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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2017
In the 2-3 months I've had it, this book has provided me with so much emotional - and physical - fulfillment! As a single person with not much in the way of an appetite and limited energy, you quickly discover that making standard meals just doesn't make sense in terms of the energy and effort (and then you end up eating the same leftovers for days!) It turns out that smoothies are one of the few things in this world that actually make more sense to prepare when you're single- a blender full of smoothie doesn't go far for a family of four, but it's perfect for a single smoothie-loving person! And... smoothies just make me happy! There's something very self-nurturing about sitting down with a fancy glass full of frozen healthy goodness.
I have seen some people here say this isn't the best book for a beginner, but I'd have to disagree. I was a complete beginner to making smoothies when I bought this book, and after just a few months of smoothie making, I've easily learned enough from Morris to craft and adapt my own recipes. Some say the ingredients are hard to find, but if you have the internet and know how to use a search engine, you can find ingredients easily enough. It is true that many of the ingredients Morris recommends are expensive (maca and maqui powders, I'm looking at you), but she includes a substitution table near the back of the book so (for example) if you can't afford hemp seeds or just don't want to wait for them to ship across the country, you can use sunflower seeds from your local supermarket instead.
Some of the recipes in the book are better than others. For example, Rhubarb Mint fell flat for me, as I felt like the dates and the orange juice overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the rhubarb and mint, and I also felt that the date and orange flavors just didn't go well together. But for every one recipe I found that was only okay, there are about 3-4 others that are outstanding. Blueberry Maqui may be the best smoothie I've ever had in my entire life, and I've hunted far and wide for good "smoothie bars". (And I even omitted the maqui powder from that recipe, because I am still in the process of acquiring some of the more exotic ingredients!) Mayan Chocolate (a spicy cacao blend) was so outstanding I was moved to make a second batch the next day, because I couldn't stop thinking that night about how wonderful it had been the first time around. Sweet Pea was marvelously, vibrantly green, although I added three times as much parsley as the recipe called for, because after tasting it I just wanted more parsley flavor.
That's actually one of the strengths of the book- Morris encourages readers to cast aside perfectionism and strict adherence to recipes with her "It's a smoothie, not a science" mantra. I have usually been the sort of person to stick closely to recipes. (Some might say "stick closely" would be an understatement.) With this book, I have felt so free to substitute, adapt recipes to my own personal taste, and just generally say to myself, "ah, that's close enough." It's been delightful to discover that, the vast majority of the time, what I make tastes wonderful regardless. It's rare that something as basic as a cookbook can free a person to really step outside of their comfort zone and grow new confidence.
Being a perfectionist, there are still one or two small ways I think the book could be improved. Morris is thoughtful enough to include a recipe for a dog smoothie, but there is no cat smoothie recipe. My cat tries to steal my smoothies all the time (just today I turned my back on a citrus smoothie for a moment only to find him up on the counter, his face shoved into my glass as he eagerly licked up the citrus flavors that the internet swears repel all cats. Yeah, not mine.) I would really love to be able to share some of my smoothies with him without having to look up each ingredient's "cat-safety" on the internet first. Even a table in the back listing which ingredients are and are not toxic to cats would have been greatly appreciated. Also, while I love the convenient little icons next to each recipe indicating that a particular smoothie is supportive of cardiovascular health or bone health or beauty or detoxification, the academic in me is murmuring "citation needed." There is a basic list of references in the back of the book, but it is not clear which parts of this book are connected to which sources Morris references. However, this is a recipe book, not an academic paper, and as such these drawbacks are quite minor.
Other good points... The majority of the recipes are very tasty and healthy (I've never eaten so many leafy greens per week in my life). The protein smoothies I've made (there's a good mix of different smoothie "genres" represented here) really are as filling as a standard meal would be. No nonfiction book is complete without good indexes, and this one has two, both helpful.
Overall, this is a wonderful book, accessible to beginners, with beautiful colorful pictures that are likely to inspire readers to make their own "superfood smoothies."
I have seen some people here say this isn't the best book for a beginner, but I'd have to disagree. I was a complete beginner to making smoothies when I bought this book, and after just a few months of smoothie making, I've easily learned enough from Morris to craft and adapt my own recipes. Some say the ingredients are hard to find, but if you have the internet and know how to use a search engine, you can find ingredients easily enough. It is true that many of the ingredients Morris recommends are expensive (maca and maqui powders, I'm looking at you), but she includes a substitution table near the back of the book so (for example) if you can't afford hemp seeds or just don't want to wait for them to ship across the country, you can use sunflower seeds from your local supermarket instead.
Some of the recipes in the book are better than others. For example, Rhubarb Mint fell flat for me, as I felt like the dates and the orange juice overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the rhubarb and mint, and I also felt that the date and orange flavors just didn't go well together. But for every one recipe I found that was only okay, there are about 3-4 others that are outstanding. Blueberry Maqui may be the best smoothie I've ever had in my entire life, and I've hunted far and wide for good "smoothie bars". (And I even omitted the maqui powder from that recipe, because I am still in the process of acquiring some of the more exotic ingredients!) Mayan Chocolate (a spicy cacao blend) was so outstanding I was moved to make a second batch the next day, because I couldn't stop thinking that night about how wonderful it had been the first time around. Sweet Pea was marvelously, vibrantly green, although I added three times as much parsley as the recipe called for, because after tasting it I just wanted more parsley flavor.
That's actually one of the strengths of the book- Morris encourages readers to cast aside perfectionism and strict adherence to recipes with her "It's a smoothie, not a science" mantra. I have usually been the sort of person to stick closely to recipes. (Some might say "stick closely" would be an understatement.) With this book, I have felt so free to substitute, adapt recipes to my own personal taste, and just generally say to myself, "ah, that's close enough." It's been delightful to discover that, the vast majority of the time, what I make tastes wonderful regardless. It's rare that something as basic as a cookbook can free a person to really step outside of their comfort zone and grow new confidence.
Being a perfectionist, there are still one or two small ways I think the book could be improved. Morris is thoughtful enough to include a recipe for a dog smoothie, but there is no cat smoothie recipe. My cat tries to steal my smoothies all the time (just today I turned my back on a citrus smoothie for a moment only to find him up on the counter, his face shoved into my glass as he eagerly licked up the citrus flavors that the internet swears repel all cats. Yeah, not mine.) I would really love to be able to share some of my smoothies with him without having to look up each ingredient's "cat-safety" on the internet first. Even a table in the back listing which ingredients are and are not toxic to cats would have been greatly appreciated. Also, while I love the convenient little icons next to each recipe indicating that a particular smoothie is supportive of cardiovascular health or bone health or beauty or detoxification, the academic in me is murmuring "citation needed." There is a basic list of references in the back of the book, but it is not clear which parts of this book are connected to which sources Morris references. However, this is a recipe book, not an academic paper, and as such these drawbacks are quite minor.
Other good points... The majority of the recipes are very tasty and healthy (I've never eaten so many leafy greens per week in my life). The protein smoothies I've made (there's a good mix of different smoothie "genres" represented here) really are as filling as a standard meal would be. No nonfiction book is complete without good indexes, and this one has two, both helpful.
Overall, this is a wonderful book, accessible to beginners, with beautiful colorful pictures that are likely to inspire readers to make their own "superfood smoothies."
