Cookbook Review: One Part Plant

by Joli
Published: Last Updated on

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Harper Wave (February 21, 2017)

“This book is joyful, playful, delicious, and guess what? It will also change your life. I invite you to follow Jessica into the vast green wilderness.” — Lena Dunham

Wellness advocate and podcaster Jessica Murnane is the friend you never knew you had. And she’s here with a cookbook to help you make a change you never thought was possible.

In One Part Plant, Jessica has a friendly request: that you eat just one meal plant-based meal each day. There’s no crazy diet plan with an anxiety-inducing list of forbidden foods. Or pages filled with unattainable goals based on an eating philosophy that leaves you feeling hungry and deprived. Instead, Jessica offers you the tools to easily and deliciously make plants the star of your plate–no matter how much junk food occupies it now.

Jessica knows what it’s like to have less than healthy eating habits. Just a few short years ago, her diet consisted of three major food groups: Sour Patch Kids, Diet Coke, and whatever Lean Cuisine had the most cheese. But when her endometriosis — a chronic and painful condition — left her depressed and desperate for help, she took the advice of a friend and radically overhauled her diet. Within months, her life dramatically changed — her pain started to fade and she felt like herself again.

With a unique style and playful tone, Jessica shares what she’s learned on her way to healing her body through food. She keeps it simple and, most importantly, delicious — with 100 allergy-friendly recipes like Creamy Mushroom Lasagna, Easy Vegetable Curry Bowls, Triple Berry Skillet Cobbler, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Featuring her top ten pantry basics, practical advice, and colorful and bold photography,One Part Plant is an inspiring and educational guid áto eating real and feeling your best.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Review

I’m going to be honest…I’ve never reviewed a cookbook before. Totally new territory! I was drawn to this because of the description…this part:

Just a few short years ago, her diet consisted of three major food groups: Sour Patch Kids, Diet Coke, and whatever Lean Cuisine had the most cheese.

I am a lover of all of those things! I don’t drink a lot of soda, but I do enjoy my sugar and Lean Cuisines are just so easy! Of course, I know they’re not the best lunches on the planet. There was a great time where I got really good at making myself delicious salads and wraps for lunch, but somehow I’ve lost that energy. Maybe it’s because I started eating Lean Cuisines again….there’s a Catch-22 for you.

The premise seemed pretty easy: just one meal a day. One meal per day sounds much more doable than trying to change your entire diet all at once. So, I decided to give One Part Plant a read.

First of all, before I read any of the intro, I had to flip through the recipes. A couple caught my eye right away, like the Persian-style dill rice, tomato and white bean panzanella, Mexican fried rice nachos, and the nut butter chocolate tart. I’m sad (and a little ashamed) to say that I haven’t yet had the time to try any of these recipes, but I actually have the aforementioned panzanella on my dinner menu for this coming Thursday! I’ve never had panzanella, so I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

Everything about this cookbook is pretty great – the design is beautiful, it’s clean and easy to read, the photography makes my mouth water – all indicators of a great cookbook. My only issue (which was probably my fault) is that, when I skimmed through the description, my eye didn’t catch on “allergy free.” All of the recipes are written gluten free, although of course you can make whatever substitutions you’d like. There are also some interesting ingredients that I’m not sure about, such as expensive nut butters, tahini, nutritional yeast, and tamari. I will say, though, that Murnane does a great job of explaining things in the intro pages. She understands that some of those ingredients are a little off the beaten trail, and she explains what they are, where to find them, and how to use them. That did make me feel better about them, but it’s still difficult to go buy and use something you may have never even heard of before.

Overall, I like the vibe of One Part Plant, and I’m looking forward to sampling some of the recipes for myself! If the ingredients I mentioned don’t freak you out too much and you’re interested in eating more plants, then I recommend picking this up. Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me this cookbook in exchange for my honest review!

Photo by Nicole Franzen

About Jessica Murnane

Jessica Murnane is a wellness advocate, podcast host, and creator of the One Part Plant movement. She has a certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and works to raise awareness for endometriosis and women’s health issues. Jessica has contributed to and appeared in countless magazines and websites, including Mind Body Green, The Coveteur, Food 52, PopSugar, and Chalkboard Magazine and has spoken at Apple and Taste Talks. She interviews some of the biggest names in food, lifestyle, and design on the popular One Part Podcast. Through her website (jessicamurnane.com), classes, and restaurant partnerships, she’s working to get everyone on this planet to start eating one plant-based meal each day. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, son, and lots of palm trees.

Connect with Jessica on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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1 comment

Heather J @ TLC Book Tours February 26, 2017 - 8:39 pm

A cookbook with gorgeous photos is so fun to browse! I hope you enjoy the meal you have planned for this week – it sounds very tasty.

Thanks for being a part of the tour!

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