annieb123's Review of The Probiotic Kitchen

by Kelli Foster

For optimum probiotic nutrition, it's time to say goodbye to supplements and pills and to bring all-natural, all-delicious, real-food probiotic (and prebiotic) meals into your life.

Doctors and nutritionists firmly agree that probiotics are essential for everyday health and nutrition. Probiotics add "good bacteria" to the human gut. They crowd out "bad bacteria" and foster the absorption of nutrients through the intestinal walls. Everyone needs probiotics, just as they also need prebiotics, which make probiotics work. Probiotics also aid in the relief of chronic health issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as all kinds of occasional belly discomfort. They have anti-inflammatory properties, too.

Kelli Foster's The Probiotic Kitchen makes probiotic cooking easier and tastier than it's ever been before. Her recipes feature all the all-natural, probiotic-rich foods that are available now, from yogurts and aged cheeses to miso, kombucha, good old-fashioned pickles—and even chocolate. The more than 100 delectable and utterly appealing recipes in this book use these probiotic-rich ingredients to make incredibly tasty breakfasts, brunches, lunches, snacks, dinners, and desserts. The book includes:

Lots of big-flavor main courses, like Cider-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Sauerkraut and Apples, Fish Tacos with Kefir-Avocado Crema, and Mediterranean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Substantial salads, such as Herbed Chickpea and Tomato Salad, vibrant soups, like Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Pesto, and hearty sandwiches, such as Smoky Tempeh and Kale Caesar Wraps
Recipes for prebiotic dishes and advice about how to add prebiotics to your meals, since prebiotics are needed for probiotics to work
For busy cooks who eat on the fly, more than a dozen portable and delicious smoothies and similar drinks, plus easy-to-pack snacks and lunches
Super versatile probiotic sauces, dressings, and condiments that you can use to turn any meal into a probiotic one, from a zesty Orange-Miso Vinaigrette to a sweet-and-sour Creamy Honey-Mustard Dressing

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Probiotic Kitchen is a guide to improving the gut biome with recipes to utilize fermented and live culture ingredients into family friendly dishes which will also support and improve gut health. Due out 17th Dec 2019 from Quarto on their Harvard Common Press imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

It's important to note that this is a book which is written around -using- probiotic ingredients, and not specifically for making the fermented/processed ingredients themselves. It does include a basic recipe for 2 sauerkrauts, pickled vegetables, -very- basic kimchi, and fermented salsa.

The introduction (~7% of the content) covers some basic information about gastrointestinal health and the gut biome. There's also a short introduction to prebiotics and how (and why) to use them in conjunction with probiotics.

The following 2 chapters cover sourcing probiotics by buying them (chapter 1) or making your own with the basic recipes above (chapter 2). The rest of the book contains the recipes arranged thematically: breakfast, smoothies/drinks/snacks, dressings/sauces/condiments, lunch, soup/salad/appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts.

Each of the recipes includes an introductory description, ingredients listed in a bullet point sidebar (US measurements given, with metric in parentheses), and step by step instructions. There is no nutritional info provided. The recipes are photographed very well and clearly, with roughly 25% of the dishes shown in a photograph. Serving suggestions are attractive and appropriate. There are some vegan friendly recipes, but many aren't as they contain milk products and honey. There are some recipes which could be worked to make them AIP friendly also, but that's not a focus of the book, and auto-immune friendly recipes are not specifically mentioned.

The recipe ingredients themselves are easily sourced and will be available at most well stocked grocery stores.
The book does include a solid cross referenced index which includes ingredients.

This would be a good choice for people who are interested in experimenting with probiotic recipes who are either learning or don't feel the need to control the process from the very beginning and are willing to use already made ingredients. Many (most) of the recipes make small amounts (generally 2 servings except for main dishes which are 4+); but I don't see a problem with doubling or quadrupling the recipes.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Probiotic Kitchen

by Kelli Foster

Reviewed by annieb123 on Dec 4, 2019

Reading updates