Cookbook review: Plant-Powered Families

100 recipes to get more healthy veggies into kids

This is the fifth cookbook from bestselling vegan author Dreena Burton, who writes a fabulous blog, raises three beautiful healthy daughters, and inspires people everywhere with her creative plant-based recipes. Whether your family is vegan or not, there is tons of value to be found in Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes. All the recipes are kid-tested, and Dreena includes plenty of tips for helping include kids on special diets (nut allergy, anyone?), how to handle parties and sleepovers if your kid is on a special diet (or kids come who are on special diets), and even the dreaded picky eater.

Layout and design:

The book is organized with a brief introduction about plant-powered eating, Dreena’s story, and how to prep your kitchen to eat this way. Next come the recipe sections: Healthy Mornings (cereals, pancakes, french toast, omelets, smoothies, milks, muffins & snack bars), Lunch Fixes (salads, sandwiches, savory bites, dips, spreads, salad dressings), Dinnertime (soups, stews, pizza, pasta, burgers, casseroles, stir-fries, and one-dish wonders), and Sweet Treats (puddings, creams, sauces, cookies, bars, energy bites, frozen treats, cakes, frostings, extras). Finally, chapters on picky eaters, school and lunchbox solutions, parties, DIY staples and cooking guides, sample meal plans, and FAQs. Back matter includes metric conversion chart, nutrient charts, subject index, and a recipe index.

Photography:

Gorgeous full-color, full-page photographs by Nicole Axworthy on nearly every page entice you with the delicious options.

Recipes:

Recipes include cinnamon French toast, motsa dip, cheesy Caesar dressing, sniffle soup, polenta pizza crust, umami sun-dried tomato and almond burgers, lentil pumpkin seed pie, and crazy brownies. I have made her pumpkin pie and it is the bomb. I also loved her white bean guacamole. There are roughly 100 gluten-free recipes. Seven recipes use spelt flour, the rest are either naturally gluten-free or with a gluten-free option (including oats).

What I liked about the book:

The interior design is beautiful and just screams family-friendly. Kids will love these recipes. Lots of choices in every category. Parents will especially like her tips on how to amp up the recipes for adult palates; you can make the recipe as is, set aside a portion for the kiddos, and then add her suggestions for you.

I wasn’t so keen on:

Recipes were not coded for special diets such as gluten-free or nut-free (although nearly the entire book is gluten-free); nutritional analysis is not provided, which would be helpful for low-sodium eaters. Note that she has included updated versions of recipes from her previous books that are family favorites; if you have all of her existing books you might not need this one. If you don’t, this is a great introduction to her creative and tasty recipes.

Recommended for:

vegan, vegetarian, celiac, gluten-free, dairy-free diets; families who want to eat more vegetables, plants, and whole foods

Not recommended for:

Migraine, paleo, or low-sodium diets

Here are some other recipes from the book:

Creamy vegan fettucini “alfredo”
Ta-quinos
Crazy brownies (with a secret ingredient no one will ever guess)
No-bake granola bars
White bean guacamole

A note about my cookbook reviews: In the past, I tested at least three recipes from each book, took photos, and described my experience. Due to my dietary limitations (extremely-low-sodium for my Meniere’s Disease and trigger-free foods for migraine relief), it is no longer possible for me to test the recipes and do them justice.

Required FTC disclosure: I received one copy of this book from the publisher for the giveaway on May 29th, 2015.
Here’s the book if you want to see more: