This book was a recent Christmas gift and I must say that my mother and I have been unable to put it down since. Even non-vegetarians such as ourselves can enjoy the delicious variety of recipes. The first section of the book educates the reader on environmental issues and the importance of organics. We've always kept a conscious eye out for organic products, however after reading we've come to understand how important they really are.

My critique of cookbooks usually includes availability of ingredients. While not available in the average grocery store, I was able to conviently find almost everything in Wild Oats. Depending on your cooking style you may have many of these ingredients in your cabinet already.

This cookbook is a guide for healty living and delicious eating. Its a must for anyone's collection.

The description of this book explains that the author writes with a "nod" toward gluten-free living. In one way, this is true. Many folks with gluten issues also have dairy issues, and this book cleanly sidesteps all dairy altogether, while providing workable recipes that sound like they would still taste good (especially the desserts, which sound delightful, although I haven't tried them yet). My big problem with the recipes in general is that she lists spelt as a gluten-free alternative. WRONG! Spelt contains gluten, and its use is an entirely inappropriate recommendation to individuals who are avoiding gluten. That being said, most experienced gluten-avoiders will know how to modify the few gluten-containing recipes (or skip them altogether), but for newbies, I cringe to think of the damage that could be caused.

I own many many health books and this is by far my most favorite. The recipes are not to extreme yet very healthy and... different. The recipes in here are not ordinary, they are extraordinary. I wish that Loue would write more books. Her whole book is amazing, I have learned so much about pesticides, seasonal fruits and veggies and so much more. If you don't have this book and are interested in nutrition or just want to be more natural, you must get this book!!

I've made several of the recipes and all have been good. It has a ton of information and would be perfect for vegetarian and meat eaters alike....

I was very excited to read The Balanced Plate. While I thought it lost focus by writing about home cleaning and environmental issues that are better covered in several other books, I did like the aryuvedic menu planning as well as the seasonal charts for fruits and vegetables. Some of the recipes in this book are wonderful and work well, such as Chocolate of the Gods. Other recipes are poorly planned, incomplete, and inaccurate, such as Collard Wraps for Winter. Generally, I have found the flavors to work well together although you'll need to develop your own methods of determining the amounts and how to actually cook the recipes.

Finally! "The Balanced Plate" is here. If you have read my other reviews you know how much I love "Living Cuisine" by Renee and I am not disappointed with "The Balanced Plate".
Of course the first place I turn to is the recipes for the Deserts and I can't wait to start making them! I know they are going to be delicious because of her last book "Living Cuisine".

This book is a book for "Green Living" Mind, Spirit and Body. There is an excellent forward by Dr. Dean Ornish, MD in which he explains how lifestyle is so important for our health, and how green living benefits not only ourselves but also our environment, our planet, for everything in the universe is connected.

If you are a Baby Boomer like myself you know we are the largest market share - therefore we have the power to change for better what type of food we want to buy, what type of cleaning products we want to buy, what type of energy we want to use etc. Therefore, buy organic, buy cleaning products that do not have any chemicals in them (i.e. 7th Generation), I use these and they clean great! If you can, start using solar energy, buy hybrid car etc.

Since I am a Baby Boomer I do not want to live the later part of my life being tied down to medication and hospitalization, I want to be active and have quality and be part of a healthy environment and be a part of detoxing our planet. This book is a tool for reaching those goals. I have never seen a book so full of information and so complete - I do not know how anyone could not have a Green Living Awakening after reading this book!