Back to the Cutting Board

The author describes cooking as a peaceful time in her life as a child because of the love, focus on cooking and the silence. She enjoys cooking from scratch, and she even has a heirloom cutting board!
You are presented with a list of beans, grains, nuts, spices, etc to have on hand that are nutritious and full of protein.
There are explicit instructions given for dicing, cutting, making julienne strips, and shredding so that you can present your food in a variety of ways.
You will find such recipes as sweet root vegetable stew, (made with winter squash, carrots, apple juice, and soy sauce.) sweet and savory Brussels sprouts stew (made with shallots, dried cherries, organic corn kernels, Brussels sprouts, and arrowroot powder.) and spicy Asian coleslaw (made with cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, radicchio, scallions, and a Lemon - Spice Dressing made with ginger, mustard and brown rice syrup.
The recipes come with explicit and almost poetic descriptions, such as calming the body and feeling strong and centered. The author even describes how some of the ingredients are good for certain parts of the body. e.g.(Hiziki is so nutrient-packed, I call it rocket fuel in a cup. Loaded with calcium, vitamin C, iron, folic acid, magnesium, and other vitamins and minerals, hiziki helps create strong bones, lustrous hair, healthy blood, and smooth organ function. In this salad, hiziki’s strong flavor is complemented by the rich sesame dressing.)
There are multiple soup recipes, the author even tells you how to make your own stock, this recipe for Pesto Vegetable soup using miso, red wine vinegar, pine nuts, potatoes, carrots squash and beans looks delicious and filling!
This is a plant - based cookbook, but by reading the recipes and learning how the food is prepared, along with the delectable photos, you will not miss using meat, and your appetite will be fully satisfied!

Wonderful book! I really appreciated the explenations and the recipes. I found the dessert recipes fantastic as I'm diabetic and that dessets can be eaten by diabetics too.
A very good book if you want to eat tasty and healthy!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

I was beginning to wonder, as I started this book, when exactly the recipes would begin... Be patient! Christina Pirello gets to them and they are worth the wait! Do read the beginning, tho' as they are informative and entertaining! As to the dishes- vegetarians and likely vegans will have a field day with these tasty dishes. I'm not, but do enjoy my fruits, veggies, etc... I look forward to fall just to try the Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts, Cracked Potatos, and Squash and Corn Chowder. Other recipes will do well for light lunches. I also appreciated the chopping tips at the beginning! I seldom use my food processor for chopping, slicing, etc. Give me a sharp knife and a cutting board and I am satisfied! Great book!

Macrobiotic meets Ayurvedic! This book contains gorgeous vegan, plant-based recipes with unique flavors. The recipes are moderate in difficulty and may include ingredients that could be challenging to find at your local grocery store. I thought the recipes looked healthy and full of flavor. I was however not in agreement with the authors' information on the five elements of food (earth, fire, water, metal, wood) however those interested in the macrobiotic and ayurvedic lifestyles will enjoy that information (and that doesn't take away from my interest in the recipes themselves).

The best cookbooks are not just a compilation of recipes, but also a story of how and why the cook enjoys her craft. And cooking is definitely a craft requiring many more skills than most people have. I learned to cook because my mother did not cook. By reading and listening to my local experts...including all of the cooking shows on PBS...I can now say I'm a good, leaning to great, home chef. I have learned many wonderful ways to prepare healthy food from Christina Pirello's shows and books. You can too.

#BackToTheCuttingBoard #NetGalley

Simple ans delicious. This cookbook is fantastic, it gives us back the power to create real and heartwarming soul cooking. An excellent idea of gift for this Christmas.

Back to the Cutting Board by Christina Pirello

Thinking this would be a vegan plant-based cookbook to get some new ideas from I eagerly opened to find…just that. I also found that many of the flavors and ingredients would be difficult to find where I live in the Middle East. That said, the recipes were not difficult to read and would be easy to follow and the photographs looked tasty and rather oriental in inspiration with rustic pottery and dishes to display them. Many of the recipes look similar to meals I might cook at home using what is at hand…although the author’s kitchen has much more variety than mine does and she uses combinations of ingredients I have not used together before. This book also speaks about “The Five Transformations of Energy – The Dynamic Cycles of Nature” - yin & yang – earth/soil, metal, water, wood/tree, fire – not the ones I am familiar with. The idea for the title – her grandmother’s cutting board made by her grandfather – that stuck with me and will stay with me longer than anything else in the book.

Thank you to BenBella Books for the ARC – This is my honest review

3-4 Stars

Back to the Cutting Board focuses on vegan friendly recipes that are comforting and that can make a more healthier you. In the book, Christina Pirello shares some of her favorite vegan recipes that have not only made her healthier but changed her life.

Myself and some of our patrons are familiar with Christina Perillo and her show Christina Cooks where she demos her most popular vegan recipes and connecting them with a personal experience she shares with her viewers. The book was very similar to that but at first we were very skeptical because we do not have a strong vegan interest at our library but a HUGE comfort food fan base and delicious food fan base thanks to our Cooking Demo event we do at the library. After reading the book, I do now have an interest of learning more about vegan cuisine and found some recipes to try out such as the Sweet Onion Gallette and the Crack Potatoes.

It is also crucial when it comes to reviewing cookbooks that they must include photos of the final dish before/after the recipe and this book certainly does. An informative cookbook that could potentially start a movement and make everyone much healthier. That is why we are giving it 5 stars! #backtothecuttingboard #netgalley

At first, I was skeptical of this cookbook and how the author would admonish the readers how it's wrong to eat dairy and meat. You get the idea. I was pleasantly surprised how warm and gentle the author came across. she explained why and how she's gotten into this lifestyle of eating vegetables. She wanted to share her passion with her recipes she's enjoyed cooking.

She's even listed the utensils which need to be utilized for cooking. She's also included the glossary for cooking words so beginners won't flounder in her cookbook. She's made it easy to understand and follow instructions easily.

Her photos are simply gorgeous! Warm and mouth watering.

Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I simply adore veggies and have always looked for ways to incorporate different recipes withe different veggies . I saw some recipes I would love to try out soon.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be a vegan or vegetarian or who already are, or just simply want to try out the recipes .
I received this beautiful ARC of a cookbook from BenBella Books through Net Galley in an exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

I am definitely going to test some of the recipes. If I really enjoy them and keep coming back for more recipes then, I will purchase a print of this copy to add to my collection of cookbooks. I collect cookbooks and am very selective on my cookbooks .

I love to review plant-based cookbooks because, well, I am always looking for new recipe ideas!  Christina Pirello contends that "Getting back to the basics of cooking as you walk your path to wellness begins at the cutting board".  In fact getting back to basics is what we need to do to get well. 

Christina talks about the ingredients of healthy food and veg prep.  She gives readers on a path to wellness ideas for lunch and eating dinner in and what to do if you do go out to eat.  She talks about the five elements: earth, wood, fire, soil and metal.  I have found that the more attention I pay to getting back to the earth, the happier and healthier I feel, so I appreciated this section of the book.

She had a recipe for Burdock - a very nourishing, medicinal plant - that I am dying to try.

There are a lot of winter vegetable recipes, which I was really excited about as we go into winter and I know in the past I have gotten tired of the same old things.

We made the Carrots Osso Buco, which we thought was amazing and perfect for fall/winter.  I have never actually had Osso Buco because any time it was offered it was made with veal, which I did not eat even when I did eat meat.  So I was excited to try this version.  My husband has eaten his share of Osso Buco and said the taste was right on and it was very good.

I also made the Chickpea Farro soup because I love both chick peas and farro and am always looking for new hearty soup recipes and this one will definitely be on the list of soups that I make regularly!

This is a beautiful cookbook with lovely illustrations that will inspire you to make the dishes.  

I received a digital ARC of this cookbook from BenBella books and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

An amazing cookbook!!!! Beautiful and every recipe works and comes out beautifully.
Lots of amazing information throughout the whole entire book as well as throughout the recipe is extremely helpful hints.
I will be giving this cookbook to all of my friends and family for Christmas this year because it it is an absolute must have in your collection.

Hearty and rustic, Back to the Cutting Board wakes up traditional ingredients with new flavor profiles and cooking techniques. I really loved the photography.

I've been a fan of Christina since her days on PBS. While I don't necessarily prescribe to the beliefs in the "energy" portions of the book, there are lots and lots of great recipes for healthy, plant-based (vegan) meals. As for the recipes, I didn't see many ingredients used that couldn't be easily found in a good co-op, natural health food store or even your local chain grocery in most cases. I found plenty of recipes I'll be trying myself!

Thank you to Christina Pirello, BenBella Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.

This is a treasure for anyone trying to move to or adhere to a plant based diet. It starts out with a list of items to stock in your kitchen which is followed by photos illustrating proper knife techniques which is followed by recommendations of the tools you will need and explanations of different cooking tecniques. Then it gets to the recipes many of which contain ingredients that were new to me... burdock, arame, hiziki and kuzu root for example. I will definitely be trying the Chickpea Farro Soup soon and the Pappa Al Pomodoro next summer during peak tomato season. I would say this book is for those with a bit more adventurous palates although it is entertaining for the reference material alone.

I received an e-copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I was intrigued by the description of this book -- I'm always a sucker for cookbooks, especially vegetarian / vegan ones, as they are potentially so full of inspiring new ideas. However, while the recipes in Christina Pirello's book are interesting and definitely doable, on the whole they are not terribly exciting. This might be a book better suited for someone less familiar with a variety of different cookbooks.

Nonetheless, the book is nicely organized, the recipes might well make their way into one's kitchen, there are some fun cooking ideas (sweet pizza with baked fruit?  sounds great), and the pictures are pretty and rustic. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but it's a good enough cup of tea.