ENTERTAINMENT REALM

Clean Green Eats by Candice Kumai. HarperWave| 2015| $27.99| ISBN: 9780062388735

This is not a vegan cookbook but it’s a great starting point for those considering a vegan diet. Many vegan recipes included and those that aren’t can be veganized. It’s a visually stunning cookbook and there are numerous recipes in it that I enjoy: Roasted Kabocha Squash Salad; Sweet Kale Lemonade; Coconut-Date Scones; Kale Quinoa Tabbouleh; Parsnip and Leek Detox Soup; Green Matcha Tea Loaf Cake and Homemade Coconut Cake. Being clean and green means using less ingredients. The recipes are relatively straight-forward and don’t require impossible to locate ingredients.

I saw Candice Kumai on The Wendy Williams Show. Wendy went vegan recently and Candice shared several of her green recipes. Being clean green, she utilizes on many deep healthy greens like kale and broccoli rabe in her recipes. Here’s how Candice describes clean eating: “A lifestyle that involves consuming real food in or as close to its most natural state as possible. Eating to nourish and cleanse the body and mind. Educating yourself on where food comes from. Purchasing or growing foods that are nutritious, unprocessed, and sustainable.” She shares a green cleanse—a two week cleanse with green juices and avoiding dairy, added sugar, animal protein, alcohol, caffeine. Some clean detox foods include cabbage, cilantro, coconut oil, avocado, collard greens, extra-virgin olive oil, melon, kale and miso paste.

Clean Green Eats is divided into these sections: How to Eat Again; The Clean Green Cleanse; Clean Green Cleansing Juices and Smoothies; Green and Gorgeous Breakfasts and Brunches; Clean Green Salads; Clean Green Soups; Clean Green Snacks; Clean Green Burgers and Sandwiches; Clean Green Sides; Clean Green Veggie Mains; Clean Green Meat Mains; Clean Green Pizzas and Pastas; Clean Green Sweets and Treats; Clean Green Basics; and Ten Clean Green Salad Dressings.

At 23, Candice Kumai was the youngest chef competing on the first season of Top Chef. Her previous cookbooks include Cook Yourself Thin, Pretty Delicious, Cook Yourself Sexy and Clean Green Drinks.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from Harper Collins.