I were to say that there have been one-too-many paleo books out recently, I may be making the understatement of the century. And if I were to say that every time I took a breath, a new cookbook came out, I may be making the second-biggest understatement of the century. And yet, with all that over-saturation, Diana Rodgers new book, The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook completely blew me away. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Diana is indeed the real deal. She raises her own animals, grows her own vegetables she is as paleo as it gets in 2015. It also probably doesn’t hurt that the 100+ recipes are delicious and photographed beautifully.
And perhaps it is the unique little touches, like the tips on how to raise animals, and which questions to ask a farmer â that ultimately put this book over the top. But the recipes are indeed where this book truly shines. The deconstructed BLT soup is amazingly delicious, and anyone should go out of their way to try it. And if you want to play the jaded skeptic, Diana’s credibility is confirmed when you stumble upon the diagram of a stationary hen house. Don’t see many paleo books with that included!
I also highly recommend you scratch your weekend dinner plans, and instead make Diana’s italian braised lamb shoulder chops. You can thank me later. And while I have yet to make the kohlrabi cakes with bacon and dill, they look absolutely mouth-watering. Are you hungry yet?
Quite simply, I haven’t been excited about any new paleo recipes, books or projects for quite some time now. This book changed all that. I have made meatballs probably over 100 times in my young adult life, and yet none of them were quite as exciting and delicious as the lemon-ginger meatballs found within this book. I am a details guy, and if you are anything like me, this is definitely the book for you. I learned more about farming than I could have hoped to learn from an encyclopedia.
And Diana wisely realized that the only way she could likely get me (and other urban/suburban people) to care about the fine intricacies of hen houses, was to put this information next to page after page of meat-heavy recipes and beautiful photographs. Well done. Oh, and there’s also something called the âbig bad rooster soup. I know. Go ahead and get the book â Iâll wait.
In case you still donât believe you need to go get this cookbook, realize that I am only scratching the surface here, of all the recipes contained within. It would take you 33 straight days of making every meal from this book, just to try everything once! And trust me â youâre going to want to eat most of these meals more than once. This book is well worth your hard-earned money, and the sales go to a good person, who is helping to sustainably keep our food supply going. Two thumbs up!
The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound.