The Beginner's Pegan Diet Cookbook: Plant-Forward Recipes Combining the Best of the Paleo and Vegan Diets for Lifelong Health

The Beginner's Pegan Diet Cookbook is a tutorial and recipe guide for the pegan diet with recipes developed by Michelle Miller. Due out 27th April 2021 from Quarto on their Fair Winds Press imprint, it's 192 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. 

The pegan (paleo + vegan principles) hybrid diet aims to improve health by minimizing inflammatory responses as well as being sustainable, helping support weight loss and balancing hormonal responses. Since it avoids dairy, gluten, additives, sugar, processed foods, and refined oils, it's easier on people who have negative metabolic responses to those items (celiac disease, lactose intolerance, etc). 

Although based on vegan and paleo diet principles, this diet is a hybrid method and less restrictive than either. For readers who are already vegans, these recipes contain about 25% overall animal protein, as well as other non-vegan ingredients such as honey. The point of the animal proteins is to source only the best quality usually grass-fed red meat and wild caught fish. The first 10% of the content covers the theory behind the diet, how to source the ingredients, understanding the glycemic index of foods (and why that matters), and some very general layman accessible physiology. The author has also included a sample meal plan and some basic info about meal-prepping. 

Recipes are grouped thematically: breakfast, snacks, soups & salads, entrees, side dishes, gravy sauces & dips, desserts, and drinks. The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard with metric measures in parentheses. Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Recipes contain a brief description, nutritional info (calories, protein, fat, carbs), servings, and prep time. The ingredients will mostly be easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store.

Roughly 30% (by my count) of the recipes include photographs and serving suggestions are appetizing and appropriate.  

Four stars. There are some good ideas and recipes here which look tasty and healthy. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.