First of all - don't get me wrong: I am a big fan of the Zone diet, and a large part of the reason for that is it's relatively easy to understand and to integrate into my lifestyle without any really onerous sacrifices. I have even been able to concoct Zone-friendly foods that are acceptable to my 12-year old son, who is a somewhat finicky eater. So all kudos to Dr. Barry Sears, the creator of the Zone principles.
Furthermore, there is an obvious need for a Zone cookbook - As Barry Sears says in the introductory chapter, "The biggest complaint about the Zone Diet is that it takes too much time. No longer. If you follow a few simple rules and use the recipes provided in this book, it will now take you only minutes to enter the Zone."
Just one problem: the guy whom Sears hired to put together this recipe book, "Scott C. Lane, an exceptionally talented culinary expert who is also trained in the most advanced food technology," has apparently done all his cooking in a laboratory, and never prepared a thing in a home kitchen.
First off, because most of the recipes rely exclusively on the low-density carbs (vegetables & fruits), the resulting proportions are absolutely laughable. Ten of the 12 omelette recipes in the first 20 pages suggest making omelettes with 1/2 c. of egg white (I estimate you get a pan diameter of about 5 inches with that) and filling it with 6-8 cups of cooked vegetables - "spoon vegetables onto half of omelette; fold over and cook 2-3 additional minutes." Has Scott ever tried this? I'm thinkin' this "omelette" looks like a mountain of vegetables with a little white lace doily on top. One recipe (p. 35) calls for 1/2 c. egg whites, and (I kid you not), 2 oz chicken, 1.5 c. onions, 3 c. bean sprouts, 4 c. mushrooms and 10 c. spinach - a total of 19 cups of omelette fill. Yes, I know spinach reduces a lot in volume when you cook it, but come ON! Even without ANY of the spinach there are 9 cups of contents for the 1/2 c. of omelette wrap.
And that's just for one single portion!! I'm cooking for three every night. I guess Scott has access to an industrial kitchen with restaurant-size pots, but I don't have the storage space for vats big enough to make these recipes for my family! If I followed the recipe on p. 35 literally, I would need room to cook 3 x 19 c. = 57 c. of vegetables. Lord help me if we were the typical family of four - we'd be talking about 76 cups! A little impractical, don't you think?
The ridiculous thing is, these recipes didn't have to be so stupid. All you have to do is convert some of the low-density carbs into a small quantity of high-density carbs, like 1/4 c. of kidney beans or potato; and in fact, 2 of the 10 omelette recipes do just that. When I make one of the stir-fry recipes, I convert part of the pile of low-density carbs into 1/2 c. of brown rice or barley in the bottom of the bowl. Simple, obvious - inexplicably overlooked in this book.
Second, Scott obviously has good help in his kitchen. Many of his recipes require sauteing 1/2 the recipe in one pan, mixing the other half of the ingredients in a bowl, sauteing them in a second pan, then combining the two halves of the recipe. Scott, honey - get a clue from Kraft and Betty Crocker: people prefer to minimize the number of dishes they do after dinner. We don't all have kitchen assistants to clean up after us like you do.
Third, lots of his recipes have way too many ingredients (e.g., p. 83 - 18 ingredients) and far too much chopping, mincing and slicing thinly to be made speedily. And since that is supposedly the reason for this cookbook (remember the "Meals in Minutes" title)... one has to wonder what they're doing in here.
Finally, some of his seasoning is a bit "precious." For example, on p. 48 - 1/8 teaspoon of red wine. I don't think I've ever SEEN a 1/8 teaspoon measure, let alone would I bother to own one. And since that red wine, combined with 1/8 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, is supposed to flavor a full 10 cups of food, I'm skeptical it's even worth the trouble. On p.70, along with the hearty enhancements of garlic, Worcestershire sauce and celery salt, he "spices" the meal with 1 tblspn of "lemon- or lime-flavored spring water." Come on, Scott, it's a taco salad - let's go wild and make it full-strength lemon zest or juice! Granted, this is more of a minor annoyance than a major complaint, but it just reinforces the point that the recipe author is way out of touch with his readership here.
On the other hand, the recipes are marginally useful in getting a feel for how to work with the "block" balancing system. And ironically, the non-recipe chapters of the book are very useful - basically an abridged version of the detailed teachings from the original books. So for those two reasons, I'd give the book 2 stars overall - not useless, but certainly not nearly as good as it could have - and should have - been. I hope Dr. Sears will try again - perhaps this time in collaboration with someone like Good Housekeeping, where they know how to create recipes that actually work for today's busy lifestyles.
