Praise for Sweet, Savory & Free
I have a big, loud, Italian family, and we love to eat. I also have a daughter and nephew with food allergies, so it can be tricky. Debbie Adler has found a way to make everybody happy. Sweet, Savory, and Free allows you to make everything from condiments to pizza to cookies, without using any of the eight top food allergens. The genius part? Its all delicious. My family doesnt know the difference, because believe me, if they did, Id hear about it. Thank you, Debbie!
Ray Romano
The way we eat has a profound effect on our health, and the health of the planet. Sweet, Savory, and Free is filled with recipes that will keep you (and our Mother Earth) from going into cardiac arrest... and did I mention that theyre all delicious!
Ed Begley, Jr., Emmy- and Golden Globe-award nominated actor and environmentalist
Sweet, Savory, and Free could easily qualify as an optimum health book, with an eye toward making tasty dishes. Your kitchen would not be complete without this book. Debbie Adlers personal motivation for this book is compelling.
T. Colin Campbell, PhD, coauthor of The China Study and the New York Times bestselling Whole
Sweet, Savory, and Free proves that allergen-free, healthful plant-based cooking can be deliciousand fun! Debbie Adler makes it possible to prepare wonderful worry-free dishes for anyone, anytime.
JJ Virgin, celebrity nutrition and fitness expert, and author of the New York Times bestselling books The Virgin Diet and Sugar Impact Diet
Debbie makes living plant-based and allergy-free delicious and fun with her super tasty and nutritious recipes. This book is an incredible resource for any family wanting to eat healthy.
Tess Masters, author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend
Copyright 2017 by Debbie Adler
Photographs 2016 by Carl Kravats
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
BenBella Books, Inc.
10440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 800
Dallas, TX 75231
www.benbellabooks.com
Send feedback to
First E-Book Edition: June 2017
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Adler, Debbie, author. | Kravats, Carl, photographer.
Title: Sweet, savory, and free : insanely delicious plant-based recipes without any of the top 8 food allergens / Debbie Adler ; photography by Carl Kravats.
Description: Dallas, TX : BenBella Books, Inc., [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016047875 (print) | LCCN 2016054061 (ebook) | ISBN 9781944648046 (trade paper : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781944648053 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Cooking (Natural foods) | Nutrition. | Vegan cooking. | Food AllergyDiet therapyRecipes. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX741 .A27 2017 (print) | LCC TX741 (ebook) | DDC 641.3/02dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047875
Editing by Karen Levy
Copyediting by Scott Calamar
Proofreading by Kim Broderick
Indexing by WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.
Full cover and text design by Sarah Avinger
Text composition by Aaron Edmiston
Front cover by Kit Sweeney
Printed by Versa Press
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
www.perseusdistribution.com
To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: (800) 343-4499
Fax: (800) 351-5073
E-mail:
Special discounts for bulk sales (minimum of 25 copies) are available. Please contact Aida Herrera at .
There are some people who are blessed with a preordained drive to pursue a specific goal, which they set out to achieve the minute theyre conceived in the womb. Then as soon as theyre born, they pursue their lifes purpose with the same precision and tactical exactitude of an Army Rangers operation. Im totally like that. But the opposite.
My career path has been anything but linear and methodical. In fact, when I sat down to think about it, I realized that I have had jobs beginning with practically every letter of the alphabet. I did not do particularly well at any of these vocations, and I have twenty-six capital and lowercase failures on my resume to prove it.
But something happened in 2009 that set me on a course that I have not deviated from since. My son was one year old, and I gave him a taste of frozen yogurt for the very first time. About twenty minutes later he was vomiting profusely, and soon lay unconscious on the floor, barely breathing. While I dialed 911, my husband hovered over my son, ready to administer CPR. Luckily, the paramedics came in time to revive my son and take us to the hospital.
It turns out my son had a severe allergic reaction to the milk protein in the yogurt, called casein. After further testing and several months and anaphylactic reactions later, we found out that my son has life-threatening allergies to most of the top eight food allergens, which include dairy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, shellfish, fish, and soy.
As I got more and more involved in the food allergy community, I learned that there are eighteen million people in the United States alone with the same allergies as my son. This knowledge propelled me on a mission to learn how to create allergy-free meals and desserts that would accommodate this particular population.
It was at this time that I decided to revamp my already-thriving, sugar-free bakery, Sweet Debbies Organic Cupcakes in Los Angeles, into one that was completely free of the top eight food allergens, in addition to gluten, sesame (which is fast becoming a top nine food allergen), and, as always, refined sugar. I never wanted to use refined sugar in my baked goods due to its detrimental health effects, including the rise of insulin levels, causing weight gain and inflammation, and the fact that it depletes the body of essential nutrients. Instead, I use coconut nectar and stevia, both of which are low-glycemic, all-natural sweeteners that do not spike your blood sugar and insulin levels as refined sugar does.
In 2010, my newly revamped bakery became a safe haven to anyone with food allergies, intolerances, celiac disease, diabetes, or any other dietary restrictions. They could indulge in my baked goods without worry. Business quadrupled in the first year of this transformation and continues to grow due to the continuous rise of these diseases as well as the amount of people who just want healthy and delicious treats.
My research about which ingredients to substitute for the allergenic ones led me to information that further changed the course of my life. I learned, loud and clear, that the foods America and the world have come to know and love, such as cows milk, soy, animal protein, and eggs, are not all theyre cracked up to be. In other words, all humans, whether allergic or not, would probably be better off not eating them.