Be A Plant-Based Woman Warrior

Be A Plant-Based Woman Warrior

by Jane Esselstyn, Ann Crile Esselstyn
Genres: Cooking / Vegan
Published on August 23, 2022
Pages: 320
Format: eBook, Paperback Source: Library, Owned

The original “Julia Child of plant-based cooking” teams up with her daughter to offer a multigenerational celebration of the power of a plant-based lifestyle—with 125 recipes.

The Esselstyn family is three generations plant-based strong. Encouraged to create recipes without dairy and meat when her husband’s research pointed to the impact of diet on reversing disease, Ann Esselstyn began feeding her family creative, plant-based meals more than thirty years ago. She and her daughter, Jane Esselstyn, are bolts of energy from the same strike of lightning and have become fierce, big-spirited advocates for a plant-based lifestyle, reaching hundreds of thousands of fans through their previous books and their popular YouTube channel.

At eighty-six and fifty-six, respectively, Ann and Jane are pictures of ageless health and vibrancy and spend their days hiking, doing yoga, gardening, cooking, and spreading the message that diet is the key to living a happy, strong, and disease-free life. Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior explains how women everywhere can pass on this important legacy in their own families through the generations, and illuminates how plants powerfully support a woman’s body and mind. This cookbook is a call to action and a message of hope for any and all to be Plant-Based Women Warriors filled with vitality and in control of their own health.

Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior includes more than 125 recipes made for women on the go, from Apple Flax Flapjacks and Black Ramen Bowls, to Portobello Sliders with Green Goddess Sauce, to Mint Chip Outta Sight Brownies. And it includes big-flavored dinners like Sweet Potato and Cashew Ricotta Lasagna and Plant-Based Pad Thai, sure to tempt even the most reluctant vegetable-focused eaters. Full of life, captivating energy, and delicious food, this cookbook brings readers to the Esselstyn family table, where plants and joy are at the center.

I got this book from the library because I like the lifestyle that the Esselstyn family promotes. If you aren’t familiar with them, Dr. Esselstyn is a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. He developed a program of plant-based, very low fat eating that helped severely ill cardiac patients. The documentary Forks Over Knives is about this. This book is written by his wife and daughter.

The first thing that I noticed about this book is the joy that radiates off the pages. So many people think that not eating meat, eggs, or dairy is sad and limiting. This book proves that it isn’t.

“My parents say they eat a plant-based diet because they want to live long and die fast.”

Jane Esselstyn

So far so good, I guess. The elder Esselstyns are in their late 80s.

Although this book is marketed to women, there is nothing really in it that doesn’t apply to everyone. All of the recipes are vegan. Although the cardiac diet is strictly low-to-no-fat, the recipes here are low in added oil. If there is any, such as in nuts, suggestions are given for substitutions if a reader is on the stricter diet.

I’ve made several recipes so far. I started with the Cheezy Chickpeas. These recipes always make me laugh. Anything that says that it reminds a vegan of macaroni and cheese is not going to taste like macaroni and cheese. I don’t think these people have had mac and cheese in so long that they don’t remember. Bless their hearts. I still remember. These were good but didn’t taste like mac and cheese. I’d make them again though and just appreciate them for what they are.

I’ve learned a few techniques from this book. They add in aquafaba to some chickpea dishes that I already make to thicken it. They also have a way of doing some origami with tortillas to make sandwiches that I’ve become obsessed with.

As I’m writing this I’ve just pulled their veggie lasagna (layers of mushrooms, carrots, peppers, spinach, and tofu ricotta alternating with mashed sweet potatoes) out of the oven and have some brussel sprouts tossed with nutritional yeast, hot sauce, and vinegar cooking.

I’ve enjoyed this book so much that I bought myself a physical copy so I can keep cooking from it. I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants to eat more plants in fun and creative ways.