Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Today I am reviewing FoodTrients by Grace O for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I try to eat healthy foods. I don’t always succeed, but I do try. I am a vegetarian. I once was macrobiotic, so I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading about various theories as to just what’s good for you. This book, by Grace O, is fascinating. An accomplished cook, restauranteur and now the owner of several senior healthcare facilities, she has researched food and its age-defying qualities.

Grace O has assembled the 5 categories of FoodTrients that ‘are essential to age-defying and healthful living.’ They are: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, disease-preventing, immunity booster and mind and beauty. Each recipe combines some or all of these categories and the FoodTrients categories are clearly listed at the top of each recipe. The recipes are made with whole foods and the author provides a list of some of her more unusual ingredients in the first part of the book.

The book is gorgeously photographed. I don’t know about you, but I like to see a photograph of the recipe. The recipes are easy to follow and the font size is nice and large. (Yay, no squinting required to read a recipe!) One recipe I really like is Quinoa Tabbouleh on Pita. Yum. It’s so easy that someone like me, who’d rather bake than cook, will find herself running to the kitchen to throw it together. It uses basic ingredients: quinoa, parsley, plum tomatoes, scallions, olive oil, lemon juice and whole-wheat pita rounds and takes next to no time. As in every recipe, the author provides information about the FoodTrient properties of the ingredients; in this case, of quinoa, tomatoes and olive oil.

The book is divided into sections: starters, salads, main courses, extras, desserts and drinks. There are plenty of recipes using meat for all you meat-eaters and there are plenty of recipes for non-meat eaters like me. Also included is a Guide to Age-Defying FoodTrients with lots of helpful information.

One of you lucky readers will be able to win a copy of this book and one of these aprons:

I want one! Sob. The winner will win both the book and the apron. Leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on Thursday night. There are no hoops to jump through, you know how much I dislike that, just leave a comment.

About the author:

Grace O has been cooking and baking professionally and recreationally all of her adult life. As a child in Southeast Asia, she learned the culinary arts by her mother’s side in the family’s cooking school. She became so well-versed in hospitality and the culinary arts, she eventually took over the cooking school and opened three restaurants. She is widely credited with popularizing shrimp on sugar-cane skewers and being one of the first culinarians to make tapas a global trend. She has cooked for ruling families and royalty.

Grace O’s move to America precipitated a career in health care, inspired by her father, who was a physician. Twenty years and much hard work later, she operates skilled nursing facilities in California.

Grace O strives to create flavorful food using the finest ingredients that ultimately lead to good health. Her recipes, although low in saturated fat, salt and sugar, are high in flavor. Grace employs spices from all over the world to enliven her dishes, creating food that is different and delicious. She believes that food can be just as effective at fighting aging as the most expensive skin creams. And since she’s over 50 herself, she’s living proof of that theory.

Discover more about Grace O and her work at FoodTrients.com.