Book review: Unicorn Food
The subtitle of the book is Beautiful Plant-Based Recipes to Nuture Your Inner Magical Beast. Who could resist that? Plant based recipes mixed in with a little bit of whimsy. Count me in.
I am not usually one to be given over to the recent obsession with unicorns by young folks these days (though I love the traditional mythology of the one horned magical beasts). Odell isn't gearing this book toward the silly craze, but she is taking a fun look at veganish recipes and making you smile at the result.
"I am not great at yoga, I don't own a dehydrator, and I've never been to Burning Man," the book starts out.That's it in a nutshell. You don't have to be a special kind of stereotype to love a fun, plant-based diet. A vegan isn't necessarily a hippie, flower child, EDM festivalite.
But, have some fun with what you eat. Happiness has as much to do with health as the ingredients in the dishes.
I've tried a couple of recipes in this book and, so far, they are all delicious, but I am open to a nearly-vegan diet. The real key comes when you can try a recipe on someone who is both a carnivore and a picky eater and get a positive reaction.
Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch (page 53) got a thumbs up from my picky carnivore. The Notella (page 163) was also positively recieved. Yes, those a both sweets, but you have to start somewhere.
My favorites so far are the Drunken Chickpea Spaghetti (page 95), the Roasted Purple Yam with Coconut, Lime and Tahini (page 121) and the Black Honey Tahini (page 160)...that last one is utterly amazing on sweet potatoes, by the way.
This is a cookbook to pull off the shelf when you want to have a bright colorful dish or you want to introduce someone to vegan or vegetarian food with out scaring them off with something too serious.
Thanks, Kat Odell, for a fun approach to eating healthy!q
