green juice | rosemary on the tv

Full disclosure: I had absolutely no interest in buying or reading this book until I read an article on NYMag.com that made fun of it. I came across Rebecca Harrington’s hilarious article, “I Tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s Diet,” in which she makes Gwyneth’s recipes for a week and hilarity ensues. Is the article a glowing recommendation? No, but did I have to buy the book after reading it? Yes (and the Tracy Anderson DVDs, but that’s a totally different blog post).

I’m not sure WHY I just had to have this particular book. I mean, I’ve never really been into the gluten-free thing. Or veganism, though I tried it for a few weeks in college and I can assure you, a life without cheese is not a life worth living.

And “It’s All Good” had received a lot of negative press. Some reviews said the meals required “$300 worth of ingredients” and claimed it was an impossible diet. A quick flip through the pages proved that those idiots have empty pantries and assumed you’d have to go out and buy coconut oil every single time you want to cook something (tip: a jar of coconut oil can hang out in your cabinets for awhile between meals). Plus, many of the reviewers were following her Elimination Diet, which is listed in the back of the book and includes only the most extreme recipes.

Though there are a few exotic ingredients in some of her dishes, many of these recipes rely on a handful of high quality ingredients to create simple flavors. Some of my favorite recipes include the fish tacos, quinoa with kale and a fried egg, and the sauteed corn with chimichurri (above). We put the left over chimichurri on chicken tacos and it was DELISH. I haven’t, however, worked up the nerve to coat a fish in an entire container of salt and roast it. But I’m working up to that one.

Yes, there are some Gluten-Free/Detox/Vegan recipes as well, but there are also meat and dairy recipes. Don’t expect to find fried foods or processed ingredients, though.

DO expect to find lots of pictures of Gwyneth without makeup, walking in fields of grass or eating organic foods on a windy beach.

She also includes lots of great juice and smoothie recipes. Her “Best Green Juice” has become my morning ritual (her description of “grassy lemonade” is spot on!), but the beet/carrot juice is good too. Obviously, if you can’t tell by the gazillion marked pages in my copy, I’d definitely recommend this book if you’re looking to clean up and healthify your diet. Yes, Gwyneth can be a bit obnoxious at times, but the girl’s got a knack for cookbooks.