Those familiar with 2011's Feed Zone Cookbook already know Biju Thomas and Allen Lim's followup is intended for a specific audience: elite athletes, primarily cyclists, who want to know what to eat for optimal performance and when to eat it. Feed Zone Portables shows how this can be done "on the go"--on the back of a bike or while performing other endurance sports--without resorting to bars or gels.
In a foreword, two-time Olympic cyclist Taylor Phinney explains that burning 5,000 calories a day while racing requires portable "real food" that can make as much difference as the training itself. Then Thomas and Lim explain how to calculate the calories burned during exercise (according to intensity, duration and efficiency), and how to eat to replace them. The section on why liquid calories are not optimal for our intestines includes easy-to-understand nutritional tables that compare their recipes to prepackaged foods.
The strength of Feed Zone Portables is the recipes, from rice cakes (including red lentil and raspberry mint) to two-bite pies (such as black bean & peanut mole and golden beet & chicken pot pie). Many recipes include common foods found in most kitchens (pizza rolls, baked pasta, etc.), but a list of what every athlete's pantry should contain is included as well as tips on packaging "portables" for on-the-go consumption. Although intended for elite athletes, Feed Zone Portables would be a great gift for busy parents as well. --Kristen Galles, blogger at Book Club Classics