When I started to overhaul my diet, I bought this book and worked my way through it (I love a mission). Being more clued-up on healthy eating now I realise the recipes aren’t exactly ground-breaking but they are great for beginners and this book did inspire some healthy eating in me when I might otherwise have bought a magnum and sat on the sofa. So all in all I’m a bit of a fan. However, nobody’s perfect and I’d like to share my insights from cooking my way through.
Who?
If you didn’t know already, Ella Woodward (now Mills, or Deliciously Ella) is a food blogger who began to develop recipes as a way of dealing with an illness, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome. A self-confessed ‘sugar monster’, Ella drastically changed her diet and her life, and to date has a massive following as well as holding the record for the fastest selling debut cookbook ever.
What?
Ella’s recipes are all free from refined sugar, wheat, gluten, dairy and meat.
The Good
The majority of recipes are simple to follow and the same ingredients recur again and again through the book, meaning that you don’t end up buying something that then sits in your cupboard gathering dust.
The Bad
Although some of her raw desserts are excellent, a lot of Ella’s baked goods (I’m looking at you – Classic Carrot Cake) are incredibly stodgy and not something I’ll be going back for seconds for.
The Ugly
A lot of these recipes are very expensive to make. Ingredients like medjool dates, pecan nuts and maple syrup don’t come cheap and are often used in very high quantities.
Best Recipe
Our tweaked version of Ella’s Sweet Potato Brownies (or as we call them, SPBs) are an addiction in our house.
Worst Recipe
Veggie Lasagne. We eat variations on lasagne a lot. This one took two of us two hours to prep and make, only for us to proclaim it ‘ok’ when we ate it. Not doing that again.
4/5
