The Six Cookbooks You Have To Read This Summer

By Harriet Mallinson | Published on July 18, 2017

There may be recipes and nutrition advice at the touch of a button on the internet these days, but nothing really beats the feel of a good cookbook.

After all, you can’t splash your iPad with hot coconut oil and not panic, can you?

MACROS have rounded up six of the best cookbooks available this summer to get your culinary creative juices flowing, be it learning more about good carbohydrates and the power of plants or whipping up barbeques for your mates and creating the perfect pudding to impress a loved one.

 

Hippie Lane The Cookbook – Taline Gabrielian

 

 

An aesthetically pleasing hardback, Hippie Lane The Cookbook contains recipes that use whole, unprocessed, organic ingredients.

Taline, a mother of Armenian heritage, doesn’t include a wordy introduction in the volume, which makes the book easier for flicking through. It does, however, list “essential ingredients” which seem a far cry from the indispensable basics, such as acai powder, sorghum flour and xanthan gum.

However, there is an abundance of pleasing, glossy images accompanying the numerous energy-giving lunches, power salads, Buddha bowls, snacks and more.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Creamy quinoa porridge with stewed plums; banana and maple bread; and black bean brownies.

Hippie Lane The Cookbook by Taline Gabrielian is out now, published by Murdoch Books (£17.99)

 

The Good Carbs Cookbook – Dr Alan Barclay, Kate McGhie and Philippa Sandall

 

 

Although this book doesn’t have the glamorous, trendy vibe of many cookbooks these days, it is in fact an incredibly useful, easy-to-understand guide to a healthy balanced diet of slow-energy release, low GI foods.

Presented in a simple, unpretentious layout, The Good Carbs Cookbook encourages us to eat food made from ingredients we can picture in their raw state or growing in nature. There are excellent nutritional chapters about food groups such as vegetables, grains and fruit. Furthermore, it’s a relief to see an ingredients list where you can realistically buy the suggestions in your local supermarket.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Eggs coddles in a spicy capsicum and tomato sauce; sweet potato, quinoa, spinach and red lentil burgers with tahini-mint yoghurt; and oven roasted plums with couscous crumble.

The Good Carbs Cookbook by Dr Alan Barclay, Kate McGhie and Philippa Sandall is out now, published by Murdoch Books (£16.99)

 

Cooking for Family and Friends – Joe Wicks

 

 

The Body Coach’s fourth book, Cooking for Family and Friends shows us how to throw dinner parties, BBQs and enjoy social occasions whilst staying lean.

Meals are clearly labeled as reduced carb or post workout meals plus sides, sweet treats and snacks but Joe does warn many of the meals may be high in calories – so you’ll have to couple Joe’s diet with plenty of exercise!

The book features strong, bold colors and delightful full page images, often of Joe’s family and friends.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Post workout phat fish finger sandwich; reduced carb chicken wings with blue cheese sauce; and sticky toffee pudding.

Cooking for Family and Friends by Joe Wicks is out now, published by Bluebird (£20). Image credits: Maja Smend.

 

– RELATED: Edible Flowers: The Blooming Best Trend This Summer? –

 

One Part Plant – Jessica Murnane

 

 

One Part Plant asks its readers to make plants the star of the show for one meal a day – a request boosted by an opening jovial letter from actress Lena Dunham to the reader.

Jessica herself begins with a frank revelation about her crippling endometriosis and how, on the suggestion of a friend, taking up a plant-based diet helped alleviate her pain and brought her “sparkle” back.

One alarm bell is how strongly the introduction focuses on endometriosis, making it feel rather niche, but there is a good guide to store staples plus nutrition advice. A few more images would be preferable,, but Jessica includes charming stories about her family alongside her allergy-friendly recipes.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Nutty banana smoothie with kale, nut butter and banana; creamy mushroom lasagna, and turtle eggs (made from dates, pecans and dark chocolate pieces).

One Part Plant by Jessica Murnane is out now, published by Bluebird (£16.99). Image credit: Nicole Franzen.

 

The Food Medic – Dr Hazel Wallace

 

 

The story behind this cookbook is painfully tragic. Hazel’s father died from a stroke when she was in her teens, after which Hazel’s weight plummeted drastically as she struggled with her grief. However, she refused to be hospitalized and instead decided to learn what her body needed to heal itself and to prevent illness.

Today, Hazel is a qualified Junior Doctor in London and a personal trainer, all of which give her words of wisdom plenty of weight. She discusses macronutrients in detail, busts nutrition myths and looks at nutrition and disease as well as physical activity and the digestive system. There’s also an exercise-at-home session at the end of the book.

Prepare for a lot of shots of Hazel in athleisure wear looking happy with delicious-looking dishes.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Goat’s cheese and minted greens frittata; rosemary and mixed seed bread; and chocolate sweet potato pudding.

The Food Medic by Dr Hazel Wallace is out now, published by Hodder & Stoughton (£15)

 

The Good Gut Guide – Liz Earle

 

 

With Liz Earle’s name on the front of this tome, The Good Gut Guide is bound to instill trust in many.  The book takes a close look at the link between the gut and our physical and mental health and provides a practical, easy-to-follow six-week program to improve wellbeing from within.

Liz focuses on tips and techniques on how to prepare your own fermented foods plus recipes for breakfasts, light bites lunches, easy suppers, soothing teas and tonics.

Packed with the latest science, the book can feel overwhelming at times but if you’re really looking to sort your gut out then there’s certainly all the information you need. A picture per recipe helps to make it more digestible.

What Team MACROS are keen to try:

Sweet potato rösti with poached eggs, beetroot and Roquefort muffins; and goat’s cheese and honey cheesecake.

The Good Gut Guide by Liz Earle is out now, published by Orion Publishing Co (£25)

 

Do you have a favorite cookbook you think we should have included? Let us know!