Better Than Vegan: 101 Favorite Low-Fat, Plant-Based Recipes That Helped Me Lose Over 200 Pounds

I will write a more comprehensive review soon as I am only trying recipes now. My only comment and criticism now is that the book--one dealing with weight loss--includes no nutritional or caloric information on any of the recipes. EVEN WORSE--the recipes say things like 4 - 6 servings.....no mention at all as to what a serving size is exactly. I am disappointed that this book lacks this. The book itself is attractive and there are many appealing recipes...and the introduction is quite a good read--still, I think that this is a half-baked effort. Sorry.....UPDATE:I really, really want to like this cookbook, but thus far, I have not been thrilled with the recipes.....granted, I have only made four dishes from the book--I made the chilled sweet potato bisque for my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and my guests (two are vegan, three were meat eaters) all remarked that it was too sweet.... I like the idea of this soup and will try it again without the date syrup.I also made the bibimbap and it was mediocre at best....I never ate this dish before and either it is just not a delicious food or the recipe needs work.Again, I have only made four recipes (I got the book about five days ago).....on the positive, the potato salad was awesome....I didn't use his recipe for mayonnaise (had not time to make it) and just used Trader Joe's vegan no fat mayo...also, I made the sweet potato enchiladas for a farewell lunch today...they were okay....again, I like the idea, but I shouldn't have put the cinnamon and allspice in...the chili gravy (creamy--made with cauliflour) was great, though.I usually tweak recipes when I make them, but I expect that they will taste amazing without tweaking them....so far, it has been hit or miss. Also, a book that uses the subtext of weight loss is incomplete if the recipes provided don't provide calorie counts and are vague on serving sizes....(some recipes have exact serving sizes, others don't (ie. hummus, pesto and tomato flatbread--which I have not tried yet--serves 2 to 4....well, which is it???)I know there will be people who say my review isn't helpful because they disagree with my opinion, but read my review carefully--this book is lacking and I am really sad to say that because, again, I really, really wanted to like this book.... I will update again when I make more recipes.UPDATE 12/24I decided to try another recipe from this book....making the Hollandaise Sauce made from cauliflower puree. It sounded yummy and I wanted to serve it as with fresh, steamed asparagus. I once made a vegan hollandaise sauce before--out of cashew cream and it was amazing, but probably very fattening. Let me start by stating I have a vitamix so I am able to pulverize almost anything. I steamed the cauliflower, put it in the vitamix with the right amount of water (following the recipe exactly) and...then once the cauliflower was pureed, I made the sauce. It was okay...marginal at best....despite using the vitamix and even adding a bit more water than what was called for, what I got was a grainy, cauliflower tasting sauce that just didn't cut it. It didn't taste great and I didn't use it. I made a lot of cauliflower puree so I decided to try the chipotle sauce made with the cauliflower puree....again, not great...sort of like chipotle spice cauliflower. Certainly not anything I could serve to guests.I write this because everyone talks about how amazing this cookbook is, but honestly, I have been far from impressed with the recipes. I guess if you are trying to lose weight, this is okay, but these are not recipes that can be served to guests....the food is just not that savory.I wish it were better. I did buy  Happy Herbivore Light & Lean: Over 150 Low-Calorie Recipes with Workout Plans for Looking and Feeling Great  and absolutely love that cookbook and will post a review soon. Recipes are much better, tastier and even have calorie and nutritional counts.

It’s hard to eat healthy if the food doesn’t taste good. Chef Del Sroufe saves us by giving us delicious recipes based on food that is good for us. Del is one of the new breed of chefs that understand what nutrition science tells us: to live a long and healthy life we need to eat whole plants and avoid not only animal products (vegan) but also avoid added oils and go light on the sugar and salt (better than vegan). Experts have found that 70% to 80% of Americans die of preventable diseases caused by their diet that includes meat, dairy and oil. Sadly most old-school chefs seem to be stuck on their training that incorporates flesh, butter, cheese, and oil into everything. Not Del.With the superb story-telling of Glen Merzer, we learn of Del’s battle with obesity, even while on a vegan diet. Only when switching off the oils and high-sugar content foods was Del able to lose weight. And to the critics who complain that there are no calorie counts with the recipes, they are missing the point. With Del’s better-than-vegan diet, you don’t have to count anything. Good bye to the Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers style of counting and portion control which has a poor success rate. With a whole food plant-based diet, you can eat until you are comfortably full every meal and still reach your optimal weight.I liked Chapter 2 that clearly spells out what should and shouldn’t be eaten and touches on the motivations of restaurants and the misleading nature of the FDA Daily Values. I especially appreciated Chapter 3 where Del shares his chef’s training advice on how to set up your kitchen with tools and basic food stocks.And then there are the recipes. Wow. From basics like burgers, tacos, and pasta to more exotic dishes like curry, mushroom bourguignon, and bibimbap, this cookbook has it all. Del focuses on flavors and textures individually and in combination throughout these recipes. Outstanding. Congratulations Del and Glen for making life- and health-promoting food such a joy to eat.

Not too fussed on this one. This author was involved in the Forks Over Knives cookbook where, I suspect, he was given a strict brief to produce recipes which were healthy. In this, his own book, he hasn't been restricted and what he has produced is, in my view, overloaded with too many wheat, flour and bread based meals, and never have I seen so many recipes featuring date syrup, rice syrup and maple syrup. This author is brave enough to admit he once ate unhealthy vegan food, and was grossly overweight. I think if you have this book as your only vegan cook book, you might end up putting weight on too. There is a sprinkling of good recipes but overall, this is not for me.

PROS: I liked reading the authors own weight story. he seems like a nice person.CONS; all the recipes seemed too complicated and time consuming for me; involving a number of different stages and steps ect.another Con is the layout in terms of font and page structure makes it seem unappealing. and there aren't enough photos for my liking.As a result, I actually have not cooked one recipe from this book. So for all I know, the resultant food would be delicious, but despite pulling out the book every now and then, I always feel uninspired by it.

Don't waste your money this book is rubbish not worth the money it is a rip off

Really good book. Use it all the time

I held great promise for this recipe book. It has a good introduction. The recipes are easy and healthy with beautiful photos of the finished results. What has been disappointing are the flavors. As an experienced cook, I have been eating a whole food plant based diet for awhile. I haven't found one recipe result that hasn't gone in the garbage!