In her foreword to Sharon Gannon's Simple Recipes for Joy, Kris Carr promises the book "has the power to change your life; it may even save it." Gannon and Carr assert that food is the most powerful medicine--one that can transform our lives by changing our DNA--and believe the standard American diet's reliance on animal products high in acidity, saturated fat, cholesterol and carcinogens causes inflammation and oxidative stress, leading to a host of diseases. Gannon has been nourishing joy in her clients and readers through art, yoga and cooking since she opened her first restaurant in Seattle in 1971; in her view, veganism is easier on the planet as well as our bodies.
Gannon includes veganism FAQs, covering queries about nutrients such as protein and iron as well as sample menus and cleansing diets. The true bounty in this cookbook is the food itself: 50 pages of soups (creamy, broth-based, raw) like Pea Pod-Noodle Soup, Curry-Tahini-Shoyu Noodle Soup, Tortilla Bean Soup, and Sweet Potato and Corn Bisque; surprising salads like Flower Salad (with edible nasturtium and bergamot flowers) and Popcorn Salad, in addition to salads featuring seaweed, beets and rice. Beyond the soups and salads, Gannon provides recipes that highlight grains, vegetables, beans, tempeh, tofu and seitan, as well as sandwiches like a vegan BLT, a grilled-vegetable panino and Avo Bravo Burritos. Desserts include vanilla chia-seed pudding and Hippie Carrot Cake, in addition to cookies, cakes, pies and frozen treats like smoothies. Newcomers to veganism will not feel deprived! --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics