The Simply Real Health Cookbook

By Sarah Adler

In her introduction, Sarah says something that hits me where I live. "So that eating mostly well becomes your default." How many times have you thought "I don't need to eat badly today, I'm not craving anything. But the easiest, fastest thing for me right now is to get fast food somewhere." So you eat poorly because it's your default. Sarah's trying to help us get a new default. It's a big mission.

Like most of us, she knows that the trendy diets don't work. Or they work short-term, but not the way we want them to, forever. She knows that if there are foods on a 'no list,' eventually we are going to want them badly. Food has to taste good to keep us coming back. She's attempting to move us to "…a place where, instead of rigidly adhering to rules, and then madly and shamefully failing when real life events come up, you just learn how to eat better overall. Daily. Mindfully. And here's the gorgeous part: without the need to be perfect." She has no diet plan, just the desire to show us how to eat healthy with recipes that taste great and are easy to make. Pretty simple.

To start, she shares some kitchen staples and tools that make things easier. You probably have most of them. And she reminds us what real food is-not processed things or items with unpronounceable names. We're talking fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood. Sarah is a realist: she doesn't tell you to shop for seven days of eating. She tells you to look at your week and see what's happening. Shop for what you know you'll do, not what you might be able to do if you're home. So much food gets thrown away because people are sure they'll eat at home when they won't.

She's been collecting and creating recipes that use real food and are quick to make and that's what this book contains. Her notes are reasonable, like for green smoothies: "This recipe is the best way to start making green smoothies! The first couple times you make this, use a small amount of spinach, then add more as you grow accustomed to it. When blended, this smoothie has a fresh, sweet taste." You know you flinch when people say 'spinach' and 'kale' and 'smoothie' in the same sentence.

Make-ahead dishes are a favorite in this book. They're a great way to eat healthy for people who are busy. Make them and use throughout your week in different ways. Combine them for different flavors. Many taste better after they've melded. For example, her Photo Shoot Salad (photo) is great on its own, but you can put it over rice or greens as well. Grilled vegetables can be eaten hot or cold, puréed to create soup, and they taste good up to five days in the refrigerator. Her French Potato Salad is made with olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard, not mayo. Sarah's Fresh Corn Salad is nice on the side of your dinner plate, used as a dipping salsa, taco filling, or tapenade on grilled seafood or meat. You get the idea.

Soups are delicious and, again, can be easy to make. Plus they're an easy way to get your vegetables-how bad can Coconut Corn Chowder orWatermelon-Cucumber Gazpacho be? Entrées like Butternut Squash, Salmon & Vegetable Curry, Roasted Cherry Balsamic Chicken, and Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce look and taste great with a minimum of fuss. If you're busy, she has ways to speed things up. And so many vegetables, but all done in ways that are healthy, and that look and taste great. Snacks, appetizers, sauces and dressings, marinades, desserts, and even cocktails-they're all here.

It's not an overnight thing, but if you start merging some of her recipes and concepts into your week, you'll find yourself feeling a little better because of what you're putting into your body. How odd.

Click to see some of Sarah's recipes:

Grilled flank steak with chimichurri sauce

Roasted beet + ricotta salad

Shredded chicken, avocado + kale quinoa salad

Sarah Adler is a Seattle-based healthy lifestyle, food blogger and founder of Simply Real Health.

Photo credit Jasmine Pulley

Connie Adams/June 2015