The Sustainable Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
By Serena Ball
I received a free copy of The Sustainable Mediterranean Diet Cookbook from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
Mouthwatering, budget-friendly recipes that are good for you and good for the Earth
Following their bestselling 30-Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook and Easy Everyday Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, food-loving dietitians and culinary instructors Serena Ball and Deanna Segrave-Daly are back, serving up delicious climate cuisine with a Mediterranean spin. The science is clear: a Mediterranean-style diet is one of the healthiest and most sustainable in the world.
The Sustainable Mediterranean Diet Cookbook is a comprehensive guide to getting the most from this incredible regimen, with 10 steps to a more eco-friendly kitchen including helpful guidance on more sustainable ingredient choices, energy-saving cooking methods, smarter storage, and food waste reduction. If you can’t do all 10, don’t worry! Making even a few of these small changes can add up to a big impact on the health of the planet.
Recipes include:
• Tahini Swirl Yogurt Parfait with Grapes
• Broiled Halloumi with Mint Cucumber Salad
• Cheesy Broccoli and Greens Soup with Za’atar (or Any Day Bouillabaisse)
• Mascarpone Scrambled Eggs with Carrot Bacon
• Turkish Tomato Flatbread
• Falafel with Pickled Herb Spread
• Little Fishes Red Pepper Potato Cakes OR Spicy Fish Shawarma Bowl
• Smoked Seafood Farro Risotto
• North African Chicken Couscous Bowls
• Parsley Pistachio Beef Bulgur Koftas
• Baklava Frozen Yogurt Bark
• Olive Oil Polenta Berry Cakes
Each recipe includes detailed nutritional information, as well as helpful ingredient substitutions, prep tips, and time-saving suggestions. Recipes were triple-tested by real home cooks and are adaptable for gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. Meat and seafood lovers will also find approachable ways to make more eco-conscious choices. With beautiful, inspiring full-color photographs throughout, this cookbook is an indispensable resource for a climate-friendly kitchen.
Summary from Goodreads.
I have recently been trying to diversify my cooking skills by adding different cuisines and foods into my diet. I do not, and have not, eaten much food from the mediterranean region so I was excited to see what the cuisine is like.
The Sustainable Mediterranean Diet Cookbook not only introduces you mediterranean cuisine, but also give you advice on how to get the most out of your food that you use. It is separated into 12 chapters, the first one being on how to eat eco-friendly with a mediterranean diet. After that, the chapters are separated in meal types. Breakfast; small plates and snacks; salads; sides; soups; sandwiches and pizza; pasta; vegetarian main dishes; seafood; meats and poultry; and deserts. also included is a sample 5 day meal planner for what to have for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and pudding. 4 different options are available for your dietary preferences.
I have 2 main gripes with this cookbook. The first is that not every recipe has a photo. They say a picture paints a thousand words, and this is especially true when it comes to food. I was unable to tell how some recipes were going to look, or even what it was supposed to be since I am not familiar with the recipes in this book. I could understand even 10 years ago in 2010 not having photos for every single dish, but in 2023 I cannot understand why you would not include them for everything! Especially if the recipes that you are using are going to be more unknown to your intended audience, they need the visual guidance to understand what it is they are supposed to be creating. Another bugbear that I had with this cookbook is that some of the recipes (I think around 1/3 of them) had mini reviews for the recipe inside the book. Why do you need someone to say this dish is easy to make and pretty while including their name and where they are from? If someone buys this book, surely they are interested in the recipes and do not need any reviews saying that the dish is easy to cook and that their husband ate it even though he normally doesn’t like eggplants.
The only things that I found to be a big positive about this book is that each recipe includes the calories and macros for each recipe, including if the recipe has any written modification so two seperate sets are provided.
If you already have a mediterranean influence diet, then the recipes in here will be a good addition to your repertoire. Otherwise I would not really recommend this book for the average home cook.
2/5
Have you read The Sustainable Mediterranean Diet Cookbook? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Check it out on Goodreads here.
Purchase it on Amazon here.
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