Customer Reviews

Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Seasonal, Vegetarian Cookbook (The New Harbinger Whole-Body Healing Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've long been a fan of Leslie Cerier's easy, earthy style of cooking, full of hearty grains, gentle seasonings, and organic produce. Though I'm not gluten-free, I added this book to my collection for all the above reasons.

The previous review is so unfair-- to give a book a one-star review because it has no photos? It would have been nice, for sure, but some publishers don't have the budget. And because there is a recipe for cooking short-grain brown rice? These instructions preceded a whole chapter on making healthier sushi, hence its inclusion. Also such instructions are good for people who buy grains in bulk and who are just getting familiar with healthier grains.

I've already made several recipes from this book and they are outstanding. Corn Grits with Sautéed Onion, Kale, and Cheddar (I used vegan cheese), Soba with Tempeh and Broccoli in Coconut Sauce, and Cilantro Pesto were all great. There are probably more dishes here for cool-weather cooking, so I'm looking forward to trying things like Spiced Yams with Pecans and Garlicky Baked Beans with Parsnips and Butternut Squash in the fall.

Aside from being good for gluten-free cooking, this book is a great introduction for using a wide array of whole grains we don't usually think of, like millet--it's such a tasty, healthy grain, and I rarely think to use it. Thanks, Leslie, for another great collection of recipes and tips! If you like this you'll also like Going Wild in the Kitchen, one of my favorite veg cookbooks.

For me, this book focuses less on practical gluten-free vegetarian cooking and more on how to use alternative grains. A huge number of the recipes rely on ingredients like teff or millet -- delicious additions, but expensive and not something I can afford to cook with every day.

Recipes also include hard-to-find ingredients like maca powder or Bhutanese red rice. I'm sure Madagascar pink rice is delicious, but I'm also sure none of my local markets carry it.

Other recipes, like the smoothies and sides, are accessible (and tasty!), and I love the short sushi chapter, but I was hoping for more dishes like those. In the end, this isn't going to be a cookbook I reach for often.

Review from [...]

Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook is a buoyant book, one that celebrates the vast offerings of the earth in their seasonal best rather than mourn the loss of gluten-filled grains. Embracing the gluten-free, Cerier leaps joyfully into discovery, leaving gluten-filled grains in the dust without a backward glance. Should you be dealing with gluten-free for health reasons, you will feel worries melt away as you dive into Cerier's delicious recipes. Should you merely be curious about the wide world of grains, happy discoveries lie ahead.

As a teacher, Cerier knows how to teach about the new grains, and offers tips on gluten-free cooking with ease and accuracy. Her writing is so infused with both her love of life and the foods that nourish it, that it is a pleasure to read. Her knowledge would be formidable if it was not so enthusiastically shared. There are tips throughout the book, such as the secret of putting sea vegetables in the cooking water with beans to reduce gas-producing enzymes. In what may be our favorite short section, Cerier devotes a few pages to cooking with color and artistry to turn kitchen tasks into kitchen pleasures.

The recipes are innovative and creative. Start the day with a "bountiful breakfast," advises Cerier. She gives recipes for Power Porridge with Goji Berries, Oat and Raisin Muffins, Coconut Quinoa Waffles with Maca, even includes a Miso Watercress Soup - a classic breakfast in Japan. For main course suggestions Cerier offers a wide range of grains and beans recipes such as Soba with Tempeh and Broccoli in Coconut Sauce, Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Casserole, Savory Stuffed Winter Squash, Corn Grits with Sauteed Onion, Kale, and Cheddar, or a Coconut Curry Lentil and Millet Stew.

Listed as sides are a variety of recipes that might also serve as a main course. You will find Basmati and Wild Rice Pilaf, Coconut Jasmine Rice with Goji Berries and Shitakes, Madagascar Pink Rice with Cashews and Scallions, Bhutanese Red Rice Pilaf with Vegetables, Spiced Yams with Pecans, Tomato-Lentil Stew with Kale.

Cerier packs the book with sauces and toppings, often vital to grain cooking. Inspired by global discoveries, Cerier offers Russian Dressing, Italian Dressing, Moroccan Tahini Sauce, Thai Peanut Sauce. There are sauces from a Cilantro Pesto to a gourmet treat Red Wine with Porcini Sauce.

Desserts, often the bane of the gluten-free, are included with such luscious recipes as Hazelnut Butter Cookies, Date and Coconut Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Topless Blueberry Pie, Granny Smith Apple Crumb Pie.

Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook is a book for all seasons and for all who love good food.

The Healthy Villi was fortunate to receive a wonderful vegetarian cook book from Lesie Cerier entitled "Gluten-free recipes for the conscious cook." Mrs. Cerier does not follow a gluten free diet but encourages its readers to embrace the natural foods. There are lots of points and reasons as to why a variety of grains should be included on a personal level and for environmental reasons.

I enjoyed making a few of the recipes. For breakfast, the banana cranberry smoothie worked into my schedule as well as foods I normally purchase. I hope to make one of the pancake mixes for the whole family one slow, lazy Sunday morning, when there is no hockey!! For dinner I made the savory stuffed winter squash, and used my favorite, local, in seasons, butternut squash. The aroma from the roasting walnuts drew my two girls into the kitchen to see what was for dinner. I baked the bottom half of the butternut squash, placed the rice mixture in and served it to the family.Yummy! I look forward to making the topless blueberry pie, for Thanksgiving.

This is a book that is full of healthy, healing meals. The author has clearly put a lot of love and thought into it. There are some ingredients in this book I usually do not stock in my refrigerator or use for spices, but this is a great book for vegetarians at heart.

Every now and again, I actually sit down and read a cookbook cover-to-cover; I did with this one. "Gluten-free recipes for the conscious cook" is a cookbook that fulfils its promise: it approaches green and gluten-free cooking like a creative sport. Leslie has us travelling boldly into territories of ingredients and recipes, in a land not yet well-travelled by many of us--the land with no gluten. Here we walk the edge of a truly original culinary adventure.

The amazing flexibility in these recipes, along with the full permission to explore, experiment and be playful --is SO refreshing!! And since so many variations and substitutions are provided, we are not stuck if we don't happen to have--or like--everything the recipe calls for. Hallelujah for flexibility!!

Leslie begins by introducing, in some detail, 10 gluten-free staple foods, which provide a foundation for the 100 or so unique recipes to follow. She also teaches us how to cook beans from scratch, make nut and seed milks, and even sushi! Next, she tours us through creatively-designed recipes for all 3 meals. These are laid out in a clear, clean and easy-to-follow manner. I like this presentation a lot.

I have enjoyed making and eating a variety of these recipes. My taste-sensibilities have had the chance to grow and expand. I am delighted to be able to make "normal food", such as pancakes and muffins, that are within the bounds of a gluten-free diet. With confidence increased, I have even begun to improvise for myself.

On behalf of gluten-free eaters everywhere, thank-you, Leslie Cerier, for sharing with us your inspiration and your expertise in making nutritional, tasty and beautiful food-- without gluten!!

In general I try to feed my family and myself a gluten-free or low gluten diet. I have been looking for a good cookbook to help us in eating this way, and this is the one!!!
It is clear, grounded and educational without being wordy and making my head spin.
It is inspiring and creative yet also practical with ideas and recipes that I will actually use and make.
It is aware of the earth, natural cycles and rhythms and actual natural health. I've seen some gluten-free recipes and books that are not whole health concerned.
All in all I am loving this book and excited to read/use it more!
Thanks Leslie!!!

Yummy, creative recipes. It's been giving us new ideas for things to make in the kitchen. Neither of us are gluten free, but we like to have a wider range of recipes in our repertoire.

Leslie has managed to craft a wonderful ookbook full of both delicous recipes and educational info. The first chapter dedicated to describing different products and methods of cooking is great for a beginner to cooking with whole foods and a wonderful refresher for those of us accustomed to cooking with whole grains. The introduction of new, less familiar grains is a wonderful break from the typical alternatives to using wheat. The recipes are clear and simple and offer a great deal of room for added creativity with some really helpful suggestions. And the recipes for basics like dressings, nut milk and sun dried tomatoes are a welcome addition and wonderful alternative to buying the expensive, processed options sold in stores! I have been very pleased with this cookbook!

Terrific book, from front to back. I can not say enough about it, Once it arrived , I was fixed on all the varieties if grains and uses! Leslie has really outdone herself. I am a celiac and can use this for a long time and I look
forward to it. I even decided to now promote it on my website: [...]...and that is staying a lot! Thank you Leslie Cerier! You have produced a terrific cook-book for everyone to use. Tina Turbin

I got the kindle version of this book for m wife and she reports that it is horribly borked. The recipes are truncated, measurements are very wrong (4 cups of pure maple syrup??) and there is no linked table of contents. This may be a one off problem but it has made the book useless to us.