Selfie Does Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook
A Review of The Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook
I don’t know about you but when I see that part of Marie Kondo’s cleaning things is books, I’m like, ”NOOOOOOOO!”If we’re not aiming to build a Beauty and the Beast-style library, what are we even doing here? Part of that whole “books in every room” aesthetic includes cookbooks. I love cookbooks – the glossy finishes, the weighty texts and the stunning pictures. However, I…rarely use my actual cookbooks and instead we live our life off of a rotation of tried-and-true dishes or just like, something I found on interwebs during meal planning. This is mostly because I get home first and by the time Mr. Selfie gets home, I want to eat him, the dog, my own arm and errthang which means dinner better be quick. In an effort to mix things up in the kitchen and also, to actually use the cookbooks I owned, I’ve decided to start reviewing said cookbooks by making recipes from them*. Because I’m utterly ridiculous, I’m starting with a cookbook that [cue music] BUM BUM BUUUUM, I didn’t actually own prior to like...rn. *rolls eyes * .
Selfie Tip: Here’s what actually happened. The Austin Public Library is amazing – you can get books from any of the branches, you can request that specific items be ordered and you get free ebooks on hoopla and libby. Thus, I get tons of books from the APL including cookbooks to test out before buying them or putting them on, say, a Christmas list. This is all well and good except that I’m, you know, busy and I read about a book a week already. So, we generally get to like the end of the 3 –to- 9-week period and I’m like, “oh, right” and then return them. Often late. And that’s how LLB is first because it was due. It also colors the review some because I made it on a worknight….because it was due and I’m tired of funding the APL via my late fees. However, if you love cookbooks (or any book but cookbooks are normally a bit pricey and specific) and want to ensure that you actually like them first, I humbly suggest the library.
I first saw this book at Amazon Books** and I’m kind of a sucker for books with beautiful, healthy-ish recipes. I mean, I’ve read Cravings cover-to-cover (it’s super funny) but I just don’t cook food with cream cheese. I’m the nutball over here trying to make everything with nutritional yeast, nonfat Greek yogurt and hope. I also have a severe food intolerance so both of those together + the whole I-must-eat-dinner-at-six-pm- thing limits what we eat. I know Laura Lea is a well-known food blogger but I actually didn’t know that until after I perused the book.
I was intrigued by a bunch of recipes in this cookbook but wanted to start with something that’s always intimidated me – vegan vegetable cheese/queso. I like this type of food but, I’m perfectly willing to pay the nine American dollars for Heidi Ho! at Whole Foods when I want to make “healthy” weeknight nachos because Beyonce knows I love me some nachos/queso***. As I’ve challenged myself to try something new, this caught my eye. One of my top concerns with this type of healthy living book/recipe is that if something has 47 different ingredients and takes a ton of time, I’m going to regret choosing it halfway through – especially if I have to go to the store more than once…which I did while making this recipe.
The Cons
Ingredients List - I don’t enjoy when cookbooks call for portions/sizes that don’t make sense. This called for two medium sweet potatoes which was to equal two cups. Idk if it’s an everything-is-bigger-in-Texas thing but I ended up with extra sweet potato. It also called for 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and normal cans are generally 14.5 oz. It’s hard to know if those can just be ignored when doing an actual, good-faith recipe review. In reality, the second time I made this I learned that this doesn’t matter and you can just throw in the extra with some extra spices.
Time – I’m definitely an efficient cook and can do a lot at once but I still went way over the estimated time. I was starving so, I was extra motivated here and obviously, did not include the time it took me to drive to the nearest grocery store. I literally ate an Epic bar while running to get nutritional yeast because I was so hungry. It’s supposed to take an hour and 45 min. I feel like I cooked as fast as I humanly could and Mr. Selfie finish the refried beans while I ran to the store. But it took 2 hours and 5 minutes to make the enchiladas (I refused to wait the full 10 minutes for it to cool.) I mean, again it’s bit like a low-key simple thing to make alone. And certainly prepping in advance would have been prudent.
Dishes – I really try to keep the number of dishes used down for dinner – You’ll note that in my own recipes we’re talking about two baking containers + a cutting board, max. For this recipe, I used tons of dishes including more than one type of strainer. I cleaned the huge mess I had made during the enchilada bake time. The second time I made this I was way more organized and reused dishes because I wasn’t trying to make everything at once.
The Pros
Descriptions – The instructions were super descriptive. For example, this recipe explained how the olive oil should look before adding the onions. That’s incredibly helpful since I’m not a trained chef****.
Simple – The refried beans were so easy. I love refried beans and normally just eat the central market non-fat black bean ones but these were so great and simple.
Time-Effective Version of Complicated Dish – There’s no getting around that making a “cheese” from vegetables and cashews is complicated. However, this version that doesn’t require you to soak the cashews for 1+hours is really clutch.
Absolutely Delicious – I was really, really happy that I finally made this dish. It was so tasty. Yes, it took a long time but I say it was well worth it and…if you’ve ever had the displeasure of hanging out with me when I have to unexpectedly eat dinner at 8 pm on a worknight, you know it must be something really special.
Selfie Tweaks
I did also add rotisserie chicken to the recipe because 1) eat meat and 2) the recipe calls for sweet potatoes and black beans and tortillas which is pretty much a carb explosion. This may not bother you at all because all those foods are great fiber sources and great, whole foods. But I wanted to add in the protein because that’s a balance I need. In addition, both Mr. Selfie and I think the chicken was a nice addition for the texture. Otherwise, it’s a lot of soft, albeit absolutely delicious, food. The second time I made this, I made it as nachos to nix the tortillas and keep the same amazing flavor profile with the creamy textures and fresh cilantro.
The Takeaway
I legitimately went to buy this cookbook today. I think that’s the opposite of what was meant to be accomplished here except that I did actually use a library cookbook for it’s given purpose instead of just staring at the pictures like a three-year old. I’m really, really looking forward to making more things out of this book and trying to find some quicker recipes. I even have a healthy snack work event^ next week that I’ll be choosing another recipe from the book to try out. I also enjoy all the great content on the author’s social media. It’s really nice to be super inspired by a recipe that definitely makes me pick up my regular cooking game up a couple of notches but still jives with my current wellness and fitness goals.
Update: Also the author is super nice and featured my burnt nachos! My IG stalker heart is very full!
What other cookbooks have you been meaning to get to? If you request it (and I’m not otherwise unable to eat it), I will cook something from it. And if you live in Austin, probably make you eat some of it. Let me know if the comments!
*One thing I’m not doing is sharing the actual recipe. Books are copy-written and it’s a pretty jerk move to the author and the people who bought the book. Not sure you want it yet? Try grabbing it at your local library or come over! You can also find a ton of recipes on the author’s blog: here.
**Don’t even get me started on the premise that Amazon drove bookstores out of business but has brick-and-mortars now. But I’m a monster and it’s so well-curated and located next to Sephora.
***I feel like…I’ve mentioned that I’m a monster.
****I did actually work as a line cook once in one of my five hundred restaurant jobs. I’m amazing at...chopping onions.
^ “Another event?! Mon Dieu!” Yup. We love events.