My family and I have been eating mostly paleo for about 7 years now. Paleo has come a long way in that time, going from a relatively fringe buff-dude version of 'clean eating' to a well-known and established foodway. I recommend anyone who struggles with their weight, juggles multiple food allergies or sensitivities, or just wants to eat a more easily digestible diet gives it a try, even for a little while, if it's medically safe to do so. Even if you don't have any health problems, paleo really does make you feel more energetic and less lethargic.

As anyone who's searched for recipes online can attest, search results can be dicey - and then some. I was very excited to review 'Clean Paleo Comfort Food Cookbook' by Jessica DeMay as I've found that cookbook recipes are usually more reliable - and with some of the ingredients on the expensive side, you do want some reassurance that you won't just end up with a gooey mess of wasted ingredients.

I was curious what DeMay meant by 'clean' paleo - the word 'clean' is a bit of a knee-jerk at times, and can smack of a judgmental attitude to anything not considered, by whatever arbitrary standards, clean. Luckily, in this context DeMay simply means that most of the recipes are made from scratch (that is, from their constituent ingredients, and not pre-packaged foods or sauces) and several are low-FODMAP.

This is an American publication, and it shows - there are recommendations for products you really cannot get outside the US, such as 'coconut whipped topping' (I presume this comes in a squeeze tube like faux whipped cream?) and grain-free tortillas. There are recommendations for US-only brands, but these are almost always couched with 'or other [sugar-free/nitrate-free etc]' item. I'm very happy to see both volumetric and weight-based (metric) measurements offered, and temperatures in both Fahrenheit and Celsius - thank you!

Even as an American expat myself, I was confused by at least two items mentioned: 'stuffing mushrooms', a term I'd never heard before, but which appears to imply simply the de-stemmed caps of small brown / 'baby bella' style mushrooms (I'm sure good-sized white mushrooms would be perfectly fine as well); and 'frozen hash browns'. Hash browns have always implied the completed product - that is, little lumps of shredded potato held together by G-d knows what combination of industrial additives to become a perfect crispy puck when fried or baked. I'm sure there are some paleo-friendly frozen hash browns out there, but I realised by about the third recipe that DeMay meant 'frozen shredded potatoes' rather than actual hash browns. That's a pretty important distinction!

I was a little baffled by the use of, specifically, garlic-infused olive oil in so many recipes - I dig the time-saving idea, but is this something we can make ourselves, or are there things we should look for on the label to ensure it's paleo-friendly? Can we substitute some regular olive oil and minced fresh garlic? etc. DeMay never uses unflavoured olive oil in any of the recipes. I don't know if that's a Midwestern thing, but almost every single Mains recipe uses garlic-infused olive oil.

I was also surprised that, counter to well-loved paleo gut health recommendations, there weren't any fermented foods involved, either as recipes or as ingredients - things like kefir (coconut for those who do dairy-free), sauerkraut, and kimchi, just to name a few. They're great flavour-boosters and help with digestion.

Aside from those little quirks, the recipes read as very solid. DeMay seems to be particularly good with sauces, with her home-made ketchup recipes (one low-FODMAP, one not) very promising.

Sections include: Introduction (to the author, paleo, kitchen staples and tools); Basics (sauces); Breakfast; Appetizers and Sides; Mains; Soups; and Desserts.

Some of the breakfast offerings (Chocolate Chip Muffins, Chocolate Cereal, Butter Pecan Granola) are definitely sweetener-heavy and indulgent, but then, the title is 'Comfort Food' - and there are plenty of non-sweet breakfast offerings as well, such as Breakfast Sausage and Broccoli and Ham Crustless Quiche. Appetizers and Sides includes a no-corn cornbread recipe that sounds excellent. Mains are a mixed bag; Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders sound amazing, Ham and Pineapple Chicken Salad (yes, as in mayo-based chicken salad) less so. Still, there are a lot of familiar American favourites in here and things that are pizza- or takeaway-adjacent are helpful when transitioning to paleo eating.

The soups are somewhat less enticing; 'Taco Soup' looks like watery tomato juice with add-ins, and Hamburger Soup doesn't sound like an enticing combination of ingredients. Carrot Ginger Soup looks and sounds much better.

This being a comfort food cookbook, the dessert section is huge and includes everything from brownies (three recipes) to ice cream to cookies. DeMay's Banoffee Pie, Mike's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Butternut Squash Pecan Crumble all sound absolutely wonderful.

Recipes are laid out neatly and the font is comfortable. I do wish that there were photos of every recipe - there are times you roll past six or seven recipes before getting to another recipe with a photo. I understand that these increase the printing cost, but if you're not used to paleo cooking, you do want some reassurance that what you've made is, indeed, what the recipe should look like, as the results are often far from identical to their non-paleo versions.

Still, this is a very nice paleo cookbook for anyone needing a bit of comfort, particularly those readers based in North American who may have easier access to some of the brands mentioned, and would make a lovely gift for anyone experienced with paleo cooking who wants to try some new, tasty recipes.

Advance reader copy kindly provided by Quarto Publishing.

I really loved this cookbook! The options are are healthy and delicious! I am very new to paleo and this is also serving as guide for me as I go on to plan my meals. Thank you so much for this!

This is a nice paleo cookbook but does not contain nutritional information, which is a serious drawback in any cookbook for me. My hubby and I are currently eating keto for health reasons, and this cookbook relies heavily on high carb foods like potatoes, dates, coconut sugar, arrowroot powder and maple syrup, so a lot of the recipes are out for us, though I could make them for my kids. Not a lot of them really struck me as great fits for any of us. There are photographs for about 1/3 or 1/4 of the recipes. The beginning goes into a lot of detail about the paleo diet and the author's back story, which will be helpful for those who are new to paleo but redundant for those of us familiar with paleo eating (though her personal history is interesting). It will be a nice addition to your paleo library if you don't mind the lack of nutritional information.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Many of us eat keto or paleo (or other) due to health reasons; others because they want to just eat better. The author tells her story at the beginning of the book which is interesting. It's great to read personal success stories like this, especially in these troubling covid times. She also discusses what paleo actually is and why people choose this lifestyle (I am keto due to medical necessity so can relate). She then lists what foods to eat and what to avoid then delves into label reading, kitchen tools and FODMAP.

I like that some of these recipes are new to me. Though I often use crushed pork rinds as breading tonight will be the first time for pork chops (one of her recipes). The Greek Meatballs look mouthwatering. So do the Spaghetti Pie, Buffalo Chicken Soup, Banana Blondies and Banoffee Pie. Heck, all the recipes look great! Why am I typing this at lunchtime?!

Nutritional information for each recipe would be wonderful, though I know it can be variable and difficult. This book would be ideal for anyone paleo or keto, really, including beginners and experts. It does inspire. Many of the recipes would be easily adaptable to your needs/tastes, too, which I appreciate.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Fair Winds and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for this delicious book in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

There are many books available that are very similar. I found little here that I haven't already seen. So many of the recipes using garlic infused olive oil. Not sure why a person couldn't just use garlic.

I’ve been following Jessica on Instagram for awhile now and typically enjoy her recipes, so I was excited to review an advanced copy of her new cookbook. The recipes are simple and flavorful and don’t take much time to put together. As someone who eats dairy and gluten free, I appreciated the variety and liked that many of the recipes were either dishes that were new to me or familiar ones with a twist. Followers of Jessica will enjoy that these are all new recipes you can’t find on her Instagram or website. I only wish there were more photos.

Clean Paleo Comfort Food Cookbook Dec 29

You are introduced to the meaning of "paleo" and the meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds that are included in this diet along with the healthy and unhealthy fats.
There are certain labels for grass fed meat and other organic foods that are shown to you so you can identify them and purchase those products.
There is a chapter that shows you how to create your own condiments such as ketchup, mayo, bbq sauce and dressings that are paleo.
Breakfasts such as sausage-gravy casserole are made with cassava flour and ghee. Breakfast burritos are made with almond flour, peppers and eggs, there are even chocolate chip muffins made with coconut flour, almond flour, ghee and dairy-free chocolate chips!
There are even hemp crackers, zucchini tots, and sweet potato tots with special sauce. If you like cornbread, there is a recipe for it that uses coconut flour, almond flour and ghee instead of corn.
There is a gooey-looking macaroni and cheese recipe that uses almond flour, ghee and butternut squash to make the sauce and spaghetti squash and eggs to make the sauce.
As regards main dishes, there is a recipe for chicken curry waffles using almond flour, coconut milk, canned chicken, ghee and spices and pecan crusted chicken tenders that look amazing and are easy to fix!
There is a pizza lasagna made with potatoes, carrots, sausage and mushrooms , hamburger stroganoff made with hamburger, mushrooms, coconut milk and spices that looks delicious.
For dessert, there are cashew butter swirl brownies and strawberry mini-cheesecakes and even a orange cinnamon roll coffee cake made with paleo ingredients!
Enjoy!

The best thing about this book, is that most of the things here described are sweets and desserts, which is usually something I do not associate to Paleo, so that's a nice surprise!

La cosa migliore di questo libro é che la maggior parte delle ricette sono di dolci o desserts, che sono cose che di solito non associo alla dieta paleo, quindi una bella sorpresa!

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I'll admit, I didn't read the description and I misunderstood what paleo means. I let the cover of bell peppers fool me into thinking this was going to be mostly plant-based. My bad. So this book isn't really for me. It is however laid out well and the recipes are all clear and easy to follow. However, I am always going to whine whenever a cook book doesn't have an image for every dish you can prepare. I want to see the food before I create it.

Clean Paleo Comfort Food Cookbook by Jessica DeMay is a cookbook on paleo comfort food dishes that helps the reader to stick to a paleo diet and still enjoy some comfort food dishes. These are all without dairy, gluten, grains and sugar -- so no matter your diet, these can be tried by pretty much everyone. This cookbook is full of recipe ideas for comfort foods. I found a few ones I would like to try.

I do not like it when cookbooks do not include nutrition facts with their recipes, but I can overlook that somewhat because I got so many recipes from this book that I want to try. I especially like the soup section.