Book Review

Healthaliciously Good Cookbook
By Aurelie Pare
Review by Tammie Ortlieb

Looking for recipes that are totally vegan, offer wheat-, gluten-free and flax options and are presented in a straightforward, great for beginners type format? Try Aurelie Pare's Healthaliciously Good Cookbook. Aurelie, a fourteen year old self-taught cook, wrote the book while attending middle school. Her interest in cooking, which began at about age eleven, evolved into a desire to focus on wholesome nutritious foods. Unfortunately, laments Pare, " Healthy food seems to have been forgotten in today's society."

The recipes focus on whole foods, simple to obtain ingredients, and natural sweeteners such as fruits, juices, and purees. For those who take liberties with cookbook guidelines, Pare provides alternative suggestions as well as allergy related options. I especially enjoy that the dishes are creative, fresh, and not your typical stuffy vegan cookbook recipes. Even the names are fun. Try, for example, the Spinaci Pesto Cream Sauce or Red Pepper Extravaganza Pasta. If it's soup you're looking for, maybe the Creamy Coconut Tomato Soup, Vegetable Black-eyed Pea Soup, or Coconut Curry Stew will fill the bill. And Aurelie includes a wonderful Back to Basics Burger that can replace all those boxed veggie burgers currently stuffing your freezer.

For the beginner cook, and for some of us seasoned home chefs, Healthalicious covers kitchen tools and equipment, cooking times for beans and grains, and storage tips for pantry basics. I especially appreciate the Glossary of Ingredients. Inevitably there are foods that I'm not quite sure about. Not only does Pare describe in detail what certain grains, nuts, and seeds are, for example, but provides do-it-yourself tips for those of us who might want to whip up our own purees, rice mix, or croutons. In addition, I found the Ingredient Index very helpful. Here Aurelie lists dishes according to main ingredients used. So, if I have a surplus of bell peppers from my garden on hand, I can turn right to the dishes that might help me use these up.

More than just a recipe book, this is a general information resource on healthful cooking and baking. Pare stresses that healthy foods help prevent disease and weight problems. Not only do they recharge us for the day ahead, but give us that " energy and vitality" that sets a great vegan example. My only wish for the book is that the spiral bound format develops a sturdier cover. Mine will see so much use that I'm not sure it will stand up to the abuse. To start your own batch of Cranberry Apricot Cookies or Charming Carrot Cake, order The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook online at www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com. You can also visit Aurelie's website at www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com to learn more about this ambitious young person's approach to health and nutrition.

Tammie Ortlieb is a freelance writer and adjunct instructor with a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology. She resides in southwest Michigan with her omnivorous husband, four veg kids, and small menagerie of pets. Tammie writes for various vegetarian sources, mostly on being okay with your vegetarian self. She's a book nerd, a research nerd, a health nerd, and a huge glass of soymilk half full kind of creature. Visit her blog at www.middle-agedveganchick.blogspot.com.

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