Happy Herbivore Light & Lean: Over 150 Low-Calorie Recipes with Workout Plans for Looking and Feeling Great by Lindsay S. Nixon

Retro Review

Happy Herbivore Light & Lean by Lindsay S. Nixon
Vegan Cookbook, 336 pages

With easy, no-fuss recipes, the bestselling Happy Herbivore cookbooks show how easy, affordable, and delicious eating healthy can be. Now, in her latest cookbook, Happy Herbivore chef Lindsay S. Nixon provides recipes that put a special emphasis on weight-loss and a set of exercises that, like her recipes, are quick, easy, and produce great results.

Like all Happy Herbivore cookbooks, Happy Herbivore Light & Lean contains filling, flavorful, plant-based recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. But this time, Nixon takes healthy to an all-new level, with low-calorie, satisfying meals that will help you achieve your weight-loss goals—and without deprivation.

True to its title, Happy Herbivore Light & Lean also includes "recipes” for your body with basic workouts, plus tips and tricks that will inspire you to move more for a trimmer, more-toned you. As always, Happy Herbivore Light & Lean recipes are free from oils, processed foods, and diet chemicals such as artificial sweeteners.

Happy Herbivore Light & Lean keeps it healthy, keeps it simple, and keeps it delicious.

I lucked out and bought this on the Kindle for only $2.99. Now it'll cost you $9.99 for an ebook, what?! Don't do that. Cooking via Kindle is a pain the butt. Splurge for the paperback which is only a few bucks more.

There is a very handy shopping list in the beginning of the book, some blah, blah info. about caloric density which I tuned out because I'm not really interested in all that and then the author's journey from yo-yo dieter to healthy vegan where she states that Skinny Bitch was one of the books that set her on the path to wellness. I have to admit this scared me. This scared me lots. I despise that Skinny Bitch book. It's filled with craptastic recipes that use a ton of processed faux food and they curse at me throughout the book. I couldn't get it out of my house fast enough. Anyway, no worries. This author uses mainly whole foods and she never calls me a bitch because she thinks she's cool.

I have realized I absolutely do NOT enjoy reading cookbooks on my Ipad and I'm a little PO'd that I am unable (either due to my incompetence or some Kindle App dickery) that I am unable to print any of the recipes. This makes it near impossible for me to use. I am a klutz and keeping my Ipad close to food is a recipe for complete disaster. I am not putting my Ipad's life in jeopardy just to make dinner. I also have four jerky cats who will gleefully knock it on the floor as soon as I look away. I am a complete disaster in the kitchen, dropping things and splattering food to and fro with reckless abandon (my clean up crew, the dogs, love it when I cook). None of these things are the books fault, of course, but it might explain why it has taken me months to finally attempt one of the recipes.

So last night after typing up one of the recipes (seriously, in this day and age!) and printing it out and putting it in a protective sleeve to keep it safe from my slobbery, I finally tried the Caribbean Bowl.

It contains cooked quinoa, steamed kale, pineapple, pineapple salsa, black beans, green onions and I added in some lime juice, avocado and a few big dashes of smoked chile pepper because everything is better with a little spice, right?

The verdict? My vegan child did not like it. She took a few bites and gave the rest to the dogs.

"I don't like sweet and savory or pineapples in my dinner." Says my girl child.

Fantastic! This is why I go through so much trouble.

My son and husband who are carnivores and usually throw some chicken on top of any vegan dish I cook raved and raved about it. I don't know if they actually loved it (though they did put a big dent in the bowl and ate it for lunch the next day) or if they're maybe a little afraid of me and fear they'll be the new cook if they utter a word of dissent. Either way they ate it and didn't attempt passing it off to the dogs.

I thought it was tasty though next time I would lighten up on the lime juice and add more pineapple salsa. It was a bit tart for me but again that's on me, not the recipe. I give the Caribbean Bowl 4 1/2 stars. It was easy, it was good and I'll make it again. The girl child can heat up a veggie burger next time.

More later. Perhaps sooner if some kind soul can explain to me how I can print out these recipes!

Ok, so later is here. I made these Pumpkin Pancakes yesterday.

It's kind of difficult to screw up pancakes and these were good. The recipe calls for 1 TBS of baking powder (or soda, I can't remember now), 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of non-dairy milk, pumpkin, spices, brown sugar and a pinch o' salt. Hmmm, I was skeptical when the batter was so thick it resembled the consistency of cookie dough so I added more milk and they came out alright. They are on the heftier side and super filling. They could've used a little more cooking time (instructions say 2-3 mins on each side) because some of the middles were a wee bit undone. 4 *'s Quick & tasty & I'll make 'em again but with more milk.

That's it for now. If I remember this thing is on my Ipad, I'll cook up something else and update the review.