Book: Fresh Start by Martha Stewart

Another day, another book about how to live healthily. A toned body, full of energy: the rewards of a healthy lifestyle are endless. We don’t really care that much. We mainly just want to eat really delicious food. But now American domestic doyenne Martha Stewart has come out with a health book. Now she has our attention.

To the casual observer, she may seem like the perfect Stepford wife, spending all day embroidering napkins and looking for the best ways to wrap presents. But appearances can be deceiving, and Martha is badass. For years, she’s been my go-to whenever I want to look up how to make the perfect frosting again. When I’m looking for a quick weekday meal, Martha’s website is where I go too. Her recipes are spot on and never too complicated.

Behind bars

The fact that she once spent five months behind bars for tax evasion only makes me love her more. Kitchen cred, street cred; Martha has it all, and in between she also tells you how to embroider the best jacket for your mug. As hard as I try to avoid health books, I can’t pass this one up, and I have to say: it doesn’t disappoint.

Fresh Start begins with an extensive explanation of how to make a healthy and, yes, fresh start. Among other things, you get the golden rules for healthy eating and a 3-day and 21-day action plan for transforming yourself from an unguided projectile into a healthy and happy person. With an explanation of healthy grains and more tips on stocking a pantry that lends itself to clean eating, you’ll be completely ready for a new beginning.

Healthy recipes

Of course, there are also more than enough recipes in here for your new healthy lifestyle. From breakfast to dessert, for every meal you get a load of recipes that are really good for you. Something I can’t stand is ‘unhealthy’ recipes made healthier by using less fat or wholegrain products. If I want to eat healthily, I’ll eat a dish that’s healthy by nature, rather than leaving things out and making it less delicious. Fortunately, Martha thinks exactly the same way.

Really delicious

With the exception of a few buckwheat muffins or spelt pasta, the recipes are mainly healthy and incredibly delicious in their own right. Toast with a poached egg and roasted tomatoes or coconut pudding with grilled nectarines, for example, are things I would absolutely love to have for breakfast. Vegetable soup with miso and chickpeas, roasted pepper salad with white beans and anchovy dressing, or a stew of white beans, potato and kale all sound incredibly delicious to me.

You can tell that the recipes were created by someone who genuinely loves food and knows what tastes good. I’m sure Martha herself just licks the frosting off her fingers at the weekend. The dishes are delicious first and healthy second. Exactly as they should be.

Title: Fresh Start
Author: Martha Stewart
Publisher: Kosmos Uitgevers
Price: €20,-