The Feel-Good Family Food Plan

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 18 MAY 2020

McMillan (Brain Food), an Australian nutritionist, combines research with her expertise in this comprehensive guide feeding one's family. In addition to providing weekly meal charts, she, along with fellow Aussie mother and cook Clark, explain how to deal with picky eaters, minimize food waste, and establish good eating habits. Their plan aims to simplify kitchen efforts even as they introduce ways to include plant-based ingredients: meatballs that often rely on a classic blend of ground beef and pork are enriched with bits of zucchini, mushroom, onion, capers and ricotta; whole-grain and chickpea flours create a double batch of pizza dough; and their five-minute blender dessert of frozen bananas, cashew butter, cocoa powder, and coconut water is worthy of "ice cream" status. The recipes are time-efficient and flexible, but American home cooks may get lost in unexplained Australian terminology ("mince" for ground meat; "jaffles" for sealed toasted sandwiches) and thrown by measurements (it isn't until the end that the authors explain that an Aussie tablespoon is actually the equivalent of four, not three U.S. teaspoons). Readers willing to put in the extra translation work will find this volume to be a positive, mindful approach to eating.