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The Flexitarian Diet: Buy or burn?
The Flexitarian Diet sounds like it would be a book right up the alley of every almost vegetarian.
Well, it might be. But then, it might not. After all, the author, Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN, says “I was a closet meat eater, a vegetarian trying not to get caught with a pork chop, beef patty, or chicken sausage in my hand.” Making her, in my book anyway, more of an omnivore than a flexitarian or almost vegetarian.
But let’s look at her book and see what we can see.
The Flexitarian Diet
Written in a catchy, supermarket, pop-psych, style (right down to the prerequisite quiz which, in this case, is entitled What’s your Flex Score), The Flexitarian Diet touts the advantages of a vegetarian diet (“Eating a plant-based diet is the hands-down, smartest thing we can do for our health”), but delivers a diet that includes meat because this is “. . . a realistic and delicious way to eat more plants.”
Huh?
And the good news is . . .
Okay. So the logic is off. But is there any good news in The Flexitarian Diet? Sure. The quick introduction to all sorts of foods that anyone not reading food or health magazines or, heaven forbid, blogs, might not know about.
Take the section on grains, for example. This provides clear and helpful mini introductions to everything from wheat berries (unprocessed wheat kernels) to spelt (a type of wheat higher in protein than whole wheat). Of course, it would be more helpful if there were suggestions here on what, exactly, to do with these grains, but at least there are great tips such as “There is only one way to ensure you are buying whole grains; read the ingredients for the word whole.”
And what about the recipes? Well, let’s take a look.
Uninspired recipes
The recipes are, alas, exactly what I would expect from a non-chef; in a word, uninspired and just not worth the bother. Like, for example, Ginger Bark which is chocolate chips and candied ginger. Yawn.
(And, erm, in who’s book is chocolate chips and candied ginger, both of which are probably made with refined white sugar, “healthier”?)
Recipes simple to the point of stoopid
Take, for example, the Three-Cup Quickie. This is cereal with milk and blueberries. And, hey, is that a recipe for Honey Café au Lait? Yes it is! And it is, wait for it, Café au Lait with honey!
Now I don’t mind simple. In fact, a good, simple recipe is a prize. But there is simple and there is stoopidly simple.
I’m going back to my See Jane Run book now. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Questionable ingredients
And then there are the ingredients I find questionable in a healthy diet. For example, the Fettuccine Florentine with Lemon-Garlic Butter recipe calls for, not butter as the name says, but margarine (so, in all honesty, the recipe should have been called Fettuccine Florentine with Lemon-Garlic Margarine). I would not use margarine. Ever.
Tasteless ingredients
Here’s another place where a chef could have been of some help: Avoiding ingredients that no one wants to eat.
For example, take the Peapods and Ranch recipe. Peapods have utterly no taste and a nasty, stringy texture; all the taste and tenderness having been spent on the peas. So I certainly don’t want to eat them. And I’m not alone. A few months back as I was shelling peas in a cooking class, I asked the chef if there was anything one could do with the peapods. She said there was: Dump them in the garbage.
No amount of ranch dressing is going to help here.
Hidden animal ingredients
But the biggest problem of all is that some of these recipes slip in animal products without telling the reader. And it is done, not in an obvious drop-in-a-slab-of-meat way, but in a subtle include-this-seeming-vegetarian-item-that-was-made-with-an-animal-product.
For example, the Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan recipe never mentions the fact that the Parmesan cheese the reader is using was probably made with rennet which, in turn, comes from a cows stomach.
And lest you think that this was clarified elsewhere in the book, I could find no mention of rennet in the index. So the reader will never know.
Now, of course, you need to decide if this is a problem. After all, this is a flexitarian book, not a vegetarian book. In my opinion, this is a problem because the reader of this book is likely trying to eat a more vegetarian and less omnivore diet. So that rennet would come as a nasty surprise.
And if this book, which people buy to be more educated about their diet does not tell them, who will?
Comments
10 Responses to “The Flexitarian Diet: Buy or burn?”
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Pardon my ignorance, but why would you never use margarine?
The big problem with margarine is that it used to be loaded, just loaded, with trans fat. Now that the word is out on trans fats, margarine manufacturers tend to process their margarines to avoid this problem.
Which is good. But this is still a seriously processed item. Flip over any tub of margarine and you will find an ingredient list that reads like a who’s who of processed foods.
Yuck.
So what I do is use olive oil whenever possible. But when I need a butter taste, I use butter. I use it sparingly (it can take me a few months to get through a package of butter) because it is still a cholesterol problem, but I would rather use a natural ingredient like butter than a ingest a highly processed item like margarine.
Natural beats processed any day.
Thanks for the review – it sounds like I can skip this one.
And I agree with you whole-heartedly on the margarine question. Did you know it was originally made from pork fat? (I was once asked to write an article on butter vs. margarine…the things you learn.)
Thanks for clarifying! I have one more silly question: how can you determine which type of olive oil is best? I really appreciate your insights!!
No worries, it was a good question.
This should get you started buying olive oil: http://almostvegetarian.blogspot.com/2008/04/everything-youve-always-wanted-to-know.html
Personally, I cook with whatever olive oil I can get at the grocery store. But for drizzling, where taste really counts, I use Alziari Extra Virgin Olive Oil (it's not cheap, but it is insanely good). You can buy it here: http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24_70&products_id=318&osCsid=5ab1eddd5a19fd3395c2859f742931d1
Cheers!
Ouch!
Sounds like it left a bad taste in your mouth.
The Flexitarian Diet is actually a really great book. I think your review misses the major point of the book. It is trying to move people toward a MORE vegetarian diet. I would highly highly recommend the book. I have made many of the recipes and they have all turned out to be really tasty. It is one of the best “diet” books in a really really long time.
Pardon, but I like the book. I have been veering toward a MORE vegetarian diet, but lack the skills for really tasty meals. This book provides what I think as flavor full options for my meat loving family. So far, they have no idea of the healthy dishes they are consuming with vigor I might add. Yes some are insanely stupid…oops did I just say that… Well yes, the coffee one did make me laugh. Nonetheless, it is a helpful book for an uneducated want to be vegetarian, oopps flexitarian.
I love this book. Yes you can spend your days reading all the magazine articles and freaking out over all the tiny ingredients in everything, or you can simply try your best to be healthier. This book is for those that don’t care about all the inane details and are looking for recipes and foods to try in order to be healthier. And as for the margerine, there is a point in the book where she describes what kind to buy, and it’s the trans-fat free vegan kind with added omega-3′s. The recipes are really good, albeit simple, and quick and easy to make. I make them for my mostly carnivorous boyfriend and he loves them. I would definitely recommend this book.
Wow. Some of your opinions are pretty harsh. Personally, I really like pea pods – but from snap peas. just because you don't like them….
Also, if you're remotely creative, then you will know how to turn the recipes into gems. I haven't had much problem with them, personally.
Finally, the whole thing about parmesan cheese? If you start talking about the food being made with items that come from animals, you should go 100% Vegan… that's not what this book is about, so, I'm lost as to why you're so upset.